Person
Jane McGonigal's book recommendations
Key facts
- Jane McGonigal has recommended or discussed 5 books on podcasts, as of March 16, 2022.
- Jane McGonigal has talked about books on 3 podcasts, as of March 16, 2022.
- Those books came up in 3 episodes, as of March 16, 2022.
- The 3 books Jane McGonigal has mentioned in the most episodes, as of March 16, 2022: Chimpanzee Politics, Finite and Infinite Games and Flow.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Jane McGonigal aired on March 16, 2022.
Updated
Across 3 podcasts. Every show Jane McGonigal appears on, in one place — not just one.
Jane McGonigal is an American author, game designer, and researcher. McGonigal is known for her game Jane the Concussion Slayer and her role as Director of Game Research and Development at Institute for the Future. McGonigal appeared on The Tim Ferriss Show, Invest Like the Best, and The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss game design, psychology, and resilience. She recommended Frans de Waal's Chimpanzee Politics, calling it a fascinating read for those interested in parallels between animal behavior and human politics. Discussing broader historical and psychological concepts, she brought up Alvin Toffler's Future Shock to explore how rapid societal changes generate psychological trauma, and referenced Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow as essential reading for game developers aiming to understand optimal engagement. McGonigal also discussed James P. Carse's Finite and Infinite Games, explaining the religious philosophy behind Carse's distinction between game types. Finally, she reflected on her own book, SuperBetter, detailing the thesis that playing games fosters resilience and recovery, and noting the public attention the work received in publications like The New Yorker.
Books Jane McGonigal recommended or discussed
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Chimpanzee Politics
Recommended“i would also recommend people read there's a book called chimpanzee politics which is fascinating”
Where to get it
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Finite and Infinite Games
Discussed“And in reality, when James Kars wrote this book in the 70s, and he was a professor of religious studies, he was really thinking of religion as being the only true infinite game.”
Where to get it
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Flow
Discussed“If you go to a game developers conference, the book everybody has read is Flow by Mike Csikszentmihalyi. That's a given.”
Where to get it
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SuperBetter
Discussed“I just thought to myself I should I got to prove it you know I I'm writing this book saying that playing games makes us happier and stronger and more resilient”
Where to get it
Books by Jane McGonigal
Appearances
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“you can read my future scenarios you can play my public simulations and prepare yourself”
“I've already started getting emails and direct messages from people who are reading imaginable and they get to that scenario in the book”
“i had exactly the same thing because when i wasn't healing from the concussion that i write about in super better i was really confounded”
“i was about to give a talk about super better and my concussion and the person managing the event said you know in a way this concussion is really the best thing that ever happened to you”
“and since i wrote about virtual reality for pain in my book and i wrote about some of the early studies that found that it actually relieved pain more effectively than morphine”
“And I think you've seen my more recent book, Super Better. There's one chapter on it that I always point parents towards, which is how to make the leap from games to gameful”
“And then I wrote a book explaining the research because in my experience, there was a lot of skepticism. I've been kind of high profile in my work.”
“And so anyway, that's the story of the platform in the book. And I'm really happy with how it helps people. Yeah. Yeah. As an option.”
“I was in the middle of writing my first book and it was due in a couple months”
“there's a whole chapter in in the super better book about game addiction and how how to stop it how to reverse it”
“well it drops next Tuesday but you can buy it now”