Person
Every book Jimmy Carr recommended on podcasts
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Jimmy Carr appears on, in one place — not just one.
Jimmy Carr’s most recommended books
- The beginning of infinity by Deutsch, David
- 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson
- Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
- Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
- Maps of Meaning by Jordan B. Peterson
- The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt
- Chaos by Tom O'Neill
- Die with Zero by Bill Perkins, William O. Perkins
- Selfie by Will Storr
- The Art and Reflections of Stephen Epstein by Stephen Epstein
Jimmy Carr appeared on podcasts including Modern Wisdom and The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss comedy, creativity, human nature, and discipline, sharing several influential book recommendations along the way. On Modern Wisdom, Carr brought up Bill Perkins's book Die with Zero to discuss the appropriate timing for giving children their inheritance and structuring different life stages. During his appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, Carr recommended Tom O'Neill's Chaos, a book covering the Manson murders and MK Ultra, which he praised enthusiastically. He also discussed creative discipline by praising Steven Pressfield's The War of Art. For listeners interested in the mechanics and secrets of stand-up comedy, Carr recommended Steve Martin's memoir Born Standing Up, calling it an essential source of breadcrumbs on the subject. Furthermore, Carr shared that David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity completely blew his mind when he considered humanity, knowledge, and memes, prompting him to recommend it to listeners looking for expansive ideas about the universe and human progress.
Books recommended by Jimmy Carr
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The beginning of infinity
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch is a wide-ranging exploration of science, human progress, and the philosophical underpinnings of the Enlightenment, arguing that human problems are solvable and that knowledge creation is infinite.
Discussed“I love that thing with uh that book, The Beginning of Infinity. I can't get over that. What book is that? Who wrote that? It's uh uh beginning of infinity. I think it's uh David Deutsch.”
Where to get it
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12 Rules for Life
Jordan B.
Discussed“Like is is the uh it's not kind of it's not 12 Rules for Life, but it's got a lot of kind of there's a lot of life advice in there.”
Where to get it
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Born Standing Up
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin is a celebrated memoir that chronicles the author's relentless journey through the world of stand-up comedy before he abruptly left the craft at the height of his fame.
Recommended“I mean I think there's breadcrumbs there like Steve Martin's book born standing up M I think that's the if anyone's interested in the secrets of Comedy they're out there and it's about $10.99 in all good bookshops”
Where to get it
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Enlightenment Now
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker is a data-driven defense of reason, science, humanism, and progress that argues humanity is living in an era of unprecedented health, prosperity, and safety.
Discussed“like that that we live in this time you know that Steven Pinker Enlightenment now book Mhm you sort of go well now”
Where to get it
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Maps of Meaning
Maps of Meaning by Jordan B.
Discussed“I think you're an incredibly interesting guy because I think there's a there's a sense in which what you're trying to do, certainly in 12 rules, but I think you know, maps of meaning as well, I think is such a valuable, you know, you're reaching out.”
Where to get it
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The Coddling of the American Mind
The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt explores how well-intentioned ideas and bad pedagogical approaches are setting a generation up for failure, with a strong focus on the mental health impacts of social media.
Discussed“I suppose the problem is that thing what's that book um is it Jonathan hate the the codling of the American mind the idea of going if there's no freedom for kids anymore”
Where to get it
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Chaos
Chaos by Tom O'Neill is a deeply researched investigative non-fiction book that exposes startling connections between the CIA's MKUltra mind control experiments, COINTEL Pro, and the infamous Charles Manson murders of the 1960s.
Recommended“Oh, Chaos. Incredible. So, can't recommend it enough. I I listened to the episode.”
Where to get it
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Die with Zero
Die with Zero by Bill Perkins and William O.
Recommended“the same reason that Bill Perkins suggests giving your kids their inheritance when they're 30 because if that book Die with zero is so brilliant it's it's kind of about so much more than that as well”
Where to get it
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Selfie
Selfie by Will Storr is a psychological and cultural investigation into the modern rise of individualism, self-esteem, and status games.
Recommended“There's a great book called Selfie and a great book called Tribe. I remember sort of reading them back to back and thinking, 'Yeah, there's something's going on here.'”
Where to get it
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The Art and Reflections of Stephen Epstein
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is a celebrated guide to overcoming creative blocks, conquering internal resistance, and establishing rigorous discipline to achieve artistic and professional mastery.
Recommended“That's similar to Stephen uh pressfield's work you know the war of art”
Where to get it
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The Fabric of Reality
The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch is a seminal work of popular science and philosophy that explores four foundational strands of thought: quantum physics, epistemology, computation, and evolution.
Recommended“I read this book recently um David Deutsch the beginning of infinity and it's like it blew my mind”
Where to get it
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The Status Game
The Status Game by Will Storr is a psychology and sociology book that explores how the universal human drive for social status dictates human behavior, interaction, and culture.
Recommended“uh did you read that Will's store book status the status game no really good like really interesting about like there's kind of a weird status game going on in every interaction in life”
Where to get it
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The War of Art
Steven Pressfield's The War of Art serves as a profound guide for creatives, entrepreneurs, and thinkers seeking to understand and conquer the psychological barriers that hinder productivity and inspiration.
Recommended“that's similar to Stephen uh pressfield's work you know the war of art oh I love that book yeah fantastic book”
Where to get it
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Tribe
Tribe by Sebastian Junger is a non-fiction book that explores the psychological need for community, human connection, and the challenges veterans face when reintegrating into modern society.
Recommended“There's a great book called Selfie and a great book called Tribe. I remember sort of reading them back to back and thinking, 'Yeah, there's something's going on here.'”
Where to get it
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What color is your parachute?
What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles is a classic career-guidance and self-help manual designed to help job-seekers navigate career transitions, discover personal strengths, and find fulfilling work through structured soul-searching.
Recommended“And there's a book called um What Color Is Your Parachute? They're quite corporate both of them.”
Where to get it
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What's Our Problem?
What's Our Problem? by Tim Urban is a self-help book for societies that examines political tribalism, ideological extremism, and the breakdown of modern discourse through illustrated analysis.
Recommended“what's our problem book by Tim Urban yes I thought it was absolutely fantastic”
Where to get it
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Zen and the Art of Making a Living
Zen and the Art of Making a Living by Laurence G.
Recommended“I literally went through uh it's two books um Zen and the Art of Making a Living I would recommend to people. It's still available. And there's a book called um What Color Is Your Parachute? They're quite corporate both of them.”
Where to get it
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Amusing Ourselves to Death
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman is a seminal media ecology critique arguing that television and modern visual media degrade public discourse by reducing serious thought to mere entertainment.
Discussed“there's a great book called uh by Neil Postman called amusing ourselves to death and it came out in 1984”
Where to get it
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Catch-22
Catch-22 is Joseph Heller's famous satirical novel about the absurd bureaucratic paradoxes and psychological toll of military life during World War II.
Discussed“And Kurt Vonnegut, incredible writer, says to Joseph Heller, 'This guy made more money one day last week than you made out of Catch-22.'”
Where to get it
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Cinema Speculation
Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino is a critically acclaimed non-fiction work where the celebrated filmmaker blends passionate film criticism, cultural autobiography, and historical analysis of 1970s cinema.
Discussed“I got listening to this and I was reading Quinton Tarantino's Cinema speculation”
Where to get it
The other 4 books Jimmy Carr recommended or discussed, ranked
- Letters to a young contrarian by Christopher Hitchens
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
- Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit
- Slowness by Milan Kundera
Books Jimmy Carr wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And writing the book Before and After, which is kind of a autobiography, but also a bit self-helpy, is very much authentically who I am.”
“And writing the book Before and After, which is kind of a autobiography, but also a bit self-helpy, is very much authentically who I am.”
“there's a book called um what color is your parachute which I read at the time”
“And, you know, my my in my book is about this really. It's a it's a a case for living through humor.”
“My book really is about trying to share that. So I did the autobiography, but I wanted it to be I wanted it to be half about me and half about you.”
“In a way, I think I mean, part of the reason for the book is I think a lot of people aspire to that. A lot of people want to want to find their purpose and they want to they want to pursue it and you know it's very sad a lot of people don't get to do either.”
“But you know, the premise of the book kind of is there's nothing special about me. It was not preordained that I was going to be a successful comedian touring the world and being on TV.”
“I make a lot of cases in the book for conflated words. Like, you know, words that you sort of think they mean the same thing, but they don't. There's a that's sort of a theme in the book.”
“Um where people are I sort of quote a lot in the book. I use a lot of quotes, because I sort of think quotes are the truth. Like the It's everything else has been burnt away. There's nothing left but these six or seven words that just sum something up.”
“You know, and then it's it's the other thing on life where you kind of go I write in the book quite a lot about money. About the idea of like, what is it? What's going on there? Cuz it's such a powerful thing. We spend so much of our lives. We give up so much for these tokens.”
“Yeah, I mean, I I spoke about it in the book because I think it's a um I wanted to kind of deliver on Listen, if I hadn't talked about the tax thing in the book, I think people readers would have felt short-changed. Very much like HMRC did.”