Person
Every book Josh Waitzkin recommended on podcasts
Across 3 podcasts. Every show Josh Waitzkin appears on, in one place — not just one.
Josh Waitzkin’s most recommended books
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
- Dreaming Yourself Awake by B. Alan Wallace
- Lion Tracker's Guide to Life by Boyd Varty
- The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
- Lila by Robert Pirsig
- Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin
- This Is Water by David Foster Wallace
Joshua Waitzkin is an American former chess player, martial arts world champion, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on his early life. Appearing on podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience, Huberman Lab, and The Tim Ferriss Show, Waitzkin recommended Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings for its deep study of the way. He also recommended Boyd Varty's Lion Tracker's Guide to Life, B. Alan Wallace's Dreaming Yourself Awake in the context of Tibetan dream yoga, and Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which he cited as a major philosophical influence exploring dynamic versus static quality. Additionally, he reflected on the release of the book Searching for Bobby Fischer about his early life and discussed the process behind writing his own book, The Art of Learning.
Books recommended by Josh Waitzkin
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M.
Discussed“Robert Pirsig, my favorite the most important philosopher in my life, Robert Pirsig wrote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Have you read Have you read that book?”
Where to get it
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Dreaming Yourself Awake
Dreaming Yourself Awake by B.
Recommended“which is dreaming yourself awake”
Where to get it
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Lion Tracker's Guide to Life
Boyd Varty's The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life is a small book sharing life lessons through the ancient art of animal tracking.
Recommended“he in his his book lion tracker's Guide to Life he has this gorgeous quote”
Where to get it
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The Book of Five Rings
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi is a classic treatise on strategy, tactics, and philosophy written by a legendary seventeenth-century Japanese swordsman.
Recommended“So, the Book of Five Rings, right? Like to me, I feel that I cannot believe how few people have studied Musashi deeply.”
Where to get it
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Lila
Lila is a philosophical novel written by Robert Pirsig that explores the concepts of dynamic quality versus static quality and a metaphysics centered on value.
Discussed“then you could think about Robert PK's work and and there Motorcycle Maintenance and lla around Dynamic quality versus static quality”
Where to get it
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Searching for Bobby Fischer
Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin is a compelling biographical book that chronicles the early life and chess prodigy journey of Josh Waitzkin.
Discussed“yes so when I was 11 the the book searching for Robbie fer came out and when I was 15 the movie came out and at that point”
Where to get it
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The Art of Learning
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin is a deeply reflective book detailing the author's journey from a prodigy in chess and martial arts to mastering the principles of peak performance and learning.
Discussed“one of the things I feel badly about in in like when I wrote the art of learning I spoke a lot about process and outcome”
Where to get it
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This Is Water
This Is Water by David Foster Wallace is a famous commencement speech delivered at Kenyon College in 2005 that was later published as a short book, offering philosophical reflections on awareness, empathy, and the meaning of daily life.
Discussed“It's like that idea, that great David Foster Wallace discussion around, This is Water, built around the metaphor of a fish swimming in water doesn't know what water is.”
Where to get it
Books Josh Waitzkin wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2292 - Josh Waitzkin | The Joe Rogan Experience | 2025-03-19 | 2 |
| The Art of Learning & Living Life | Josh Waitzkin | Huberman Lab | 2025-01-27 | 5 |
| #756: Anne Lamott and Josh Waitzkin | The Tim Ferriss Show | 2024-07-19 | 2 |
| #375: Josh Waitzkin — How to Cram 2 Months of Learning into 1 Day | The Tim Ferriss Show | 2019-06-26 | 1 |
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“when I wrote my first book, The Art of or my my second book, The Art of Learning, it was about my experience of crossing over my level from chess into the Chinese martial arts.”
“that I wrote about my book and that I've developed since”
“I wrote The Art of Learning 15 years ago, and I just started writing again recently. It’s been beautiful to re-enter that terrain.”