Person
Every book Laird Hamilton recommended on podcasts
Across 3 podcasts. Every show Laird Hamilton appears on, in one place — not just one.
Laird Hamilton is an American big-wave surfer, co-inventor of tow-in surfing, and an occasional fashion and action-sports model and actor. He is married to Gabrielle Reece, a former professional volleyball player, television personality, and model. Throughout multiple podcast appearances, including on The Shawn Ryan Show and The Joe Rogan Experience, Hamilton discussed several books that influenced his life, training, and worldview. He repeatedly recommended The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown, highlighting the benefits of proper breathing techniques and noting how mouth breathing causes issues. Hamilton also recommended Wallace J. Nichols's Blue Mind to explore the science and psychological reasons why people are naturally drawn to the ocean and water. Reflecting on his personal reading habits, he expressed a deep reverence for the Bible, stating that he read it multiple times and considered it a worthwhile book. Additionally, Hamilton discussed Susan Casey's book The Wave, mentioning chapters that featured big wave surfing sessions in Maui, and recalled how his mother read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy to him during his youth to help develop his imagination.
Books recommended by Laird Hamilton
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The Oxygen Advantage
Patrick McKeown's 'The Oxygen Advantage' is a health and wellness guide that explores the benefits of functional breathing techniques, arguing that many modern physical ailments stem from chronic mouth breathing.
Recommended“there's some beautiful books called breathe the oxygen Advantage I mean there's some really good podcasts and good books around breathing itself”
Where to get it
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Blue Mind
Blue Mind by Wallace J.
Recommended“no it's called the blue mind the guy's pretty interesting and he does a study of why we gravitate towards being on the beach”
Where to get it
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How to Read the Bible
How to Read the Bible by James L.
Recommended“and for a long time I was like well the I spent a lot of time reading the Bible and and only and it was like the only book I ever had I think I read I might have read it twice um read it like read the thing and read it read it it was like I go I”
Where to get it
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Dune
Dune by Frank Herbert is a landmark science fiction masterpiece set on the desert planet Arrakis that explores complex themes of empire, religion, and resource control.
Discussed“when I was really young she read me Dune she read me you know Jonathan Livingston she read me all these crazy crazy books growing up”
Where to get it
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Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is an allegorical novella about a seagull learning about flight, self-perfection, and breaking free from the rigid conformity of his flock.
Discussed“she read me you know Jonathan Livingston she read me all these crazy crazy books growing up”
Where to get it
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Moby Dick
Moby Dick by Herman Melville is a classic 19th-century novel exploring the obsessions of Captain Ahab and the dramatic whaling voyage of the Pequod.
Discussed“If you've ever read Moby Dick, you know about the whale that sinks the ship. Yes, there's actually a true story behind it. So Nantucket originally was for Quakers, yeah, were whale men.”
Where to get it
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The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.
Discussed“So my my mom used to read me and I think that's probably why I started other than I had some educational issues but with reading um they messed me up one of the programs definitely messed me up but then my mom would read to me so I really had no reason to read but she read me like”
Where to get it
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The Psychology of Totalitarianism
The Psychology of Totalitarianism by Mattias Desmet is an academic and cultural analysis examining how societal mass formation and ideological compliance pave the way for totalitarian governance.
Discussed“the psychology of totalitarianism was pretty was a pretty heavy book”
Where to get it
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The trap
The Trap is a 1994 political and economic book written by Sir James Goldsmith that serves as a critical response to the failure to halt the expansion of the European Union.
Discussed“no the the full conspiracy was called The Trap that one's called the Trap”
Where to get it
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The wave
Discussed“there's a book called The Wave right and written by Susan Casey who's an incredible writer and she writes different books about different subjects and in the book The Wave there's a there's a chapter or two about a day that we rode on Maui which was it's it's not at jaws it's another location right by the airport”
Where to get it
