Person
Every book Maya Shankar recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Maya Shankar has recommended or discussed 4 books on podcasts, as of July 24, 2023.
- Maya Shankar has talked about books on 4 podcasts, as of July 24, 2023.
- Those books came up in 4 episodes, as of July 24, 2023.
- The 3 books Maya Shankar has mentioned in the most episodes, as of July 24, 2023: The Language Instinct, Nudge and An Instinct to Acquire an Art.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Maya Shankar aired on July 24, 2023.
Updated
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Maya Shankar appears on, in one place, not just one.
Dr. Maya Shankar discussed several influential books across multiple podcast appearances, frequently highlighting works that shaped her intellectual trajectory or illustrated principles of behavioral science. On Huberman Lab, The Rich Roll Podcast, and Freakonomics Radio, Shankar described discovering Steven Pinker's pop-science book The Language Instinct on a bookshelf after her violin career ended, recalling how reading the first few pages immediately gripped her and sparked her enduring passion for cognitive science. While speaking on Huberman Lab, she also brought up the poetry collection The Black Poets, edited by Dudley Randall, to illustrate how reading a stirring poem by Etheridge Knight provided a profound sense of identity and direction for a man named Dwayne during his time in prison. Additionally, Shankar mentioned Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler's book Nudge during interviews on On Purpose with Jay Shetty and The Rich Roll Podcast, referencing it when describing how mentors and authors guided her path into behavioral science and her advisory work in the White House.
Books Maya Shankar recommended or discussed
-
The Language Instinct
Discussed“So I started looking at their bookshelf and came across a pop science book called 'The Language Instinct' by Stephen Pinker. That was a turning point for me.”
Where to get it
-
Nudge
Discussed“But Lori had heard Cass Sunstein, the co-author of the book Nudge. It's kind of one of the fathers of this space and had worked for Obama for four years, had heard him speak at a conference.”
Where to get it
-
An Instinct to Acquire an Art
Discussed“So I started perusing the bookshelf, and then I came across this pop-science book called "The Language Instinct," by Stephen Pinker.”
Where to get it
-
The Black Poets
Discussed“So one day he gets a book called The Black Poets. And in the book, he read a poem by Etheridge Knight, who had also spent time in prison and had written this incredibly stirring poem about the criminal justice system.”
Where to get it
Books Maya Shankar wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (5: passing, ad reads, own books)
“As a podcaster, hosting a slight change of plans, writing the other side of change. All of these pursuits have been about forging deep emotional connections with people.”
“The title's not an accident. The other side of change.”
“And the people that I interviewed for the other side of change by and large aren't happy that they had to go through what they went through.”
“You know, and so it's so interesting because I was seeing I went into write, by the way, writing the other side of change pretty agnostic as to what I would find.”
“I realized, by the way, so one of the chapters in the other side of change is about a woman who has to revisit her relationship um with her family history.”