Person
Every book Wade Davis recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Wade Davis has recommended or discussed 6 books on podcasts, as of June 25, 2026.
- Wade Davis has talked about books on 1 podcast, as of June 25, 2026.
- Those books came up in 2 episodes, as of June 25, 2026.
- The 3 books Wade Davis has mentioned in the most episodes, not counting Wade Davis's own, as of June 25, 2026: Dr No, From Russia With Love and From the Milk River.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Wade Davis aired on June 25, 2026.
Updated
Wade Davis’s most mentioned books
- Dr No by Ian Fleming
- From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming
- From the Milk River by Christine Hugh-Jones
- The Palm and the Pleiades by Stephen Hugh-Jones
- The Yage Letters by William S. Burroughs
Wade Davis appeared as a guest on The Tim Ferriss Show to discuss his extensive travels, his life as an explorer, and the anthropological insights he gathered over decades of fieldwork. During the conversations, Davis referenced several literary works that intersected with his research into ethnobotany, indigenous cultures, and historical events. He mentioned Ian Fleming's novels From Russia With Love and Dr. No while recounting how an ichthyologist brought up the subject of tetrodotoxin during his adventures. Davis also discussed William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg's The Yagé Letters when exploring the historical popularization of ayahuasca. Furthermore, he highlighted academic texts such as Stephen Hugh-Jones's The Palm and the Pleiades and Christine Hugh-Jones's From the Milk River to illustrate the complex cosmology surrounding traditional practices and bitter manioc preparation among the Barasana people. When sharing his own work, Davis enthusiastically recommended his book One River, describing it as an engaging account of his journeys alongside Tim and others that would truly open readers' eyes.
Books Wade Davis recommended or discussed
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One River
Recommended“Yeah, I think people would be intrigued by the book One River, which is really the account of Tim and I and Koka and Schulties. It's a great book. It is a great book. That book in particular would open people's eyes.”
Where to get it
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From Russia With Love
Discussed“And it was either From Russia with Love or from Dr. No.”
Where to get it
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From the Milk River
Discussed“And her book, From the Milk River, shows that the preparation of bitter manioc is in wrapped in as much cosmology, as much significance as ayahuasca.”
Where to get it
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The Palm and the Pleiades
Discussed“While Stephen was looking at the Yurupary cult in ayahuasca, and his book was published as The Palm and the Pleiades, Christine was hanging for all those years with the women.”
Where to get it
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The Yage Letters
Discussed“And certainly the popularization of ayahuasca began with The Yagé Letters between William Burroughs —”
Where to get it
Books Wade Davis wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (8: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and incidentally as I was reading and doing his eulogy that I conceived the book one river which is a biography of our great professor Richard Evans Schulties. We're doing this in part in memory of Tim.”
“The Wayfinders was a book put together in a really wonderful tradition in Canada called the CBC Massey Lectures.”
“So the reason that book, The Wayfinders, it tells the story of the expeditions that we did to share this message across the world.”
“And so I pulled out a book of mine, One River, which happened to have a photograph in the frontispiece of one of the chapters.”
“And so I pulled out a book of mine, One River, which happened to have a photograph in the frontispiece of one of the chapters.”
“But I'll tell you in my book, Magdalena, about the Great River of Colombia, there's a story of my good friend William Vargas...”
“And jumping ahead, it was when I wrote The Serpent and the Rainbow that things clicked. I said, 'Oh, that's what I am. I can write.'”
“And since then, I've taken ayahuasca largely to sort of remember what it was like when I was writing One River.”