Books Mentioned in This Podcast
Start Making Sense
Buy on AmazonThe other book I’ll just say, which is much longer and unpublished, is start making sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times is really on the same topic. It’s a book by Steve Hina, who’s one of my favorite psychologists; he's at University of British Columbia. It’s coming out in January 2025.
Episode: 223. What About All the Questions We Haven’t Answered? | No Stupid Questions
David and Goliath
Buy on AmazonAdam Grant writes about Malcolm Gladwell, who's the well-known author of many New York Times bestsellers like 'David and Goliath,' 'Tipping Point,' and 'Outliers.'
Episode: 222. What Makes an Idea Interesting? | No Stupid Questions
The Tipping Point
Buy on AmazonAdam Grant writes about Malcolm Gladwell, who's the well-known author of many New York Times bestsellers like 'David and Goliath,' 'Tipping Point,' and 'Outliers.'
Episode: 222. What Makes an Idea Interesting? | No Stupid Questions
Outliers
Buy on AmazonAdam Grant writes about Malcolm Gladwell, who's the well-known author of many New York Times bestsellers like 'David and Goliath,' 'Tipping Point,' and 'Outliers.'
Episode: 222. What Makes an Idea Interesting? | No Stupid Questions
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
Buy on AmazonWhile it's true that this subject has only become a focus of modern emotion psychology in recent years, we should note that in 1872, Charles Darwin described emotions related to learning and thinking in his book 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.'
Episode: 222. What Makes an Idea Interesting? | No Stupid Questions
Small Fry
Buy on AmazonAnd I think that when you have a really amazing guest speaker or I'm reading Steve Jobs' daughter's memoir, 'Small Fry,' oh my gosh, I'm just leaning into every detail.
Episode: 222. What Makes an Idea Interesting? | No Stupid Questions
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1
Buy on AmazonLike there was a time when people bought Julia Child's cookbook and made coq au vin for the first time. Oh my gosh, this is how French people eat chicken, it's amazing!
Episode: Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 221. Why Are We So Pessimistic? | No Stupid Questions
High Conflict
Buy on AmazonThe term was popularized by journalist Amanda Ripley in her 2021 book High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out.
Episode: 221. Why Are We So Pessimistic? | No Stupid Questions
Enlightenment Now
Buy on AmazonYeah, I mean I don't know Steven Pinker at all, but his book Enlightenment Now...
Episode: 221. Why Are We So Pessimistic? | No Stupid Questions
The Better Angels of Our Nature
Buy on AmazonI'm familiar with the work; Better Angels of Our Nature, which I think preceded Enlightenment Now, right?
Episode: 221. Why Are We So Pessimistic? | No Stupid Questions
Life Is So Good
Buy on AmazonPrer was following in the footsteps of many other Americans who learned to read late in life, including the famous George Dawson, the grandson of a formerly enslaved person who learned to read at 98 and co-authored a book at 101.
Episode: 221. Why Are We So Pessimistic? | No Stupid Questions
Stolen Focus
Buy on AmazonI do feel kind of robbed, and one of the books that I started reading but I haven't gotten too far into it is called Stolen Focus. Have you heard about this book? It's by, I think, he's a journalist named Johann Hari?
Episode: 220. Is Your Attention Span Shrinking? | No Stupid Questions
Uncovering Your Path
Buy on AmazonI think he has lots of other fancy titles, but I really, really appreciate the person, and he sent me his latest book to endorse, and this book is called Uncovering Your Path. I started reading it the way I honestly read most books that I'm asked to endorse, which is like trying to read it at the equivalent of 1.75x.
Episode: 220. Is Your Attention Span Shrinking? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonI will say that I probably should have done this more myself; I wrote a lot about my own daughters in Grit before they were old enough to really give me permission to do that, so maybe I should have taken a page out of the Taylor Swift parenting playbook myself.
Episode: 218. Why Do Parents Overshare on Social Media? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonLike, there was a time where I would read my Amazon reviews—I'm no longer in that time, not just because my book came out a million years ago, but also because I have found it to not be a healthy exercise to read Amazon reviews—good or bad.
Episode: 217. What Happens When You Put on a Costume? | No Stupid Questions
Isaac Bashevis Singer, the Magician of West 86th Street
Buy on AmazonBut when you think about other aspects of costuming, Isaac Bashevis Singer, who is a writer and thinker from a long time ago, said, 'What a strange power there is in clothing.'
Episode: 217. What Happens When You Put on a Costume? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 215. Is It Okay to Do the Right Thing for the Wrong Reason? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 214. What Does It Take to Survive a Scandal? | No Stupid Questions
Lolita
Buy on AmazonMuch like Nabokov forces us to do in Lolita, the truly unsettling part, the terrifying thing, is realizing that each one of us might be capable of committing an evil act given the right reasons.
Episode: 214. What Does It Take to Survive a Scandal? | No Stupid Questions
It
Buy on AmazonAnd let's see, this is titled It, I can't tell if that's supposed to be It or if it's actually It. It's It, Stephen King!
Episode: Why Do People Love Horror Movies? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
Lolita
Buy on AmazonVladimir Nabokov is writing about this pedophile named Humbert Humbert and the little girl that he entraps and so forth is named Lolita. It's told from the interior of his worldview; like you really mostly see the world through the eyes of Humbert Humbert.
The Lucifer Effect
Buy on AmazonUh, his book? Oh, you read The Lucifer Effect? I have it on the bookshelf right back there.
On Epidemics
Buy on AmazonHowever, a version of 'Do no harm' is found in Hippocrates' book of the Epidemics from 400 BCE. He writes that the physician must have, quote, two special objects in view with regard to disease, namely to do good or to do no harm.
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 212. When Do You Become an Adult? | No Stupid Questions
Born a Crime
Buy on AmazonWe have these constructs, and I think one fascinating thing I listened to recently was from Trevor Noah, who's the comedian who wrote one of my favorite books, 'Born a Crime.'
Episode: 212. When Do You Become an Adult? | No Stupid Questions
Evicted
Buy on AmazonBut I do think that it's really important for me and I would encourage others to engage with some of these stories and some of the realities of what's around us; this book that we've talked about before called 'Evicted' that goes through this psychological and social and emotional impact of growing up in a really financially limited setting where you're constantly being evicted!
Episode: 211. Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs? | No Stupid Questions
The Chamber
Buy on AmazonI mean I tried reading like a John Grisham novel or like a Jack Reacher, yeah, that are just pure beach reads. But I couldn't even go there.
Episode: 211. Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonI mean I tried reading like a John Grisham novel or like a Jack Reacher, yeah, that are just pure beach reads. But I couldn't even go there.
Episode: 211. Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs? | No Stupid Questions
Co-Intelligence
Buy on AmazonHe has this book called Co-Intelligence, and I was, you know, one of the people to review and endorse it.
Episode: 208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection? | No Stupid Questions
Klara and the Sun
Buy on AmazonI think, Mike, as we close out this fascinating question from Vivien, I want to ask you whether you have read a book called Clara and the Sun. I have not!
Episode: 208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection? | No Stupid Questions
Yes Man
Buy on AmazonOne thing that is interesting though, and this is a totally tangential aside, there's this book called 'Yes Man.' I think they later made a movie about it, but this guy, Danny Wallace, who lived in London, was getting bored.
Episode: Why Do People Get Scammed? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
From Strength to Strength
Buy on AmazonHere's what I love about that, especially when you get to this generativity stage: I'm sure you're familiar with Arthur Brooks' book, 'From Strength to Strength.' Yeah, I read it!
Episode: 206. When Is It Time to Step Aside? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonWhen you talk about grit, the question of values is, I think, pretty much front and center. But since you, Mike, unlike me, have actually worked in the real world...
Episode: 205. Where Do Values Come From? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonFirst of all, I actually think we would both have a decent chance because I think that you have enormous grit. And I'm not just trying to go off your book.
Episode: 204. What Happens When You’re Cut Off From All Human Contact? | No Stupid Questions
This Tender Land
Buy on AmazonAbsolutely, and I think that it’s interesting — I was just reading a book called This Tender Land about Native American schools, and there's one child in it who is constantly sent to solitary confinement.
Episode: 204. What Happens When You’re Cut Off From All Human Contact? | No Stupid Questions
Robinson Crusoe
Buy on AmazonRobinson Crusoe is a book written about a man who shipwrecked and his experience in this shipwreck.
Episode: 204. What Happens When You’re Cut Off From All Human Contact? | No Stupid Questions
Wild
Buy on AmazonAlso, Cheryl Strayed's book, Wild, is about the author's experience hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, not the Appalachian Trail.
Episode: 204. What Happens When You’re Cut Off From All Human Contact? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Mrs. Miracle
Buy on AmazonIn fact, the version of the aphorism, 'the grass is always greener on the other side,' seems to have originated in a line from 'Mrs. Miracle,' a 1996 book by bestselling romance novelist Debbie Macomber.
Episode: How Effective Are Ultimatums? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
Ovid: Ars Amatoria, Book III
Buy on AmazonThe original maxim evolved from 'The Art of Love' by the ancient Roman poet Ovid, who wrote, 'The harvest is always more fruitful in another man's field!'
Episode: How Effective Are Ultimatums? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
The Comfort Crisis
Buy on AmazonWhen you were talking about your students, though, one thought that came to mind: I don't know if you've read Michael Easter's book, The Comfort Crisis?
Episode: 202. Why Can’t We Tolerate Discomfort? | No Stupid Questions
The Sweet Spot
Buy on AmazonAnd he wrote this book called The Sweet Spot and it really was I think a kind of like manifesto on how there is a sweet spot of discomfort. The reason why he wants to say sweet spot is it's not more is all better.
Episode: 202. Why Can’t We Tolerate Discomfort? | No Stupid Questions
Twilight of Idols and Anti-Christ
Buy on AmazonClarkson's 2011 hit song, 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' is a direct reference to Nietzsche's famous aphorism, 'What does not kill me makes me stronger,' from his 1888 book, 'Twilight of the Idols.'
Episode: 202. Why Can’t We Tolerate Discomfort? | No Stupid Questions
Against Empathy
Buy on AmazonSo he wrote a book you may have read called 'Against Empathy.' So where do you think he falls on the spectrum of this? I know because I know the book!
Episode: 200. What’s the Difference Between Empathy and Sympathy? | No Stupid Questions
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Buy on AmazonHave you ever read The Elegance of the Hedgehog? Nope! It's a beautiful novel written incredibly well.
Episode: 200. What’s the Difference Between Empathy and Sympathy? | No Stupid Questions
The Book of Job
Buy on AmazonBut I'll tell you my favorite story of all time—it comes from the Old Testament, the Book of Job. It's studied as one of the great poems of all time.
Episode: 200. What’s the Difference Between Empathy and Sympathy? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonI was recently reading an amazing book called The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonThis was so different; he pulls out a wrinkled old copy of Priya Parker's book The Art of Gathering and he said, "I've given more copies of this book away than any other book, and here's my copy.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonWhen I was reading Parker's book, I thought, "Wow, we maybe inadvertently followed a lot of the principles that allowed us to sustain this."
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonNow that goes to one of the principles that Priya Parker talks about, which I think is pretty uncomfortable for a lot of people, and that's this idea of exclusivity.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonWe did read Grit for that!
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
Tribe
Buy on AmazonThe first book we read was Tribe by Sebastian Junger, and I actually thought it was an incredible first book because it basically talks about so many of these principles of why we are a tribe and how people gather and become sort of a group, but very different than the Priya Parker thing.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
Beartown
Buy on AmazonIt's called Beartown by Fredrik Backman, who is maybe my favorite fiction author.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
A Man Called Ove
Buy on AmazonHe wrote A Man Called Ove.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
A Man Called Ove
Buy on AmazonI don't even care about finishing the rest of the principles for Priya Parker; now all I want to talk about is— like, I kind of feel like if I were going to start a book club, I think the first book we would read is A Man Called Ove!
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
Anxious People
Buy on AmazonI've read Anxious People three times.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
A Man Called Ove
Buy on AmazonI've read A Man Called Ove—I always say A Man Called Ove because that is the Swedish pronunciation.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonI will say in the seven years of all these books, no book has come up more frequently in subsequent discussions, whether we're reading science fiction or poetry or about race relations or really boring non-fiction books about passion and perseverance, or an amazing book called Grit, somehow—not that it comes up every time; I'm not overstating it—but it comes up more frequently than any other book.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonBut one of the most uncomfortable situations that Priya Parker brings up in her book is there's a group of friends that used to get together like once a year for a weekend, and one year one member of the group, who was in the military, only had the same weekend that he could get together with his girlfriend.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonNow, back to Mike and Angela's conversation about gatherings on this topic of rules that we're talking about right now: Priya Parker gave a TED Talk in 2019, and one of the things she talked about were popup rules.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonAnd to your point, Parker talks in the book about this interesting concept that some people in a group dinner may want to leave earlier and some may want to stay later, and so long as the host is okay with either one of those things, one of the things she recommends is at some point— let's say after an hour, you've eaten the dinner—then it's okay; now we're going to leave the kitchen and move into the living room.
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonOkay, I don't know who said this for all— I know Priya Parker said this—but I remember it really well, and I am not the first to say it: it was advice on dinner parties, and it was like no more than six, no fewer than five!
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonI actually agree with all of this; obviously, I'm passionate about Parker's book; I think it's really valuable, and I've loved everything!
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonOkay, I have not yet read The Art of Gathering, but if I take the art in the title seriously, maybe your friend, and maybe Priya Parker herself, the oracle, maybe they are like the Leonardo da Vinci, so they have taken this art of gathering to its highest apogee!
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Gathering
Buy on AmazonSo you know, if The Art of Gathering really is an art, some of us are going to be really far down the path, and they're amazing!
Episode: 199. What Makes a Good Gathering? | No Stupid Questions
Cool
Buy on AmazonAnyway, two of them got together and wrote this book, and it is on neuro-economics, but it's actually called 'Cool: How the Brain's Hidden Quest for Cool Drives Our Economy and Shapes Our World.' And what Quartz's research and other neuroscientists' research show is that we have a basic human need for status and to be respected.
Episode: 198. What Does It Mean to Be “Cool”? | No Stupid Questions
How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes
Buy on AmazonShe's also the author of a book called How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes—a good goal for anyone! Yeah, that's a good goal.
Episode: 197. Is It Wrong to Lie to Children? | No Stupid Questions
The Hiding Place
Buy on AmazonMike got some details wrong in a story from Corrie ten Boom's 1971 autobiographical novel, The Hiding Place. When directly asked by the Gestapo whether a young woman hiding in their home is Jewish, ten Boom's sister, who is named Nollie, not Nelly, admits that she is.
Episode: 197. Is It Wrong to Lie to Children? | No Stupid Questions
The Highly Sensitive Person
Buy on AmazonI wanted to recommend the book, The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron to Amanda and anyone else who feels similarly. It gives very good explanations for the how and the why of her form of narcissism, and above all, it underscores the many advantages of being highly sensitive.
Episode: 197. Is It Wrong to Lie to Children? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 196. What’s Wrong With Being a Little Neurotic? | No Stupid Questions
Give and Take
Buy on AmazonAnd in the book Give and Take, Adam has this typology: there are three kinds of people.
The Giving Tree
Buy on AmazonAnd I think maybe that very famous book, The Giving Tree, if you'll remember the book, is about this tree.
Grit
Buy on AmazonAnd Mike, as you know, I wrote a book on grit.
Episode: 193. Are You as Conscientious as You Think You Are? | No Stupid Questions
The Power of Habit: by Charles Duhigg | Summary & Analysis
Buy on AmazonThat was in his book, The Power of Habit!
Episode: 193. Are You as Conscientious as You Think You Are? | No Stupid Questions
The Artist's Way
Buy on AmazonSo he has this podcast and he was telling me about this famous self-help book called The Artist's Way!
Episode: 193. Are You as Conscientious as You Think You Are? | No Stupid Questions
Range
Buy on AmazonThere's this awesome other story that comes actually from our sibling show People I (Mostly) Admire, where Steve Levitt was interviewing David Epstein, the author of the great book Range. I love David Epstein! I just need to say, it's a great book!
Episode: 192. Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone? | No Stupid Questions
A Brief History of Intelligence
Buy on AmazonAnd he said, A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett! And I said to Danny, I was like, never heard of Max Bennett! I spent 20-plus years studying intelligence and what it is and what it's not!
Episode: 192. Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone? | No Stupid Questions
Weird
Buy on AmazonHer name is Olga Hazan and she is the author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider and Insider World. But she wrote several articles about trying to change her own personality.
Episode: 191. Can You Change Your Personality? | No Stupid Questions
Peter and Wendy
Buy on AmazonFinally, Mike gets a few details wrong about the story of Peter Pan, at least as it's told in the original 1911 novel 'Peter and Wendy' by Scottish author and playwright J.M. Barrie.
Episode: 190. What’s the Point of Nostalgia? | No Stupid Questions
Zoom
Buy on AmazonI will say one of the best pieces of advice I heard recently was from someone who was telling me about a children's book, I don't know what book it is, but the entire book just repeats over and over the two words, 'Zoom out, zoom out, zoom out, and maybe that's the power of nostalgia.'
Episode: 190. What’s the Point of Nostalgia? | No Stupid Questions
The Art of Learning
Buy on AmazonBut one of my favorite books is called The Art of Learning by one of the greatest chess masters ever: oh, Josh Waitzkin! Yes!
Episode: 189. When Should You Trust Your Gut? | No Stupid Questions
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonThat's why Danny called his bestselling book Thinking, Fast and Slow, because thinking fast is using system one and thinking slow is using system two.
Episode: 189. When Should You Trust Your Gut? | No Stupid Questions
Permission to Feel
Buy on AmazonActually, there's a really interesting author; I've just been reading a book called 'Permission to Feel.' Yes, yes!
Episode: 187. Is Fear Running Your Life? | No Stupid Questions
Fear and Courage
Buy on AmazonAnd there's a psychologist named Stanley Rachman who was a lifelong scholar of fear and courage! And he wrote a book of the same title: 'Fear and Courage.'
Episode: 187. Is Fear Running Your Life? | No Stupid Questions
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch
Buy on AmazonI mean there's this Valentine's book that we always read as kids called Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch!
The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples
Buy on AmazonI’m going to read to you from The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples! And it’s about how couples can build a healthy, trusting relationship!
The Perfection Trap
Buy on AmazonHe's a professor at the London School of Economics, and he's kind of this world expert on perfectionism. His book is called The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough! I mean, it tells you where he stands right there!
Grit
Buy on AmazonYeah, I don't know if that accounts for his living to 100, but oh my gosh! He loved grit!
Free Will
Buy on AmazonI'm going to admit I hadn't thought about it until I got into adulthood, and he was reading a book called 'Free Will' by Sam Harris, which he gave me.
Episode: 183. Does Free Will Exist, and Does It Matter? | No Stupid Questions
Determined
Buy on AmazonHe most recently wrote a book, quite prolific, called 'Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will.'
Episode: 183. Does Free Will Exist, and Does It Matter? | No Stupid Questions
The Meritocracy Trap
Buy on AmazonSo Patrick says I'm a big fan of the podcast It would be insightful if the two of you could talk about the potential failures of a meritocracy like the one discussed in the Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits Are you familiar with this book I haven't read the Meritocracy Trap, but I'm pretty familiar with these arguments against meritocracy
Episode: 181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy? | No Stupid Questions
The Meritocracy Trap
Buy on AmazonActually, so Daniel Markovits is a professor of law at Yale.
Episode: 181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy? | No Stupid Questions
Justice
Buy on AmazonThere is another book on this topic of merit and meritocracy This one was written by one of the professors I took a course with at Harvard named Michael Sandel It was called Justice At the time, it was the largest lecture class at Harvard
Episode: 181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy? | No Stupid Questions
The Tyranny of Merit
Buy on AmazonAnd so this is, I think, his latest book It came out in 2020: The Tyranny of Merit What's Become of the Common Good Let me just say that neither of these titles makes it seem at all like they have a bias I'm just kidding Meritocracy Trap, The Tyranny of Merit, you don't have to guess, right
Episode: 181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy? | No Stupid Questions
The Big Test
Buy on AmazonYeah I mean, if you go back, I don't know how many decades, but I think it was Nicholas Lemann's book The Big Test, which gives you a little history of these Ivy League admissions Lemann says, you know, there was a time in the history of these elite universities that the way you got in was what your last name was
Episode: 181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy? | No Stupid Questions
Success and Luck
Buy on AmazonSo Mike, there’s an economist named Robert Frank, and he wrote a book called Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy Okay And I would say the through line in a lot of these arguments, including Sandel's, is that when you get into Harvard, you think you earned it
Episode: 181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy? | No Stupid Questions
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Buy on AmazonRight, and in the world of the life-changing magic of tidying up and the world that kind of called forth Marie Kondo to write a book about how we accumulate like so much crap in our lives, I mean we have so much crap.
Episode: 180. What Makes Some Objects Feel Special? | No Stupid Questions
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Buy on AmazonBy the way, I remember the day that I was reading John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, and I hated, did you read that book?
Episode: 180. What Makes Some Objects Feel Special? | No Stupid Questions
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Buy on AmazonIn her 2010 self-help book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Kondo says that she experimented with this method but that it didn't end up working for her, and she instead recommends discarding most books in their entirety.
Episode: 180. What Makes Some Objects Feel Special? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonThere was this book that came out and this movie that came out called The Secret. Oh yeah, have you ever heard of this?
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonSo The Secret was written by this Australian TV writer, her name is Rhonda Byrne. The book went on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 50 languages.
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Science of Getting Rich
Buy on AmazonShe was heavily influenced by a book from 1910, so almost a hundred years before she wrote hers, by a guy named Wallace Waddles, who wrote a book called The Science of Getting Rich, and it was this three-step process: ask, believe, receive.
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonSo in The Secret, Byrne refers to this three-step process and she loved this idea so much, she ran with it and talked about how her life had collapsed around her.
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonThe Secret and manifestation is interesting. I can't define it necessarily; manifest means to happen, right?
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonSo the book that Byrne wrote, The Secret, was largely based on the law of attraction, but like, attraction to what?
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonI'm going to say like, oh you know, maybe what all these kids need to do, maybe what I should have done as a teacher is sat at lunch and really helped kids visualize these positive futures! I don’t know, passed around The Secret!
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonSo here’s the thing that you don't read about in The Secret: the butt is this—the butt is this—when you cross the Rubicon, you're not done!
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonI know this is obvious to you and me, but I don't think it's obvious to everybody who buys The Secret or who answers questions like, you know, the universe is going to bring me success!
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
The Secret
Buy on AmazonIn the first half of the show, Mike says that in her 2006 book, The Secret, author Rhonda Byrne writes that the titular concept is largely based on the law of attraction.
Episode: 179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization? | No Stupid Questions
Free-Range Kids
Buy on AmazonThat weekend, she started a blog called Free-Range Kids and later wrote a book of the same name.
Episode: 178. Do Kids Need More Independence? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 177. What Does Success Look Like? | No Stupid Questions
The Paradox of Choice
Buy on AmazonI would guess Barry Schwartz. You know, that would be such a good guess.
Episode: 176. Why Is It So Hard to Make Decisions? | No Stupid Questions
Will
Buy on AmazonHe tells the story in his memoir of being a very young Will Smith — a certain deal has come his way.
Episode: 176. Why Is It So Hard to Make Decisions? | No Stupid Questions
The Paradox of Choice
Buy on AmazonI mentioned Barry Schwartz, who talked about decision-making in The Paradox of Choice. I think maybe a more approachable thing that we talk about nowadays is Netflix.
Episode: 176. Why Is It So Hard to Make Decisions? | No Stupid Questions
Pain, Parties, Work
Buy on AmazonIt's from The Bell Jar.
Episode: 176. Why Is It So Hard to Make Decisions? | No Stupid Questions
Will
Buy on AmazonIn the first half of the show, Angela says she was introduced to the expression 'paralysis by analysis' in Will Smith's 2021 memoir, Will.
Episode: 176. Why Is It So Hard to Make Decisions? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonYeah, many, many years ago, my book club flew out to Philadelphia to spend a day with you and talk through grit, right?
Episode: 175. Why Is Astrology So Popular? | No Stupid Questions
The Emperor's New Drugs
Buy on AmazonI mean, here's the example he gave in, I'm reading his book right now, about how therapists can better understand and create response expectancies. So he tells the story of not liking spicy food.
Episode: 175. Why Is Astrology So Popular? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: 174. What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing? | No Stupid Questions
The Joy Luck Club
Buy on AmazonI mean, at the policy level, at the identity level, like here's an example of somebody who overcame their low SAT score, but it just kind of underscores the inanity of all this. Like, The Joy Luck Club?
Episode: 174. What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing? | No Stupid Questions
The Hundred Secret Senses
Buy on AmazonMy book club, we read The Hundred Secret Senses. Oh wait, is that a novel?
Episode: 174. What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing? | No Stupid Questions
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonI recently came upon the No Stupid Questions podcast and would love to hear your thoughts on the importance of semantics, especially in relation to the idea of priming as written about in the great Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow.
Episode: 173. How Important Is Your Choice of Words? | No Stupid Questions
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonYeah, no, I think they're wrong. But Daniel Kahneman did write a great book too, you know, Thinking, Fast and Slow.
Episode: 173. How Important Is Your Choice of Words? | No Stupid Questions
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonYou know, one of the things that some readers took from Thinking, Fast and Slow was the idea that priming was really important. But what then happened after Daniel Kahneman published Thinking, Fast and Slow was that there was a huge controversy about whether it was true.
Episode: 173. How Important Is Your Choice of Words? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonI once gave a talk on grit for my book tour, and I was very nervous because I had never really given a book tour talk. I was like, 'What the hell is that?'
Episode: 173. How Important Is Your Choice of Words? | No Stupid Questions
Blood, Bones, & Butter
Buy on AmazonI am dying to ask you a question that has actually been simmering as I read through like essays that you've published in The Times and of course I read Blood, Bones, and Butter.
Episode: 149. Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
The Great Good Place
Buy on AmazonI knew you were going to either invoke Bob Putnam or Ray Oldenburg, who wrote The Great Good Place and talked about the loss of third places, so home being the first place, work being the second place, and we used to have all of these third places to which we would go, like bowling leagues or churches or pubs or bookstores, barber shops or whatever that was, and that's where we would gather in these areas that were more a neutral ground, a leveler.
Episode: 149. Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions
Smuggler's Cove
Buy on AmazonAnd Eli Finkel, he has this one diagram in his like magnum opus on how our expectations about marriage have changed over time and he calls it 'Mount Maslow.' And there's quite literally a picture of a mountain!
The Giver
Buy on AmazonHave you ever read The Giver? I just read it last year. Okay, it's probably the book I've read more than any other book.
Episode: 171. Where Is the Line Between Exaggeration and Lying? | No Stupid Questions
Words on the Move
Buy on AmazonThere is this linguist, John McWhorter, he wrote a book, Words on the Move: Why English Won't and Can't Sit Still, and he talked about the very fact that words just change and dictionaries sort of set in our minds that language is going to be precise forever, and this is just what this word means, or this is how we say it.
Episode: 171. Where Is the Line Between Exaggeration and Lying? | No Stupid Questions
The Giver
Buy on AmazonIn the first half of the show, Mike discusses Lois Lowry's Newbery Award-winning novel The Giver. He refers to the protagonist as Jona, but the character's name is Jonas!
Episode: 171. Where Is the Line Between Exaggeration and Lying? | No Stupid Questions
The Principles of Psychology
Buy on AmazonIn the first half of the show, Angela says that 19th century psychologist William James wrote something along the lines of, "Happiness is when your expectations meet your reality." She was thinking of a formula for self-esteem that James outlined in his book The Principles of Psychology.
Episode: 170. Are We Getting Lonelier? | No Stupid Questions
What Are People For?
Buy on AmazonThen Mike mentioned the line between loneliness and solitude by novelist and poet Wendell Berry. The line actually came from an article by author and poet Maria Popova, in which she was citing Berry's 1990 collection of essays, "What Are People For."
Episode: 170. Are We Getting Lonelier? | No Stupid Questions
Will
Buy on AmazonBecause I don't know if you've read Will Smith's autobiography— Oh yes! Will, I read it cover to cover!
Episode: 170. Are We Getting Lonelier? | No Stupid Questions
Will
Buy on AmazonYou know your story—I did read the Will Smith memoir from cover to cover, of course I did as a sort of a student devotee!
Episode: 170. Are We Getting Lonelier? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonSo, I guess the most personal thing for me would be, you know, in my research on grit, I got very taken with the idea that high achievers are people who are kind of indomitable in their will, and they are obsessive in their pursuit of a single goal. So, what's very hard for me is to then be criticized for this research.
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonIt's one of Danny Kahneman's inventions, but has gotten less attention than, like, Thinking, Fast and Slow and cognitive biases and so forth. I've absolutely heard of it; I think it's a fascinating concept!
Conflicted
Buy on AmazonAnd that's where this self-help book called Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together is really helpful. Who wrote this?
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Buy on AmazonFinally, Mike attributes the quotation 'do first things first and second things not at all' to Stephen Covey, author of the 1989 book 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.'
Episode: 168. Would You Be Happier if You Were More Creative? | No Stupid Questions
The Effective Executive
Buy on AmazonThe line actually comes from the 1966 book 'The Effective Executive' by Peter Drucker, whose work was a significant influence on Covey.
Episode: 168. Would You Be Happier if You Were More Creative? | No Stupid Questions
Burn-out
Buy on AmazonThe other thing that I thought of as you were talking about your book though and your work, there was this psychologist in New York in the early 1970s named Herbert Freudenberger, and he worked all of these shifts 10 hours a day at a private practice, then he would go down to a free clinic where he would work, and eventually broke down because he was working so much, and in the 1980s he wrote a book called Burnout: The High Cost of Achievement and had also written this paper titled Staff Burnout.
Episode: 166. Are You Suffering From Burnout? | No Stupid Questions
Generations
Buy on AmazonAnd by the way, these are categories that she writes about in her recent book. The title of that book is Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents and What They Mean for America's Future.
Episode: 165. Do "Generations" Mean Anything? | No Stupid Questions
Pour Your Heart Into It
Buy on AmazonI don't know Howard Schultz; actually I would love to know Howard Schultz, but I did read his memoir. I think it's called something like 'A Cup at a Time' or something like that.
Episode: 164. Do You Have Impostor Syndrome? | No Stupid Questions
The Light We Carry
Buy on AmazonRight, and you know, Michelle Obama in her book, 'The Light We Carry,' talks a lot about being an only and being a first. And when you're an only, you carry this massive additional burden because you are sort of the person laying the groundwork and setting the stage for what this is like.
Episode: 164. Do You Have Impostor Syndrome? | No Stupid Questions
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: Does Your DNA Determine Your Weight? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 163
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Buy on AmazonShe wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and is just one of my major heroes in life. Anyway, she had this conversation years ago with Bill Moyers and what I think is so fascinating, she said, you're only free when you realize you belong nowhere, everywhere, no place at all.
Episode: How Can You Be Kinder to Yourself? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 162
Radical Candor
Buy on AmazonI know our friend Adam Grant who’s also a professor at Wharton has written about how he hates the idea; our dear friend Kim Scott who wrote Radical Candor also hates the idea! But let me just stand up for the crap sandwich which is to say that I agree it’s kind of formulaic and predictable like I’m just going to like sugar coat the bitter pill of my negative feedback for you, you in this way that is totally insincere like that’s not good.
Episode: How Can You Be Kinder to Yourself? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 162
Mrs. Miracle
Buy on AmazonIn fact, the version of the aphorism: the grass is always greener on the other side seems to have originated in a line from Mrs. Miracle, a 1996 book by best-selling romance novelist Debbie Macomber.
Episode: How Effective Are Ultimatums? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 161
The Hidden Dimension
Buy on AmazonThis was a psychologist named Edward Hall who published this book called The Hidden Dimension on human personal space, and that was in 1966.
Episode: How Much Personal Space Do You Need? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 159
The Spaces Between Us
Buy on AmazonLike it was annoying, and the more recent research, it's so interesting; there is a Princeton neuroscientist named Michael Graziano and he wrote this book called The Spaces Between Us: A Story of Neuroscience, Evolution, and Human Nature.
Episode: How Much Personal Space Do You Need? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 159
Dare to Lead
Buy on AmazonIn her 2018 book, Dare to Lead, Brown writes that she first heard the phrase clear is kind, unclear is unkind at a 12-step meeting.
Episode: How Much Personal Space Do You Need? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 159
David and Goliath
Buy on AmazonYeah, okay, because like Malcolm Gladwell and others have written about this, like he did in David and Goliath; he coined this term, I think elite institution cognitive disorder, where basically we let elite institutions mess us up.
Episode: Bigger Fish, or Bigger Pond? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 158
I Love You the Purplest
Buy on AmazonThere's this children's book that my sister gave my grandmother many years ago called I Love You the Purplest, and basically all the grandkids are like 'Grandma, do you love me the most?','Do you love me the most?','And the grandma responds 'I love you the reddest; I love you the bluest,' whatever, right?
Episode: Bigger Fish, or Bigger Pond? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 158
Homicide
Buy on AmazonBut by David Simon, it's called Homicide: A Year on The Killing Streets, and at the same time, he said his favorite TV show was Cops.
Episode: Bigger Fish, or Bigger Pond? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 158
The Good Life
Buy on AmazonIt's by Robert Waldinger and Mark Schultz and it's called The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.
Episode: How Can You Get Closer to the People You Care About? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 157
Studying with Miss Bishop
Buy on AmazonHis memoir, which Angela is currently reading, is titled 'Studying with Miss Bishop: Memoirs from a Young Writer's Life.'
Episode: How Do You Connect With Someone You Just Met? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 156
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: How Do You Deal With Big Life Changes? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 155
Life Is in the Transitions
Buy on AmazonSo what's, I think, really fascinating about this, there's a guy named Bruce Feiler and he wrote a book called Life is in the Transitions, Mastering Change at Any Age, and he basically crisscrossed the United States for a year or two and just collected hundreds of stories from people who had been through a major life change, whether that was losing a job, losing a loved one, changing careers.
Episode: How Do You Deal With Big Life Changes? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 155
Beginners
Buy on AmazonLet me just tell you that I read a short story by Raymond Carver, and it was called A Small Good Thing. He’s way cooler than The Butthole Surfers! By the way, do you know who I'm talking about?
Episode: What's the Worst Kind of Regret? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 152
Born a Crime
Buy on AmazonWho you might think is just comedic and funny, but he wrote a book called Born a Crime, and it's a very thoughtful, serious look at his life. And in there, he says this: I don't regret anything I've ever done in my life, any choice that I've made, but I'm consumed with regret for the things I didn't do, the choices I didn't make, the things I didn't say!
Episode: What's the Worst Kind of Regret? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 152
Managing Expectations
Buy on AmazonOkay, maybe if I read this book, I'll be better at not having these ridiculous expectations, but so far it hasn't worked.
Episode: Is It Okay to Be Average? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 151
Top Five Regrets of the Dying
Buy on AmazonYou're probably familiar with this book, 'The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,' written by a hospice nurse. The number one regret of the dying, she said, is that they say, I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Episode: Is It Okay to Be Average? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 151
Meditation is Not What You Think
Buy on AmazonI don't know; I'm like reading this book on meditation and mindfulness, and I'm like, okay, maybe if I read this book, I'll be better at like not having these ridiculous expectations, but so far it hasn't worked!
Episode: Is It Okay to Be Average? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 151
Yes Man
Buy on AmazonOne thing that is interesting, though, and this is a totally tangential aside, there's this book called u2018Yes Man, I think they later made a movie about it, but this guy Danny Wallace who lived in London, he was getting bored; his life was getting boring, his friends were worried about him.
Episode: Why Do People Get Scammed? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 150
Not Born Yesterday
Buy on AmazonAnd I did mention, so I dip my toe in this research on gullibility, and there's not a lot on it, but I read this review called 'How Gullible Are We?'
Episode: Why Do People Get Scammed? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 150
Influence, New and Expanded
Buy on AmazonIf I gave Raymond the best advice, I think it would be go read ‘Influence’ by Bob Cialdini.
Episode: Why Do People Get Scammed? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 150
The Great Good Place
Buy on AmazonI knew you were going to either invoke Bob Putnam or Ray Oldenburg, who wrote *The Great Good Place* and talked about the loss of third places, so home being the first place, work being the second place, and we used to have all of these third places to which we would go like bowling leagues or churches, or pubs, or bookstores, barber shops, whatever that was.
Episode: Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 149
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Buy on AmazonIf you want to be depressed about our ability to succumb to that, I think of a book from maybe thirty years ago by Neil Postman called Amusing Ourselves to Death, which wasn't about binge-watching because it didn't exist, but it was about an engagement with media or entertainment.
Episode: Do You Savor or Gobble? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 91 (Replay)
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Buy on AmazonFinally, Angela describes the 'philosophical problem' of being plugged into a pleasure machine; there are several canonical references that fit this description, but Angela was likely thinking of the thought experiment described by American philosopher Robert Nozick in his 1974 book Anarchy, State, and Utopia.
Episode: Do You Savor or Gobble? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 91 (Replay)
Grit
Buy on AmazonA few years ago, for my last book, I ended up leaving the world of journalism to play a game for a good chunk of my life. For one year, while I was researching the book, I played a game full-time.
Episode: What Is Fun, Exactly? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 148
Hit Refresh
Buy on AmazonOne thing that so impressed me: he wrote a book that, I mean, to be honest, wasn't a great book; most books by CEOs aren't great books, but I know this book—which was called Hit Refresh.
Episode: Do You Have a Scarcity Mindset or an Abundance Mindset? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 145
Abundance
Buy on AmazonHe actually wrote a book called 'Abundance,' and they argue that technology, especially, will just keep solving problems and keep making things better.
Episode: Do You Have a Scarcity Mindset or an Abundance Mindset? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 145
Doughnut Economics
Buy on AmazonAnd then there are people like—I think of Kate Raworth, who's a British economist who wrote a book called 'Donut Economics.'
Episode: Do You Have a Scarcity Mindset or an Abundance Mindset? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 145
Power and Progress
Buy on AmazonHe's got a forthcoming book called 'Power and Progress: Our 1,000-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.'
Episode: Do You Have a Scarcity Mindset or an Abundance Mindset? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 145
SuperFreakonomics LP
Buy on AmazonWe wrote about this a little bit in Super Freakonomics; we're writing about prostitution actually as a sort of industry that we studied from economic and social perspectives.
Episode: Why Is Everyone Having Less Sex? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 138
How the Mind Works
Buy on AmazonPinker wrote a book about it; I think he did a really good job summarizing it.
Episode: Is It Wrong to Enjoy Yourself While the World Is Burning? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 132
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Buy on AmazonWell, the Theory of Moral Sentiments...
Episode: Is It Wrong to Enjoy Yourself While the World Is Burning? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 132
The Wealth of Nations
Buy on AmazonSelf-interest was something that he wrote a bit about in his later book The Wealth of Nations, but in the Theory of Moral Sentiments he writes about our self-concern in a way that I think would help modern people look at it in a different light.
Episode: Is It Wrong to Enjoy Yourself While the World Is Burning? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 132
Grit
Buy on AmazonYou know, I remember when the editor and literary agent convinced me to write Grit.
Episode: Why Is It So Hard to Resist Temptation? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 130
It
Buy on AmazonAnd let's see, this is capital I-T, I can't tell if that's supposed to be it or if it's actually I-T. It's it, Stephen King.
Episode: Why Do People Love Horror Movies? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 126
Forgery and Counter-forgery
Buy on AmazonI can't even remember, I was like incremental intelligence theory, there was some multi-syllabic, multi-word phrase and I believe she had to come up with some terminology when she was writing her first, last, only, at least for now, popular book for a lay audience, and you know, implicit theories of intelligence and you know, incremental versus whatever, these were not gonna fly and so growth mindset ended up being the terminology we all know and love today.
Episode: Why Do People Love Horror Movies? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 126
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: Why Are Rich Countries So Unhappy? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 120
Don Quixote
Buy on AmazonOne of the earliest written versions of the phrase appears in Thomas Shelton's 1620 translation of Don Quixote, during a time when most pots and kettles were made from cast iron, which blackened when placed over a flame.
Episode: Why Are Rich Countries So Unhappy? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 120
Nudge
Buy on AmazonOne of the most famous examples from the book Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein was about putting an image of a fly, a housefly, on a urinal in the airport. I think it was the airport in Amsterdam. Thaler and Sunstein didn't come up with this; they just thought it was a great example of the nudge framework, which is if you're a guy standing there ready to pee, rather than peeing on the wall or on the floor, which men sometimes do, if there's a fly, oh, it's a game, I have a target, I'm gonna pee on the fly!
Episode: Do People Pay Attention to Signs? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 116
Passages
Buy on AmazonThere was a book by Gail Sheehy which was just at the time massively everywhere; it was particularly looking at the passage of time and aging from a female perspective, but it was called 'Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life.' That was 1976.
Episode: Are You Having a Midlife Crisis? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 115
Midlife
Buy on AmazonIt's called 'Midlife: A Philosophical Guide,' and he makes the argument that while the midlife crisis was kind of overhyped for a while, and then found to be not as prevalent as it was thought to be at one point, he doesn't dismiss it. He says there's all kinds of good reasons why this might exist.
Episode: Are You Having a Midlife Crisis? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 115
The Conquest of Happiness
Buy on AmazonI'm reading this book on chasing happiness by Bertrand Russell, also a philosopher, who says more or less the same thing: 'Don't spend your whole life thinking about your own happiness; it's the surest recipe to be unhappy.'
Episode: Are You Having a Midlife Crisis? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 115
Thirty Million Words
Buy on AmazonYes I was talking to Dana Suskin who we both know she is a pediatric surgeon and she wrote this book called Parent Nation it's about what we have to do as a society to take care of all children and it's very much about the kids who are overlooked the kids who don't have advantages and Dana wrote a book prior to that called 30 Million Words and that also had some things to say about good parenting.
Episode: What’s So Bad About Nepotism? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 102
DSM-5® Guidebook
Buy on AmazonBut I think a very good starting place would be the DSM. You've heard of this, right?
Episode: Are You Really "Addicted" to Diet Coke? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 101
Hard to Break
Buy on AmazonBut one that I read again last week was by Russ Poldrack, he said Stanford, and he's a neuroscientist, and his book is called Hard to Break, Why Our Brains Make Habits Stick. I'm going to read for you his definition of addiction.
Episode: Are You Really "Addicted" to Diet Coke? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 101
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Buy on AmazonAnd then she continues, or will my almost daily re-watching of Friends and rereading of Harry Potter hinder my ability to form 'normal' relationships in the long run?
Episode: Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 100
Grit
Buy on AmazonIt's G-R-I-T, but the point is, oftentimes in these very short interactions with strangers, it seems to me like there's a familiarity. It's like, 'Oh my gosh, are you Angela?'
Episode: Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 100
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: Are Women Really Less Happy Than Men? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 97
On Writing
Buy on AmazonIn fact, I may be misremembering this, but I think I wrote a piece once about a young guy who was driving on a rural road in Maine and hit Stephen King with his car and almost killed Stephen King. I've read Stephen King's side of it in the book 'On Writing'. Yeah, exactly!
Episode: Is Self-Improvement Too Selfish? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 88
Candide
Buy on AmazonYou know, when I was in high school, I read 'Candide'. Did you read 'Candide' by Voltaire? Let us go cultivate our garden.
Episode: Is Self-Improvement Too Selfish? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 88
Winter Notes on Summer Impressions
Buy on AmazonWegner was directly inspired by a moment from Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 'Winter Notes on Summer Impressions,' one of his non-fiction pieces. Dostoevsky writes, 'Try to pose for yourself this task, not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.' Wegner was intrigued by this idea, prompting him to build an experiment around it.
Episode: How Do You Deal With Intrusive Thoughts? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 75
The Genetic Lottery
Buy on AmazonThere's a book out now; I really recommend it.
Episode: Does Reverse Psychology Really Work? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 74
Angela's Ashes
Buy on AmazonI can think of one book that I loved and saw the film, and I didn't hate it, and that was Angela's Ashes, which I thought was a pretty good film. I did not know that was a film.
Episode: In a Job Interview, How Much Does Timing Matter? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 70
The Bonfire of the Vanities
Buy on AmazonBut then I think of another book that I loved, Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. I love that book too, a great novel. Then the movie came out, and I can't remember that movie!
Episode: In a Job Interview, How Much Does Timing Matter? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 70
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information PAPERBACK
Buy on AmazonStephen was perhaps thinking of 'chart junk', a term that Tufte coined in his 1983 book, 'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information'. Tufte writes, 'The interior decoration of graphics generates a lot of ink that does not tell the viewer anything new.'
Episode: In a Job Interview, How Much Does Timing Matter? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 70
Grit
Buy on AmazonI'm Angela Duckworth. I'm Stephen Dubner and you're listening to No Stupid Questions.
Episode: What’s the Best Advice You’ve Ever Received? (Replay) | No Stupid Questions | Episode 65
Grit
Buy on AmazonResearch psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one.
Episode: How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of "The Happiness Lab" | No Stupid Questions | Ep 63
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4
Buy on AmazonI'm reading here from a piece called 'Breaking Out of the Drama Triangle' by Sherry Steins. So I'm thinking, okay, this is going to be really helpful.
Episode: How Can You Escape a Drama Triangle? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 62
Economic Empowerment Of Women In The Islamic World: Theory And Practice
Buy on AmazonSo there's a book by Janet Gallus and Bruno Frey; it's called Honors versus Money: The Economics of Awards. Obviously, there are awards in all these different parts of society: the state, arts and media, sports, religion—you get awards for volunteering and so on.
Episode: How Can You Escape a Drama Triangle? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 62
The Interpretation of Dreams
Buy on AmazonOf course, in his classic work, The Interpretation of Dreams, which he wrote just at the dawn of the 20th century. For Freud, dreams were a matter of wish fulfillment. This is a way that we play out our unconscious impulses.
Episode: Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 59
Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper
Buy on AmazonAnd I ended up writing a book about him; it was called Confessions of a Hero Worshiper, and it was about the notion of heroes. So I got to hang out with him, talk about this notion; well, what do you make of all this, Stephen? Did we answer this question about dreams and what they're good for?
Episode: Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 59
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonAnd as you've taught us all here via Danny Kahneman, I guess we do have this appetite for coherence, right? This is one of my major take-homes from Danny Kahneman. I know everyone thinks about thinking fast and slow and judgment decision-making and biases and heuristics, but I think one of his core insights is that human beings have certain fundamental limited patience and inclinations; one of them is this need to create causal narratives and for there to be coherence, and we hate having the opposite of that, which is a sense of dissonance, things not adding up.
Episode: Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 59
The Elements of Style
Buy on AmazonAnd then it's like the Strunk and White of scientific writing.
Episode: Why Is Academic Writing So Bad? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 56
Legacies of the Turf
Buy on AmazonI'm reading a little bit from a book by Allison Colin, Still Fair Race, called 'How Capitalism Forms Our Lives.'
Episode: Why Is Academic Writing So Bad? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 56
Thinking and Deciding
Buy on AmazonThe full article is titled 'How to Write a Research Report in Psychology.'
Episode: Why Is Academic Writing So Bad? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 56
Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated
Buy on AmazonThat is a very interesting point, and I think Robert Putnam, the sociologist who well before the pandemic worried about this as a trend in the United States, most famously wrote the book Bowling Alone, which is exactly what you're not prescribing.
Episode: What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 55
The Prince
Buy on AmazonNicolo Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance diplomat who was infamous for his 1513 book, The Prince, a treatise on how to acquire power and keep it.
Episode: What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 55
Discourses on Livy
Buy on AmazonSome scholars have asserted that Machiavelli himself was not very Machiavellian; his later works, Discourses on Livy and The Art of War, seem to run counter to the advice given in The Prince.
Episode: What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 55
Art of War
Buy on AmazonSome scholars have asserted that Machiavelli himself was not very Machiavellian; his later works, Discourses on Livy and The Art of War, seem to run counter to the advice given in The Prince.
Episode: What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 55
Who Was E. B. White?
Buy on AmazonIf you want to write more than one book in your entire life, you need to learn how to do the work. E.B. White, who I know you like, I love E.B. White.
Episode: Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 54
Liar's Poker
Buy on AmazonAnd I think also Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short and Liar's Poker, I love his work. I'm also a big fan of Richard Thaler, the Nobel Laureate economist.
Episode: Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 54
Turbulent Souls:
Buy on AmazonYou can learn more about her life as an accomplished ballerina, self-taught farmer, mother of eight, and devout Catholic convert in Stephen's 1998 memoir, Turbulent Souls, which was later republished under a new title, Choosing My Religion.
Episode: Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 54
Choosing My Religion
Buy on AmazonYou can learn more about her life as an accomplished ballerina, self-taught farmer, mother of eight, and devout Catholic convert in Stephen's 1998 memoir, Turbulent Souls, which was later republished under a new title, Choosing My Religion.
Episode: Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 54
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Buy on AmazonAnd by the way, people read Thinking, Fast and Slow and they watch a TED Talk, and I think that we are actually newly aware of these evolutionarily explicable quirks of human reasoning.
Episode: Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 54
A Calendar of Wisdom
Buy on AmazonYou know, I've been thinking about this recently for two reasons: one is I've been reading this book by Tolstoy called 'A Calendar of Days,' and it's kind of like this daily devotional.
Episode: What Separates Humans From Other Animals? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 51
A Calendar of Wisdom
Buy on AmazonFinally, Angela tells Steven about a Tolstoy book that she's enjoying called 'A Calendar of Days.' Angela seems to be developing a habit of remembering interesting details about the books she reads while getting their titles wrong.
Episode: What Separates Humans From Other Animals? | No Stupid Questions | Episode 51