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Episode | Date |
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Bookmark: The Rich Roll Podcast
19:57
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May 19, 2023 |
Chapter 123: Suzy Batiz on suffering, surviving, and selling shit
03:38:38
“Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve taken the smell out of shit!” Suzy Batiz says this is what her husband Hector said — shocked! amazed! — when he realized the strange essential oil spray she’d been obsessively working on late into the night for nine straight months really and actually … worked. Today Suzy is founder of billion-dollar-valued Poo-Pourri and supernatural. But the endless topline superlatives surrounding her — EY Entrepreneur of the Year, ranked #240 on Forbes “Richest Self-Made” Woman list just above Serena Williams — actually mask the more startling, complex, inspiring story underneath. Sure, there’s no denying the wealth — after all, we did this interview in the 15,000 square foot church she lives in — but Suzy isn’t motivated by money. Never has been! She’s motivated by freedom, by energy, by making, by love — and by leading and sharing a life of inspiration. I flew down to Dallas, Texas and sat with my friend Suzy Batiz to understand how exactly she navigated a lifetime of poverty, abuse, depression, divorces, bankruptcies, and suicide attempts in order to — bit by bit, step by step — manifest a life full of exploration, transformation, and abundance. Led by her curiosity, gumption, and an “I gotta get out” energy she reveals hard-fought lessons in personal growth, unicorn-building entrepreneurial advice, and deeply resonant nuggets of life-changing wisdom — much of which she’s never shared before. I think you will take away a tremendous amount from this conversation. And, for those feeling stuck, trapped, or helpless — there are many jungle vines hanging here to help you get out. Freedom is possible. Suzy will share a few ways to find it. We discuss: the art of cold-calling, agency in abuse, finding angels, the problem with antidepressants, deuterium depleted water, the trinity of transformation, 4 questions to break free of destructive thinking, ayahuasca voices, what entrepreneurs need to remember, Suzy Batiz's 3 most formative books, and much, much, much more…
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/123 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
May 05, 2023 |
Trailer: Chapter 123: Suzy Batiz on suffering, surviving, and selling shit
43
Listen to the full episode at 3books.co/chapters/123 |
May 05, 2023 |
Bookmark: Honing healthy happy habits with the Holdernesses
58:50
Penn and Kim Holderness are a beam of light in the world.
If you aren't one of the billion people -- like, an actual billion -- who've watched their viral videos, well then, let me quickly usher you over to their YouTube Channel or Instagram feed. From their original 2013 "#XMAS JAMMIES" singing Christmas card (parodied by Kristin Wiig and team on SNL) to their truly astounding "Hamilton Mask-Up Medley" at the peak of the pandemic -- well, it's all right there. Laughs, connection, love offered as endless simple and reorienting gifts in our disorienting world.
I was flattered a few months ago to be invited on their intimate, high-energy Holderness Family Podcast. They have such unique chemistry and I didn't know what to expect. Well, they came in hot! Pushing past the typical "Tell us your story" stuff and getting right into the meatier "Come on, really?" questions that helped us fall into a deeper, richer conversation covering so much ground in (somehow) a wee 58 minutes.
Thank you deeply to Kim and Penn Holderness for having me on their show. Subscribe to The Holderness Family Podcast, follow them everywhere right here, and I hope you enjoy this Bookmark episode of 3 Books.
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 20, 2023 |
Chapter 122: Tank Sinatra on masterpiece microdosing and meme mastery in our manufactured madness
01:52:22
Diluting central news sources. Constantly narrowing echo chambers. An ever-fracturing sense of community. It’s easy to feel disconnected from each other right now — and from what’s collectively real and true in the world. We need people and places that help unify us and bring us together. At @tank.sinatra he shares with 3 million people a photo of Heath Ledger as The Joker, with stringy wet hair, in the nurse’s outfit, in the middle of a road, with smoke and fire in the background together with the caption “The CEO of Silicon Valley Bank after selling $4 million worth of his stock the day before collapse.” You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/122 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 06, 2023 |
Bookmark: On braving bushy brambles and becoming a birder
27:37
I felt trapped early in the pandemic. Thank you sincerely to Patrick Nadeau, Jody Allair, Andrea Gress, Kate Dalgleish, Kris Cu, José Mora, Alex Nicole, and the entire Birds Canada team.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/birding-with-birds-canada Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Mar 21, 2023 |
Chapter 121: Johann Hari on deleting devious dogma and discovering deeper designs
02:01:35
Happy full moon, everybody! Do you feel like the world today -- our culture today -- is pulling us further and further away from things that matter? Like deep in-person, real-life, human connections. Like the ability to focus on things that require deep thought, care, and time -- like reading books. Are you feeling yourself sucked into the algorithmic abyss -- where endless dings and pings and alerts and notifications pull us into echo chambers that prey on biological tendencies beyond our comprehension? You may remember our chat on 3 Books six chapters ago with Dr. Gabor Maté who calls our culture today "toxic" and the record-levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and suicide rates we have today. So what do we do about it? Well, our guest today is Johann Hari who will help me, help you, help all of us rekindle what is important in our life. How? By taking back our focus and our attention. Some history: I first heard about Johann back on Chapter 49 with Dr. Andrea Sereda. One of her 3 most formative books was CHASING THE SCREAM by Johann Hari. I read it cover to cover and it was a deep, nuanced book about the war on drugs and our cultural history and relationship with drugs. I made it one of my top books of the year. So I reached out to Johann and we eventually sat down to get his 3 most formative books. Who is Johann Hari? He was born in Glasgow in 1979 and when he was a year old his family moved to London where he lived most of his life. He studied social and political science at Cambridge and is now the author of three massive bestsellers: CHASING THE SCREAM, LOST CONNECTIONS, and his newest out in 2022 called STOLEN FOCUS: Why You Can't Pay Attention. His work has been lauded by everybody from Bono to Oprah and he's been named national newspaper journalist of the year by Amnesty International twice. Listen as we talk about: regaining our attention, kSafes, reading as resistance, negative bias, amygdala hijacks, managing intelligence, French burnout laws, and, of course, Johann's 3 most formative books... I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Let's flip the page into Chapter 121 now... You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/121
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Mar 07, 2023 |
[Oscar Encore!] Daniels existentially explore everything everywhere
01:07:23
Happy new moon, everybody! I have a very special Oscar Encore episode for you today -- in celebration of our guests little-film-that-could EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE scoring 11 (11!) Oscar nominations. Yes, the Oscars goes down in a few weeks on March 12th and it just seems worth pausing on how this remarkable non-sequel, non-superhero, paltry-budged, genre-smashing flick is suddenly poised for recognition in categories like (no biggie!) Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress.... and on and on. Some history! Way back in November 2021 I was in theatres in downtown Toronto and saw a preview for EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. The trailer blew me away and when I got home I remembered at the beginning it said "A Film By Daniels". Daniels? Who's Daniels!? I started googling and discovered it was two guys named Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert who have been making films together since college. They'd made one feature film before called SWISS ARMY MAN (also known as the 'Daniel Radcliffe Farting Corpse Movie') and a slate of incredible music videos like TONGUES by Joywave, SIMPLE SONG by The Shins, and TURN DOWN FOR WHAT by DJ Snake and Lil Jon ... which has over 1.1 billion views! I fell into a rabbit hole soaking up their incredibly creative, challenging, boundary-pushing art and reached out to Daniel Kwan (@dunkwun) to invite the guys on 3 Books. We started trading long thoughtful emails about formative books while the background buzz on their movie kept building. It started limited runs in New York and LA and the Rotten Tomatoes score was 99%! And then, just a few days before the movie got a national distribution, we sat down for this moment-in-time conversation on 3 Books. And now: To mark the incredible run the film's had since then we've done a very special edit of the conversation. It's hot! It's tight! It's fresh! It's sizzling! And if after listening to this you want the "Directors Cut" just scroll back to Chapter 101 for the full-length "extra hour" version. I hope you enjoy this special Bookmark Episode of 3 Books. Enjoy!
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Feb 20, 2023 |
Chapter 120: Timothy Goodman on popping privilege paradigms and paving personal paths
01:27:04
Happy Snow Moon, everybody!
I've been thinking a lot again about what makes life important.
I'm convinced it's just not social media. News media. The endless firehose of negativity being blasted at our brains out there. No. It's not that. It's the curtains we pull around ourselves and our loved ones to create and hold space to be our truest selves.
We’ve only got 30,000 days here and they are always, always, always fleeting. So let's make sure on 3 Books we create and hold space to talk about and celebrate what makes life sweet. Let's always plumb into the depths of inspiring and stimulating characters and people who share their wisdom with us and feel like good company on our path.
To mark the Snow Moon we are going to be sharing company today with Timothy Goodman, one of the most open hearted, vulnerable, and artistic souls I think we've ever had on the show. How can I introduce you to him? Well, if you have this month’s issue of Time magazine Timothy drew the cover! If you live in New York City and saw a garbage truck drive by covered in doodles, that’s Timothy Goodman! If you hang out in trendy NYC hotels, Timothy Goodman has done art in the lobbies! He’s created art for the likes of Nike, Apple, Google, MOMA, Netflix, Tiffany, Samsung, Target, The New Yorker and The New York Times.
Timothy Goodman is the author of Sharpie Art Worksop and the co-creator of several social experiments including the viral blog and book, 40 Days of Dating. His first solo gallery exhibition, I’m Too Young To Not Set My Life on Fire was on view in Manhattan last year. And he just designed shoes for Kevin Durant -- the KD15! -- even though he’s a Knicks fan, as you'll hear.
Timothy has a brand new graphic memoir out called I Always Think It's Forever which talks about the year he spent travelling and falling in love. He has a wonderful way of writing -- like hiphop lyrics -- with endlessly stimulating braids of rhyme and design.
We are going to talk about: couples therapy, navigating stress, staying artistically fresh, prioritizing creativity, what it means to be a recovering misogynist, how to question our tropes about gender, mourning past versions of yourself, and of course, the incredible Timothy Goodman’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 120 now…
What you'll learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/120
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
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Feb 05, 2023 |
Bookmark: The Current
35:18
Happy new moon!
Today I’m sharing a recent conversation I had with veteran journalist Matt Galloway for his show The Current.
Hope you enjoy! |
Jan 21, 2023 |
Chapter 119: Steve Toltz on refining writing rituals and raising ravenous readers
01:54:28
What is your favorite novel?
It's a hard question. A big question! A question that makes most people hmmm for a while before they get to an answer. If they get to an answer! But I think I know mine. My favorite novel is A Fraction of a Whole by Steve Toltz.
First, the book came to me in an interesting way. I walked into wonderful indie bookstore Type on Queen Street West in downtown Toronto a couple days before my wedding to Leslie. I was looking for a good book to take on my honeymoon. (Insert obvious joke: "You wanted to read on your honeymoon?" But yes. I did. We did!)
I spent two or three hours with incredible bookseller Kalpna who painstakingly picked book after book off the shelf working through my way-too-long list of criteria: the book couldn't be too heavy, it couldn't be too *physically* large, but it also had to last the trip because I only had one tiny bag so, you know, it had to simultaneously be fairly dense. And it had to be fiction. And it had to be fast-paced. And it would be good if it was funny. And, and, and...
Well, Kalpna (bless her) kept pulling books off the shelves and I kept doing The First Five Pages Test to check every book for pace, tone, rhythm, style, and language. I must have flipped through a few dozen books before I ended up with A Fraction of a Whole by Steve Toltz. A book I'd never heard of! By a guy I'd never heard of!
Why? Well, the first sentence pulled me in: “You never hear about a sportsman losing his sense of smell in a tragic accident and for good reason; in order for the universe to teach excruciating lessons that we are unable to apply in later life, the sportsman must lose his legs, the philosopher his mind, the painter his eyes, the musician his ears, the chef his tongue.” I kept reading and it just took off from there. Piles of accolades littered across the jacket helped too: “Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize”, "Finalist for The Guardian First Book Award", "Deserves a place next to The Confederacy of Dunces" (Wall Street Journal), "Soars like a rocket!" (LA Times), "A comic masterpiece!" (Ottawa Citizen) and on and on...
I fell deep into Steve’s Toltz’s absurd world of endless turns and surprise pearls of wisdom and spent years since then trying to land this interview with him! He is a deep and focused writer who is well off social media and doesn't do "the rounds" so it took some time. I emailed him some of my favorite lines from his books, sat in the front row to hear him speak at the International Festival of Authors, and waited -- just waited! -- for his next novel to come out so I could try again. And now it finally has...
Steve Toltz was born in 1972 in Sydney, Australia and he is the Man Booker-shortlisted award-winning novelist of three books including A Fraction of the Whole (2008), Quicksand (2016), and his newest Here Goes Nothing (2022). I personally recommend starting with A Fraction of the Whole because it was so deeply affecting to me and many folks I've recommended it to, but all three contain his wholly original sideways genius that constantly amazes and surprises.
Steve has lived in Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Barcelona, Paris, and Los Angeles and worked as a cameraman, telemarketer, security guard, private investigator, teacher, screenwriter, and, well, a lot more. I'm not sure he's right but he says in this interview: "If you want to become a novelist you sort of have to be a loser for a while.”
I was so excited to talk to Steve Toltz and we go deep on many things including: fear of death, Woody Allen, writing by hand in two-hour chunks, finding your voice, anonymity and success, Russian Literature, how to avoid quitting, how to start big projects, raising readers, books for boys, and, of course, the incredible Steve Toltz’s 3 most formative books.
It is my privilege, pleasure, and honor to share this conversation. As always, I'll be in your left ear, Steve will be in your right, and we pull up a chair between us for you to come on in...
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 119 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/119
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
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Jan 06, 2023 |
Chapter 118: Catherine Hernandez poses for positivity with pride and presence
02:01:14
Do you ever have a book go viral through your family?
Your aunt reads it and tells everyone at dinner. The copy gets passed along. A few more dog ears show up. The spine gets cracked. And a year later half a dozen people have read it?
Well that's what happened in our family with Catherine Hernandez's wonderful debut novel Scarborough. I even just put it on my Best Of 2022 list!
Catherine Hernandez is an award winning Canadian author and screenwriter.
Born in Toronto, she is a proud queer woman of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent. She attended Ryerson University (now called Toronto Metropolitan University) for theatre but pretty quickly realized that she wanted to write. She started in magazines but soon branched off to books and plays.
So her first novel, Scarborough tells the story of a place -- a low-income, culturally diverse neighborhood east of Toronto -- my home and the fourth largest city in North America. Scarborough is a multi-voiced novel with unforgettable characters: Victor, a black artist harassed by the police, Winsum, a West Indian restaurant owner struggling to keep it together, Bing, a gay Filipino boy who lives under the shadow of his father's mental illness, and many more.
I couldn't put it down. Neither could a lot of people! Scarborough has won a slew of prizes and awards and was turned into a critically acclaimed film which became first runner-up for the People’s Choice Award at TIFF in 2021.
Catherine has gone on to write a number of other books including Crosshairs and Singkil, The Femme Playlist. Her next book, due out in 2023, The Story of Us is about a caregiver and her elderly client. And she’s even put out children’s books, like M is for Mustache and Where Do Feelings Live.
We talk about many things in this conversation including: body image, social support systems, posing nude, finding voice, authenticity in books, the tragedy of Turtle Island, being confronted by otherness and the beautiful traditions of a Navajo wedding.
Catherine is a talent and a force and such a dream guest.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 118 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/118
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Dec 23, 2022 |
The Best of 2022: Neil Pasricha winds and wades through wandering wisdoms
04:49:08
Can you believe it?
We started 3 Books back on March 31, 2018 with the goal of counting down the 1000 most formative books in the world. We said we would hang out on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon for nearly 15 straight years until we collected all 1000 of them. We set the intention of making this show an ‘intrinsically-motivated journey’ and pledged to doing it with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. To help guide ourselves we started collecting Values like no book shame, no book guilt, quit more to read more, and the books are the hero.
For the nearly five years we’ve been hanging out I have to say this journey has felt like a warm ray of sun in my life. I hope it’s felt the same for you. My goal with this annual “Best Of” is simply to roll back through the year together and pick out moments that made us pause, ponder, and savor.
Thank you for being a 3 Booker and spending time with this incredible community of book lovers spread across the world. If you’re reading this, I love you more than lots.
Let’s stop to reflect and then keep enjoying the ride.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/best-of-2022
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Dec 21, 2022 |
Chapter 117: Ajay Agrawal and Gina Buonaguro on puzzling pasts and portending possibilities
02:02:35
On the heels of launching my latest book, Our Book of Awesome, I’m enjoying the fellowship of two authors in my life — one of whom I met 22 years ago when I was in my final year at Queen’s.
Bounding into my life at the time came a young professor named Ajay Agrawal. And I mean bounding! He was cold calling left, right and center, dancing around the room, and extremely theatrical. As you listen to him you’ll see why I found him so captivating and clairvoyant.
Professor Ajay Agrawal has won Professor of the Year seven times! He’s like Canada’s Adam Grant. He is the co-author of the bestselling book, Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence, named one of the best tech books of the year by Forbes, The New York Times and The Economist. His latest book has just come out and it is called, Power and Prediction, also co-authored with Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb.
Ajay is a tenured professor at Rotman, a research associate at The National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founder of the Creative Destruction Lab, a not-for-profit program that helps start-ups launch, and co-founder of Next Canada dedicated to the development and training of young entrepreneurs. He is also a recent winner of the Order of Canada which is the highest civilian honor that Canada awards.
Over the years I've gotten a chance to meet Ajay's truly lovely partner in life: Gina Buonaguro. And, guess what? She's a writer too! Ajay focuses on the future. Gina focuses on the past. Gina is originally from New Jersey but has been living in Toronto for many years. She started at Villanova University, all the way up to the University of British Columbia on a Fullbright Scholarship.
Gina’s written dozens of articles, won five writing grants and is the co-author of six historical fiction books, including her latest, The Virgins of Venice.
You could not think of two books which are more different: The Virgins of Venice and Power and Prediction. One is a 500 year old historical fiction saga taking place in a convent with sexy nuns. And the other a deep dive into AI.
I was intrigued by the relationship dynamics between them, what their books really say, and how their writing processes work. So I invited them, together, to come on 3 Books. I also asked Leslie to join the conversation.
So the four of us sat down in Gina and Ajay’s living room and we discussed questions like: what is the fate of girls in 16th century Venice, what does it mean for a city to be excommunicated, why has Uber been so revolutionary, what is the point vs systems solution in AI, how can books be shared and read together, what is an Untouchable Day, how can we think about living a little more intentionally, how does AI manipulate us today and it goes on and on and on.
This is a wide ranging conversation that I think you will truly enjoy.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 117 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/117
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Dec 08, 2022 |
Bookmark: Our Book of Awesome Book Launch Special
24:33
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Dec 06, 2022 |
Chapter 116: Bryan Stevenson on handling haunting histories with heart and hope
01:47:35
I got a phone call at 1-833-READ-A-LOT from Austin Wong in Oregon telling me we had to get Bryan Stevenson on 3 Books. I looked into Austin’s request and came upon Bryan's incredible bestseller Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. I listened to his 10-million plus hit TED Talk "We need to talk about an injustice" and approached the Equal Justice Initiative to have him on as a guest.
We finally found a time to have the conversation way down in Austin, Texas, where we were both scheduled to speak at the same conference. He came to my hotel room at 7am -- 7am! -- and we had a wonderful exchange in front of floor-to-ceiling glass windows with the sun brightening the Texas hills outside our window. I then went downstairs two hours later and watched Bryan captivate a room full of 700 people and get the loudest standing O I may have ever heard. This is a man on a mission. And his work and his words are so vital.
Bryan Stevenson has been representing capital defendants and death row prisoners in the deep South since 1985 when he was a staff attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1989 he has been Executive Director and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a private non profit law organization that focuses on social justice and human rights in the context of criminal justice reform in the US. In practice? Bryan and his team take on the cases nobody else wants: litigating on behalf of condemned prisoners, people sentenced to die in prison at age 13, disabled prisoners sentenced to death, people wrongly convicted or charged, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct.
Bryan has won the McArthur Fellowship "Genius" Award, multiple Human Rights Awards, and the ACLU National Medal of Liberty. He has a degree from Harvard Law and more honorary degrees than anyone I’ve interviewed before including from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn and it goes on and on.
His book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a captivating must-read with 23,268 reviews on Amazon as of right now. It's been turned into a movie starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. Perhaps interesting: all 3 of Bryan’s formative books are fiction. Buckle up for a heart-shaking conversation around hope, justice, slavery, capital punishment, truth, trust and much, much more. It's an honor to help amplify the incredible work of Bryan Stevenson. Thank you to Bryan, Caitlin, McCarthy Tétrault, and the Equal Justice Initiative for helping to make this conversation happen.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 116 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/116
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Nov 23, 2022 |
Chapter 115: Gabor Maté targets toxic triggers to transcend trauma
01:16:46
Let’s flash back to Budapest Hungary in 1944 where a little baby boy named Gabor lay crying in his crib. He wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. His mother called the doctor who said, “All my Jewish babies are crying”.
Nazis had taken over the country and killed Gabor’s grandparents in Auschwitz. Gabor’s dad was put into forced labor and his aunt was missing. Today we understand that Gabor was experiencing trauma through his mother’s stress.
His father thankfully returned after the war and when he was 12 years old, the family moved to Canada. Gabor went to the University of British Columbia before becoming a high school english teacher through the 60s and early 70s and then returned to university to become a doctor in 1977. Gabor spent over 20 years practicing family and palliative care medicine in the downtown Eastside of Vancouver -- a neighbourhood with one of the world's highest concentrations of drug addiction.
Today Gabor is the bestselling author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Close Encounters with Addiction, When the Body Says No, Scattered Minds, Hold Onto Your Kids, and his brand new New York Times bestseller The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic World.
I bought the book when it came out from Caversham Booksellers, which is North America’s largest mental health bookstore and located in downtown Toronto. They told me Gabor had been by many times and proudly had all his books in the front window. I cracked it open and couldn't stop reading. Gabor is entrancing, passionate, and wise and I was thrilled to sit down with him at Penguin Random House headquarters during the Canadian leg of his international book tour.
We discuss: play, love, Jordan Peterson, innocence, attachment parenting, Winnie the Pooh, father-son relationships, identifying and healing from trauma, curiosity and living, shifting attitudes, formative books, and much, much more…
This conversation is a journey I don't think you'll soon forget. I find myself thinking about it nearly every day.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 115 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/115
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Nov 08, 2022 |
Chapter 114: Light Watkins on Mexico's marvels, meditation myths, and mental mastery
01:21:45
Five years ago I was invited down to Brooklyn to speak at an event called The Shine Movement. It was an intriguing soul-refueling combination of meditation, drumming, giving, and a few words by me. The event attracted a fascinating subculture of people and I felt slightly entranced meeting the man and mind behind it all: Light Watkins.
Light Watkins is someone I consider a master of spirit and mind. He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama (with siblings Candy, Trey, and Dusty!) in the 70s and 80s, traveled the world as a fashion model, and then worked as one of the most prominent yoga instructors in LA (including teaching future princesses). Deepak Chopra calls his meditation insights "simple and profound." Today Light has taught meditation to thousands of people from all walks of life in retreats and workshops around the world. He is the author of three bestselling books: The Inner Gym, Bliss More, and Knowing Where to Look. And each morning since 2016, Light has been sending out a daily dose of inspiration email.
Not only is Light incredibly prolific but he is also a wandering spirit -- literally. He lives out of a backpack. Not a giant hiking backpack, either! A normal backpack. I was grateful to catch up to him from Mexico City to finally reconnect many years later. I think you'll love this conversation and his 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 114 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/114
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Oct 25, 2022 |
Chapter 113: Alie Ward oozes originality over odysseys and ologies
01:49:03
Oh hey.
It’s the person who just dropped their phone on the bus right when the driver hit the gas and now the phone’s sliding across the sandy floor all the way to the back… Neil. Neil Pasricha. And now it is finally time for our much-anticipated 3 Books chapter with the one and only ... Alie Ward.
Alie is the Sacramento-raised youngest of 3 girls who grew up in the 80s listening to DadWard deliver the morning news from the local radio station. She spent her childhood playing with bugs and just being told by her parents, “Come back by sundown and don’t get tetanus.”
Alie fell in love with science and studied science and film in college. An unlikely but prophetic mix. She went on to win an Emmy for being CBS’s correspondent for Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocco and was a host for Did I Mention Invention? on CW. She’s a consulting producer for the Barack and Michelle Obama-produced Netflix show Ada Twist Scientist and appears in the Netflix science series Brainchild and the science channel’s How to Build Everything.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! The piece de resistance of her science-and-performing ways is, of course, her jaw-droppingly great podcast, Ologies. Everybody I've suggested this podcast to just loves it. There's a reason it's the number one science podcast in the world! What are ... ologies? There are so many! There’s Myrmecology which is about ants, there’s Scorpiology which is about scorpions, there’s Etymology which is about word origins and, of course, there's one on Awesomeology about gratitude and happiness starring yours truly.
Now it’s time to pull up your petrified stump and get ready to talk about: self-help books, starting a podcast, skunk predators, Life lists, Cervidology, infectious energy, confidence versus arrogance, visioning, the Galápagos Islands, fostering community, building trust, formative books and much, much more...
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 113 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/113
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Oct 09, 2022 |
Chapter 112: Katie Mack on cultivating curiosity and contemplating the cosmos
01:16:34
I want to make you dizzy.
I want to make you look up into the sky and comprehend, maybe for the first time, the darkness that lies beyond the evanescent wisp of the atmosphere, the endless depths of the cosmos, a desolation by degrees
These two lines begin an incredible poem called “Disorientation”... by Katie Mack.
Did you feel dizzy reading it? I did. I do!
What is the universe? Where did it come from? What was here before it? How long has it lasted? How long will it last? How could it ... end?
Do you remember being a little kid and it maybe suddenly hitting you that there was this overwhelming gigantic thing we were a part of that was almost too vast to even comprehend? I feel like a lot of us have that feeling. Sort of reminds me of this super-short clip from Annie Hall where 8-year old Alvy Singer is taken to the doctor by his mother because the vastness of the cosmos has suddenly hit him.
Why isn't he doing his homework? "What's the point?" he concludes.
That's one reaction. But if you're Katie Mack growing up in California you run the other way. You pick up a book called A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and continue chasing these near-impossible questions and just never, never stop. Katie kept asking these questions through her undergrad in Physics at CalTech and her PhD in Astrophysics from Princeton before she launched into even more fascinating work like, no big deal, building a dark matter detector.
Today Dr Katie Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who studies a range of questions in cosmology -- i.e., the study of the universe from beginning to end. Her wonderful, recent bestselling book The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) is a New York Times bestseller and goes through a very helpful history of the universe before exploring a number of different ways the universe might end. At times complex, but often (thankfully) accessible, reading her book is like hanging out with a really, really smart friend, illuminating what is going on up there.
Since June 2022, Katie is the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. This is a relatively new institute based in Waterloo, Canada, and it's where Katie does research on dark matter and the early universe and engages in conversations, like the one we are having today, to make physics more accessible to the general public. So: she does podcasts! And: she's extremely viral! I highly recommend you join the 426,367 people who currently follow her on Twitter @AstroKatie.
Let's talk big puzzles, time, malleable fabric, wordplay, living on mars, the possibility of alien life, "colonizing" space, Katie’s 3 most formative books, and much, much more.
This is a mind expanding conversation. You'll hear me playing catch-up the whole time. Not sure I ever caught up, or ever will, but Katie is a gift to the world.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 112 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/112
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Sep 25, 2022 |
Bookmark: The two-minute morning rule for having a great day
08:01
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Sep 23, 2022 |
Chapter 111: Austin Kleon draws on doodling to design and dream
02:29:32
Buckle up!
Today we are flying down to hot, hot Austin, Texas where we’re going to grab three chairs on the grackle-filled patio of Mi Madre’s restaurant and order ourselves some enchiladas and #0 breakfast tacos before having lunch with the wise and wonderful Austin Kleon.
Austin in Austin — a treat! Austin Kleon is “a writer who draws” and the author of a number of my favorite books including Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going. His books are kalaidoscopic collage-patchwork delights, focus on themes of creativity, are massive bestsellers and have sold over a million copies.
Austin has a wonderful well of wisdom at AustinKleon.com which is home to his new great Substack community and his endlessly arresting Friday Newsletter. (One of the few newsletters I open and read religiously every week!)
We are going to talk about: writer and reader energies, the Japanese word tsundoku, violence in America, dumb questions, the power of doodling, nature as a metaphor, car problems, Austin Kleon’s 3 most formative books and much, much more.
Order yourself a taco, grab a margarita, put on a tank top and some shades, and come hang out with us down on the teal metal-grid table on the patio of Mi Madre’s Mexican Restaurant in east Austin, Texas.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 111 now…
What You'll learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/111
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
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Sep 10, 2022 |
Chapter 110: Kevin Kelly on quashing quandaries with curiosity and creativity
56:20
Kevin Kelly is a man of many titles.
Krista Tippett calls him a ‘philosopher technologist’, Tim Ferriss calls him ‘the world’s most interesting man’, and Stephen J. Dubner says simply, “If I was the Queen, I would want Kevin Kelly on my Privy Council.”
Kevin Kelly is the first person — ever! — to be hired online. When? 1983. For what job? A fascinating one! We’re going to talk about it. He dropped out of college after a year to spend ten years backpacking around Asia. (His photos have just been released in a wonderful paperweight-dwarfing book called Vanishing Asia.) In the same breath he might drop stories of spending time with the Amish just as easily as chatting with Google’s founders in the late 90s. His online home, kk.org, is a fountain of deeply insightful and wise blog posts, such as, 1000 True Fans and his annual bits of birthday advice (which are coming out as a book next year!)
Kevin also edited The Whole Earth Catalog, founded The Hacker’s Conference, and is Co-chair of the Board of the Long Now Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to encouraging long term thinking and which is, right now, building a clock in a mountain that will tick for 10,000 years.
See why titles don’t really work with Kevin? I mean, sure, he calls himself a ‘packager of ideas’ and the Internet may know him best as ‘Senior Maverick at Wired Magazine’ (which he cofounded in 1993.) But he’s also written a series of prophetic bestsellers including: What Technology Wants (2010) and The Inevitable (2016). That last book came out six years ago but it lays out the future of technology over the next thirty. Clear and clairvoyant, Kevin’s words helped me feel more positive about the omnipresent magnetic pull of technology we’re all breathing in today. I would recommend it especially if, like me, you’re occasionally prone to digging your heels in the dirt, throwing your smartphone out the window, and screaming “I don’t wanna!”
Kevin Kelly is a kind, wise, and optimistic finger-pointer. And, unlike most mystics, fortune tellers, and futurists, he’s got a long track record of being right.
We are very lucky to have Kevin Kelly join us on 3 Books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 110 now…
What You'll learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/110
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
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Aug 27, 2022 |
Chapter 109: Rebecca the Sex Educator on embracing erotic exploration
01:34:19
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Aug 12, 2022 |
Chapter 108: Mohsin Hamid on the pleasures of pages and the pulse of Pakistan
01:54:28
Mohsin Hamid is one of the greatest writers of this generation.
He was born in 1971 in Lahore, Pakistan before moving to California at age 3 while his dad did a doctorate at Stanford. At age 9, in 1980, he moved back to Pakistan and remained there until he was 18 when he came back to the US to go to Princeton. He graduated summa cum laude and studied under novelists Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates.
Mohsin lives with his wife Zahra and their children in Lahore, Pakistan, where he joins us from today for our 3 Books conversation.
We discuss: the history of Pakistan and Lahore, storytelling as an antidote to nostalgia, transmuting fear into sadness, teaching children about death, what he learned from Toni Morrison as a teacher, the power of reading out loud, writing masterclass tips, Mohsin’s three most formative books, and much, much more.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 108 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/108
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jul 28, 2022 |
Chapter 107: Latanya and Jerry build biblio buzz on the Bronx Bound Books bus
01:05:56
Happy full moon!
Hard to believe we are halfway through our fifth year of this epic pilgrimage.
Are you up for going to the Bronx to hang out on a book bus? What!? Well, a few months ago I got an email from 3 Booker Karen where she said “Hi Neil. I love this! Have you seen it?” The this was this video, going viral, about a woman in the Bronx trying to get funding to start up a bookstore on wheels.
I couldn't believe that the 1.6 million residents of Manhattan have 82 bookstores whereas the 1.4 million residents of the Bronx had ... one. That's it! One bookstore. Well, Latanya grew up in the Bronx and decided to do something about that. So she founded Bronx Bound Books -- a "bookstore that comes to you." Today we're going to hang out with her and Jerry, who's the proud driver of this bus, that serves underserved communities across New York.
We'll be hanging out in the storage locker parking lot of the (freshly painted!) bus with the 5 train ripping over the tracks behind us. We'll learn how Latanya and Jerry spend their days driving around, picking up books, selling books, visiting schools, visiting shelters, and visiting community centers, to spread the good word -- or good words, really. And we talk about our mutual love of reading, the idea of bringing books to book deserts around the world, and of course, Latanya and Jerry’s most formative books.
This is a fun and immersive conversation you won't soon forget.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 107 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/107
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jul 13, 2022 |
Chapter 106: Alok Vaid-Menon battles binary boundaries and beauty biases
01:47:25
Alok ("A-loke") Vaid-Menon was born in College Station, Texas in 1991 to parents from India and Malaysia.
When they were young they’d dress up in their mom and sister’s clothes and dance around the living room for all their extended family, including their Auntie Urvashi (a gender non-confirming lesbian of color and national activist). The entire room would clap and cheer them on over syrupy bowls of gulab jamon. But when they performed a similar Bollywood routine onstage at the school talent show at age six ... they got laughed at by the entire school. Thus began a shame-filled odyssey through pretending to live as a boy -- or, at least, male-presenting -- for many years. And it also began an astounding personal dialogue and examination around gender which they're helping to lead globally today.
Alok graduated summa cum laude from Stanford University with a Bachelors and Masters of Arts in feminest, gender, and sexuality studies. Stuffing their post-graduation work into boxes doesn't work but if forced to attach labels you might start with academic, author, artist, comic, poet, philosopher, or activist. Their work explores gender, trauma, and belonging and they call for body diversity, true gender neutrality, and our most basic tenets of self-determination. They advocate for a world of acceptance and love.
Alok is the bestselling author of Femme in Public (2017), Beyond the Gender Binary (2020), and more recently a poetry book called Your Wound/My Garden (2021).
I grew up the son of Indian immigrant parents in Canada with male and female binaries and the accompanying blue and pink clothes laid out in blue and pink nurseries. Gender divides only deepened with age and, looking back, I know they partially caused me to self-censor sides of myself. I remember painting my toenails and hiding them in my socks, secretly reading and loving The Babysitter Club books, and quitting figure skating once I was the only boy left in the class. Alok shared with me the history that dispels the relatively modern cultural story of the 'gender binary' and they taught me how, in India as just one example, colonialists three hundred years ago eliminated existing gender non-conformities in favor of distorted filterings and categorization.
Alok created #DeGenderFashion, a global movement to degender fashion, they have performed in over 40 countries around the world, and they headlined the 2021 New York Comedy Festival.
Alok and I talk: beauty standards, queer history, librarian pizza parties, trans-femininity, denim platform shoes, British colonization, bánh-mì sandwiches, self love, Alok’s three most formative books, and much, much more.
It was a joy spending time with Alok in Central Park in New York City.
Get comfortable on the bench between us and let's flip the page into Chapter 106 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/106
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jun 29, 2022 |
Bookmark: How to help someone with anxiety or depression
04:42
Happy Summer Solstice! (and happy Winter Solstice!)
Have you noticed we're tilting further toward the sun compared to every other time of the year? While our Australian, Chilean, and Easter Islander friends are tilting further away? This means is time for another 3 Book bookmark -- our relatively recent innovation to add a little spice to our 333 chapters along the way. Sometimes a bookmark will be me on another podcast, sometimes it'll be me giving a speech, and sometimes, like this time, it'll literally just be a YouTube video I made years ago that's somehow struck a nerve online. Please enjoy "How to help someone with anxiety or depression."
If you'd like to spread the 3 Books love, please share online or drop us a 10-second review at this link.
Enjoy the bookmark and I'll see you on the New Moon with Alok Vaid-Menon! |
Jun 21, 2022 |
Chapter 105: Nancy the Librarian on the riches and rewards of resplendent reading
01:21:48
Nancy Pearl is a Superhero Librarian.
One of our values on 3 Books is “Librarians and booksellers are doctors for the mind” and while we’ve hung out with a number of booksellers, Nancy is somehow our very first librarian!
How did we find Nancy? Well, 3 Booker Cindy Sharek left us a gushing voicemail at 1-833-READ-A-LOT singing Nancy’s praises and we were convinced. She’s won the Librarian of the Year Award, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, and, get this, has even been turned into an action figure!
Nancy is a frequent guest on NPR’s Morning Edition, has her own TV show called Book Lust with Nancy Pearl, and, as if all that wasn’t enough, is also a bestselling author with titles like George and Lizzie, Book Lust, and The Writer’s Library.
Nancy joined me from her home in Seattle and we talked about the role of the library today, the power of reading, the joy of meandering, the 4 Ps of books, which books help reluctant readers get their start, what makes debut novels special, movie adaptations, audio books, and, of course, her 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 105 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/105
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
|
Jun 14, 2022 |
Chapter 104: Boniface Mwangi combats corrosive Kenyan corruption with courage and kindness
44:25
Boniface Mwangi is a Nairobi-based social justice activist fighting for equity in his home country and abroad. In 2007 his photos of violence following the national election went viral and spawned global attention on political instability and corruption in Kenya.
He is the subject of the Sundance-award winning documentary Softie and the author of the photojournalism book Unbounded which has been hailed by Hilary Clinton and President Barack Obama.
Over two million people follow him @bonifacemwangi on Twitter and Facebook where he remarkably fearlessly calls attention to untold cases of abuse, corruption, and cronyism. For his work he has been beaten, arrested for “organizing a revolution”, and had his home burned down.
His 2014 TED Talk is called “The Day I Stood Alone” and in it he shares that he’s called a heckler, troublemaker, irritant, rebel, activist, and … the voice of the people. He continues to fight for justice every day alongside his wife Hellen Njeri Mwangi and their three children.
Boniface joined me from Nairobi, Kenya and I think you’re going to feel as inspired and energized by this conversation as I was.
We talk about what it’s like advocating for the most vulnerable, whether we can trust photographs today, how you deal with intimidation, how you live in fearlessness, how you bring back dignity to an oppressed people, why we must all seek to become activists, and, of course, what are Boniface’s 3 most formative books.
This is an exciting, engaging, passion-filled conversation.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 104 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/104
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
May 30, 2022 |
Chapter 103: Jonathan Haidt on mirrory misconceptions and morality in the matrix
01:39:23
Jonathan Haidt is the Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU’s Stern School of Business and the author of bestsellers The Righteous Mind, The Happiness Hypothesis and The Coddling of the American Mind. He has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, selected as one of the Top 50 Thinkers in the world, and delivered four TED Talks.
I was lucky to be introduced to Jon by our mutual friend Roger Martin, our guest in Chapter 68.
We sit at his kitchen table to discuss his then-in-process 8000-word Atlantic cover story slammer After Babel: How Social Media Dissolved the Social Mortar of Society and Made America Stupid, which doubles as a sneak peak on the book he’s working on now.
I hope your mind is stretched like taffy as mine was when you listen to Jon. There’s a reason Roger Martin warned me “You’ll have to keep up with him. He thinks pretty quickly.” And yet he is incredibly kind, patient, and humble. A consummate teacher.
We discuss: hive culture, the binary divide, the need for constraints, life after Babel, how we make decisions, communication through stories, LSD, the power of explore mode, and, of course, Jon’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 103 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/103
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
May 16, 2022 |
Chapter 102: Susan Cain on bathing in beauty, books, and bittersweetness
02:12:05
This is a very unique chapter!
It is a double chapter, in a way.
To begin with I was so lucky to interview Susan Cain at our very first live chapter of 3 Books at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. So many 3 Bookers came out and celebrated on a snowy night just before the pandemic began. (We had no idea!) At the time Susan was deep in the throes of writing her new book Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole but as we discuss a lot of her work in process we didn’t want to scoop the book so held onto this conversation until it was ready for the world.
Well, it’s ready for the world! Bittersweet just came out and debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list! How did we celebrate? By having another conversation, of course! Susan and I partnered with the wonderful indie bookstore Magic City Books of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and just conducted a live book tour stop together.
So Chapter 102 of 3 Books is a double interview! Our first ever. It’s a before and after. Two live conversations with you hanging out between us pre- and (can we say post yet?) post-pandemic.
Listen to Susan and I discuss: bathing ourselves in beauty, the power of reading, exploring identity, honoring our children, the tension between family and art, the benefits of envy, the nature of sorrow and longing, and, of course, the brilliant Susan Cain’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 102 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/102
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 30, 2022 |
Chapter 101: Daniels existentially explore everything everywhere
01:39:55
The best movie I have seen in years is called Everything, Everywhere All At Once and it was written and directed by Daniels. Daniels? Yes, Daniels. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, to be specific. Two brilliant artists who met in college and began stitching together short films before working on music videos like Turn Down For What by DJ Snake and Lil John (over a billion views), Simple Song by The Shins, and Tongues by Joywave. Watch those to see their energy and magic.
Daniels made their feature-length debut at Sundance in 2016 with Swiss Army Man also known as the “Daniel Radcliffe farting corpse movie” and then followed it up with this twisting multiverse action flick Everything Everywhere All At Once starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
And how’s this arthouse flick (with a paltry $25 million dollar budget!) doing? Well, it is the highest rated film of the decade on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s being credited with bringing back multiplex crowds post-pandemic. And the people who see it and love it (like I did) end up going back to see it again and again. (You’ll pick up so much more on the second time through and now I’m just itching for a third!)
Daniels create art for art’s sake — that David Foster Wallace Nature of the Fun ethos we’ve talked about before — and the result is this incredibly provocative and non-conformist stuff that just squeezes your mind until the smiles and tears start rushing out.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 101 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/101
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 16, 2022 |
Chapter 100: Neil and Leslie on the creative chaos of craft and the kindness of committed community
48:47
Welcome to Chapter 100!
Thank you for four years of this journey and conversation.
To mark the move into triple digits I thought we could do a reflection and visioning discussion … back in the basement with Leslie just like we did in Chapter 1.
We will discuss some highs and lows, lessons learned, current podcast challenges, and some dreams for the future.
Thank you for being a 3 Booker and joining this heart-forward community of book lovers, writers, makers, sellers, and librarians. Whether you’re a bibliomaniac (like Doug in Chapter 99!) or trying to peel yourself off your screen to read more (like I was!), welcome, welcome, thanks for coming, thanks for being here to discuss life’s biggest themes through the power of reading.
Join us for the Chapter 100 check-in and then let’s keep going…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/100
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 01, 2022 |
Bookmark: The Knowledge Project
01:45:29
Welcome to Bookmark #5.
Last year we started experimenting with the idea of releasing four extra episodes during the year to mark the spring and fall equinoxes, as well as the summer and winter solstices.
You may recall we released my guest appearance on Nora McInerny’s wonderful podcast, Terrible Thanks for Asking, we then released my SXSW Talk: Building Trust in Distrustful Times, we followed this up with my appearance on Ologies with Alie Ward and we released the annual Best Of 2021.
This year I am curious if the concept is something we should keep doing?
For me, this is another lens, another angle, another perspective to compliment this walk that we are on together, navigating this epic 15 year chapter by chapter journey.
Today I am excited because I am releasing a podcast episode that has done remarkably well: my guest appearance on The Knowledge Project hosted by Shane Parrish of Chapter 60 and the genius behind Farnam Street. He just put out a tweet saying it crossed the mark of 500,000 downloads which is pretty huge. In it we are just hanging out in Shane’s office in Ottawa talking about happy habits.
I hope you enjoy it.
Let’s jump into the Bookmark now… |
Mar 20, 2022 |
Chapter 99: Doug the Bookseller on bookstore belonging and bottomless bibliomania
01:17:24
Just dial 416-482-5665 and chances are Doug Miller will pick up the phone at Doug Miller Books, an incredible stuffed-to-the-ceiling bookstore that represents a mere sliver of the over 500,000-book collection of self-described bibliomaniac Doug Miller. Why do I say chances are? Well, Doug works in his shop 364 days a week. He comes mid-morning every day and shovels the front walks of six of his neighbors in Koreatown in Toronto, Canada.
I have known Doug Miller for over ten years and it was a rare treat to spend an afternoon with him, with you, and with (as you’ll hear) an ever-growing ‘shush’ of booklovers. As we we tip up against Chapter 100 of 3 Books — four years of this conversation! — I thought where better to spend time than in an incredible bookstore.
We discuss why publishers ‘hate’ authors and booksellers, bibliophilia as a lifestyle choice, processing grief, helping reluctant readers, and, of course, Doug Miller’s three most formative books.
I hope you enjoy this aural feast with the incredible Doug Miller.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 99 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/99
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Mar 18, 2022 |
Chapter 98: IN-Q invites intimacy, intentionality, and interstellar inquiry
01:39:56
I’m very pleased, privileged, and proud to introduce or re-introduce you to the sunbeaming sage that is IN-Q.
IN-Q is an award winning poet, multi-platinum song-writer and the bestselling author of the book Inquire Within which I highly, highly recommend. It deserves an even bigger spotlight! It’s a wonderful collection of IN-Q’s poetry. Poetry? Oh yes. Oh, oh yes.
His achievements include being named to Oprah’s Super Soul 100 list of the world’s most influential thought leaders, being the first spoken word artist to perform with Cirque du Soleil, and being featured in HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. His poetry on YouTube has gotten over 100 million views and if you want to check out his work in deeper format I recommend his Amazon Prime exclusive IN-Q Live at the Ace Theatre.
He’s also a songwriter. He has written songs for Foster the People, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. If you know the song, "Love you Like a Love Song,” that’s him. He wrote that song. It went multi-platinum and won INQ a BMI award. You wouldn’t know by talking to this chill and humble spirit that songs he’s written have over a billion views.
What is this guy all about?
What inspires him? What can we learn from his walk through this world … and bring into our own?
IN-Q entertains, inspires, and challenges audiences … including our own.
3 Bookers, please get comfortable on the couch between us to talk about time, God, slowing down, moving energy, traveling solo, love, the metaverse and, of course, IN-Q’s 3 most formative books.
I hope you enjoy this conversation.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 98 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/98 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Mar 02, 2022 |
Chapter 97: Debbie Millman shuns shame to spark spirit and sew soulful symbiosis
01:13:55
Are you a passionate fan of Design Matters like I am? It’s one of the world’s oldest podcasts and one of the best shows out there. Debbie Millman scratches her insatiable curiosity and explores what it means to live a rich, fulfilling, intentional life with luminaries like Brené Brown, Cheryl Strayed, Brandon Stanton, Seth Godin, and, of course, Roxane Gay. (All guests of 3 Books, too! Clearly we have tethers between our hearts.)
Where do we start with Debbie Millman?
Well, she’s ‘one of the most creative people in business’ according to Fast Company and one of the ‘most influential designers working in the world today’ says Graphic Design USA. She’s got a wonderful new book called Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People, a giant, heavy, amazing tome put out by Harper Design which serves as a compressed set of wisdom and values from Design Matters.
Debbie is the author of seven other books including: How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer and Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits. She co-founded the world’s first graduate program in branding at The School of Visual Arts back in 2010. For 20 years before that she was the President of Sterling Brands, one of the world’s leading branding consulting agencies. What did she do there? No big deal: She helped design brand identities and logos for Star Wars, Burger King, Häagen Dazs, Gillette and even the No More movement.
Is she an activist? She sure is!
She’s also working with the Joyful Heart Foundation to eradicate sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and the rape kit back log.
Fascinating and containing many multitudes, it was an honor and privilege to welcome Debbie Millman on 3 Books to talk about: how you avoid limiting possibilities, why regret cannot be metabolized, what happens when you’re public about your shame, what makes for a great interview, and, of course, what are the incredible Debbie Millman’s 3 most formative books!
Let’s flip the page and jump into Chapter 97 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/97
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Feb 16, 2022 |
Chapter 96: Dave the CEO on stratospheric strategizing and subtle secrets of success
02:04:53
David Cheesewright is the former CEO of Walmart International.
In that role he led over a million people, across over fifty different businesses, and nearly thirty countries.
A behemoth! Both the job and the company. How much of a behemoth? Well, Walmart is literally #1 overall on the Fortune 500 which means no company in the entire world made more money than they did.
How did a small town store from Bentonville, Arkansas rise to be the largest company in the world? Well, one big way they do it is through leadership. For twenty-plus years, one of the seniormost leaders at Walmart was Dave Cheesewright. Humble, down to earth, soft spoken, and lightning quick, Dave epitomized Level 5 Leadership, to borrow a phrase from Jim Collins. I was very lucky to have a development role working for Dave when he was President and CEO of Walmart Canada. It was probably the most formative role of my career and I trace many stories and models in my books directly back to conversations and lessons I learned from Dave.
There was always something magical about Dave.
He was a former gym teacher who owned only one slightly crumpled suit and drove a beat-up van to work when he wasn’t showing up sweaty in the hallways after riding his bike. He had no fancy business degrees and was a true family man who was always home for dinner with his wife Clare and their three kids. He had a smaller office than his direct reports and ate two-dollar egg salad sandwiches at lunch amongst all the employees in the Home Office cafeteria. He never used email, cancelled every meeting he could, personally phoned associates across the country to say thank you, and insisted every one-pager presented to him pass “The Grandma Test” (“Would my grandma who knows nothing about this business understand it?”).
Dave was promoted from CEO of Walmart Canada to CEO of Walmart EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) and later promoted again to CEO of Walmart International. What does a CEO overseeing over a million people actually … do? Well, that’s just one thing we’re going to talk about.
If you are a fan of the strategic thinking big time CEOs offer you’re going to love this conversation with a guy who thinks 500,000-feet above sea level.
What does a CEO do? What does a board of directors do? How do you make business simpler? What is the paradox of choice? How do we take an even more global view of things? How might we think about AI? What are the basic tenets of retail? Why shouldn’t you answer emails? How do you become a better delegator? What is the S-Curve in business? And much, much, much more…
I was thrilled to sit down with David Cheesewright, former CEO of Walmart International, in his living room to talk about his 3 most formative books. I hope you love this conversation as much as I did.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 96 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/96 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co
|
Feb 01, 2022 |
Chapter 95: Bess Kalb on kvetching over koans and kindling comic kinship
01:55:51
“Why are women, who have the whole male world at their mercy, not funny? Please do not pretend to know what I am talking about.”
So begins a 2007 Vanity Fair article by Christopher Hitchens called “Why Women Aren’t Funny”.
College student Bess Kalb picked up a copy of the magazine, read it on her train ride from New York to Rhode Island, and, in her words, “became radicalized.” She decided then and there to drop out of school and become a comedy writer. She scored an internship with The Colbert Report and then (“because I’m an anxious Jew who is the daughter of two anxious Jews”) went back to finish her degree before working for Jimmy Kimmel for eight years. (And scoring a few awards while working there!) She then puts out a “ghost memoir” in 2020 called Nobody Will Tell You This But Me which becomes a big New York Times bestseller and ranked one of the best books of the year by Vogue, Forbes, Wired and others. (Jodi Picoult said “I have not been so profoundly moved by a book in years.”)
Today Bess Kalb is 34 years old. She lives in Hollywood with one kid and another on the way. And she is a truly prolific comedic genius. She’s been nominated for an Emmy and a Writer’s Guild Award and has also written for The Academy Awards, The Democratic National Convention, and her incredible special Yearly Departed (where she is Creator, Executive Producer, and Head Writer).
Do you know Yearly Departed?
Leslie and I loved it. You can stream it on Amazon Prime. (2020 or 2021!) Bess came up with the idea of developing a comic sendoff to 2020 with a mock funeral featuring female comics, each coming onstage to give short eulogies to parts of the year. Tiffany Haddish shows up. Sarah Silverman shows up. Dulcé Sloan shows up. Jane Fonda shows up. It’s a huge hit and she pulls it off again in 2021. It’s fresh and funny and creates wonderfully necessary sign-posts as we navigate the (hopefully?) tail-end of this horrible pandemic.
With the brilliant full moon above our heads let’s sit down with the equally brilliant Bess Kalb to talk about: how we keep anxiety at bay, how we help dismantle celebrity culture, what is one way to define success after making it up the ladder, how might we think about “diversity hiring”, what gender norms are baked into the comedy that we consume, what is a structurally perfect joke, what might a fake male virtual assistant buy you, and much, much, more, including the amazing Bess Kalb’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 95 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/95
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jan 17, 2022 |
Chapter 94: Dan the Tailor on rappelling rabbit-holes and rocking with Ronnie
02:06:44
Daniel Torjman is beautiful.
And so is his incredible store 18 Waits.
Two years ago I was walking down Queen Street West in Toronto and I noticed a couple nice men’s shirts in a window and stepped inside. I was greeted by an old hardwood floor, jazz playing on a record, classic literature on display, and an incredibly curated assortment of shirts, coats, bandanas, and hats. I started chatting with owner (tailor! captain!) Daniel Torjman and discovered we were the same age and he was also a fairly new dad trying to figure it all out.
Dan went down to New York and was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). He then worked as a production manager for Rogan where he helped open their flagship store in TriBeCa. When he came back to Canada, he turned his attention to conceptualizing 18 Waits which emphasizes quality material and craftsmanship with incredible hand-made, local-made clothes. Every item even has a handwritten number on the tag which shows how many kilometers away from the shop the clothes were made!
I bought a splashy floral shirt and began wearing it to my speeches. Now not an event goes by without someone asking me where I got it. I always tell them to visit Dan and point them to 18waits.com. The clothes are classic, strong, and durable and there’s a patch inside every piece of clothing that reads: “Wear Well. Enjoy. Love. Destroy.”
Are you ready to hang out on a couch with me and Dan? I hope so because I promise you are in for a treat.
We are going to talk about things like: what does it mean to be genuine in a phony world? How should we enjoy the finer things in life without actually being precious with them? How do we think about searching for truth today? How should we think about where to buy our clothes? What helps create the cultural fiber of a city? What are the benefits of intergenerational friendships? Why should we let our teens go on road trips across continents? How do we become more … us? How do we encourage our kids to find themselves in a digital world that constantly pushes us towards the mean? How do we think about our comfort zones when it comes to fashion and ourselves?
Come on in and let’s flip the page into Chapter 94 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/94
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jan 02, 2022 |
The Best of 2021: Neil Pasricha curates courageous, candid, and colorful conversations
04:20:45
Can you believe it?
We started 3 Books back on March 31, 2018 with the goal of counting down the 1000 most formative books in the world. We said we would hang out on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon for nearly 15 straight years until we collected all 1000 of them. We set the intention of making this show an ‘intrinsically-motivated journey’ and pledged to doing it with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. To help guide ourselves we started collecting Values like no book shame, no book guilt, quit more to read more, and the books are the hero.
For the nearly four years we’ve been hanging out I have to say this journey has felt like a warm ray of sun in my life. I hope it’s felt the same for you. My goal with this annual “Best Of” is simply to roll back through the year together and pick out moments that made us pause, ponder, and savor.
Thank you for being a 3 Booker and spending time with this incredible community of book lovers spread across the world. If you’re reading this, I love you more than lots.
Let’s stop to reflect and then keep enjoying the ride.
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/best-of-2021
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Dec 21, 2021 |
Chapter 93: Chris Hadfield on the sci-fi and science of sustainable space settlement
01:23:17
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Dec 19, 2021 |
Chapter 92: Edward Packard on amplifying awareness with awe and adventure
01:35:02
Were you one of the 500 million people who read Choose Your Own Adventure books?
When I was growing up in the 80s these books were at the front of every library in every elementary school. Or, at least, in mine! I know for sure the kids at Sunset Heights Public School in Oshawa, Canada all went gonzo for them.
If you don’t know Choose Your Own Adventure, the books are written in the second person. The protagonist is … you! Who are you? Well, you might be a private investigator, mountain climber, race car driver, doctor, or spy. The stories are gender and race neutral and written so that after a couple of pages, you face a couple of options: do you want to go deeper into the jungle or head back to shore? Do you want to follow the guide up the mountain or retreat to the village? You zig and you zag and each book features dozens of endings. With no clear pattern around number of pages per ending, ratio of good to bad endings, or the reader’s progression backwards and forwards, there is a vertiginous sense of unpredictability which leads to (yes) reading them again and again.
Cover to Cover Club members will have heard us talk about these books already. Do you remember back in Chapter 42 when Molly Bloom told us the books were hugely formative to how she views her life as an adventure? Or just a few moons ago in Chapter 87 when Jason Shiga picked Sugar Cane Island by Edward Packard — a precursor to CYOA — as one of his most formative books?
Well, it’s with that lead-up that I’m so excited to share our conversation with the creator of second-person fiction and co-creator of Choose Your Own Adventure today —- Mr. Edward Packard. Edward is 90 years old and writing, blogging, swimming, hiking, and continuing the adventure that is life from his home in Durango, Colorado.
Get comfy and let’s talk about what the word formative really means, whether our self stays constant throughout our life, how the advent of chronology affected human development, where the best place to get a lot of reading done is, how should we take in the news, how can we maintain a sense of contentment as we age, how do we transcend ourselves, what is an unhappy versus a happy brain, what is quality decision making, how do we process past success in our current state, and, of course, what are Edward Packard’s 3 most formative books.
Are you ready to dive in on today’s new moon?
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 92 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/92
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Dec 04, 2021 |
Chapter 91: Nora McInerny on nixing numbers and nurturing naked needs
02:01:54
Welcome to Chapter 91 of 3 Books!
How are you holding up in 2021? It has been a wild 20 months.
You’ve been telling me you are thankful for the show and I have been telling you I’m thankful for you. I appreciate your notes, your phone calls, your letters, and your reviews and we travel and meet across space and time — meeting up whenever the moon above is is completely full or completely empty.
Today I am so thrilled to share with you the enigmatic, witty, multi-hyphenate Nora McInerny.
In 2014 Nora went through a deeply traumatic six weeks. She had a miscarriage, lost her father, and lost her husband Aaron with whom she had a young son. She spent the next year of her life couch surfing, staying with friends, trying to process the loss, the grief and the trauma. And what has emerged is somebody who I feel is at the world’s leading edge of discussing things like grief, trauma, loss, widowhood, and how we navigate forward with those all bottled up inside us.
Nora is the successful author of It’s OK to Laugh, Crying is Cool Too, No Happy Endings, The Hot Young Widow’s Club, and the movie novelization of Bad Moms. (Shoutout to Chapter 82 with Quentin Tarantino!).
Nora gave a wonderful TED Talk called “We don’t move on from grief; we move forward with it” which, at the time of me writing this, has 5,798,513 views.
But all that stuff — the books! the talks! — are probably not as well known as her spectacular, award-winning podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking (TTFA).
If you don’t already, check it out — subscribe, listen, and love. I was lucky enough to be a guest a year and a half ago and Nora gave me permission to share the audio in a 3 Books Bookmark this past March.
Nora McInerny is coming to us from her closet in Arizona, where she is now resettled into a new relationship, co-parenting her child with her new husband’s children.
Get cozy in between us and let’s the three of us hang out and talk about: intentional parenting, grief processing, shininess vs work, sliding scales of empathy, dating after divorce, navigating our deepest needs, and, of course, the one and only Nora McInerny’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 91 now…
What You'll Learn
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/91
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Nov 19, 2021 |
Chapter 90: Derek Sivers on shattering suppositions with Stoic soul
02:06:32
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Nov 04, 2021 |
Chapter 89: Zafar the Hamburger Man on Bryant's basics and blossoming like Barack
01:01:09
I was riding my bike in downtown Toronto the other day and rolled past my old neighborhood a couple blocks north of Lake Ontario. And as I was riding I noticed my old burger joint! The whole neighborhood has changed — parking lots have become condos, motels have become hotels — but the burger joint has survived. I was excited so I locked my bike up in the middle of the concrete jungle and popped my head inside to ask if they’re open since it was just after 11am.
“Absolutely we’re open!,” a friendly guy in a black T-shirt and black cap shouted. “Come on in!”
I told him I used to come down here a long time ago and he quickly replied, “Well, welcome back! We’re glad to have you back!”
Aggressive friendliness turns me on so I start talking to the guy and discover his name is Zafar and he owns six restaurants in Toronto. He scrapped and saved his way up from Lahore, Pakistan, where he was a manager of a KFC and then emigrated to Canada to start managing a local chicken franchise. He saved everything he had and made a big bet to buy his own burger joint. This money losing burger joint in downtown Toronto that was making $470,000 a year but losing over $200,000 a year.
What do you do with that?
Well, if you’re Zafar The Hamburger Man you more than double sales in the first year. I asked him how he did it and discovered an endless treasure trove of leadership and service wisdom. Unsurprisingly, Zafar is a big reader and he had three formative books at the ready.
This chapter of 3 Books will be a voyage for your senses. Prepare to come inside Big Smoke Burger, listen to The Beatles coming out of the speakers, hear the grill sizzling, the stapler closing paper bags, and then hang out with me and Zafar on the street outside as we discuss books, life, and everything.
Let’s talk about the cost of obsession, the importance of mastering the basics, what we can learn from doers, why feedback is so precious and vital, how we embrace and offer the gift of time, how we seek the truth, how we build trust, and much, much, much more…
I am so excited to introduce you to Zafar The Hamburger Man!
Let’s turn the page into Chapter 89 now …
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/89
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
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3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Oct 20, 2021 |
Chapter 88: Mel Robbins on stalling self sabotage and celebrating sexual selectivity
01:17:09
I love Mel Robbins. I am one of the 30 million people who’ve viewed her TED Talk “How to stop screwing yourself over” and I’m one of the two million people who have a copy of The Five-Second Rule on my bookshelf. If you asked me five years ago if I’d have a book on my shelf telling people to simply count backwards from five to get out of bed, ask somebody out, or leave a toxic relationship well … I would have thought you were batty. But that would have been just a few months before I met Mel and when I heard the way she talked about it and the science behind it, well … I was all in. It’s no wonder her videos have over a billion views or why Sony Pictures asked her to host an eponymous daytime talk show. Because there is something singularly captivating about the no-nonsense-science-backed-habits-from-a-Midwestern-farmer type way Mel thinks, writes, and speaks. Do you have plans today? If you have an hour or two free why don’t you pull up a chair with us in Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan on a warm and sunny afternoon and let’s the three of us give a pub day toast to Mel’s new book The High 5 Habit and discuss some of life’s biggest themes through her three most formative books. Let’s turn the page into Chapter 88 now…
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/88
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Oct 06, 2021 |
Bookmark: Ologies
01:32:56
Happy Fall Equinox Northern Hemisphere people. And Happy Spring Equinox to our friends south of the equator!
Are you ready for a new Bookmark? Just as a reminder, I’m experimenting with offering you a Bookmark four times this year. A little place to put the marginilia of this show.
Six months ago on the Spring equinox we had our first bookmark with my guest appearance on Nora McInerny’s award winning podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking. For the second Bookmark, on the exact minute of the June solstice of course, I shared my SXSW speech “Building trust in distrustful times.”
And now today, on the Fall equinox, I’m sharing my appearance on Ologies. Alie Ward goes around the world sniffing out interesting people — often but not always scientists — and gets them to go deep on their speciality. Ologies has grown to one of the largest podcasts in the world and is often tops in all of Science. Am I surprised? Not really! Alie is one of the hardest-working people I have ever met and with a science, journalism, and Emmy-Winning comedy writing background, she’s got the killer cocktail of somebody who you just want to listen to more and more and more. On top of that, she’s kindhearted, deeply empathetic, and has a … nerdy nose, I’ll call it. I just mean she’s a nerdy who sniffs out other nerds so well.
I was extremely flattered to be a guest on the show. (Our matchmaker was the legendary Jane McGonigal of Chapter 85 — you can see the tweet stuck in amber! — and the title of the episode was “Awesomeology” which I didn’t think was actually a word but Alie proved otherwise.
Alie has very graciously given me permission to share this episode of Ologies with all of you and I’m very thankful. And yes, that all bodes especially well since generosity and gratitude are scientifically shown to make us happier. Merely two of the dozens of studies we talk about on this show! Please consider subscribing to Ologies. It is a magnificent show adding so much love to the world. Now let’s jump into the Bookmark now…
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/bookmark3
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Sep 22, 2021 |
Chapter 87: Jason Shiga on perilous puzzles and precarious paths
01:25:52
|
Sep 20, 2021 |
Chapter 86: My two-year-old son on whimsical wonderings and wandering Waldos
36:00
Do you ever feel book guilt?
Do you ever feel book shame?
Do you ever feel bad when you quit a book?
Do you ever feel like the books you read aren’t ‘hard’ enough?
These are common feelings that I know I’ve had. I say we need to get rid of all the book shame and book guilt we learn as we grow up because there really is no right or wrong way to read. We need to escape the book exhaustion that can come with endless Shakespeare, mandatory classics, and piles of textbooks.
We need to tell kids that they can read whatever they want to read.
Picture books! Comic books! Young Adult!
Whatever.
Just follow your joy and keep the books coming.
I partly started 3 Books as a way to keep stoking the flames for that pure love of reading books.
For most of my adult life, I lost my love of reading. Loved books as a child! And yet somehow by my late 20s I had almost completely stopped reading books. What was it? I’m not sure if it was too many dry textbooks, the endless addiction of social media feed, or the false belief I just didn’t have time to read anymore.
How many times have you heard that?
Chapter 86 of 3 Books is a little different. It’s a mental intermezzo between deep dives.
It’s a way to hopefully remind us of the pure joy that comes from reading books. Of spreading books out on the carpet and playing with them and doing somersaults over them. This chapter is about tapping back into that childhood love of reading.
We are going to hang out on my bedroom floor with my two year old son …
Join me as we flip the page into Chapter 86 …
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/86
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Sep 07, 2021 |
Chapter 85: Jane McGonigal on slaying stress with superhero strengths
01:34:29
Happy Sturgeon Moon, everybody! And happy Blue Moon, too! Jane McGonigal joins us on Chapter 85 of 3 Books to help us celebrate.
Let’s start off with a question.
What would you do if you jumped out of a desk chair and slammed your head directly into an open cupboard door which gave you a massive concussion that left you bedridden for months? Oh, and you were told “No reading, no writing, no video games, no work, no email, no running, no alcohol, and no caffeine.”
Well, most of us would probably just lie there.
I mean, what else could you do?
Well, if you’re Jane McGonigal that’s not what you do. No! If you’re Jane McGonigal, what you do is design a game, in your concussion-riddled state, to help you get better. You create an avatar. You give yourself goals. You select projects. And you slowly help yourself heal! You call the game Jane the Concussion Slayer, after your favorite TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and then you release it out into the world.
Today that game has helped over a million people tackle challenges like concussions, depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. It’s been renamed Super Better and been evaluated by clinical trials, randomized control studies, and all kinds of scientific white papers as the top game in the world treating depression, anxiety and pain.
Is it any wonder Jane was the first person to study computer and video games in her PhD at Berkeley? Or that she’s a TED superstar with two talks racking up over 15 million views about how gaming can make a better world and the game that can give you 10 extra years of life? Or that she’s the New York Times bestselling author of Reality is Broken and (yes) Superbetter? Or the Director of Games Research & Development at the Institute for the Future? No, I did not make any of that up. And I could go on!
Jane McGonigal is a humanistic designer of alternate realities and her life goal is to see a game developer win the Nobel Peace Prize. I love her work and the incredible force for good it is having on the world.
Let’s grab a seat with Jane and talk: how we live with greater flow, how we harness our children’s ‘soul force’, why we maybe shouldn’t be limiting screen time, how to choose games for kids, what questions you should ask your kids about the games they play, the best card game out there, exploring the boundaries of our psychic selves, and, of course, Jane McGonigal’s 3 most formative books.
Let’s turn the page into Chapter 85 now …
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/85
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Aug 22, 2021 |
Chapter 84: Lori Gottlieb on therapists thoughtfully thrashing thinking theories
01:15:11
Do you have a therapist?
Do you meet up with someone on a regular basis to open up, talk about yourself, and get into the weeds of your emotions? Maybe the ones you can articulate, the ones you can’t articulate, the ones you’re angry about having, the ones you’re confused about having.
I started seeing a therapist about 10 years ago.
After the loss of my marriage and my best friend, it was suggested by my parents that I would benefit from seeing a therapist.
I’m embarrassed to admit I said no. “I don’t need a therapist! I don’t have problems! That’s for people with problems! That’s not me!”
Maybe it was the years, decades, generations of stigma and taboos around that word? Therapy. Growing up I never heard about anyone going to therapy except in the context of some desperate, last second attempt to salvage something like a failing marriage at the eleventh hour.
Maybe that’s why I’m talking about it today! I’m very lucky to have a therapist. And proud of it too, I’d say. My wife Leslie is, too. We talk openly about going to therapy with our children. So often, so easily, so quickly, people say, ‘I’ve got to go to workout, I’ve got to go to the gym, I’ve got to run on the treadmill.’ We’re so open about sharing physical self care. But we aren’t nearly as open about mental self care. And that conversation only progresses globally if we keep having conversations like the one we’re about to have today…
So welcome, welcome, welcome. Great to have you here. Thank you for reading all the way down here! Are you new? Are you a 3 Books virgin? If so, you picked a wonderful chapter to begin with. Chapter 84 with Lori Gottlieb. If you like it, we’d love to have you join our community. 3 Books is by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers and librarians. The show is a 100% a labor of love and a piece of art with no ads, no sponsors, no promotions, and no interruptions. We’ve got deep values like no book guilt, no book shame, the right to sip, the right to dip. We’re not about reading as a chore, or as a job, or as homework. We’re all about discovering or rediscovering the pure joy of books or deepening the love you already have.
Today I am very excited to share with you a conversation with the one and only Lori Gottlieb.
Do you know Lori Gottlieb?
She’s a psychotherapist and author of the New York Times bestseller, Maybe You Should Talk To Someone which has sold well over a million copies. It’s even being adapted as a television series. She writes the extremely popular weekly column Dear Therapist in The Atlantic. She contributes regularly to The New York Times, has a very popular TED Talk, shared one of the best stories at The Moth ever, and is a member of the Advisory Council for Bring Change To Mind. Finally, she also hosts her own wonderful podcast called Dear Therapists.
As a therapist who writes about therapy, Lori kicks open the door to conversations we need to have.
We are going to talk about finding a therapist, making adult friends, what you should ask instead of ‘how are you?’, how heterosexual women often react to men crying, processing grief, the key ingredient to vulnerability, tennis partners, defining emotions, the voices in our head, the root cause of trauma, why insight is the booby prize of therapy, and, of course, about the wonderful Lori Gottlieb’s three most formative books.
Let’s turn the page into Chapter 84 now …
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/84
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Aug 08, 2021 |
Chapter 83: Douglas Rushkoff on divisive duality and designer deaths
01:58:18
“Our technologies, markets and cultural institutions, once forces for human connection and expression, now isolate and repress us. It is time to remake society together, not as individual players, but as the team we actually are: Team Human.”
That little paragraph is printed right on the cover of the latest book by Douglas Rushkoff.
Do you know Douglas Rushkoff?
He’s a vivid, big-thinking author behind books like Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Present Shock, Program or Be Programmed, Screenagers, Playing the Future, Media Virus, and many others.
Seth Godin calls him acerbic. I’ll call him provocative. Douglas is not afraid of anything! His writing is confident and he’s got the research and logic ready behind every point.
No wonder he’s been named one of the world’s most influential thought leaders. Douglas hosts the popular Team Human podcast, writes for The Guardian, and is the documentarian behind Generation Like and Merchants of Cool. He’s also responsible for coining many popular phrases including “viral media” and “social currency.”
Douglas Rushkoff is a big thinker! A different thinker. And we love getting different thinkers on this show.
From Chapter 4 with Sarah Ramsey, my favorite bookseller, to Chapter 36 with Elder Cox and Elder Corona, two teenage Mormon missionaries, to Chapter 61 with Temple Grandin, one of the world’s first autism activists, we’re having a blast bouncing around brain spaces.
We are going to talk about Bitcoin, reality tunnels, what the internet really is, the benefits of slack, rebuilding societal trust, the source code for magic, Timothy Leary and designer deaths, facts versus reality, mycelium and trees, Bardo orgies, the purpose of play, and, of course, the incredible Douglas Rushkoff’s three (or maybe four!) most formative books.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 83 now …
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/83
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jul 24, 2021 |
Chapter 82: Quentin Tarantino on preferring penny paperbacks and perfecting the process
01:58:57
What was your first Tarantino experience?
I was thirteen years old in an unfinished basement watching Reservoir Dogs on VHS and can still remember how shook my friends and I were when we saw it.
Was that your first Tarantino experience? Or was it Pulp Fiction? Jackie Brown? Kill Bill? Inglourious Basterds? Django Unchained? The Hateful Eight? Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
Well, the Tarantino Experience continues with his brand new book Once Upon A Time In Hollywood which is the propulsive, addictive, roller-coastering movie novelization of his award-winning film. I absolutely loved it.
Today we’re going to talk about: Quentin Tarantino’s favorite writer, how we thicken our skin in a thin-skinned world, how we can live confidently in a clickbait world, how one goes about writing a movie novelization, what an unlikely spinoff to Inglourious Basterds might look like, why we should avoid self censorship, what are Quentin’s thoughts on meme Quentin Quarantino, his three most formative books, and much, much, more …
I’m going to be in your left ear (from a furnace room at my family’s lake house rental!), Quentin’s going to be in your right ear (from his writing studio in Hollywood Hills!) and you will be sitting right between us.
Let’s flip the page into Chapter 82 now …
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/82
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.
Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jul 10, 2021 |
Chapter 81: Dave Eggers on surreptitious spying in the snares of surveillance
01:18:24
I discovered Dave Eggers in the late 90s when the Internet was all belts and pinions and the only two comedy websites that I remember reading were The Onion and McSweeney’s. The Onion’s site was the notorious outcropping of a campus comedy newspaper from Wisconsin and McSweeney’s was founded by a publishing dynamo Whiz Kid named Dave Eggers who’d worked at places like Wired and Might Magazine, which he’d cofounded out in San Francisco. In 2000 Dave’s ‘anti-memoir’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius came out and, no big deal, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. I loved the book and the seemingly endless creative fireworks Dave was capable of producing. What happened in the twenty years since? Well today Dave Eggers is one of the most celebrated writers in the world — he’s written bestsellers like The Circle, A Hologram For The King, Zeitoun and won or been nominated for endless awards including the TED Prize, The Salon Book Award, Time’s 100 Most Influential People, The National Book Critics Circle Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, and the list goes on. Dave is also co-founder of 826 National which is a non-profit dedicated to tutoring and helping students age 6 - 18 with writing. (The organization helps over 100,000 students a year.) Oh, and Dave’s written screenplays like Away We Go, together with his wife Vendela Vida, and The Wild Things, the Spike Jonze-directed adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Is that it? No! He’s also a painter. His art has been exhibited at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, The Nevada Museum of Art, The Biennial of the Americas and many other art galleries around the world. More recently, his training as an artist was put to use in a fabulously quirky book called Ungrateful Mammals. His latest book The Museum of Rain is about to release. I read it and loved it and was so excited to talk to him about it. He called in from a landline for our chat because he is known for being off the grid. No wifi and no smartphone! I was nervous and, to help the interview along, I completely mismanaged my time, so the whole thing may or may not dissolve into complete disarray by the end. But we somehow still managed to discuss: spying, life without smart phones, the ethics of Alexa, how to get boys to read, cheering for the underdog, the problem with Rotten Tomatoes, the joys of old old laptops, the tradeoff between convenience and surveillance, making art in an algorithmic society, and of course the incredible Dave Eggers’ three most formative books… Let’s flip the page into Chapter 81 now … What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/81 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jun 24, 2021 |
Bookmark: SXSW 2019 - Building Trust in Distrustful Times
41:57
3 Books is published on the lunar calendar. I share one new chapter of the show on the exact minute of every single full moon and every single new moon all the way up to September 1, 2031 at 5:52am. But today … I don’t have a chapter for you. I have a bookmark. On every single equinox and every single solstice I will drop a little extra of some kind … a seasonal intermezzo if you will. The first bookmark was with Nora McInerny, host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking, back on the March equinox. And now it’s the June solstice and I’m sharing my SXSW 2019 speech “Building trust in distrustful times” Why am I sharing this speech? Well you know what’s one thing I have missed during the pandemic? Giant rooms full of throngs of people. Cheering together, laughing together, learning together. There is an electric energy buzz that cannot be replicated virtually. So let’s head down to the Austin Convention Center to a ballroom with over 2500 people filling every chair and standing at the sides and at the back and talk about building trust in distrustful times… You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/bookmark2 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Jun 21, 2021 |
Chapter 80: Kristin Neff on allowing, accepting, and applying anger artfully
01:31:13
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Jun 10, 2021 |
Chapter 79: Yuyi Morales on Mexican massacres and the magic of Márquez
01:56:25
“The Ys sounds like Js,” Yuyi Morales tells me when I ask for the correct way to pronounce her name. It’s embarrassing to ask but my detective work online resulted in a half dozen different options. Yuyi is a Mexican-American children’s book author and illustrator. She was born in Mexico and raised amongst giant grandmothers, mossy house walls, and rampaging feral gardens, fostering a strong bond with magical stories that ran in her family as a child. Today she is known for her incredible children’s books which combine powerful spare language and sumptuous complex imagery. She has written books like, Dreamers, Niño Wrestles the World, Just a Minute, Viva Frida, Little Night, Just In Case and her brand new book coming out in September called, Bright Star (I suggest you pre-order it!). It tells the story of a fawn making her way through a border landscape, teeming with flora and fauna native to the region. A gentle empowering voice encourages her to face her fears when she comes across an obstacle in the form of an insurmountable barrier. A lot of her work has these themes running through it — immigration, pilgrimage, journeying, discovery. It’s no wonder she is one of the most decorated children’s books author in the world. At last count she’s won twenty-nine awards including the Pura Belpré Medal, the Americas Award for Children and Young Adult Literature, the California Book Award, the Tomas Riviera Award and the Caldecott Honor. For those of you who know the children’s books world well, the Caldecott is the top prize! She is the first Latina to ever be a Caldecott recipient. Let’s strap in to talk about the burdens of colonialism, Mexican artistry, introducing books to book deprived communities, magic realism, community feminism, teen prostitution, dirty cops, living in books, making the world a better place, and, of course, the wonderful Yuyi Morales’s three most formative books. Let’s head down to Veracruz, Mexico. Feel that sun on your face, picture yourself on a beach, grab a drink, lay out a towel, and stare into the sea and the surf with me. Let’s flip the page into Chapter 79 … What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/79 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
May 26, 2021 |
Chapter 78: Louis Sacher on sideways stories from Salinger to Steinbeck
01:12:52
I was a tiny and skinny kid with thick glasses at my public school in the suburbs of Toronto in the early 80s. I was pretty lonely and definitely hadn’t found my way. One day my librarian Ms. Ferrell handed me a book called Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. The book single-handedly turned me into a reader. I had never read a book that was funny, absurd, choppy that just kept me flipping, flipping, flipping. I loved the book. I fell into the book. I read it again and again and again and still have multiple copies on my bookshelf today. (A small count towards the nine million copies sold.) In 2010 when The Book of Awesome came out I wrote in the Acknowledgements: “To Louis Sachar, for writing Sideways Stories from Wayside School and teaching a nerdy kid to to fall in love with reading.” Louis Sacher was born in East Meadow, New York in 1954 and moved to California when he was 9. He liked school but was not much of a reader until he fell into the works of J.D.Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut. He started studying at Ohio University but left to go move back with his mom after his father sadly passed away in his first semester. Later on he enrolled at Berkeley majoring in Economics. One day, on campus, he caught sight of a young girl passing out flyers. The flyers read: “Help - Teachers Aides Wanted at Hillside Elementary - Earn 3 course credits.” It struck him as a sweet deal. No homework, no term papers, no tests. He signed up. He soon found himself both in the classroom and on the school playground, known to the kids as “Louis the Yard Teacher”. He loved it. And it ended up changing his life. His time at the local public school inspired him to write Sideway Stories from Wayside School. He even named the kids in the book after real kids he taught. It published in 1978 though did not make a loud splash. No fanfare. So Louis went on to Law School and practiced law for 10 years — all the while writing children’s books on the side. His writing finally took off in 1989. He quit law to write full time and is now one of the best known children’s authors in the world. (Although I’m a Sideways junkie he’s probably sold even more copies of Holes which won him both the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the Newbery Medal and — no biggie — was made into a giant blockbuster film, too.) I was delighted to sit down with a childhood idol. He called us up from the suburbs of Austin, Texas and we talked about absurdity, wooing readers, drinking urine, literary heroes, celebrity culture, writing structure, The Shawshank Redemption, wrestling with doubt, and how to live a quiet life. Let’s flip the page into Chapter 78 now… What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/78 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
May 11, 2021 |
Chapter 77: Jonny Sun on absurd algorithms altering the authenticity of art
01:40:08
Happy Pink Moon, everybody! Way back in 2017, I came across a feature article in The New York Times Magazine called “A Whimsical Wordsmith Charts a Course Beyond Twitter.” The article was about MIT PhD student Jonny Sun’s online personality — as a sentimental alien — attracting a huge following online. I was like “Okay, this is about the latest viral Instagram influencer and their particular brand of attention seeking behavior.” But as I read the piece, and went deeper into the bio of Jonny Sun, I found myself fascinated. Jonny Sun is a PhD student at MIT looking to understand, in more objective ways, how social media fosters community. His research focuses on how social media content influences the broader world. How meaning is made. How it spreads. How it changes news and culture. As one comedian put it, “He’s like Jane Goodall and we’re the apes.” I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the Jonny Sun rabbit hole. There’s a lot there! Jonny is an architect, designer, engineer, artist, playwright, and comedy writer who has written for BoJack Horseman. In fact, we recorded this chapter with him in L.A. currently writing another screen play. Jonny’s work is across multiple disciplines which broadly addresses the narrative of human experience. His plays have been performed at the Yale School of Drama, Hart House Theatre in Toronto, the Toronto Theatre Lab First Sight Festival and the University of Toronto Drama Festival. His art has been exhibited at Yale University and the University of Toronto. And, he is the author of a brand new and highly anticipated book called Goodbye, Again: Essays, Reflections & Illustrations. It is a truly wonderful book. Looks simple on the surface but then roller coasters up and down and sideways with obsessive mental insights like Jenny Lawson or David Foster Wallace. Jonny’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeneys, NPR, The New York Times and Late Night with Seth Myers. He’s also been named by Times as one of the 25 most influential people on the internet, Forbes has named him one of their 30 under 30 and his TED Talk has nearly four million views. Are you ready to talk about the culture of productivity, about being on all the time, about therapy and anxiety, about the provocative nature of humor, about succulents and aloe plants, about Dadaism, about competition, about algorithms, and of course about the wonderful Jonny Sun’s 3 most formative books? Let’s turn the page into Chapter 77 now… What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/77 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 27, 2021 |
Chapter 76: Jenny Lawson on dark dollhouses delivering a door from depression
01:50:27
Do you suffer from anxiety disorder? Depression? Intrusive thoughts? Obsessive compulsive disorder? Voluntary hair pulling? Avoidant personality disorder? Any of the above? Well, Jenny Lawson suffers from all of the above. Tuberculosis too, according to her wonderful new book. It’s an overwhelming way to live and only partly cured by being a global community leader for mental health through her wonderful blog (TheBloggess.com), her millions of followers, and her indie bookshop Nowhere Bookshop down in San Antonio, Texas. Does Jenny Lawson do podcasts? Interviews? No, not really. She tells us at the beginning of the chat that she loves 3 Books so much that she wanted to come — lucky us, as 3 Bookers have been asking for this interview for years! — and she made herself cozy by calling me up from under her desk, in cozy clothes, post-beta-blockers, and with Hunter S. Tomcat providing animal therapy throughout. What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/76 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co |
Apr 12, 2021 |
Chapter 75: George Saunders offers lessons on living a luminous life
02:29:17
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co “An astoundingly tuned voice, telling just the kind of stories we need to get us through these times.” Thomas Pynchon “Not since Mark Twain has America produced a satirist this funny.” Zadie Smith “George Saunders makes you feel as if you are reading fiction for the first time.” Khaled Hosseini I could keep going and going with other literary all-stars lining up to praise George Saunders but my favorite quote about George’s writing comes from Ben Marcus in The Believer back in 2004: “The Suits call his writing ‘stories,’ but they are really soft bodies to wear for a larger experience of life, hollowcore person-shapes that one can slip on in order to attain amazement. Saunders writes bodies, and his readers wear them.” Yes! That’s how I feel, too. Which is what made it such an immense pleasure to sit down with the humble genius that is George Saunders. Don’t take the genius label from me! He’s won a MacArthur Genius Grant, Guggenheim Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Prize and been named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People. He won the Man Booker for the mesmerizing otherworldly masterpiece Lincoln in the Bardo, and every time I read his short story collections Pastoralia and Tenth of December they just crack my heart wide open. And, just to extend the literary resume here, his most recent book A Swim in the Pond in the Rain is simply the best book on writing I have ever read. I highly recommend it to all writers. George Saunders has also been a Professor in Creative Writing at Syracuse University since 1997. Cheryl Strayed, our guest in Chapter 69, is one of hundreds who had George as a teacher and calls him a mentor today. Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation discussing the computer we are all trapped inside, reading as a life project, how we process reality, practicing Buddhism, the world as a corrective force, delivering payoff, staying grounded, cultivating a love of literature in children, harnessing our shadow selves, quieting mental rumination, aiming our spigots, and much, much more … . The wisdom of George Saunders offers a true masterclass on writing, on living, on life. Let’s flip the page into Chapter 75 … |
Mar 28, 2021 |
Bookmark: Terrible, Thanks for Asking
50:14
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Mar 20, 2021 |
Chapter 74: Kanmani Guruswami the Midwife on countering colonialism with compassionate care
01:24:47
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Leslie and I welcomed a baby boy into the world just a few weeks ago. Like our other three sons, he was sheparded into the world by Kanmani Guruswami and her incredible team of midwives at Kensington Midwives in downtown Toronto. Kanmani has become a guide for Leslie and me — supporting us physically, emotionally, and spiritually on our parenthood journey. Not only is she a veteran midwife, heading up the Kensington Midwives clinic, but she’s also a passionate activist who tirelessly focuses her energies towards making the world a kinder, more inclusive, and more empathetic place. What do I mean? You’ll hear it in seconds. Born in Calgary to her Tamil-speaking engineer father from Tamil Nadu, India and her mathematician mother from Switzerland, Kanmani is the product of their hard work ethic and their struggles navigating many degrees of colonization and assimilation. Kanmani chose midwifery as a career path while assisting with home births in Vancouver and now for the past twenty years, her midwife clinic has assisted indigenous and settler Canadians. I confess I knew nothing about midwifery a few years ago. Less than nothing! Less than less than nothing! But as I’ve been exposed to the work they do, I’ve come to believe it is truly critical and transformational to both families and broader society. I believe the work of midwives needs to be discussed, debated, and celebrated. So Kanmani and I hung out on my couch in full PPE and masks right as she was finishing up an appointment with Leslie and my two-week-old son. We discuss things like: delivering versus catching, people of the global majority, what exactly midwives do, who exactly is a settler, the invisible effects of colonization, racism in health care, the magic of childbirth, and, of course, Jughead Jones. Kanmani Guruswami is a local hero whose voice, stories, wisdom, and humanity should be amplified. So let’s amplify it! I hope her love and wisdom ripples deeply into your heart as it does to mine. And now let’s flip the page into Chapter 74 … What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/74 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Mar 13, 2021 |
Chapter 73: Humble The Poet cries crusade but cautions courting controversy
01:25:44
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Do you miss coffee shops? The clatter, the din, the pshh-pshh of the espresso machine. The cacophony of music and typing and magnetic sense of connection with strangers. I miss the belonging. I miss the community. One of my favourite coffee shops is inside the Centre for Social Innovation in downtown Toronto where 3 Bookers will remember I vowed to record a future chapter while cruising by in David Sedaris’ limo back in Chapter 18. Well, the podcast gods worked their magic and I was lucky to find myself there months later in the company of the wonderful Humble the Poet. Truth be told, I’ve kept this chapter on ice for a while since it was recorded pre-masks, pre-lockdown. I kept thinking normalcy would return and then the pandemic dragged on and on and on and I grudgingly switched to virtual recordings. But now I need that coffee shop! So here is the last live and in-person recording of 3 Books I’ve got for you for a while. (Insert tear emoji here) Do you know Humble the Poet? He’s an electric and creative polymath, rapper, poet, spoken word artist, best selling author of Unlearn and Things No One Else Can Teach Us, Lollapalooza performer, former elementary school teacher, and a wildly popular blogger at humblethepoet.com with over 100,000 readers. Oh, and did I mention more than a million people follow him across social media @humblethepoet. Perceptive, inquisitive, and putting out a vibe that captures hearts and minds, Humble defies easy stereotypes. I might even say he shatters them. We dive deep into his activism and how he develops courage to brave the wilderness and be so unafraid to challenge mainstream consensus by shedding light on Indian farmers or the Colin Kaepernicks of the world far before doing so becomes en vogue. We discuss how mainstream media preys on our biology and why controversy hooks our attention. We chat about the counterintuitive value of obscurity and how to stand out in a global village of sameness. And, of course, we discuss Humble the Poet’s 3 most formative books. I am grateful to share this conversation with this incredible human being while getting an aural dose of coffee shop community at the same time. Wherever you are right now, whatever you’re doing right now, I encourage you to flop down on the green couch beside the radiator. I’ll be in your left ear, Humble will be in your right ear, and let’s hang out. Can I get you a cappuccino? What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/73 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Feb 27, 2021 |
Chapter 72: Adam Grant frowns on feeble feminism from fearmongering fellows
01:11:24
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, Angie Thomas, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, and Judy Blume. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon all the way up to 5:21 am on September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Picture this: You’re a brand new professor two years into a teaching career at an illustrious university and feedback on you as a professor is … terrible. Sorry! But you’re told you suck. By lots of students. Again and again. How would you process that? Cry? Crawl into a hole somewhere and curl up in the fetal position while sucking your thumb? That’s what I would do! That’s actually what I did do, frankly, in my first job ever at Procter & Gamble. They told me I sucked so I quit and ran away before I got fired. But Adam Grant? No. He leaned into the feedback. He designed new surveys to get richer feedback. He asked other professors if he could take on more teaching classes. He basically triangulated and solved for the question: what makes a good professor? Impressive right? Well, he’s been voted the most popular professor for seven straight years so I’d say so. I had heard this story about Adam before I interviewed him and it made me even more curious about what makes this guy tick. He seemingly does everything. He has a popular podcast with TED called WorkLife which is wonderful if you’re a student of organizational psychology, organizational behavior, or becoming a better leader. Oh, and how about his books? Every time Adam Grant pens a new book it shoots straight to the top of The New York Times bestseller list and sort of just roosts there for months. Give and Take, Originals, Option B (with Sheryl Sandberg), and now Think Again which I’ve loved reading. In Think Again Adam says we must redefine intelligence, not just as the ability to think and learn, but rather embrace rethinking and unlearning. Rejecting the comfort of conviction for the discomfort of doubt allows us to widen our definition of what real intelligence is and widen the aperture of our minds. Adam was good enough to dial me up from Philadelphia where he lives with his wife Allison and his three children. Since I did the interview literally hours after Leslie welcomed our new son into the world, I was a bit brain-jumbled. But we end up having a wonderful chat about parenting and balancing ambition versus contentment, along all the less visible sides of life. We also talk about feminism, humility, work life balance, and of course, Adam’s 3 most formative books. So 3 Bookers! Stuff the earbuds in and fill up the sudsy sink, grab the leash for a long early-morning walk, or come hang out with Adam and me on a late night driveway chat… Are you ready to turn the page to Chapter 72? Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/72 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Feb 11, 2021 |
Chapter 71: Shirley the Nurse on hurting with homelessness and healing with heart
49:07
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: So I pull into the gas station to fill up my van and a car starts honking and keeps honking and keeps honking and keeps honking and keeps honking and I open my door and I look behind me and a woman opens her door and suddenly screams “MOVE YOUR CAR!!!” And then I go “But I’m getting gas?” and then she goes “BUT YOU PARKED IN FRONT OF ME!!!” and then I go “Because I’m getting gas?” and then she goes “BUT YOU COULD HAVE PARKED THERE!” and then I go “But my tank is on this side?” and then she goes “BUT YOU SAW ME RIGHT HERE!!!” and then I go “DOES YOUR CAR GO BACKWARDS???” and then right as things are sizzling up and it feels like I’m about to get smacked in the forehead with a squeegee another woman walks between us and says “YOU DON’T GOTTA LISTEN TO HER!!!” It was enough to cut the tension and help me give my head a shake. The situation simmered down and melted away as she reversed out and I was left standing there, filling up my tank, thinking about how we are all too wound up right now. Tension is high. Pandemic is wearing. We don’t need to yell at each other at gas stations! We need to give each other space to feel what we’re feeling and try to help each other along the way. Right? I think? Something like that? I was feeling bad about not being more compassionate when my public defender walked by me again. I said thank you and we exchanged big exaggerated eye-smiles and I got a sudden feeling that there was a little connection right here, right now. So I told her I talk to people about formative books and asked if she wanted to chat. Her reply? “HELL YEAH!” So we drove our cars across the street, I hit record on my phone, and we ended up laughing, crying, and connecting over the highs and lows of life, in just a few minutes, as two complete strangers. How did it happen? I don’t know. I can’t explain it! But I think this guerrilla chapter of 3 Books will stick with you for a long time. Get ready to discuss how it feels to lose everything, how it feels to suddenly be homeless with only your children and a stack of books at your side, and how it feels to be Black and raise Black children in the world today. Get ready to meet a woman you will not soon forget. Get ready to meet the incredible Shirley the Nurse aka Shirley Davis. It is time for another guerrilla chapter of 3 Books. Let’s go!
What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/71 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jan 28, 2021 |
Chapter 70: Brené Brown on building boundaries and the beacon of bell
01:18:16
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Leslie and I had just started dating when she sent me a short clip of Brené Brown explaining the difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy is climbing down into the hole with somebody and saying “Hey, I know what it’s like down here, and you’re not alone.” Sympathy is poking your head in the top of the hole and saying “Ooo! It’s bad, uh-huh!” Brené’s simple-sounding words created such a profound paradigm shift that we still use the line “Come down to the hole with me” in our relationship when we’re looking for deeper understanding (i.e., trying to get out of a fight.) That clip was the beginning of Brené Brown’s incredible work entering our marriage. When we found out we were going to have a baby Leslie printed out Brené Brown’s Parenting Manifesto and put it up on our wall. Leslie took Brené’s Kitchen Table Parenting Classes and we sat together watching her viral TED Talks, The Power of Vulnerability and Listening to Shame. I gave Leslie a copy of Daring Greatly on the day she gave a speech to her old high school and I was lucky to see Brené give a talk at a conference full of A-listers where hers was the only talk punctuated throughout the speech with standing ovation after standing ovation. Her wisdom may sound simple but it just hits you like a ton of bricks. Many of her lessons have themselves become tendons in our relationship including the phrase, “The story I’m telling myself is…” which we use to navigate tough conversations and not lay blame. Her #1 New York Times bestsellers Daring Greatly, The Gifts of Imperfection, Braving the Wilderness, Rising Strong and Dare to Lead grace our shelves and often lie beside our bed. We turn to them again and again. We loved her Netflix special The Call to Courage and her hit podcasts — yes, plural! — Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead featuring a lot of no-name guests like President Barack Obama, Dolly Parton, and President-Elect Joe Biden. I mean: come on! Brené is a North Star to so many. Teachers, CEOs, movie stars, Oprah, and even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are amongst her legion of fans. She is doing so much good in a world full of anxiety, grief, misunderstanding and miscommunication. She is the beacon we all need. It was a huge privilege to sit down and interview Brené together with my wife Leslie. We loved this intimate and wide-ranging conversation discussing questions like: How do we truly honor our partners? What is the value of ordinary moments? How do we actually operationalize love? And, of course, what are Brené Brown’s 3 most formative books? Are you ready? Please sit back and enjoy Chapter 70 with the one and only … Brené Brown. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/70 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jan 13, 2021 |
Chapter 69: Cheryl Strayed on forging fearlessness and fracturing facades
01:49:12
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: I am so delighted to close out 2020 with the magical wisdom of the one and only … Cheryl Strayed. Cheryl is the New York Times bestselling author of Wild, the Oprah’s Book Club pick turned blockbuster film starring Reese Witherspoon, Brave Enough, a collection of raw and unflinchingly brave quotes, and Torch, her award-winning debut novel. And then there’s my personal favorite! The Dear Sugar Column she wrote for years in The Rumpus literary magazine where she navigated the deep tissue of the human experience through raw and honest advice under the pseudonym Sugar. Since the letters were also written under pseudonym it’s an exquisite portrait of anonymous loving beating hearts of humanity connecting with no names and no faces — just riding the waves of life together. Cheryl’s bestselling book Tiny Beautiful Things is a magnificent compilation from the column that spawned the hit podcasts Dear Sugars and Sugar Calling. How did Cheryl gain such deep perception of the human experience? Is it through the abuse she discusses suffering as a child and her upbringing in “the boondocks” of Minnesota in a house her family built without electricity or plumbing? Was it through the sudden death of her mother Bobbie while she was in her senior year and the famed walk she took afterwards up the Pacific Crest Trail? Was it the MA in Fine Arts she got from Syracuse where she was mentored by George Saunders? Or is it simply the sum total of her incredible perception on top of the varied experiences she’s had through jobs as waitress, youth advocate, political organizer, activist, and even emergency medical technician? All I know is Cheryl is a singular, lyrical, big-hearted voice who never shies away from the deep questions. In this conversation we discuss things like: How do we deal with grief? How do we live objectively in a subjective world? How should we think about meeting our heroes? What is the power of community and connection? How do we write with vulnerability? And of course, what are the eminent Cheryl Strayed’s … 3 most formative books? Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/69 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Dec 30, 2020 |
Best of 3 Books podcast 2020
04:31:14
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Happy winter solstice! Happy summer solstice! If you’re in the northern hemisphere, we are tilted farther away from the sun today compared to any other day of the year. The darkest of dark days! But if you’re in the southern hemisphere, you are officially tilted closer to the sun than any other day of the year. The brightest of bright days! Do you feel a bit tilted right now? I know I do. It has been a wild year from almost any perspective. And the tiltiest of days seemed like the perfect time to drop our third annual “Best Of” special episode of 3 Books. I went back and listened to every conversation we had this year and picked out highlights I thought would provoke, stimulate, and challenge us. We sat down with so many inspiring people including Rich Roll, Dr. Laura Markham, Wagner Moura, Roxane Gay, Dr. Andrea Sereda, Derek Forgie, Temple Grandin, David Mitchell, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and many, many more… I hope this patchwork quilt conversation serves to both help us reflect on the year that was and help us set intentions for the year that will be. We have been through a lot. Grab a blanket and a cup of tea, settle in for a long drive, strap on some boots and let’s enjoy some time together now… I really love having this conversation with you. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/best-of-2020 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Dec 21, 2020 |
Chapter 68: Roger Martin on mercenary monopolies, material mentors, and managing mayhem
01:32:00
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Roger Martin has been called the #1 management thinker in the world by Thinkers50. I’m not surprised. For the past twenty years I have often been in crowds gathered around Roger to hear him speak. Like Marshall McLuhan or Malcolm Gladwell, he has a singular visionary worldview that’s simultaneously astonishingly insightful and deeply humble. After graduating from Harvard Business School, Roger went on to be a top director at The Monitor Group, the boutique strategic consultancy firm cofounded by Michael Porter. He then became Dean of Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, where he not only managed to 10x revenue during his tenure, but massively elevated Rotman’s status globally until it became one of the top business schools in the world. Most interestingly, he applied a series of counterintuitive management practices to placate disillusioned staff operating in a Lord of the Flies type setting. Along the way, he’s managed to author a number of bestselling strategy books including Playing To Win and The Opposable Mind. This year, he released When More Is Not Better which I think is his best book to date. (I called it my #1 non-fiction read of 2020.) In the book, Roger calls out a very broken system of democratic capitalism, rusted from within, favouring the elite over a working class struggling to make ends meet. But, unlike most business books which sort of stop at illuminating the problem, Roger actually spends most of his time offering tangible and concrete solutions that have proven to work elsewhere. If you are the leader of a team, a community group, or within a family, you will gain a ton of actionable wisdom from Roger Martin. There is so much here, from countering monopolies to designing slack systems and building trust. Roger Martin is a self effacing, deeply humble genius with the power to distill complex ideas into digestible concepts. Ready for this masterclass? Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/68 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Dec 14, 2020 |
Chapter 67: Roxane Gay on lessons in love and the lethal lure of likeability
46:22
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Provocative bestselling author. Prestigious editor. Prolific book reviewer. Passionate press founder. Prominent professor. Powerful speaker. Perceptive social commentator. Phew! Is it any wonder Roxane Gay has been dubbed by Playboy as the most important and most accessible feminist critic of our time? Over 1,000,000 people follow Roxane across Twitter, Instagram, and GoodReads, where she is, no big deal, currently the #1 ranked best book reviewer on the entire platform. So she’s an Internet junkie then, right? One of those social media “influencer” people? That kind of thing? Oh no, no, no, no, no! Roxane Gay is not that. She writes the Work Friend column at The New York Times as well as regular Op-Eds. She is the author of numerous bestselling books including Ayiti, Bad Feminist, An Untamed State, Difficult Women and Hunger. She was an editor for The Rumpus, co founded PANK literary magazine, and is currently editor at Gay Mag. She launched Tiny Hardcore Press (in her words, publishing “books tiny in stature but grand in reach and spirit,”) and has been a professor at Eastern Illinois, Purdue, and Yale. Roxane’s work is known for challenging mainstream narratives and deconstructing feminist and cultural issues through the lens of her personal experience as a Black queer writer. I spent weeks preparing for this conversation and felt like a ravenous wolf trying to read and listen to as much Roxane as I could find. I read and loved Bad Feminist, dug into her treasure trove of essays on Medium, and listened to her on many podcasts including two episodes on the wonderful Design Matters with her wife Debbie Millman. And still: I didn’t scratch the surface. She is such a prolific voice. We talk relationships, love, morality, sex, even wokeness and, of course, about her three most formative books. Are you ready to hang out with Roxane’s incredibly compelling mind? Let’s go! PS. This chapter is in partnership with Roxane and Performance Space NY, an alternative arts hub currently raising funds for housing insecure Black and trans artists. The arts world needs us all the time but even more so during this pandemic. Please consider donating. I will match all 3 Books listener donations up to $5000. Please email Manuela at manuela@globalhappiness.org with your donation receipt. Thank you! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/67 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Nov 30, 2020 |
Chapter 66: Vivek Murthy on loneliness, living longer, and leading with love
02:13:51
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: So Joe Biden gets elected President on a Saturday. Who does he call up on Sunday? Vivek Murthy. The former Surgeon General of the United States under Barack Obama and the new co-chair of Biden’s Coronavirus Task Force offers such a unique combination of indisputable professional acumen with calm and resonant introspection. I was first drawn to Vivek Murthy back in September of 2017 when I came across a cover story he wrote in Harvard Business Review called Work and the Loneliness Epidemic. I couldn’t believe it! Doesn’t the Surgeon General usually warn about smoking, obesity, and AIDS? Yet here was a medical doctor, in the most public forum, warning us on the perils of … loneliness. I took the piece to heart and let it lead me down a rabbit hole of research on solitude. I even quoted Vivek in You Are Awesome. Vivek’s CV reads like an Indian parent’s dream with a high school valedictorian followed by a Harvard undergrad and then Yale to become (no biggie) a doctor with an MBA! What did he do on the side? He founded VISIONS Worldwide (a not for profit focused on HIV/AIDS education in the United States and rural India) in 1995 and Doctors For America ( which fights for access to high quality affordable health care for the most needy) in 2008. He would then alternate years in medical practice with time in the highest echelons of government. Vivek released his wonderful book Together which went straight to the New York Times bestseller list and was endorsed by Malcolm Gladwell, our guest in Chapter 37 of 3 Books, who said: “Vivek Murthy reminds us that our national conversation about medicine has been too narrowly focused on hospitals, doctors and drugs and not enough on the human connections that sustain us.” Amen! Fascinated by his prodigious intellect and dedication to the service of others, I knew I would love to chat with him on 3 Books. Susan Cain generously introduced us and Vivek then gave us the incredible gift of his time … spread out over two interviews across two months and stitched together here. What are the social implications of COVID? How do we prioritize the people in our lives who matter most? What is the best way to pursue a spiritual path? What is higher energy and how can we channel it? How do we deepen our friendships? What is a moai and how can one be used to help our spiritual and emotional growth? What does it mean to be guided by love versus fear? And, of course, what are former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 3 most formative books? I hope you see why Vivek’s voice resonates so powerfully in medical, business and political circles. His contemplative bias, humility, and calm in the face of this pandemic are a gift. If I was elected President, I would call him the next day, too! Sit back and let his words and advice be the balm of wisdom that we can all benefit from right now. Let’s go!
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/66 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Nov 15, 2020 |
Chapter 65: Nikki Giovanni on potent poetry, powerful prose, and palling with the purveyor of peace
01:20:01
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Happy Blue Moon and Happy Halloween everyone! A singular lunar event is fitting for the release of my next chapter with the venerable Nikki Giovanni. Do you know Nikki? I’m a bit ashamed to admit I didn’t until I came across her wonderful children’s book, Rosa (on American civil rights activist Rosa Parks), which I read to my kids and loved. After Apurna called 1-833-READ-A-LOT in the End of the Podcast Club in Chapter 59 and suggested Nikki as a guest, I watched her TED Talk, read some of her poems and watched a captivating interview she did with James Baldwin back in 1971. And then I reached out to her and she graciously accepted to be interviewed for 3 Books. Nikki Giovanni was born in 1943 and is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator. Wikipedia says she is one of the world’s best known African American poets. I think she’s one of the world’s best known poets, period! (Why do we always hedge it??) She is prolific and deeply introspective throughout her poetry, anthologies, recordings and nonfiction essays on topics ranging from race, to social issues, to children’s issues. She was nominated for a Grammy and was named one of Oprah Winfrey’s 25 Living Legends for her prominence in the 1960s Black Arts Movement and as a defender of both the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. She’s been dubbed “The Poet of the Black Revolution” for her strong militant perspective. Today, at 77, she is a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech where she still teaches and mentors students to help them find their voices. And it is from her very office that she dialled in to chat with me. Listen in as we discuss the true meaning of activism, the true meaning of community, why it is important to hate (yes hate!), and to share what she believes is the best thing to do when you get up in the morning. And of course we get into her 3 most formative books. I am honored and humbled to bring you this lively conversation with the eminent Nikki Giovanni. Let’s go!
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/65 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Oct 31, 2020 |
Chapter 64: Rhiannon the Restaurateur on redefining reality
33:11
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: So I’m walking down the street in downtown Toronto when I glance into a restaurant on my right and see a little chalkboard sign in the window which reads, “Your rights end where another person’s begin. Wear a mask.” I found the sign to be a tiny display of civic activism. Asking people to wear masks! Demanding it, even. So tough in the service industry. I stop to snap a quick photo and the owner, Rhiannon, seeing me do this, steps outside. We talk about how tough things are in the industry right now and discuss the challenges of enforcing masks and distance while trying to run a business. I decide to order a breakfast burrito, which gives me time to engage Rhiannon in a longer exchange. Turns out she was an English teacher and loves reading so I turn on my recorder and record a short guerrilla chapter of 3 Books right on her patio. (Our second after Chapter 44 with Kevin the Bookseller! And our second bar patio chapter after Chapter 27 with Robin the Bartender.) Listen into this honest conversation about school politics, engaging reluctant readers, tackling stereotyping, hangover poutine, and of course, Rhiannon the Restaurateur’s 3 most formative books. As this pandemic endures, we need to support our local corner shops, variety shops, and neighborhood restaurants. The future is going to need small businesses! Let’s give some love to the beautiful Rhiannon of Grapefruit Moon. Let’s go!
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/64 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
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Oct 16, 2020 |
Chapter 63: Brandon Stanton is harnessing histories of humble human heroes
02:18:55
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: “If you are willing to get closer to people who are suffering, you will find the power to change the world.” That quote by Bryan Stevenson perfectly describes the incredible work of Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York, my guest on Chapter 63 of 3 Books. Happy Harvest Moon everyone! Are you surviving the onslaught of 2020? If you’re anything like me you’re looking for grounding which is why I’m thrilled to be bringing you this uplifting exchange which completely filled my heart and soul. Brandon Stanton is an American author, photographer, blogger, activist, and philanthropist. He is the creator of the viral sensation Humans of New York, which boasts a community of over 30 million people around the world who get a regular glimpse into the private lives of strangers through Brandon’s arresting photos and accompanying stories that reflect back to us the deeper nature of humanity. Brandon is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Humans of New York, Humans of New York: Stories, Little Humans of New York, and the highly anticipated new book Humans which comes out next week. (Side question: I believe he also holds the Guinness World Record for “Most Books With The Word Humans In The Title”). Brandon was listed as one of TIME’s 30 People Under 30 Changing The World, and received the James Joyce award for the Literary and Historical Society for Professional Achievement. Not bad for a roaming flâneur who got fired from his bond trading job and just started walking around taking pictures all day. In this chapter we discuss:
In this tumultuous year of ups and downs, pandemic havoc, incessant media and political mayhem, let this conversation be an oasis of energy to fill you back up. Let’s go! What You’ll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/63 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Oct 01, 2020 |
Chapter 62: Myriam Gurba is a bold badass with a bronca against baseless bigotry and brutality
02:05:33
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: “Xicana AF. Bitch is my pronoun.” So reads the Twitter bio of Myriam Gurba, my guest, our guest, in Chapter 62. A Mexican/American writer, storyteller, and visual artist from California, Myriam is the author of the true crime memoir Mean, which was hailed by O magazine as “one of the best LGBTQ+ books of all time.” She is also the author of Painting Their Portraits in Winter, Dahlia Season, as well as a number of chapbooks, all of which pack an audacious punch. And if her infectious written word is not enough, she’s toured with Sister Spit, a lesbian feminist spoken word and performance art collective. She traffics in Spanglish and bold truth, the kind of which is raw and fierce. “When I tell gringos that my Mexican grandfather worked as a publicist, the news silences them. Shocked facial expressions follow suit. Their heads look ready to explode and I can tell they’re thinking, ‘In Mexico, there are PUBLICISTS?!’ I wryly grin at these fulanos and let my smile speak on my behalf. It answers, ‘Yes, bitch, in México, there are things to publicize such as our own fucking opinions about YOU.’ - Myriam Gurba Those words are from her viral article, Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature, in which she takes down Jeanine Cummins’ novel American Dirt. She had been asked to review the book by Ms. Magazine, but they rejected said review on the basis that she, “lacked the fame to pen something so negative.” The controversy came to light, as well as her original critique, and the publishing world erupted. Cultural appropriation, the white gaze, racism, and the lack of diversity in the publishing industry were brought to the fore. Unafraid and unapologetic, Myriam had no choice but to ride the wave of deliberation. Aspersion was only heightened, shortly thereafter, by her very publicized suspension from her teaching job in a local high school by an armed police escort. Her social media presence was deemed inappropriate. And yet, she was, in her words, simply defending students who were accusing teachers of abuse. She is passionate and energetic, a big thinking firecracker who challenged my views and grew my thinking on so many levels for which I am so grateful. We had a jet-fueled conversation talking about racism, prejudice, growing up queer, police brutality, violence against women, the Mexican obsession with death, and, of course, Myriam Gurba’s 3 most formative books. Are you ready for a gritty, vulnerable, and honest conversation with the one and only Myriam Gurba? Let’s go! (Trigger Warning: This conversation does veer into topics of sexual abuse and trauma.) What You’ll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/62 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Sep 17, 2020 |
Chapter 61: Temple Grandin on mixing minds making magic
01:18:47
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: Welcome to Chapter 61! I am delighted to bring you a conversation with the one and only Temple Grandin whose life has profoundly changed our preconceived notions on autism and neurodiversity, and whose work has heightened awareness of the importance of animal welfare. Born in 1947 in Boston, she was diagnosed with autism while still nonverbal at age 4. Told her daughter should be institutionalized, Temple’s Harvard-educated mother dismissed doctors and worked tirelessly to help her daughter blossom. A BA, MA, and PhD later, Temple is a lauded faculty member at the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. She has authored over 60 scientific papers on animal behavior and is one of the first people with autism ever to document her own journey. This has contributed to her notoriety on many fronts: she was brought to prominence in the world by Oliver Sacks M.D in his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, she has authored her own books on autism, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism and The Autistic Brain: Helping Different Minds Succeed, her TED Talk - The World Needs All Kinds of Minds has been viewed over five million times and the HBO movie, Temple Grandin, shed authentic light on her incredible story. As a respected spokesperson in the animal community, Temple is also celebrated for her re-design of slaughterhouses (yes, you read that right). She is outspoken in her belief that, “alleviating anxiety rather than extending life fully,” should be the priority for those raising animals. Her essay “Animals are Not Things” and her books Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human, have garnered her the highest regard, for her ability to empathize with animals is second to none. In this Chapter, we discuss:
Ready to jump into my conversation with this beautiful and resilient soul? Let’s go! WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN TODAY’S EPISODE:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/61 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Sep 02, 2020 |
Chapter 60: Shane Parrish masters Munger to map mental models and mold maverick minds
01:42:49
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: In Shane Parrish’s first group project during his MBA he watched as his professor got into some verbal fisticuffs with his partner on a project. They were debating the logic behind his group’s presentation. They disagreed about it! And, eventually, his partner got up and shouted, “I am wasting my time here!” before storming out of the room, out of the class, and out of the program in one fell Costanza-like swoop. Shane fortunately caught up with the unnamed hero in this little caper while he was waiting for a taxi and said, “What happened back there? I thought we did the project right. Why did we get such a different answer than the professor?” His partner’s two-word answer ended up changing Shane’s life. He said simply: “Charlie Munger”. Who is Shane Parrish? He’s a former spy who, to quote the NY Times, ‘helps Wall Street mavens think smarter.’ He’s become an unlikely guru to the world’s intellectual elite with strategies appealing to an overachieving audience across high finance, Silicon Valley and professional sports. He runs Farnam Street, colloquially known as FS.blog, which aims to ‘help you master the best of what other people have already figured out.’. FS.blog helps readers optimize decision-making through a giant worldwide community of thousands of people, a virtual think tank of professionals who can help “shorten the path to wisdom’ and self-education. FS is also: an award-winning newsletter (Brain Food), a podcast called The Knowledge Project (which I guested on not so long ago) and a series of incredible books called The Great Mental Models that Shane Parrish and his team personally publish. So how do you meet a spy? You fly to him. And so I did. Up to Ottawa, Canada and into the new Farnam Street Offices on Bank Street — all pre-pandemic. To say I’m intrigued by Shane is an understatement. He is a voracious reader with insights and worldly wisdom on big questions like:
Are you ready? Let’s go. What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/60 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Aug 19, 2020 |
Chapter 59: Jeff Speck is pushing the pleasures of pedestrian propinquity
01:56:42
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: Where in the world are you right now? Are you in cramped apartment in a busy downtown core? Are you in a countryside farm beside a tiny general store? Or are you in a basement hotel gym in Ulaanbaatar? And, more importantly, why in the world are you where you are? Are you chasing a career? Are you in school? Did you move for love? Does inertia have you wedged deeply into your neighborhood? Well, where ever you are, I can promise you this: by the end of Chapter 59 you won’t look at where you live the same way ever again. Why? Because my next guest is a visionary city planner and urban designer and who will guide us through the power of place and principled planning. Sidenote: Chapter 59 is our first rabbit hole chapter of 3 Books. You may recall Anne Bogel introduced us to Jeff Speck by picking his book Walkable City as one of her three most formative back in Chapter 57. She was in love with the book, I fell in love with the book, and we ended up inviting Jeff onto the show. So who is Jeff Speck? Well, he’s an internationally renowned city planner and urban designer, recognized for his research surrounding, and advocacy for, more walkable cities. He was Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003-2007, he was also Director of Town Planning at DPZ & Co (the founders of the New Urbanist movement) for over 10 years and now heads up his own consulting practice, advising cities and mayors across the globe. He is a fellow at both the Congress for the New Urbanism and the American Institute of Certified Planners and has made conversations surrounding walkability mainstream via his two TED Talks viewed over 4 million times: The Walkable City and 4 Ways to Make a City More Walkable. And as if the above planning pedigree were not enough, he is the author of several books including the aforementioned Walkable City, the top selling city planning book for the past decade, (and #832 in our Top 1000!) as well as Suburban Nation, declared by the Wall Street Journal as ‘the urbanists bible’ In this chapter we deep dive into:
Jeff is a wonder brain. Humble, articulate, passionate, he’s a man on a mission. His mind has these cranks and gears that allow him to see the world with giant perspective and distill things down to simple ideas for us to absorb and reflect upon. Are you ready? Let’s go! What You’ll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/59 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Aug 03, 2020 |
Chapter 58: Author David Mitchell on designing dizzily dazzling dreams
02:59:48
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: “Never touch your idols: the gilding will stick to your fingers” Gustave Flaubert I heard David Mitchell mention this quote while I was deep in the rabbit hole preparing to speak to him. It gave me pause. Was there any way he could possibly live up to the pedestal in the clouds I’d long placed him on? My love affair with David Mitchell began years ago when I became completely transfixed by Cloud Atlas. I then began devouring his other books like a starving man — Ghost Written, number9dream, Black Swan Green, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, The Bone Clocks, and his brand new masterpiece Utopia Avenue. Every book broke new genre territory while consistently offering vividly realistic characters, leaping plotlines, and hints towards a larger scale multiverse tying everything together. It’s no wonder five of his books have been long- or short-listed for the Booker Prize. And it’s not just me or the Booker committee, either. The Boston Globe calls David Mitchell, “one of the most electric writers alive”, Esquire calls him, “a genre leaping, mind bending, world-traveling, puzzle-making, literary magician”, and the New York Times Book Review declared him “a genius who writes as though at the helm of a perpetual dream machine.” TIME even declared him one of the world’s “100 Most Influential People”. I was indeed worried, but after spending two and a half hours talking to David (in what I think may be the longest feature-length interview with him anywhere and his first podcast interview in years) I am pleased to say no specks of gold came off in my fingers. If anything, his grace, humility, and wit only elevated the pedestal higher into the cosmos. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, prepare to go deep into one of the world’s deepest minds in the world. Get ready for a ramble across Middle Earth, Russia, Ireland, and Japan as we discuss things like:
These are just some of the topics we touch on with loving father, master craftsman, mentor to many, and endlessly erudite bibliophile David Mitchell. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/58 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jul 20, 2020 |
Chapter 57: Anne Bogel believes books build bridges and boost bibliophile belonging
01:16:46
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: Want to hang out in New York? Yes, let’s go back to pre-pandemic when sidewalks were full, strangers shook hands, and everybody popped in and out of stores like it was nothing. Sound like a faraway dream world? Yeah, it does to me, too. Yet somehow only a few months ago I flew down to New York and hung out in Union Square and The Strand bookstore with literary phenom Anne Bogel. Anne runs Modern Mrs Darcy, one of the world’s largest book blogs, as well as What Should I Read Next? and One Great Book, two of the world’s largest books podcast. Is that all? No, of course that’s not all! Do you know Anne? She’s like the Tasmanian Devil. She’s also a bestselling author and has three books to her name including Don’t Overthink It, I’d Rather Be Reading, and Reading People. Oh, and did I mention she’s the mother of four children!?!? In Chapter 57, Anne shares why she’s hesitant to look at people’s bookshelves when she’s just met them, what your ‘reading life’ is and how to grow and nurture it, what makes a city liveable, how Anne would organize a bookstore, and, of course, Anne’s three most formative books. I am so excited to share this conversation with you. I dare you to listen to Anne and not feel immediately excited to grow your reading life… Let’s go! What You’ll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/57 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
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Jul 05, 2020 |
Chapter 56: Kate the Therapist on navigating knotty natures to nurture our needs
01:38:14
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: I miss walking into stores. I miss walking into stores the way stores were stores before the pandemic. I miss the act of mindlessly browsing. I miss getting to know a shopkeeper. I miss idly chatting with strangers. I admit it! I miss the way it used to be. A couple of years ago, as I was walking around Toronto, a store caught my eye. There was a big sign outside that read Hard Feelings, and in the window there were a number of books I liked—books by Brené Brown, Susan Cain, Allie Brosch, etc — and several I knew nothing about. I noticed all the books were on the topic of mental health. I walked inside and met up with a woman named Kate Scowen. Kate is from Montreal, and she spent her formative years reading books that explored all kinds of feelings. She ended up getting three (!) degrees in Social Policy and Planning, Social Work, and English, but she always wanted to do more! Why? Because she wanted to create one of the first stores targeted specifically around mental health. Yes, a store targeted to mental health. Curated books, candles, eye masks, wheels of emotion. And with accessible, incredible low cost therapy in the back! Over the next few years I developed a great relationship with Kate. I believe her idea is revolutionary and indeed it is being used as a prototype around the world already. Today we sit at the back of the shop and discuss topics like:
Listen in to this episode of 3 Books to hear from the incredible Kate Scowen. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jun 21, 2020 |
Chapter 55: Brad Montague on fighting fear by forging fantastical futures
49:07
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: I kind of believe that way down deep in our stomachs there’s this tranquil little pond of peacefulness that is where we want to live. It’s that part of us that knows for sure that these days are short, life is precious, everything is fleeting, and like these little relationships we have - with a podcast, with our mothers, with our sisters, with our lovers - these relationships are life. Sure, they’re harder to measure and harder to count and harder to remember during the daily overwhelm ... but if you can tap into that pond… if you can tap into that deeper, knowing, wiser self… then it’s a better way to live. I know for me for the past few years Brad Montague has been a bit of a guide back down to that pond inside myself. Do you know Brad? He is a wonderful human being. He created the viral Kid President videos which have been seen over 700 million times. He started a charity to get socks to homeless people, he founded the Montague Workshop, he goes on listening tours to classrooms around America asking kids want they want from grown-ups in their life, and his epic social presence is a daily source of inspiration for hundreds of thousands of people. (Check out his beautiful Instagram offering here.) Most recently, he put his incredible wisdom down on paper into a bestselling book called Becoming Better Grown-ups: Rediscovering What Matters and Remembering How to Fly. We’re catching up to him today from his home in Henderson, Tennessee, and discussing some pretty heavy (but important!) topics surrounding death, the pandemic, and how faith and art can co-exist. Although these are not your typical feel-good topics, Brad’s perspective will no doubt leave you feeling refreshed and positive. As always, when I talk to Brad, or read his books, or see his art, I am awed by how he can create chaos from the cosmos. Getting the chance to chat with him about his three formative books was a true gift. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/55 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jun 05, 2020 |
Chapter 54: K881901 aka Emily Kim Ae Sun Hunter on twins tied together and tossed to tomorrow
49:31
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: In the late 1980s outside of Seoul, South Korea, a woman got pregnant with twins. She was 18 years old, she’d had a one night stand, and she was not able, for reasons we do not know, to keep the babies, so she gave them up for adoptions. Two baby girls were born and they were given the names K881901 and K881901. Because most people who adopt babies want one baby the twins were immediately split up and put into foster homes. For the first five months of their lives they did not know each other existed. Eventually a couple from New Hampshire, USA wanted children with siblings and adopted both babies. K881901 and K881902 were reunited and flown over to the United States to grow up under the watchful gaze of their Italian American father and French Canadian mother in a US state that is 98% white. K881901 was renamed Emily Kim Ae Sun Hunter and what were are about to hear is a story I got to hear live a few months ago when I gave a speech for Manulife at their first ever Global Employee Summit. Manulife is a global financial services company of over 35,000 people with a number of divisions such as John Hancock Financial. Unfortunately I had to follow Emily onstage! She dropped the mic with her personal story, the one I’ve just started sharing with you here, which received a giant standing ovation from the audience. She talked about finding yourself, navigating your race, being a person of color where you’re always the minority, and about how we discover our identities in a world of grey. We recorded this conversation at the Manulife Head Office in Toronto between our afternoon speech to the Western hemisphere employees and before our late-night speech to the Eastern hemisphere employees. I want to say a huge thank you to Manulife CEO Roy Gori, Director of Global Communications Brooke Tucker-Reid, and of course Emily Kim Ae Sun Hunter for helping make this conversation happen. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
May 22, 2020 |
Chapter 53: Vivek Shraya is trashing traditional trans tropes
01:52:46
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: I was browsing through a book store a few years ago when I stumbled on a small purple book called I’m Afraid of Men written by Vivek Shraya. Hadn’t heard of the book! Hadn’t heard of Vivek Shraya! But the provocative title grabbed me so I flipped it over. What was on the back? A simple big solo statement: “And men are afraid of me.” I opened and kept reading the jacket. Here’s what it said: “A trans artist explores how masculinity was imposed on her as a boy and continues to haunt her as a girl, and how we might reimagine gender for the twenty-first century. Vivek Shraya has good reason to be afraid. Throughout her life she has endured acts of cruelty and aggression for being too feminine as a boy and for not being feminine enough as a girl. In order to survive her childhood she had to learn how to convincingly perform masculinity. As an adult she makes daily compromises to steel herself against everything from verbal attacks to heartbreak. Now, with raw honesty, Shraya delivers an important record of the cumulative damage caused by misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, releasing trauma from a body that has always refused to assimilate.” Needless to say, I was intrigued. I picked up this small book and it transfixed me. It showed me a view and a lens and a perspective that I had no familiarity with and was opening my mind to a culture and people living with so much oppression. I ended up buying more of Vivek’s books, including her wonderful children's book A Boy & The Bindi. And when her traveling live memoiry stageshow How To Fail As A Pop Star visited Toronto my wife Leslie and I bought tickets and joined the giant standing ovation. Vivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. That bestselling book I’m Afraid of Men was heralded by Vanity Fair as “cultural rocket fuel,” and her album with Queer Songbook Orchestra, Part‑Time Woman, was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. She is one half of the music duo Too Attached and the founder of the publishing imprint VS. Books. A six-time (!) Lambda Literary Award finalist, Vivek was a Pride Toronto Grand Marshal, was featured on The Globe and Mail’s Best Dressed list, and has received honours from The Writers’ Trust of Canada and The Publishing Triangle. And, as if that’s not enough, she’s also Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Calgary! And now, right in the throes of her book launch for her fiction debut (!) The Subtweet, I had the pleasure of chatting with Vivek from Calgary about a slew of topics I think you’ll enjoy such as how parents can avoid snuffing out their children’s gender creativity and how we might think about using pronouns. Vivek is able to navigate many complex topics—topics that most people are not even willing to discuss—with a comfort and clarity that shows a deep level of thinking and which is the partial product of the hardships she’s endured and navigated throughout her life. I find her and her work incredibly brave, vulnerable, and important. I loved talking to her and hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. And now … let’s go! What You'll Learn:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
May 07, 2020 |
Chapter 52: Wagner Moura on lessons in living and loving from Latino leaders
01:56:28
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Chapter Description: We need leadership right now. Professional sports? Paused. Olympics? Postponed. Movie theaters? Closed. And yet we need stories to process, make sense, and inspire us more than ever before. Community leaders, politicians, and family members are filling the void. Don’t you love the viral stories of doctors playing piano after a long shift or prime ministers doing press conferences declaring the Tooth Fairy an essential service? We need leadership right now. And today I want to offer you a great one. Sérgio de Mello was a United Nations diplomat for 34 years earning awards and praise for his astounding global humanitarian efforts. He had a unique leadership style which cut through bureaucracy, clearly saw the humans behind the flags, and understood that we live in a global village and the most important way to get through tough times is by connecting our hearts. His empathetic and hopeful story is being brought to the screen in a brand new film called Sergio by Wagner Moura, an incredibly talented actor perhaps best known for playing Pablo Escobar in Narcos. Leslie and I absolutely loved Sergio and I was thrilled to sit down with Wagner Moura, passionate father, passionate activist, and passionate artist, to discuss many, many themes including: How do we learn to stand up for what we believe in? How do we parent during quarantine? How do we commit to things beyond our control? How do we create art in times of crisis? What do you say to your children when a president publicly denounces you? How do we seek out the humble leaders without titles in our own lives? And, of course, what are Wagner Moura’s three most formative books? I found Wagner Moura to be an incredibly beautiful soul and I think you will be inspired by the wonderful soulful offering he gives us all on 3 Books. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/52 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Apr 23, 2020 |
Surprise Waning Crescent: Confronting courageous coronavirus questions
52:12
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Look up to the sky. It’s a slowly waning crescent before Chapter 52 arrives on the exact minute of the new moon next week. So why this special episode of 3 Books? Well, like the “cultivating calm during coronavirus chaos” episode we released a month ago, it’s because we are swimming in wholly unprecedented seas. I am feeling stress around coronavirus and I can tell by your DMs, tweets, comments, and voicemails to 1-833-READ-A-LOT that you're feeling it, too. Now, as many of you know, I give speeches. I travel around the world giving motivational speeches to organizations, companies, and schools around the world. I am very lucky I get to do this, but guess what? They’re all cancelled. Every single speech I was slated to give this spring is now officially cancelled. TED is cancelled. SXSW is cancelled. Any organization running any event with hundreds of people is cancelled. So I am grounded like many of us are. But then the phone suddenly started ringing again. It seems with so many organizations working remotely while managing tectonic changes there’s a new opportunity to talk virtually about cultivating a positive mindset. So I have started being asked to give virtual speeches. I was recently supposed to be in Arizona speaking to a group of great leaders at Kao. I gave a speech to them in Cincinnati a couple months ago before coronavirus and was looking forward to seeing them again. But ... cancelled. So instead I gave a speech to them virtually, over a WebEx call, with a few hundred people all dialing in. I spoke for half an hour about resilience. If you’ve read You Are Awesome you can guess what I talked about! The two-minute morning ritual to ground and center us for the day. How developing a weird hobby helps avoid cognitive entrenchment and mental fragility during this uncertain time. And why it’s critical to go untouchable from the news and social media for a dedicated amount of time each day. After I spoke we opened up the call to a Q&A. And remember this is a call with hundreds and hundreds of people who can’t see me or each other. There’s a chatroom on the side where I can receive personal messages but we did it together. And I am so amazed at what happened. The leaders at Kao were incredibly vulnerable, brave, and courageous with each other. Their leader Trevor created incredible space for them to share emotions, feelings, and worries in a generous and open-hearted way. I did my best to reflect and add to the thoughts but most importantly they supported each other. I was awed by what you’re about to hear from these folks. After the call was over the leadership team and I spoke about using this chat as an opportunity to help other people. We are in this together right now around the whole world. We are one giant team. So that’s why we received expressed written permission from every single voice you’re about to hear to share this with you. The Q&A you are about to hear is being shared with one goal: we think there might be a nugget, tool, framework, or an idea that you can use. It’s not meant a panacea or a cure-all. This Q&A won’t solve all your problems. But it’s an offering. It’s a little plate with tiny treats on it. I hope there’s one thing here you can apply to something you are wondering or worrying about. We discuss things like:
I want to say a giant thank you to the team at Kao for letting us share this conversation with a special thanks to every voice you are about to hear. You are true leaders in every sense of the word. And now … Let's go! Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: www.3books.co/chapters/corona2 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Apr 16, 2020 |
Chapter 51: Dr. Qing Li on finding faith and freedom in forests
01:25:36
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co Chapter Description: Where are you in the world right now? Shacked up in Shanghai? Isolating in Iceland? Quarantine in Qatar? Well, I don’t know where you are but I am guessing that one of the biggest questions you’ve been asking yourself lately is about self-care. How do you take care of yourself if you are socially distancing or taking care of the others for weeks or months on end? What tools can you use? As the world is shifting, how do we all make sure you are taking care of our personal well-being? My mental health is being challenged right now and I am guessing yours may be, too. Well, today I bring you the very first virtual chapter of 3 Books, featuring Dr. Qing (pronounced “Ching”) Li all the way from Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Li is the world’s foremost authority in forest medicine. A medical doctor at Tokyo’s Nippon Medical School, he has been a visiting fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and is the founding chairman of the Japanese Society for Forest Medicine. He’s also the author of several books including the international bestseller Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness. I am so grateful that the kind and generous Dr. Qing Li accepted my invitation to come on 3 Books. I hope you find the conversation as informative and inspiring as I did. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/51 |
Apr 08, 2020 |
Chapter 50: Marcus Buckingham on soul ciphers and strength of self
01:02:57
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome, The Happiness Equation, Two-Minute Mornings, etc. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, the founder of the world's largest feminist magazine, the world's greatest Uber driver, Pete Holmes, Angie Thomas, and Malcolm Gladwell. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every single new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and 100% ad-free, commercial-free, sponsor-free, and interruption-free. For more info check out: https://www.3books.co/ Marcus Buckingham is a global researcher, bestselling author, and thought leader focused on unlocking strengths, increasing performance, and pioneering the future of how people work. He is the co-author of two of the bestselling business books of all time including FIRST BREAK ALL THE RULES and NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS as well as his newest bestseller NINE LIES ABOUT WORK. Building on nearly two decades of experience as a Senior Researcher at Gallup Organization, he currently guides the vision of ADP Research Institute as Head of People + Performance. He founded The Marcus Buckingham Company in 2006 with the clear mission to instigate a "strengths revolution." Chapter Description: What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/50 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Mar 24, 2020 |
Surprise Waning Crescent: Leslie and Neil on cultivating calm during coronavirus chaos
01:08:44
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co
It's not a full moon. It's not a new moon. The moon is currently a crescent and slowly waning before Chapter 50 arrives with the new moon next week. So why this episode of 3 Books? Because we are swimming in unprecedented seas. I am feeling stress and anxiety around coronavirus. And I can tell by your DMs, tweets, comments, and voicemails to 1-833-READ-A-LOT that you're feeling it, too. Of course we are!! I am worried about what happens when we all wake up feeling scared and mortal and alone at the same time. I am worried an invisible enemy that may already be inside us or people we love. I am worried for my sister and friends on the front lines. I am worried about the health of my parents and grandparents-in-law. I am worried about feeling isolated and distanced... and so many more things. Today I welcome back my wife Leslie and we sit down on our basement couch, after putting the kids to bed, to have an open-hearted talk about cultivating calm during coronavirus chaos. We discuss things like: - How do we create systems to control our media consumption? - How do we stay connected in this disconnected time? - What do we say to children and preteens? - How can we take care of ourselves as we go through this trauma? - What are some ways we can practice self-care? - And much, much more... If you need an empathetic voice, a compassionate voice, a loving voice, a tender voice, or a guiding voice, I can’t wait for you to meet or remeet my lovely wife, Leslie. (Chapter to Chapter Club members will of course know Leslie from Chapter 1 of 3 Books.) During our chat we set up a chair for you in the basement beside us. (We honestly did.) It has a thick wooly blanket and a cup of lavender chamomile tea. I hope you'll join us. Let's go!
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: www.3books.co/chapters/corona1 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Mar 20, 2020 |
Chapter 49: Dr. Andrea Sereda’s oddly original offerings on opioid overdosing
01:22:47
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each of the 333 chapters discusses the 3 most formative books of inspiring people such as Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Dr. Jen Gunter, Malcolm Gladwell, or the world's greatest Uber driver. 3 Books is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome series, The Happiness Equation, and Two-Minute Mornings. 3 Books is recorded in a special "two-ear" format so you are in the middle of the conversation and the show is released on the lunar calendar with every chapter dropping on the exact minute of every single new moon and every single full moon up to September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning podcast and 100% ad-free, sponsor-free, and commercial-free. For more info check out: www.3books.co
Dr. Sereda is a family physician who practices street outreach medicine, caring for people living in homelessness, women working in the survival sex trade and people who inject drugs. Dr. Sereda is an avid harm reductionist who has pioneered Canada’s first oral take-home Safe Supply program, which provides prescription opioids to people at risk of death from the fentanyl contaminated street drug supply. Safe Supply challenges the paradigms of how the healthcare system interacts with people who use drugs and is saving lives by dismantling the harms of drug prohibition. Dr. Sereda also provides primary care for “Street Level Women at Risk” (SLWAR), a Housing First model of care that strives to rapidly house women while concurrently addressing a woman’s physical health, mental health and substance use problems. SLWAR is a program unique within Canada, bringing together a team of women supporting women. SLWAR is seeing profound successes in their work of housing and caring for chronically homeless women. In 2018, Dr. Andrea Sereda was recognized as one of Canada’s top 40 under 40 Chapter Description: Today we sit down with Dr. Andrea Sereda at the Sherbourne Health Centre on the east side of downtown Toronto, an area of the city sometimes known for its challenges with drug abuse. Who is Dr. Andrea Sereda? Dr. Andrea Sereda is a family physician who practices street outreach medicine. She provides care through the London InterCommunity Health Centre in London, Ontario and works with the emergency safer supply substitution program to prescribes hydromorphone, an opioid used by injection drug users to reduce the risk of contaminated street drugs. Wait! What? Yes, on the face of it, Dr. Andrea Sereda ‘gives drugs to drug users but there is a lot more to the story. We are going right to the front lines of the opioid epidemic which, even before the end of this conversation, will take 10 lives in North America alone. (To illustrate the issue more deeply, 8,048 Americans died of opioid related drug overdoses in 1999. What about now? Well, the number was 47,600 in 2017, which is the most recently available data.) It will take ingenuity, creativity, and passion to address this issue. As you’ll hear, Dr. Andrea Sereda offers all three in spades. Her views are often provocative, sometimes controversial, and she will argue that drugs should be decriminalized and why we should indeed give drugs to drug users. What about the challenges to these ideas? The critics? The controversies? We get into that, too. And we are fortunate enough to use Andrea’s three most formative books as a launchpad into this conversation. I am so grateful to Dr. Andrea Sereda for sharing so much of her life, her journey, and her practice with all of us. I find her and her work incredibly challenging, intriguing, and inspiring. I hope you do, too. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/49 Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Mar 09, 2020 |
Chapter 48: Michael Bungay Stanier on massive moons and the magic of metaphor
01:39:31
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Michael Bungay Stanier is a Rhodes Scholar and author of The Coaching Habit, which is the #1 selling coaching book with over 700,000 copies sold over 2,000 Amazon reviews. In 2019, he was named the #1 thought leader in coaching, and was shortlisted for the coaching prize by Thinkers50, the “Oscars of management.” His work has been featured in HBR, Fast Company, and Forbes, and his company, Box of Crayons, has helped trained over 100,000 people in becoming more coach-like. His new book The Advice Trap comes out February, 2020. He lives with his wife in Toronto, Canada. Chapter Description: I am so excited to sit down with the one and only Michael Bungay Stanier on a pair of folding lawn chairs on his front porch in the Roncesvalles neighborhood of Toronto. Michael’s mind is like a box that you open and a whole bunch of springs suddenly fly out in all directions. Here’s his Amazon biography to give you a taste of this guy: “Michael was banned from his high school graduation for the ‘balloon incident’, he was sued by one of his law school lecturers for defamation, he gave himself a concussion digging a hole one day as a laborer, he was fired on his first shift as a garage attendant and he’s held a number of jobs where he had little to no impact.” Should we stop there? No, I’ll keep going. Michael is an Australian who goes to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He meets a beautiful Canadian woman who he falls in love with and follows back to Canada. He founds company called Box of Crayons which teaches 10-minute coaching strategies so busy managers can build stronger teams. He wins numerous awards for Coach of the Year and writes a book called The Coaching Habit which turns into a huge phenomenon with (in only 3+ years) sold over 700,000 copies and scored over 2000 Amazon reviews. (Sidenote: The book was published by Jesse Finklestein of Page Two Publishing, our guest in Chapter 23) Never one to rest on his laurels, as this chapter drops Michael is just about to release the follow up to The Coaching Habit which is called The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever. I love Michael Bungay Stanier. He’s one of the most fascinating minds in my life, and I feel so grateful and honored to call him a friend. I hope you fall in love with him too. In this chapter, we talk about making complex things simple, finding And of course, his three most formative books. Let's go! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/48 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Feb 23, 2020 |
Chapter 47: Derek The Hype Man on gingers jumping for joy and justice
01:32:08
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Derek Forgie was born in North Bay, Ontario. At the age of 17 he became the host and producer of his own television show, called Planet Skwirl on MTV, before becoming an activist and founding an organization called HSSE, Heterosexuals for Same-Sex Equality, with the slogan ‘straight not narrow.’ He was also recognized as a leading voice by the World Wildlife Foundation. Derek is a standup comic who has toured and presented to over 2000 audiences and has even been featured on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He is a huge, passionate believer in so many cause and travels around on his own, going from school to school, to present environmental presentations called Eco-Allies, as well as anti-bullying presentations. He is also the founder of International Kiss a Ginger Day! Currently, you can find him entertaining and hyping up the in-studio audiences of CTV’s The Social, and when he’s not hyping up the crowd, you can catch him on the 10 Minute Talk Show, hosted by Derek. He lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter. Chapter Description: In chapter 47, I sit down with Derek The Hype Man, also known as Derek Forgie. Who is Derek Forgie? Well, as background, there’s a huge daytime talk show in Canada called The Social. (Some people say it’s similar to The View— a series of interesting women, talking about interesting issues of the day, in a really interesting way.) I’ve been lucky enough to have been a guest on The Social a number of times and have always noticed that it has an incredible chemistry and audience connection. And every single time I go on that TV show, I notice that there is this guy hanging around, an energy-packed red-headed guy, dressed really snazzily dressed in a vest and brightly colored shoes, and he is just working the audience like nobody’s business. Yes, he is … the hype man! This man is Derek Forgie. He stands on a little box, he cheers, he yells, he laughs, he gets everyone clapping. When you’re on The Social or when you watch The Social, you notice the audience basically, in Derek’s words, brings out their inner Jerry Springer. They cheer or they boo or they laugh or they clap after every point made on the show. As a guest it fills you with energy and what I feel is happening is Derek’s energy, the energy that erupts from this one guy, helps fill an audience, fill a set, fill the hosts, fill the guests, fill the TV show, and, of course, fill the millions of viewers watching on TV. Derek’s energy beams out of him like the sun! Every time I talk to him I get such a warm glow inside me. In addition to being a hype man Derek became the host and producer of his own television show, called Planet Skwirl on MTV, when he was 17 years old. He became an activist (you’ll hear why) and founded HSSE (Heterosexuals for Same-Sex Equality), with the slogan ‘straight not narrow’, and was also recognized as a leading voice by the World Wildlife Foundation. Derek is also a standup comic who’s toured and presented to over 2000 audiences and has been featured onNBC’s Last Comic Standing. And he currently hosts a great show called the 10 Minute Talk Show. Derek is a passionate believer in many causes and gives environmental and anti-bullying presentations in schools as well as — get this — even founding of International Kiss a Ginger Day! I was thrilled when Derek Forgie accepted my invitation to sit down in the green room of The Social, live in the CTV studios, and share his 3 most formative books with us. Let's go! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/47 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Feb 09, 2020 |
Chapter 46: Dr. Laura Markham on prioritizing presence to parent peacefully
01:34:55
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Dr. Laura Markham creates Aha! moments for parents of kids from babies through teens. She trained as a clinical psychologist at Columbia University, is founding editor of AhaParenting.com which has over 150,000 newsletter subscribers, and is the author of three bestselling books including Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids. Visit her on Twitter @DrLauraMarkham, on Instagram @DrLauraMarkham_AhaParenting, and online at www.ahaparenting.com Chapter Description: Today we are nestled into a beautiful century-old brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn with the amazing Dr. Laura Markham, a preacher of love, letting love in, sending love out, and using that as a way to deepen our connection with ourselves and our children. Who is Dr. Laura Markham? She’s a Colombia-trained clinical psychologist, founder and editor at AhaParenting.com, author of three parenting books including my favorite Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, a parenting expert for many websites, and a life-changer for many, many families including mine. (You’ll hear what my wife Leslie thinks at the beginning of this chapter!) Dr. Laura Markham translates proven science into practical and simple solutions to live an intentional life. So in chapter 46, let’s stop and pause and choose how we respond to help drive a movement towards love and compassion. I partly resonate so deeply with Dr. Laura Markham’s work, because I feel like the higher place she’s leading us towards is also the same place I want 3 Books to lead us toward. In this chapter, we chat about the complexities of parenting and how we can be more present as parents. Dr. Laura Markham shares many valuable insights, from communicating through play, navigating our own traumas, mastering the skill of sending love to strangers, and how we need to develop a closer relationship with death. And, of course, we talk about Dr. Laura Markham’s 3 most formative books. Let's go! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/46 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jan 24, 2020 |
Chapter 45: Rich Roll on wrestling with recovery and running to redemption
02:02:55
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co A graduate of Stanford University and Cornell Law School. Rich Roll is a 53-year old, accomplished vegan ultra-endurance athlete, wellness advocate, bestselling author and host of the Rich Roll Podcast. A former entertainment attorney turned full-time wellness & plant-based nutrition advocate, popular public speaker, husband, father of 4 and inspiration to people worldwide as a transformative example of courageous and healthy living. His inspirational memoir FINDING ULTRA became a bestseller upon it's release in 2012 and THE PLANTPOWER WAY cookbook graces kitchens across the world. Along with his wife and four children, Rich resides in Malibu Canyon outside of Los Angeles. Chapter Description: Today we are headed West, perched atop the hills of Calabasas, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I’d love for you to be my guest for an incredible conversation with the one and only Rich Roll. Who is Rich Roll? Well, Rich was introduced to me by Jonathan Fields, our guest in Chapter 24 and host of the Goodlife Project. Jonathan told me Rich was one of his favorite people and he soon became one of my favorite people. I love his mind, his words, his outlook, and his incredible podcast … and was thrilled to have a chance to ask him which 3 books most shaped his life. Rich went to Stanford and Cornell and was a national athlete at Stanford in swimming, but his career was cut short by a decade-long struggle with drugs and alcohol, eventually landing him in jail and rehab. On the eve of his 40th birthday, as he walked up the stairs he was left totally winded… and decided it was time to make a change. The next day Rich overhauled his life. He switched to a 100% vegan, plant-based diet, grabbed his running shoes, jumped back into the pool, and two years later, fueled only by plants and after losing 50 pounds, he became the first vegan to ever compete in the 320-mile ultra-marathon and finished as the 3rd fastest American in the race. Are you kidding me?? He then went on to complete five Ironman Triathlons on five islands of Hawaii in one week! In 2012, he wrote his inspirational memoir FINDING ULTRA: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself, which became a bestseller upon its release and is still ranking highly to this day. It’s a fantastic book and memoir. I’ve read it. I loved it and can’t recommend it enough. In 2013, he launched the Rich Roll Podcast. An incredible podcast, often ranking in the top 50 on iTunes, he does a deep exploration and mindmeld with people such as Russell Brand, Kevin Smith, Lance Armstrong, and Edward Norton. He calls it a two-hour experience, where he covers huge themes around fitness, creativity, and the human condition. I was very lucky to link my mind with Rich in Chapter 45 of 3 Books. Let’s go! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/45 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jan 10, 2020 |
The Best of 2019: Neil Pasricha reminisces on relationships, romance, and radical reading
03:33:43
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Episode Description: And we’re here! It’s 11:59 pm on December 31, 2019 and we’re about to enter into 2020. We’re winding down the holiday cheer and staring ahead at a brand new year. It’s a time to reminisce and remember all we’re grateful for, it’s a time to look back on our struggles, and it’s time to open the next waiting door. Welcome to the second annual “Best Of” episode of 3 Books. I hope this serves as a great welcome mat into the show for new listeners and a way to reflect and remember some of the goldiest gold nuggets from Chapters 20-44 which aired through 2019. We are publishing a new chapter of 3 Books on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon from 5:36 am on March 31, 2018 to 5:52 am on September 1, 2031. Please explore the show further at www.3books.co, read our values, see our show notes, and catch up on our growing list of The Top 1000 most formative books in the world. Thanks again for joining me on this wild and crazy ride. Neil Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/the-best-of-2019 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jan 01, 2020 |
Chapter 44: Kevin the Bookseller on subtracting stuff and sorting Star Wars
01:27:38
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co In this chapter, I walk into a full-blown Indigo bookstore, inside of a hospital and run into my old friend Kevin, who has been working there for 11 years. As we begin talking about his three most formative books, I decide to bring out my iPhone and record the conversation. Chapter Description: I love Kevin Marusic. He’s a book nerd and bookseller and bookstore manager (and moustache aficionado) who runs the Indigo bookstore in the Mount Sinai hospital in downtown Toronto. Whenever I talk to Kevin our conversation rolls like a river so this time (this time!) I pulled out my cell phone after I walked in and recorded the very first guerrilla style chapter of 3 Books! No prep, no research, no notes, no books read in advance. In Chapter 44 of 3 Books, join me inside the Indigo Books in Mount Sinai hospital as we discuss how to learn to look at worlds beyond our own, what order you should watch the Star Wars movies in and why, what the dangers are of the ‘pants computer’, why you should separate your phone into tool and toy, why books are magic (new 3 Books value!), and, of course, the incredible Kevin Marusic’s three most formative books. There are so many nerdy tic-tacs buried in this chat that I am not coming anywhere close to doing Kevin justice. Trust me. He is a gem! He is a lover. He has a wonderful heart. And I am so delighted to share his incredible wisdom with all of you. The world will be a better place if we can all be a bit more like Kevin. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/44 |
Dec 26, 2019 |
Chapter 43: Lisa Labute on life lessons from loving legumes
01:49:23
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Lisa is the founder of the Goods, a cafe located on Roncesvalles Avenue in the West End of Toronto, that specializes in hand crafted, radically healthy food. Her inherent understanding of the medicinal potential of plant based cuisine has made her a leader in the functional food movement in Toronto. The Goods’ simple, yet meticulously crafted meals remind us of the deep connection between food and our wellbeing. Lisa left a career as an advertising executive to start The Goods which is ranked one of the ten healthiest restaurants in Toronto. Chapter Description: I am so excited to introduce you to Lisa Labute. Lisa ratcheted up the ladder of the advertising world, working 100-hour weeks as an ad executive helping to sell everything from fast food to luxury cars. And then she eventually burned out — had a “food incident” — and realized, like Emily McDowell told us in Chapter 18, that it’s a lot better to make things people want than making people want things. After traveling the world to lean into her new passion for mindful and intentional eating she returned to her home of Toronto to found The Goods, a cafe located in the west end of Toronto in the Roncesvalles neighborhood, that serves vegan, hand-crafted, radically healthy foods. Lisa’s understanding of the medicinal potential of plant-based cuisine has made her a leader of the functional food movement. I stumbled upon The Goods while on one of my Life-Changing Magical Walks during an Untouchable Day and struck up a conversation with Lisa. I loved her energy, vibrancy, and passion. I sensed immediately that she was a true community leader and somebody who was happy “getting off the program” to live a purpose-filled life. At The Goods every single food is made from scratch. Even the mustard! They buy mustard seeds, let them sprout, and then make their own. The kitchen is radically transparent and open concept and the walls are lined with jars full of ingredients visually listed in the ratio in which they’re used. All of the ingredients are clearly listed, and despite being a health conscious vegan restaurant, the food is presented in a non-dogmatic and non-judgemental fashion. Lisa is not a “you should” kind of person as you’ll hear. Lisa and I explore themes around how we eat well, how to exit “the program,” how to discuss mental illness, and how we find our most adventurous, wild, and truest selves. I hope you enjoy Chapter 43 of 3 Books. Let’s go! What You'll Learn:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/43 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Dec 12, 2019 |
Chapter 42: Molly Bloom on poker princess privileges and pushing past pomposity
01:23:07
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Molly Bloom formerly ran one of the most exclusive, high-stakes underground poker games in the world, raking in millions annually and featuring players like Alex Rodriguez, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ben Affleck. After the dramatic takedown, she wrote the New York Times bestselling book Molly's Game detailing her life's story, which turned into a $59 million Oscar-nominated film starring Jessica Chastain and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Molly had previously trained as an Olympic skier and reached #3 in North America, despite having been told she could never ski again after having surgery for her scoliosis. Chapter Description: In Chapter 42 of 3 Books, I sit down with Molly Bloom at the Four Seasons after she had just spoken to 10,000 (no big deal — 10,000 people!) with other big stars like Tony Robbins and Rachel Hollis. Who’s Molly Bloom? Molly began her career as a world-class skier, but while training as a pre-teen she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. Her doctor told her she could never ski again, but even as a pre-teen Molly had incredible strength of mind, which you’ll recognize in our podcast, and she ended up back on the slopes only a year after her surgery. By age 21, she was ranked #3 in North America. She then took off to LA and began running one of the most exclusive, high-stakes, underground poker games in the world featuring players like Alex Rodriguez, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and was raking in millions of dollars per year. So, what happened? The feds went after her! The mafia went after her! And there was a dramatic takedown. While waiting for her sentencing, she ended up writing her life’s story in her memoir Molly’s Game. That book became a bestseller and was turned into a movie written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, writer of The West Wing and The Social Network, starring Jessica Chastain (as Molly), Idris Alba, and Kevin Costner. Molly has been featured on Ellen, NPR, LA Times, VICE, and many more. But what was happening below the surface is a story that, as she says in this chapter, has never been shared before. There was a journey happening inside Molly that forced her to look at the downsides of her ambition and addictive personality. In this conversation we discuss: How do you recover from a life altering public defeat? Why is losing everything so liberating? How exactly do you get Aaron Sorkin to turn your life story into a movie? What is the counterintuitive way to prepare for a huge meeting? How do you find the 'monetizable asset' in your life? And, of course, what are Molly Bloom's three most formative books? Let’s go! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/42 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Nov 26, 2019 |
Chapter 41: Jen Gunter on beating bullying, bigotry, and body bashfulness
52:14
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Dr. Jen Gunter is a Canadian-American OB/GYN and a pain medicine physician. Jen is commonly referred to as Twitter’s resident gynecologist, the Internet’s OB/GYN, and is one of the fiercest advocates for women’s health. Jen writes the New York Times columns "The Cycle" and "You Asked Jen Gunter." She hosts the popular TV show Jensplaining and she has written the bestselling books "The Preemie Primer" and "The Vagina Bible." Chapter Description: Question for you. Let’s say you were scheduled to give birth to triplets, but they arrived prematurely, and one of them died during birth at the hospital … In that painful situation, what would you do? You’d search for answers! You’d ask questions! And if you’re Dr. Jen Gunter, you would recognize that, even to a doctor, the answers were confusing, misleading, and sometimes contradictory. So what did she do? Well, Jen wrote an entire book on premature babies called the The Preemie Primer. The book became popular and helped Jen develop a massive following to the point where she’s known today as Twitter’s OB/GYN. Why? Because she’s not afraid to give people the cold, hard truth. Today Jen hosts the TV show Jensplaining and writes not one but two New York Times columns! Jen recently wrote another book called The Vagina Bible which took off and has been climbing bestsellers lists. Due to the success of her books Jen is often on promotion tours so I was able to catch up with her at the PenguinRandomHouse offices in Toronto when she came through town for TV shows and to give speeches. Jen and I discuss how medicine became rooted in mansplaining, how to teach kids sex ed, and of course, her three most formative books. Let’s go! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/41 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list
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Nov 12, 2019 |
Surprise Waxing Gibbous: My new book YOU ARE AWESOME launches today!
34:59
Happy waxing gibbous! What does that mean? Well, it's not a new moon, and it's not a full moon, and in between is the waxing gibbous moon. Waxing means getting bigger. Waning means getting smaller. So as the gibbous waxes today on November 5th, 2019, I wanted to send a special short little “book launch” podcast for my brand new book which launches everywhere today! YOU ARE AWESOME: How To Navigate Change, Wrestle With Failure, And Live An Intentional Life is a 288-page hardcover from Simon & Schuster which offers a smacking takedown of our never-good-enough cell-phone culture and helps us develop resilience to shift from:
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Nov 05, 2019 |
Chapter 40: Pete Holmes on infinite infinities and the insanity of is-ness
01:41:12
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Pete Holmes is a comedian, writer, cartoonist, “Christ-leaning spiritual seeker”, and podcast host. His wildly popular podcast, You Made It Weird, is a comedic exploration of the meaning of life with guests ranging from Deepak Chopra and Elizabeth Gilbert to Seth Rogen and Garry Shandling. Pete also created and stars in the semi-autobiographical HBO show Crashing which he executive produces alongside Judd Apatow. An accomplished standup with three hour-long television specials and innumerous late night appearances, he continues to tour regularly to sold-out crowds. He lives with his wife and daughter in LA. Chapter Description: A few years ago, I went to a Judd Apatow comedy show and I was completely blown away by the lineup of friends he brought out. Ray Romano! Zach Galifianakis! And, of course, the incredible Pete Holmes. Pete was my favorite comic that night, which is saying something because of who his company was. I loved Pete’s brand new book Comedy Sex God and praised it in my monthly book club. I’m not a religious person, and Pete was, and then wasn’t, and now is but in a really thoughtful, interesting, and spiritual way. And this book, which is essentially his memoir, chronicles his journey through faith with a ton of laughs and mind-altering insights along the way. Pete Holmes is a comedian, writer, cartoonist, podcast host, HBO star, and Christ-leaning spiritual seeker. His podcast You Made It Weird is a comedic exploration of the meaning of life, with guests ranging from Deepak Chopra to Elizabeth Gilbert to Seth Rogan. Pete also starred in the semi-autobiographical HBO show Crashing which he executive produced with Judd Apatow (no big deal!). We go deep in this chat and talk about why we withhold love, why myths are always true and sometimes really happened, why our brains want certainty but our hearts are comfortable with mystery, the salty sweet conundrum of life, and, of course, Pete’s three most formative books. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/40 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Oct 28, 2019 |
Chapter 39: Soyoung the Variety Store Owner on Korean culture, connecting community, and cultivating calm
44:43
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Soyoung Kim lives in downtown Toronto and has run a variety store with her husband since she emigrated from Seoul in the late 1990s. Chapter Description: Have you ever developed a relationship with your local corner shop owner? Maybe you pop into a convenience store every day to grab a drink or you walk into the same coffee shop every afternoon. Leslie and I have developed a relationship with Soyoung Kim, a beautiful, kind, Korean woman who has run the corner store by our house for years. My wife Leslie has long trained me to buy her fresh flowers every week. And I always buy them from Soyoung’s shop. Soyoung reads 50 books per year and credits them to helping her form her identity and better understand English when she first emigrated to Canada. I asked Soyoung to come on 3 Books to share her three most formative books and we grabbed two milk crates and sat down in the garden center at the side of her store. I hope you enjoy this talk with Soyoung Kim as much as I did. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/39 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Oct 13, 2019 |
Chapter 38: Ryan Holiday on bashing beachy books and building balance
01:40:44
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Ryan Holiday is a media strategist, father, and bestselling author of seven books including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, and his latest, Stillness Is The Key. Ryan was the former Director of Marketing for American Apparel, and then went on to found his own creative agency, Brass Check, which has advised clients like Google, Neil Strauss, Tony Robbins and Tim Ferriss. Ryan lives outside Austin, Texas where he writes and works in between raising cattle, donkeys and goats. Chapter Description: Back in 2013 I stumbled on an article online called “How To Read More — A Lot More” by some writer guy on the Internet named Ryan Holiday. I started reading the piece and got sucked into it. He had a point! A great point. Many great points, actually. And he was super young. A young man telling the world to read more books? In an era where most guys read none… or, you know, like three books a year? I found Ryan Holiday to be a complete breath of fresh air. So I immediately began to copy everything he did. He launched a monthly book club. I launched a monthly book club! (With his blessings, of course.) He was talking about reading fifty then a hundred books a year. I started to read five books then ten books then fifty books a year. I started cancelling magazine and newspaper subscriptions and began to consciously put my phone away. I installed a bookshelf at my front door and cancelled cable. And, of course, I started this podcast! In a way 3 Books would not exist without Ryan Holiday. I can trace my rediscovered passion for reading all the way back to this writer guy from the Internet. But he’s not just a writer guy on the Internet anymore. Ryan Holiday has sold over 2,000,000 books (!) and essentially leads the repopularization of stoic philosophy on a mass scale. Some of his books include The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and his brand new book, Stillness Is The Key. Ryan also runs DailyStoic.com, the consulting company Brass Check, and his newest project Daily Dad. He’s become a friend and I have definitely caught his bug. So in Chapter 38 of 3 Books I ask Ryan to share his four most formative books. (You’ll hear why on the show.) He tells us how to decide who to trust, how he got dramatically fired from his first job, and why we shouldn’t turn parenting into a job. I hope you enjoy Chapter 38 with Ryan Holiday. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/38 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Sep 28, 2019 |
Chapter 37: Malcolm Gladwell on strangers, spies, and silencing the system
01:02:28
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Malcolm Gladwell is a journalist, a speaker, and the author of five New York Times bestsellers including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What The Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. His latest book, Talking to Strangers, was published on September 10, 2019. He has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1996. Foreign Policy has three times named him one of their Top Global Thinkers, and he has been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. He is a trustee of the Surgo Foundation and currently serves on the board of the RAND Corporation. Chapter Description: Who we are is a function of where we are. Do you agree with that? Who you are depends on where you are. We’re different people in different places, right? You’re different in the board room than you are on vacation. You’re different with your parents than you are with your kids. And, as for me, I’m different hanging with with Malcolm Gladwell in the West Village than I am sitting in my basement as I type up this blog post. And that theme is one that we get to open up in Chapter 37 of 3 Books with Malcolm Gladwell. Guys, I was so nervous for this podcast. I mean, super nervous. I couldn’t sleep for a few nights before. I read his three most formative books. I listened to his podcast Revisionist History. I got an advance copy of his brand new book Talking To Strangers. I mean, I was so nervous that I showed up for the podcast an hour early. (Who does that?) So Malcolm invites me into his place and we get settled around a table surrounded by books. Top to bottom! Floor to ceiling! And, no big deal, all hardcovers. I’m intimated but at the very end of the podcast, right after I clicked stop on the recorder … he said three words that completely chilled me out. (I’ll tell you what they were after the show.) I found him extremely down to Earth with a beautiful calming energy. We talk about raising great nerds in a world forcing us into the mean, how to find tribes where we truly fit in, who he thinks is the best non-fiction author alive, why thrillers are incredibly instructive, what his biggest advice is for aspiring authors, and, of course, his three most formative books. I hope you enjoy Chapter 37 with Malcolm Gladwell. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/37 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Sep 14, 2019 |
Chapter 36: Two teenage Mormon missionaries on missing mom to make miracles
01:30:03
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Elder Cox and Elder Corona are two American teenage missionaries from the the Church of Jesus Christ. Chapter Description: So one day I’m out taking one of my magical life-changing long walks when suddenly two guys are like “Hi! How are you?!” And I look up kind of stunned because I’m walking around downtown Toronto where no one really pops out of the woodwork to shout a “Hi! How are you?!” at you … What do I see? Two young men smiling back at me. Like, big smiles! Gigantic smiles. Dressed up, too. It takes me a minute to piece it together but turns out they’re Mormon Missionaries living away from home for two years with the sole purpose of teaching people about their church. They asked me what I’d heard about Mormonism and I said, uh, well, they don’t drink much and they have a lot of kids. Oh, and there’s a play called The Book of Mormon! Super ignorant. I got to talking to them and my fascination with these guys deepened. They are teenagers. They go by Elder Cox and Elder Corona. They are living away from home for two years while most of their peers go to college. They get no TV, no music, no books, no booze, no bars, no dating, and no… well, no anything most teenagers would be interested in. Do they have doubts? Do they have fears? What if no one believes in them? How successful are they? How do they even define success? So, on this Super Moon of August 30, 2019, we are sitting down with two teenage Mormon Missionaries to discuss their three most formative books and what it’s like devoting your life to one sole mission, purpose, and faith. I found this conversation enlightening and inspiring on many levels. I hope you do, too. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/36 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Aug 30, 2019 |
Chapter 35: Jen Agg on fussy feminism and ferocious fastidiousness
01:19:18
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Famed author and restaurateur Jen Agg is responsible for creating six of Canada’s top restaurants. In Toronto, she created The Black Hoof, Rhum Corner, Cocktail Bar, Grey Gardens, and Le Swan, and in Montreal, Agrikol, a place she opened with the Grammy-winning indie rock band, Arcade Fire. Agg published her first book, “I Hear She’s A Real Bitch,” in 2016, which was a national bestseller, a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2017, a National Post Best Book of 2017, and a Chatelaine Best Book of 2017. Chapter Description: Jen Agg is a celebrated Toronto-based restaurateur. She has opened many award-winning restaurants including The Black Hoof, Rhum Bar, Le Swan, and Grey Gardens. When Jen opens a restaurant, people notice. There are lineups. Buzz. An incalculable feeling that, once again, she’s put her finger on the pulse of what people want. Jen is also the bestselling author of the memoir “I Hear She’s A Real Bitch” which features the cover blurb from Anthony Bourdain saying “Whatever Jen Agg says is worth listening to.” I agree. We have this conversation at her restaurant Le Swan on Queen Street West in Toronto. Jen and I talk about whether fussyness is a virtue, the art of dining alone, how to have a healthy marriage with someone twenty years older than you, and what it was like for Jen growing up with one breast. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg! She challenges me as you’ll soon hear. I hope you enjoy Chapter 35 of 3 Books. What you'll learn:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/35 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Aug 15, 2019 |
Chapter 34: Literary superagent Jim Levine on picking priorities to perform at peak potential
01:06:47
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Jim Levine is the founder of Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency. Most of their book titles are published by imprints of the major houses including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Macmillan. Jim's love of books extends to his own writing of seven books and over 100 articles. When he's not working, Jim enjoys listening to music (especially jazz), learning to play piano, golf, photography, travel, and family time. Chapter Description: Jim Levine is a literary superagent. He and his agency LGR Literary represent everyone from Tom Brady to Ray Dalio to Dan Ariely to Allie Brosch to Gillian Flynn to *cough* Neil Pasricha. Jim Levine is an incredibly thoughtful and intentional guy who I’ve come to look up to in many ways. He has a wise calm mode of operating with a strategic lens that helps authors navigate the publishing world. In his own words, Jim helps people “explode potential.” Before establishing his own agency, he taught at Wellesley College and spent almost a decade as Vice President at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City. Jim’s written over seven books himself and has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Oprah. And, as you may have guessed, Jim is a voracious reader. Welcome to Chapter 34 of 3 Books.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/34 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Aug 01, 2019 |
Chapter 33: Raj Haldar aka Lushlife on invoking inner inspiration to instigate the Internet
01:38:10
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Raj Haldar is an artistic polymath who releases rap albums under the names Lushlife and The Skull Eclipses, produces albums, is official stadium DJ of the Philadelphia Eagles, makes science rap videos for Nick Jr, and is co-author of the runaway New York Times bestseller P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever. Chapter Description: I recently visited Type Books in The Junction neighbourhood in Toronto and stumbled upon P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever. So I flip open the book and I discover there’s a page for every letter! A is for Aisle. C is for Czar. T is for … Tsunami. It’s a beautiful read and has been on the New York Times bestseller list ever week since it’s come out. Who’s the guy behind wild book? Well, it’s the incredibly polyman Raj Haldar aka Lushlife, who’s also a rapper, record producer, one half of The Skull Eclipses, the official stadium DJ of the Philadelphia Eagles, and, yes, in his spare time, also makes viral science rap videos for Nick Jr. We break open concepts like: How do we speak out against established societal norms? What does the hustle in side hustle really look like? And, of course, what are Raj Haldar’s three most formative books? I hope you enjoy Chapter 33 of 3 Books. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/33 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jul 16, 2019 |
Chapter 32: Cat and Nat on cutting the crap to create community for courageous caregivers
01:24:25
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Catherine Belknap and Natalie Telfer are best friends, moms of seven children collectively, and the hilarious duo behind the @CatandNat movement to rid the world of mom guilt and mom shame. The pair's hilarious #MomTruths rants and podcast conversations quickly attracted millions of followers all interested in discussing the guilt and expectations surrounding parenting. Cat and Nat are the world's fearless crusaders against the perfection myth and all the gluten-free, sugar-free baking it entails. Every week the pair releases a Mom Truths podcast episode as well as a new recording of their worldwide series Mom Truths. The duo just released their instant bestselling book Mom Truths and regularly tour North America to sold-out audiences. You can find them @catandnat on all social media. Chapter Description: Are you one of the million-plus people who follow Cat and Nat online? (@catandnat on every social.) Cat and Nat are moms of seven (!) children together and they are attempting to give moms permission, help moms be heard, and rid the world of mom guilt and mom shame. Oh! And they’re the bestselling authors of Mom Truths: Embarrassing Stories and Brutally Honest Advice on the Extremely Real Struggle of Motherhood. How did I stumble upon these two badass, R-rated, intellectually flamboyant and passionate women? Well, I was wandering around the prairies (Regina, Saskatchewan to be specific) when I stumbled on their show at a casino across from my hotel. Stumbled upon is an understatement given that a thousand women wearing tight leather pants and swishing white wine almost trampled me. I found myself watching their incredible stage show, keeping the audience in stitches, and just putting their finger on this giant invisible stress that so many moms feel … and helping that stress go away. This is the first chapter since Chapter 1 of 3 Books where I have brought my wonderful wife (and mother of three boys!) Leslie. In this chapter, we discuss parenting, motherhood, the pressures we put on ourselves to raise these perfect children, and why those pressures could be harming us and our expectations of our kids. Join me, my wife Leslie, Cat, and Nat as we hang out in Nat’s living room to have this important and honest conversation on Nat’s beautiful white couch. And, of course, to uncover Cat and Nat’s three most formative books. I hope you enjoy this chapter. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/32 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jul 02, 2019 |
Chapter 31: Juniper the Former Sex Worker on paying for pleasure and progressive parenting
01:09:36
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Juniper is a mother, writer, artist, academic, and a gadfly. She completed a PhD in sociology with a specific focus on gender and sexuality, feminist and queer theories, and experimental methodologies. Her dissertation explored the experiences of sex workers in higher education. Juniper is also the author of numerous essays for VICE, BuzzFeed, Tits and Sass, Pacific Standard, Mutha Magazine, Broadly, and others. Her children's book, How Mamas Love Their Babies, received rave reviews and was even called a "patriarchy smashing children's book" by the editors at Ms. Magazine. It was the first children's book to feature a sex-working parent. She spends as much time as possible with her fabulous, gender-expansive child. Today we are traveling to Omaha, Nebraska, to sit down with former sex worker, PHD graduate, TED speaker, and author of the world’s first children’s book featuring a sex working parent, Juniper Fitzgerald. How did I get to know Juniper? It all comes back to Chapter 4 of 3 Books with Sarah Ramsey, who recommended the book How Mamas Love Their Babies to me. This book is beautiful and evocative and filled with cut and pasted little pictures … and I was absolutely gripped by it. I was totally sucked in, and the mention of the sex working parent happens so gently and subtly. So I sat down with Juniper in the middle of the Omaha airport and had an extremely educational conversation about important themes like: sex work, the pros and cons of paying for pleasure, decriminalization vs anti-criminalization, the real meaning of ‘consent,’ how to improve self-esteem, why we should teach children about sex, and so much more. Juniper brings us all sorts of knowledge from her experiences as a mother, a sex worker, and a PhD graduate in sociology with focuses on gender, sexuality, feminist, and queer theories. She was a delight to speak to. I hope you enjoy Chapter 31 of 3 Books.
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/31 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jun 17, 2019 |
Chapter 30: Jerry Howarth on branding, bereavement, and Blue Jays baseball
01:02:35
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co For 36 years, Jerry Howarth was the radio broadcaster for the two-time World Series-winning baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays. Howarth had shared the play-by-play duties with his late longtime broadcast partner Tom Cheek from 1982 until 2005, and then served as the play-by-play announcer until announcing his retirement before the start of spring training 2018. Jerry graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Santa Clara in 1968, then served two years as an officer in the U.S. Army, and then finally began his decades-long career as a sportscaster. Chapter Description: My friend Drew Dudley once told me that, other than his parents, he hadn’t heard anyone speak to him more in his life than Jerry Howarth … The voice of the Toronto Blue Jays. I can relate. Growing up I would listen to Jerry Howarth call the Blue Jays games on the radio on long summer drives, with my friends at the park, or just on my clock radio with the “Sleep” timer on as I fell asleep. I was thrilled to visit the Skydome in downtown Toronto to sit down with Jerry Howarth for Chapter 30 of 3 Books. We get comfy watching batting practice together with some reggae and dance music in the background. Why do I love Jerry? Because for thirty-six years he was a local leader and community-builder who created trust with millions of baseball fans… In addition to discussing his book Hello Friends, Jerry and I talk about: How do we build a community? How do we develop authentic connections? How can we learn the art of being objective? And how do we learn to coach leaders from the ground up? So come join me and Jerry in the front seats of the Skydome just before the game begins. Welcome to Chapter 30 of 3 Books. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/30 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
Jun 03, 2019 |
Chapter 29: Michael Harris on queer questions and the quest for quiet
01:42:26
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co
Michael Harris is the bestselling author of The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We’ve Lost in a World of Constant Connection, which won the 2014 Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction, and his latest book, Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World. Harris is a former staff editor for Vancouver Magazine and Western Living, and his writing has also appeared in Wired, Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and The Walrus. He has been nominated for both the Western Magazine Awards and the National Magazine Awards for his writing. Michael lives with his husband in Vancouver, Canada.
Chapter Description: Loneliness rates have doubled since the 1980s and Vivek Murthy, former US Surgeon General, says loneliness will be the next major epidemic. So if loneliness is being alone and sad … then what’s being alone and happy? Solitude. Last year, I picked up an incredible book called Solitude by Michael Harris, bestselling author and winner of the Governor General's Award for his writing. It completely blew me away. Why? Because in our era of endless machine-gun blasts at our brains, I feel strongly that the ability to be alone, and to be alone well, is a muscle that is quickly atrophying. Michael shares why we need to develop the strength and capacity to live and be by ourselves and how exactly we go about cultivating a rich interior life. I think after this conversation you’ll agree the benefits are enormous and this true “strength of mind” is a crucial aspect of living an intentional life. For Chapter 29 of 3 Books, I flew to Michael’s home in Vancouver, BC. We discuss: How do we cultivate the area between wakefulness and sleep? What does a healthy media diet look like? Why shouldn’t you talk about anything serious over texts? And how do parents and children navigate the conversation about coming out of the closet? Welcome to Chapter 29 with Michael Harris.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/29 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list |
May 18, 2019 |
Chapter 28: Mark Manson on constant cursing and clearing clutter
02:00:25
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Mark Manson is the New York Times and international bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, with over 6 million in sales in the US alone. His blog, markmanson.net, attracts more than two million readers per month. Mark just released a brand new book titled Everything is F*cked: A Story About Hope, and will be publishing another book, Will Smith's memoir, later this year. Chapter Description: Have you by chance heard of a book called The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck? I’m guessing you have since it’s sold, oh, no big deal, over six million copies over the past three years in the US alone. Is there a bigger book in the world right now? No. There is not. And there hasn’t been a non-fiction book this big and this disruptive in a long, long time… So: Is Mark Manson a one-hit wonder? A one-trick pony? Was the success of his book a total random fluke? His fifteen minutes of fame? I’m gonna say it straight up. No. Absolutely not. Mark’s first book, and it’s meteoric success, is the ultimate product of an unbelievably large mind which has mastered the art of taking the biggest, densest books on the planet and then simmering, simmering, and simmering them down into beautifully simple, profanity-laced models and stories that hit you like a ton of bricks. The world is so loud! So busy. So full. Everything is screaming at us to buy this, buy that, do this, do that. And you know what we need in this wild crazy world? We need guides. We need clear voices. We need people to give us simple and practical advice that we can follow and put into place… Mark Manson is one of those guides for me and millions of others. So in his cramped hotel room at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, on the eve of his release of his second book Everything is Fucked: A Book About Hope (which is mind-expandingly beautiful), Mark and I go deep, really deep, on how to build trust in an era of clutter, why he swears so much in his writing, why he poo-poos self-help gurus, what is the root problem with the “advertising model”, why Mark played video games for months straight after the success of his first book, and what his writing routines and principles are… Welcome to Chapter 28 with Mark Manson. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/28 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
May 04, 2019 |
Chapter 27: Robin the Bartender on fiddling with frankincense and fighting for freedom
01:45:54
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Robin Goodfellow, founder of Little Bones Beverage company is part owner of Bar Raval, Prettyugly, and Harry's in Toronto with many new projects on the go. He started Bartending 16 years ago in Toronto and boasts about the constant need to change and evolve. His passion belongs to training new bartenders, fine tuning his existing establishments, helping new proprietors develop their bar programs, and throwing unique and creative events that push the beverage industry to new territory. Bar Raval was named #1 in the 2018 Canada’s Best Bars list and Prettyugly Bar was #8. Bar Raval is currently #70 Best Bar in the World. Chapter Description:
A few years ago my friend Rita was raving to me about Bar Raval, a new bar in downtown Toronto, and took me there one night. She said the interior was this unreal Antoni Gaudí-inspired pattern of curved mahogany which I had to see to believe. So we get there and I go up to the bar and come face to face with this bartender completely covered in tattoos and say, “Can I grab a drink?” And he shoots back, “What do you want?” And I say, “Well, what do you have?” and he says “No, what do you want?” And I say “Well, I don’t want anything sweet.” And he does this sort of slow swivel to look back at the huge display of glass jars full of colorful tinctures behind him and then stares back and me and says, “Does it look like a fucking sweet place to you?” I was taken aback. But he kept challenging me to say what I wanted, what I felt like, what I was going for … and so finally … I did. I exploded in this giant passionate diatribe about how I wanted to feel optimistic and refreshed and nostalgic … and then he gets to work. He begins smashing ice cubes, picking glasses from fridges, shaving limes, adding drops of who knows what to my glass and then finally puts down in front of me a bubbling neon green concoction like I’d never seen. And you know what? The drink was optimistic… and refreshing … and nostalgic. It was like a magic trick! I couldn’t believe it. Over the years I got to know and fall in love with this fiery, passionate bartender named Robin Goodfellow. Turns out he owned the place together with some partners. As well as other bars including PrettyUgly and Harry’s. In 2018, Bar Raval was ranked #1 of Canada’s top bars and PrettyUgly was ranked #8. Also, Bar Raval is currently ranked #70 best bar in the world. Robin has been bartending for sixteen years and spent eight years studying social theory. Robin and I go deep into the purpose of a bar, what everyone is looking for in life and how we can find it, what underpins all great service, how to become more mindful eaters, the paradox between authenticity and quality, and why the farm-to-table movement is over. I hope you enjoy Chapter 27 of 3 Books with my favorite bartender Robin Goodfellow. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/27 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Apr 19, 2019 |
Chapter 26: Angie Thomas on righting racist wrongs and remembering radicals
54:18
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still lives in Jackson, Mississippi. A former teen rapper, she holds a BFA in creative writing from Belhaven University. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is on sale now and is already a #1 New York Times bestseller as well. Chapter Description: No one gets it like Angie. Her books are putting their fingers right on the pulse of America today. Racial tensions, police shootings, citizen uprisings. Does this sound like the setting of a YA novel? How about two of them? Well, as I write this her debut The Hate U Give and her sophomore release On The Come Up are #1 and #2 on The New York Times bestseller list. We sat down together at the busiest hotel in downtown Toronto on the tail end of Angie’s 15-city book tour to discuss how we find the truth for ourselves, when do we bring up harsh realities to kids, and what place media and religion have in society today. We dive deep into the heightened racial and political tensions today and we search for a way out… And, as always, we get to learn Angie Thomas’s three most formative books. I hope you enjoy. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/26 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Apr 02, 2019 |
Chapter 25: James Frey on drunk, defiant differentiation
01:14:36
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co James Frey is the author of the international bestsellers A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard, Bright Shiny Morning, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, and his latest hit, Katarina, and has sold over 20 million copies of his books in 42 languages. In 2009, Frey founded the publishing company Full Fathom Five, through which he wrote and released The Lorien Legacies series under the pseudonym Pittacus Lore as well as the YA series Endgame. Frey is well-known for writing about his struggles with substance addiction and his path to sobriety. Chapter Description: What do you know about James Frey? Or what do you think you know about James Frey? I’m guessing it’s not nothing. Everyone has an opinion! When I first spotted A Million Little Pieces on my wife’s bookshelf when we were moving in together I was like “Oh? Really? That book? The Oprah guy?” And she was like “Have you read it?” And I was like “No, no idea what it’s even about. Just that it’s not real or whatever.” She looked at me with disappointed eyes. Understandably so! I hadn’t bothered to go below the surface. To read about it on my own. I had just soaked in some distant fumes off the story. “Read it,” she said, and pushed the book into my hands. That night I opened A Million Little Pieces and was completely pulled into this pulsing, frenetic, endlessly climactic story of addiction, growth, and finding yourself. The book shook me. It was a masterpiece. I couldn’t believe it existed. I almost felt anger towards the Oprah saga because it headfaked me into thinking I knew what the book was about… when I couldn’t have been more off. I went deeper into James Frey’s catalogue and found myself similarly seduced by books like Bright Shiny Morning and Katerina. His stories have a pace and staccato to them that’s perfect for distracted brains like mine. He doesn’t mince words, he doesn’t shy away, and his characters always punch you in the gut. I sat down with James with a lot of questions and I loved our discussions around fatherhood and living an intentional life. We talk about teaching children to read, the importance of secular bibles, and why (and how) we can slowly stop comparing ourselves to others. We talk about critics and he shares an incredible story on what true pain really is. (Hint: It’s not getting yelled at on TV.) We explore what getting drunk really means and talk about how to step outside and learn to fall in love with whatever you see. I hope you enjoy Chapter 25 of 3 Books with James Frey. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/25 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Mar 21, 2019 |
Chapter 24: Jonathan Fields on winning with will and weaving why into work
01:15:30
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Jonathan Fields is the bestselling author of five books and currently runs the media and education giant Good Life Project®. Jonathan hosts the Good Life Project podcast, which attracts one million listeners every single month. His podcast has been dubbed one of the best self-development podcasts by Wall Street Journal and made it onto The Guardian’s Top-25 Episodes of the Year. Jonathan is a world renowned speaker, hosts an annual summer camp, and created Sparketypes™, a set of archetypes designed to reveal the source-code for the work you’re here to do. Jonathan’s latest book How to Live a Good Life was an instant international bestseller. Chapter Description: How do we focus more on meaning and what matters? What’s the key to living a good life? Enter my good friend, Jonathan Fields. Jonathan is the bestselling author of five books and the host of Good Life Project podcast, which attracts over a million listeners a month. His podcast has been dubbed one of the best self-development podcasts by Wall Street Journal and made it onto The Guardian’s Top-25 Episodes of the Year. Jonathan is a maker. He’s made books such as How To Live A Good Life, which was an instant international bestseller. He has made products such as the Sparketypes™, a set of archetypes that allows individuals to discover their unique source-code for work that fuels purpose, deepens engagement, and unlocks the fuller expression and performance of who they are. He’s even hand made his own guitar! So, it probably comes as no surprise that we cover gigantic themes in this chapter such as how to find leanness in an era of fat, how to touch on bigger life questions without being prescriptive, how to shift from a fixed to a growth mindset, and how everything in the world is endless … except attention and life. With that, let’s head to the upper west side of New York City to visit the Good Life Project’s headquarters and sit down with the incredible Jonathan Fields. Welcome to Chapter 24. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/24 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Mar 06, 2019 |
Chapter 23: Jesse Finkelstein zooms into the zeitgeist and zeroes in on zesty Zora
59:23
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Jesse Finkelstein is the co-founder and principal of Page Two Publishing, a premium author-centric publishing house. Prior to founding Page Two, Jesse was Chief Operating Officer at D&M Publishing leading the company’s digital and international sales strategies, and Associate Publisher at Raincoast Books. Jesse holds a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from McGill University. Chapter Description: Have you ever found something you love doing but one tiny part of it you hate? You love the company, the job, the values, the people … but hate your boss. You love the school you teach at, the kids, the classroom … but can’t stand the commute. We encounter these decisions all the time. You love something but you just can’t deal with this little part of it. Enter Jesse Finkelstein, co-founder and principal of Page Two Publishing, a premium author-centric publishing house. Why did I bring up the deal-breaker conundrum? Because Jesse always felt this way about the publishing industry. She went up through the ranks at the big publishing companies, all the way to COO at D&M Publishing. But she kept asking herself: What if there was a publishing company that put the author’s goals first? So Jesse created Page Two, which sits somewhere in between self-publishing and traditional publishing. Page 2 takes an author’s idea, looks at whether it has market potential, and then supplies the author with all the tools a big publishing house would: editors, copy-editors, graphic designers, distribution channels, everything. In Chapter 23 of 3 Books, Jesse and I go deep into how the publishing landscape is evolving … and then we dive into her three most formative books. We discuss how acclaimed political writers can actually not be political enough, how books can get over-edited, the Harlem Renaissance, and how reading acts as therapy, and much, much more… I absolutely loved listening to Jesse and think you will, too. Welcome to Chapter 23. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/23 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Feb 19, 2019 |
Chapter 22: Tim Urban on shivering in shorts and shifting from sheep to chef
01:59:56
3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 15-year-long quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter is hosted live and in-person at the guest's preferred location by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. Each chapter of 3 Books uncovers and discusses the three most formative books from one of the world's most inspiring people. Sample guests include: Judy Blume, David Sedaris, Chris Anderson of TED, and the world's greatest Uber driver. Each of the 333 chapters is dropped on the exact minute of every new moon and full moon until September 1, 2031. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show as well as the world's only podcast by and for book lovers, writers, makers, sellers... and librarians. For more info check out: www.3books.co Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) is the author of the blog Wait But Why and has become one of the Internet’s most popular writers with over 1.5 million readers per month. According to Fast Company, Tim has “captured a level of reader engagement that even the new-media giants would be envious of.” Tim’s series of posts after interviewing Elon Musk has been called by Vox “the meatiest, most fascinating, most satisfying posts I’ve read in ages.” Tim’s TED Talk, Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator, has received more than 30 million views. Chapter Description: Pop quiz! Who’s the first person who comes to mind when you think of the word philosopher? Aristotle, Plato, Socrates … Karl Marx? If you asked me today, the first person that comes to my mind is Tim Urban. Because a philosopher is someone engaged with the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. Wrestling with the big questions! And sure, lots of folks are doing that. But I can’t think of anyone doing it better right now than Tim Urban. Tim Urban is co-founder and writer of the popular blog Wait Buy Why, which has over 1.5 million readers per month and scores of big-name fans including Elon Musk. Why? Because Tim has a beautifully simplistic way of distilling big, complex topics like artificial intelligence, picking a life partner, and, say, The Fermi Paradox, into simple language. He’s an incredible teacher, an incredible philosopher. His TED Talk on procrastination is a great example of this, which has over 30 million views. Tim’s intellectual curiosity is huge. Despite being a Harvard grad, Tim’s going against the grain of typical Harvard grads and spending his days writing long blog posts using simple words to explain big things. And we’re lucky enough to get a glimpse into how Tim’s brain works in Chapter 22. We discuss breaking convention, retaining curiosity, Stitches vs Band-aids, why you should let your children wear shorts in the winter, the difference between cooks and chefs, and much, much more.... Join us over avocado toast in the corner of Ludlow Coffee Supply in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/22 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Feb 04, 2019 |
Chapter 21: Paulette Bourgeois on family foundations, frightening fiction, and forging Franklin
01:08:07
Were you one of the sixty million people who grew up reading Franklin The Turtle? We were handed a dog-eared stack of them when my first son was born. As my wife and I flipped through them, we couldn’t help but just buy into the whole Franklin universe. There’s Beaver and Bear and Fox and good values and good parenting and good life lessons all delivered in a way that super appetizing for children… and their parents. So I expected Paulette to choose, you know, three children’s books for her three most formative books. But she couldn’t have surprised me more with her picks. (Spoiler alert: Chapter 21 contains the first ever horror book on The Top 1000.) Now, who is Paulette? Well, she studied journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa. She used to be a reporter for CBC News. She lived in Washington, DC while writing for magazines like Reader’s Digest and Chatelaine. And she’s the incredible mother of two children who inspire her to be intentional as a parent and family leader. How do we raise intentional children? What does ADD feel like inside your brain? How can we turn anger into empathy? We get into these questions and many more in Chapter 21 of 3 Books. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/21 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Jan 21, 2019 |
Chapter 20: Debbie Stoller on frenzied female fandom, fighting for freedom, and fourth-wave feminism
01:19:51
Do you remember Chapter 4 of 3 Books with Sarah Ramsey? She introduced me to BUST Magazine, the largest feminist magazine in the world, and waxed on about how BUST had incredible book recommendations… Well, they sure have a lot more than that. I picked up a copy of BUST and was blown away by the urgency, voice, and community. I also wasn’t surprised to see The New York Times and Fast Company both profile BUST over the past few months. So I trucked down to Brooklyn to see if we could learn what’s behind the curtain. I’m so delighted to introduce you to my next guest on 3 Books — founder of BUST, Master’s and PhD graduate of Yale University with thesis in the psychology of women, and rampant feminist since age six … The one and only Debbie Stoller. In addition to her three most formative books, Debbie shares her inspiration behind BUST and how pop culture influences societal views and laws. Debbie has taken the powerful influence culture has on society by turning cultural narratives on their heads, striving to make BUST into a magazine that reads like the world that would exist ‘if women won.’ Debbie sits down with me in the middle of her office in the ‘warehouse district’ in Brooklyn, NY where I ask basic questions like: What is feminism? Who got us to where we are today? And what are the major gaps between men and women in the world right now? I feel like I sound like an ignorant fool a lot in this chapter but I hope you enjoy and learn as much as I did. Huge thank you to Debbie for this opportunity. And now let’s get into Chapter 20. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/20 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Jan 06, 2019 |
The Best Of 2018: Neil Pasricha peers into the past and plucks perfect podcast pieces
02:10:30
So here we are. It's 11:59pm on December 31, 2018 and we're releasing our first annual Best Of 3 Books for 2018. It's a time to look back. It's a time to look ahead. It's a time to look inside and think about which lessons, which insights, and which paths we will follow in the year ahead. For long time listeners of 3 Books, I hope this hopscotch through the first 19 of 333 chapters gives you poignant reminders, tiny amplifications, and little lightbulb ideas as you look to your year ahead. For new listeners, I hope this gives you a little sampler platter of what we're all about here. We believe books change lives and we're so grateful you decided to listen in to our epic quest to uncover the 1000 most formative books in the world. 3 Books just won the Apple Best of 2018 Podcasts award and is routinely ranked in the Top 100 on Apple Podcasts. And what else do we believe in? We believe in 100% live in-person conversations, we believe in 100% ad / sponsor / interruption-free content, we believe in publishing every single chapter of 3 Books on the exact minute of every new and full moon from 5:36AM on March 31, 2018 to 5:52am September 1, 2031. Please visit www.3books.co to read about all our values, see all our show notes, and catch up on the list of The Top 1000 books in the world. Thank you for joining us. This is a powerful pilgrimage and I am so honored to be your host. I can't wait for the year to come. Let's keep going. Neil -- Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Jan 01, 2019 |
Chapter 19: Chip Wilson on living large, launching Lululemon, and leaving a legacy
52:59
Our next guest is the first billionaire entrepreneur of a global brand we’ve had on 3 Books. We fly over to Vancouver to talk with the founder and former CEO of Lululemon, Chip Wilson. Chip founded the company Westbeach, a snowboard, ski, and apparel company, which he eventually sold in 1997. Then one day while flipping through the paper, he came upon a piece of fascinating information… There are now more woman than men graduating from colleges and universities. Then he got all prophetic. “Women will have more money! They’re gonna want to live downtown! They’re going to want clothing that fits their lifestyle!” So he launched this brand called Lululemon. The first store was opened in 2000 in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver. Chip served as the company’s CEO for six years before transitioning to Chief Product Designer. These days, although Chip is technically “retired,” he’s still doing so much. He’s raising five boys. He founded the Imagine1Day foundation with his wife to work on improving education in Ethiopia. And he just released a book called Little Black Stretchy Pants: The Unauthorized Story of Lululemon. This chapter is filled with so much thrilling conversation and content. From redefining masculinity and our definition of success to the importance of investing in our minds and our families. I think this is the perfect chapter to finish off the year, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Welcome to Chapter 19. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/19 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Dec 22, 2018 |
Chapter 18: David Sedaris on holding happiness hostage and healing holes in our hearts
01:41:45
I discovered David Sedaris after asking my college writing mentor how to become a better comedy writer. He handed me a strange looking book with a pair of boxer shorts on the cover … Naked by David Sedaris. I’d never heard of David before, but when I went home and started paging through his book, I was completely blown away. His autobiographical essays were incredibly sardonic, witty, and laugh-out-loud funny, and dealt with his homosexuality and his obsessive compulsive tics and dropping out of school. Like millions of people around the world, I quickly became obsessed with David Sedaris. I’ve read all of his books and every article he’s written in The New Yorker. I even went to see him speak, which is how I learned that after every single event he does, he’ll stay late (up to 10 hours!) just to talk to anyone who wants to meet him. So it was with a lot of excitement that I squeezed into the back of his limo on his North American book tour for Calypso. I rode with him all over Toronto from his hotel to his CBC interview to his book signing to uncover and discuss his three most formative books. What was supposed to be a tight half hour interview turned into a beautiful hour and a half long conversation. Welcome to Chapter 18 with the generous and beautiful David Sedaris. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/18 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Dec 07, 2018 |
Chapter 17: Emily McDowell on family fallouts, finding phrases, and forging false fairytales
01:29:24
Have you ever looked through a bunch of greeting cards and felt like nothing reflected the way you feel? The greeting card industry is 150 years old, and yet they haven’t quite mastered this skill yet… But Emily McDowell has. Emily has an uncanny ability to characterize the relationships we have, not the relationships we want to have. Emily runs Emily McDowell Studio, an online hub of greeting cards, tote bags, and other gifts that articulate things in an emotional way that we often can’t express ourselves. Emily finds the right words to say … when we can’t. For our Valentines when we haven’t quite defined our relationships yet. For our loved ones who were just diagnosed with cancer. Emily is also the New York Times bestselling author of There Is No Good Card For This, which acts as a guidebook on how to navigate our relationships so we can understand our pain, work through our challenges, and develop resilience and empathy. I think she has really put her finger on something that we desperately need in the world right now: how to create more empathy. We discuss some really interesting themes including how our pasts affect us, how to raise creative children, and how to use lessons from advertising to make things people want… not make people want things. I hope you enjoy Chapter 17. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/17 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Nov 23, 2018 |
Chapter 16: Mitchell Kaplan on cultivating connection, Colorado quests, and creating community
01:01:19
Did you know the average person lives for 1,000 months? Or that the average person is awake for 1,000 minutes per day? That’s why I like the number 1,000 so much, and partly why I started my blog 1,000 Awesome Things about ten years ago. It’s why I’m on this quest with you to uncover the 1,000 most formative books in the world. And that quest is what brought me to the independent bookstore Books & Books with Mitchell Kaplan. Why did I decide to sit down with Mitchell? Because he started the entire Books & Books chain. Back in the early 1980s, Mitchell opened a 500-square-foot bookstore because he was passionate about community and wanted to create a “third place.” But it’s not just a bookstore chain. Mitchell has grown it to the point where there are rooms dedicated to publishers, outdoor magazine stands, and about 600 author events per year. And although he runs what he jokes is a “no-profit” bookstore, he is wealthier than many of us ever will be because he’s living such a rich life. Rich in purpose, relationships, connection, and meaning. Welcome to Chapter 16. I hope you enjoy this soulful and passionate chat as much as I did. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/16 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Nov 07, 2018 |
Chapter 15: Mitch Albom on making music, managing mojo, and memorializing Morrie
43:32
Oh, this life, this world. As Mitch says, once you find purpose, and once you find style… what’s left? Beauty. What’s left is finding and putting out beauty into the world. There are not many writers who have genuinely figured this out … but one of them is Mitch Albom. Mitch is the bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie, the bestselling memoir of all time, as well as The Five People You Meet in Heaven and his new book, The Next Person You Meet In Heaven, which just debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list this week. His books have sold over 40 million copies. Mitch just doesn’t turn off. He’s like a Tasmanian Devil. He’s hosting a radio show, he’s on TV, he’s writing columns in the Detroit Free Press, he’s a musician, he’s even running an orphanage in Haiti. Mitch is full of energy and life and moves quickly and talks quickly … and so we talked about that. We go deep into why he moves through life so fast. We unpack his relationship with Morrie and talk about how I actually misinterpreted parts of the book. We talk about what the worst thing you can say to an artist is (which he learned from Maya Angelou) and what the true enemy of getting things done is (and surprise, it’s not time or energy). I hope you enjoy learning what Mitch Albom’s three most formative books are as much as I did. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
Leave us a voicemail! Your message may be included in a future episode: 1-833-READ-A-LOT You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/15 Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/ |
Oct 24, 2018 |
Chapter 14: Rich Gibbons on paid public preaching, parenting prescriptions, and pickles with perfectionism
01:20:21
“On the one hand, information wants to be expensive because it’s so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time.” Recognize that quote? It’s from a conversation between Steve Wozniak and Stewart Brand at the very first Hacker’s Conference in 1984. We’ve heard it so many times. Information wants to be free. And in many ways, it already is. We live in The Information Age, a time when you can find the answer to just about any question with the push of a button. But if that is the case, then why is the paid speaking indust |