3 Books With Neil Pasricha (Neil Pasricha: Bestselling Author)

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:

• How does culture reflect male and female desire differently—and what has been left out?
• What’s the difference between first-wave, second-wave, and third-wave feminism?
• How has pop culture amplified and influenced gender roles and stereotypes?
• How has the definition of feminism changed and shifted over the years?
• What would media look like if sexism didn’t exist?

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

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Our world is so full.

Our world is so busy.

Our world is so cluttered.

Newspaper boxes. Pop-up ads. TVs in elevators. There are so many things trying to grab our attention. So many reaching out with their little fish lures to poke and grab us into signing up for their newsletters.

Don't you ever feel like it’s just too loud?

I say what we need in this world of constant stimulation are ... editors.

Not the people who correct your spelling and grammar. I’m talking about those among us who can be bastions of clear thinking. Pinnacles of clear communication! Who can strip away the noise and give us clear ideas in the simplest ways.

Our next guest is the very first editor to be interviewed on 3 Books.

Kerri Kolen is the super editor behind mega-hits #Girlboss, A Stolen Life, Lion, and even my very own The Happiness Equation ...

I was delighted to visit Kerri in her home in Washington DC to chat about her three most formative books.

We discuss escaping into armoires, preserving imagination, fighting for feminism, and even carefully wade into a new dialogue about suicide... amongst a dozen other topics that touch on themes today.

I hope you enjoy this chapter of 3 Books as much as I did with the incredible Kerri Kolen.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• How do we preserve imaginations as we get older?
• What's the difference between a writer and an author?
• What exactly does an editor do? (And what do they look for?)
• What is "world building" and how does it work in writing?
• How do we create the element of voyeurism in our writing?

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/11

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/

“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:

• What is a media theorist?

• How is Team Human doing?

• What is the true environmental cost of Bitcoin?

• Why is slack so important?

• How can we rebuild trust where it is lost?

• How do we free ourselves from societal pressures?

• Is there such a thing as an original thought?

• How does intergenerational living benefit society?

• Why should we never retire?

• What is Chapel Perilous?

• What is a reality tunnel?

• How do you surf reality?

• How does tradition keep us sane?

• How should we think about death?

• What is the difference between death and dying?

• What is the Tibetan bardo? 

• What kind of games should we strive to play in life?

• What is the purpose of play?

• What was the original vision for the internet?

• What is the true meaning of the Sabbath in today’s world?

• Why is Torah magical?

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.

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3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:  

• How can art be an anti-snobbery force?

• How books can stop minds from scratching themselves raw?

• How writers build trust with their readers?

• How we can we harvest imagination?

• What is it like raising a child who is non-verbal?

• What is the power and meaning of the metaphysical?

• How should writing be judged?

• Which fantasy author trumps Tolkien and why?

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:

• Why shouldn’t genre matter in writing?

• Why doesn’t snobbery belong in the world of books?

• How do books change after they’re read?

• How does the metaphor of a TV box set apply to books?

• How do writers build trust with their readers?

• How do we harvest imagination?

• What’s the relationship between health care policy and good writing?

• Who are The Russians and how does one properly wade into them?

• Why are we all storytellers?

• What are some myths surrounding autism?

• How do you become a better writer?

• And, of course, what are David Mitchell’s three most formative books?

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.

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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:

• What purpose does a public library serve today?

• How do librarians help readers choose books?

• What are the 4 Ps of books?

• What books help reluctant readers?

• Why should we reread Harry Potter?

• What’s special about debut novels?

• Which books let you meander?

• Should we see movies adapted from books?

• What are the best books to start enjoying audio books?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

Early episodes of Sesame Street from the late 1960s show five-year-olds walking streets alone, talking to strangers, and playing on vacant lots, but when those episodes were released on DVD years later a warning was added at the beginning saying “The following is intended for adult viewing only and may not be suitable for young viewers.”

I read about this in ‘Stolen Focus’, the massive bestseller by Johann Hari, our guest in Chapter 121. Johann went on in his book to discuss how ‘the confinement of our children’ is contributing to our plummeting ability to focus and he brought the idea to light wonderfully in his book by spotlighting the activism of Lenore Skenazy.

Lenore Skenazy is a Jackson Heights, New York mom of two who wrote a 2008 column for The New York Sun titled ‘Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride The Subway Alone.’ The article set off a huge media firestorm where Lenore was dubbed “America’s Worst Mom.” Undeterred, Lenore went on to coin the phrase “free-range kids”, write a bestselling book by the same name, and then five years ago co-founded a non-profit called ‘Let Grow’ which aims to give kids back the developmentally crucial ‘vitamin’ our culture has removed from childhood: independence!

Before her current work, Lenore wrote for The New York Daily News, New York Sun, and Mad Magazine (!). She has degrees from Yale and Columbia and is on the front lines of movements to bring back trust, independence, and free play in our children. She has created The Let Grow Project which partners with schools to give students the simple homework assignment to “Go home and do something new, on your own.” She created ‘Take Our Children to the Park & Leave Them There Day’ as a day for children to learn how to play without constant supervision. And Let Grow, the organization she co-founded with Jonathan Haidt (our guest in Chapter 103), Dr. Peter Gray, and Daniel Shuchman, has been helping to draft and sponsor 'free-range kid' legislation supporting reasonable child independence. To date, they have helped pass laws in eight states.

Join us as we discuss: recess, preventing anxiety in kids, the problem with child protective services, getting attention in activism today, the importance of fun, and, of course, Lenore's three most formative books...

Let's flip the page into Chapter 127 now...

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You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/127

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/3mail

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What does it mean to live in the now?

• What is time?

• What is God?

• How do we slow time down?

• How can we reconnect with the deeper wisdom of living in the now?

• How should we move energy?

• Why is it so important to put intention into our actions?

• Why should we regularly check back in with our goals?

• Why is traveling solo so powerful?

• Why should we make time to be alone?

• Why is choice so empowering?

• How can we travel in our own cities?

• What is love?

• What will it be like to live in a meta universe?

• What are the risks of living in a fully animated world?

• What is Life’s purpose?

• Why is the world actually one?

• Why should people share art?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• Why should we reread books more often?

• Are we all simply products of our environments?

• What book has Malcolm read every five years since the age of 15?

• Which book does Malcolm call “appallingly marketed”?

• How do we preserve our privacy in an endlessly connected world?

• And much, much more…

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 

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:

• Why are chapter books scary?
• What can books with flaps teach us about our cities?
• Why do so many people go to the bathroom in train stations?
• How does Waldo get around so much?
• How can sharks jump onto boats?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What does fear of death make us do?

• What are the different ways authors develop character in a novel?

• What is the value of a reading list?

• What is the connection between Woody Allen and Russian Literature?

• What misconceptions do we have about classical literature?

• What is Steve’s writing process?

• What is the power of writing by hand?

• What does it mean to write with your subconscious?

• What is a writer’s voice?

• How do writer’s deal with anonymity and success?

• How do we not quit big projects?

• How can we learn to accept criticism?

• How do we separate the art from the artist?

• How do you raise a reader?

• What are the best books for young boys?

• How can we reclaim our focus?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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: 

• Why should we empower our children to make their own decisions?

• How can we teach children about the consequences of their choices?

• Why should you pursue marriage counselling before getting married?

• How can we learn to let go of the guilt and shame we feel surrounding parenting?

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 

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:

• What is a hive culture?

• What is group level selection?

• What is the difference between social psychology and sociology?

• What does it mean to be tightly bound vs loosely bound?

• Why is too much freedom bad?

• What are the ills of social media?

• What is the story of Babel?

• Why was the Arab Spring such a pivotal moment in history?

• How has Facebook changed the world for the worse?

• What separates the right from the left?

• Why is constraint essential to freedom?

• How do we make decisions?

• Why should we appeal to the elephant?

• Why should we parent using stories?

• How do we better communicate in relationships?

• How should people think about doing LSD and should it be legal?

• What is the mind?

• What are Jon’s favorite podcasts?

• What is the fundamental question in life?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

It’s getting tougher to grow up these days.

We’re surrounded by endlessly reflecting images of everyone else having fun without us. 

There are incredible pressures to achieve, to be ourselves and be different, to stand up and stand out, to follow big footsteps… and follow our hearts at the same time. 

A friend said to me the other day “When I was in high school and I’d stay at home on a Saturday night I assumed my friends did, too. Now my daughter sees all her friends out partying without her on social media. Right after they told her they were busy.”

It broke my heart. 

But it’s happening right alongside rising anxiety, loneliness, and depression rates around the world.

So what does coming-of-age look like these days? How do we keep our children safe, raise our families, tap back into our best selves, and stay focused on what matters most?  

These days I don’t think anybody is addressing those big questions better than Sarah Andersen, author of Sarah’s Scribbles.

Every one of her cartoons taps into the feelings of anxiety, awkwardness, and stresses of growing up in the digital age. It’s no wonder her work has gained millions of followers, scored numerous awards, and resulted in three bestselling comic books including her award-winning debut Adulthood is a Myth and her newest Herding Cats.

I am so excited to share my conversation with the incredible Sarah Andersen of Sarah’s Scribbles, recorded above the clouds at the very top of the western hemisphere’s tallest building. 

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• How do we balance our desire to stand out and fit in?
• How can we tap into the purest versions of ourselves?
• How can we break free from the rigid rules of artwork and unleash our artistic freedom?
• Which systems enable online abuse and how can we curb this without provoking censorship?
• Why is it so difficult for artists to monetize their work online?
• Where should aspiring artists start if they'd like to start publishing their work?
• How do we balance our desire to learn more and contentment with where we're at?
• How do we connect with our most childlike parts of ourselves?
• How do we disappear into other worlds while remembering who we are?
• How do our family reading habits affect our own -- and what should we watch out for?
• What new distribution channels can we harness to share our art? And what are the risks?
• Which areas of online harassment can we be more aware of and how do we protect ourselves and our families?

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/8

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 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:

• What does it mean to think better?
• How should we think about our thinking?
• What is intelligence and how should we measure it?
• How do we build trust in relationships?
• What does it mean to be a gentleman these days?
• How do you raise boys into great men?
• And, of course, what are Shane Parrish’s 3 most formative books?

Are you ready?

Let’s go.

What You'll Learn:

• What does it mean to live a more meaningful life?
• How should we create trust in the world today?
• How do we create art with integrity?
• How do we think about sponsorship?
• How do you make adult friendships?
• How do you live life without lawyers?
• How do we develop trust without contracts?

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 

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's first novel, Moth Smoke (2000), told the story of an ex-banker and heroin addict in contemporary Lahore. His second, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), told the tale of a Pakistani man’s abandonment of his high-flying life in New York. (This was my first Mohsin Hamid book and I can't recommend it enough.) His third novel, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013), is my favorite -- it's a fascinating exploration of urbanization and global economic transformation ... wrapped in the guise of a self-help book ... written in the second person. An incredible feat. His fourth novel, Exit West (2017), his most popular, follows refugees escaping from their war-torn home through a chain of mysterious doors to foreign lands. And his fifth novel, The Last White Man, comes out on August 2, 2022 .... in just a few days.

Mohsin's books have been published in over 40 languages, sold millions of copies, been turned into movies, and been shortlisted for the Pen / Hemingway Prize and Man Booker Prize multiple times. He has been named one of the world’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine and his writing regularly appears in, no big deal, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, and the Paris Review.

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:

• What is the history of Lahore?

• What are Lahoris like?

• What explains our need for nostalgia?

• What does storytelling allow us to do?

• What is it like to be a novelist?

• Why are self-help books oxymorons?

• Why is grappling with death so important?

• What are the ethical considerations of immortality?

• What is it like to have Toni Morrisson as a mentor?

• Why is it so important to read what we write out loud?

• How much should we edit our writing?

• Why is the search for truth so difficult in today’s world?

• How do you balance writing and a job? 

• Why is engaging with the world so important for writers?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

“Your airbag” by Ralph Nader. “Your seatbelt” by Ralph Nader. “Your cleaner air” by Ralph Nader. “Your safer food” by Ralph Nader. “Your lead protection when you get dental x-rays", “Your warning labels on cigarettes”, “Your right to know if you’re exposed to dangerous chemicals at your job”. By Ralph Nader, by Ralph Nader, by Ralph Nader.

We slap names on everything! Bylines. Authorship! We see names on everything in our ego-oriented society with commercialization and profit maximization near its core. But Ralph’s name isn’t on any of these things. Could be!  ​Maybe should be​! But when you’ve spent nearly seven decades — seven decades! — as a tireless consumer advocate, fighting to achieve protections for a healthier and safer society for all, well, maybe you don't focus on credit. You just focus on change.

“Dissent is the mother of ascent,” Ralph reminds us in ​Chapter 130 of 3 Books​, one of many calls-to-arms issued by the four-time Presidential candidate and author of the new book ​The Rebellious CEO​ to our fiery global community of book lovers, writers, makers, sellers ... and librarians.

And while Ralph’s not running for President in 2024 — “We have a two-party duopoly not a competitive democracy" — he’s still working, day after day, calling for change. Sure, he’s turning 90 in February, joining his two active nonagenarian sisters, but he doesn’t feel old. Why not? Because, according to Ralph, “The only true aging is the erosion of one’s ideals."

I was very excited to sit down with Ralph and learn from his plentiful experience, wisdom, and ideas. On lots of things! Including de-computerizing elementary schools, shifting from a warmaking to peacemaking society, adding safety to social media, his ingredients for cognitive longevity, his current views of the famed Bush-Gore 2000 presidential election where he was called a "spoiler", and, of course, his 3 most formative books.

In an era of blaring, dopamine-spiking news and social media overwhelm this longform conversation with a true master awoke and inflamed my spirit on so many things. I think it'll do the same for you.

Let's flip the page into Chapter 130 now...

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/130

---

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What are the trade-offs between surveillance and convenience?

• Why do we give away our privacy so easily?

• How do we figure out which companies to trust?

• How can we help kids find their way to books on their terms?

• How do we carve out mental space for ourselves?

• How do we make art and ignore the algorithm? 

• How do we consume art?

• What is particular about the podcast art form?

• How does great art shine in today’s shallow world?

• What is the problem with Rotten Tomatoes?

• And much, much, more

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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.

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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:

• What makes for a good interview?

• How do you prepare for interviews?

• How can we find our identity?

• What are the different types of happiness?

• What is organic happiness vs synthetic happiness?

• Why is regret so damaging?

• How do we navigate ‘gaping wounds of need’?

• What can help a self-soothing journey?

• How can we heal from shame?

• How do we learn to slow down?

• Why do feelings of accomplishment not last?

• How do we orient ourselves towards what really matters most?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What are some elements of parenting intentionally?

• How can busy couples think about sharing work?

• What is Adam’s view on the state of feminism?

• What is some low-hanging structural / systemic fruit when it comes to fighting misogyny?

• What is The Daughter Effect?

• What are some specific tools Adam uses to help practice humility?

• What is ‘the curiosity gap’?

• What does healthy ambition look like?

• What is the meaning of life? (Yes, really)

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 

I flew down to New York City and sat in a plush purple corner booth at the pricey and exclusive Core Club in midtown Manhattan. Sahil Bloom is the youngest member they have because, as he says, "If you get into the right rooms, good things start to happen."

Sahil Bloom is a fascinating, unconventional, maniacally disciplined, wisdom-distilling writer, thinker, and investor -- with a goal of motivating a billion people to live their best lives in a kind of Tim Ferriss or Robin Sharma for the next generation.

He grew up with a Harvard dad, Princeton mom, and Yale sister -- but was coasting by in school and the resident jock. "My dad would come home and play catch before going back to work every night." His dad is David E. Bloom, one of the world's most-renowned social scientists, who would take Sahil on business-class flights as a kid. "I would eat ice cream and watch movies but I watched my dad working on the speech he was delivering the next morning for the entire 12 hours."

Do we all need to become manically disciplined to compete in the world today? What are the benefits and what are the costs of winding ourselves up to our highest and fullest potential? And how do we measure that? The sun was setting out the window, servers setting up clinking cutlery on the tables next to us, as we drink non-alcoholic cocktails and talk: Parkinson's Law, 4am cold plunges, phone-free walks, impacting a billion lives, Dunkin Donuts, 5am writing routines, posting your kids faces online, Tim Cook, how to get a giant book deal, chasing opportunity vs energy, and, of course, Sahil Bloom's 3 most formative books...

3 Books remains ad-free, sponsor-free, commercial-free, and interruption-free. The best way you can support the show is just by listening and sharing it with family and friends.

A massive thank you to Sahil Bloom for sharing his vulnerability, so many endless tools, and all that incredible wisdom. This is a conversation that has personally inspired and changed habits in my life. I hope it does the same for you.

Let's flip the page into Chapter 129 now...

---

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/129

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/3mail

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• How can we identify universal truths to better relate to others?

• How can we turn pain into humor?

• How do you raise children out of your own shadow?

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/

Is porn good sex education? Why does body autonomy matter for kids? Does talking about sex kill the mood?

Emily Nagoski has the answers!

Emily is a sex educator and activist whose mission is to teach us how to live with confidence and joy inside our bodies. She does this as the New York Times bestselling author of 'Come As You Are,' 'Burnout,' and 'Come Together,' as well as through her 3 popular TED Talks including—with over 3 million views—"How couples can sustain a strong sexual connection for a lifetime."

Emily began working as a sex educator 30 years ago at the University of Delaware. She has a Master's in Counseling Psychology and she worked at the famous Kinsey Institute. She has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in human sexuality, relationships, communication, stress management, and sex education. She was Director of Wellness Education at Smith College for eight years before starting to write full time.

In this deep-dive chapter we talk about neurodiversity versus neurodivergence, maintaining longterm sexual connection, OKCupid, ADHD and Autism, teaching kids about sex, and, of course, Emily's 3 most formative books...

For those who want to strengthen and improve their sexual health with themselves and others ...

Let's flip the page to Chapter 146 now...

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:

• Why do older siblings often feel pressure to take care of the family?

• How can we learn to take care of ourselves when we’re responsible for taking care of others?

• Who should take care of us when we grow older?

• How can we learn to empty our minds on a daily basis?

• Why should we place less importance on money?

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 

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

- How do we stay connected in this disconnected time? 

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:

• What is the state of autism in the world today?
• How do we nurture diverse minds?
• What is missing from our education system today?
• What are the ethics of eating meat?
• How can we value our elders more?
• And of course, her 3 most formative books.

Ready to jump into my conversation with this beautiful and resilient soul?

Let’s go!

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN TODAY’S EPISODE:

• What is autism and what does ‘the autism spectrum’ really mean?

• What is missing from the education system today?

• Why should kids do more hands-on learning?

• What does it mean to be a visual thinker?

• What could have avoided the Fukushima nuclear disaster?

• What is animal welfare and why is it important?

• What is the future of our species? (big one!)

• How can we embrace getting older?

• How do we find our purpose?

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 

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:

• What’s the “secret to getting old”?

• Why can’t you be a writer if you’re not a reader?

• How do we remain artistically and ethically pure after commercial success?

• Why do we try to hide our love for money when we generally need it to live?

• How do we transition from mimicking other writers to establishing our own voice?

• Why does David ask random people he meets who he thinks are funny to open for him at huge events?

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/

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:

• What surprising thing actually gave us civilisation on the planet?  

• In a world of endless everything, how do we develop the critical skills to be filterers and translators?

• From that, how do we go about making complex things simple? (Michael is a virtuoso at this.)

• How do we actually think about maximizing our tiny, short lives?

• When should you zig when others zag?

• When should you think about provoking curiosity rather than create certainty?

• And, of course, what are the incredible Michael Bungay Stanier’s 3 most formative 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/48  

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list  

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:

• What helps prevent bureaucracy in big companies as they grow?

• Why is there so much cynicism around motivation?

• How can we stop ourselves from complaining too much?

• Why are ‘mental workouts’ just as important as physical workouts?

• How can we improve our communication skills?

• What’s next for masculinity in the world?

• How do we raise our children into the best people they can be?

• What do all successful people have in common?

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/

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:

• What do having a child and writing a book have in common?

• How can an author detach themselves from what their book will or will not accomplish?

• Why do we need external validation?

• What is the power of dopamine?

• What is the power of celebratory energy?

• How can we stop squandering time?

• What is successful parenting?

• How should we think about proximity to family as we age?

• How should we talk about sex with our kids?

• How can we talk to our kids about the experience of sex?

• How should we talk to kids about pornography?

• Why are we uncomfortable talking about sex and pleasure?

• What are the perils of breast implants?

• How should we think about career shifts?

• How should we define success?

• How do we gain the courage to pursue our dreams?

• Why should you ask yourself if you want to high-five your job?

• What is a high-five marriage?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• How does hate inflame and fuel purpose?
• How do we get comfortable embracing the unknown?
• How do we the energy to challenge social beliefs?
• How do we develop the strength of mind to change the negative stories in our heads?
• How do you think about changing the world … one day at a time?

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  

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:

• What’s the difference between solitude and loneliness?
• How do you find love and intimacy in a world of pornography?
• How can we help children become more self-sufficient?
• Why can’t you improve your connection with other people until you improve your connection with yourself?
• How can you prime your brain for creativity?
• How can we learn to live more intentionally?
• What is the gateway to help people get into different genres of books?
• Why is it important to invite ‘weirdness’ into our cultural consumption?
• Why should you never trust Netflix’s recommendations?
• How can we avoid miscommunication with people online?
• Should any books be banned from children, and should we censor content from kids?

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 

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:

• Do we all have ‘dark sides’ within us despite how seemingly normal our lives appear?

• Why is it so important right now to find your voice?

• How can we teach and encourage children to speak up and fight for what’s right?

• How can we pass on our core values through generations?

• What new book idea did Paulette come up with during our podcast?

• How can we inspire children to look at all sides and come up with alternative explanations?

• How can we best support people with ADHD?

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/

• change-resistant to change-ready
• failure-prone to failure-proof
• thin-skinned to thick-skinned
• and anxious to AWESOME

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:

• • Why do publishers hate bookstores?

  • How can we expand ourselves?

  • Who was Edward Gorey? William Faulkner?

  • What is the real business of selling books?

  • What books should we read when we deal with grief?

  • How do you get reluctant readers to read?

  • Why do we need help picking books sometimes?

  • Why is non fiction so popular these days?

  • What can small bookstores do that big book chains cannot?

  • Why has it never been harder and never been easier to publish a book?

  • Why is it so difficult to pinpoint a formative book?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• How do you react to racism?

• How do you find yourself when you’re far from where you’re from?

• How do you grow your career as a woman of color? (And how do you think of the spectrum between ‘submissive’ and ‘confident’?)

• How can you find the meeting point of all your worlds?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/54    

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 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!

What You'll Learn:

• How will the pandemic allow us to rebalance our priorities?

• What is true service to others according to Hindu spiritual teachings?

• How do religions share spirituality? 

• How do we stay deeply connected to who we really are?

• How can we be truly vulnerable with our friends?

• What is the real power of an open ended question?

• What does it mean to be fully present?

• Why does multitasking not work?

• What is sacred space and why is it so critical to our wellbeing?

• How can friends keep us honest?

• How can we offer kindness to others?

• How should we define success?

• How do we experience God?

• How can we create a better world for our children?

• How can we trust today?

• What is the importance of pausing?

• What can help us live longer?

• How do we listen to ourselves and learn to be alone to foster deeper connections?

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 

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:

• How do make reading a family activity?

• How can we manage FOMO?

• How do books allow you to explore your identity?

• How should we think about gender norms?

• How do we go about letting our children feel honored?

• Can family and love coexist with art?

• Why should a question be at the center of all writing projects? 

• How are personality profiles helpful?

• How can envy be a useful emotion?

• What is longing?

• How can we use our longing?

• Where can we find beauty and why should we immerse ourselves in it?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What’s one unusual way to get a book deal?

• How can you train yourself to become calmer prior to meetings and life events?

• What are the positive and negative effects of having a strong mind?

• How do you know if you’re pursuing the wrong path?

• How can you leverage negative qualities to become strengths?

 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 

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 …

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:

• What is the value of taking handwritten notes?

• How should one manage the initial stages of retirement?

• What is the value exchange?

• What is the job of a Fortune 500 Company CEO?

• What is the key to cultivating talent?

• What is the S-Curve in business?

• How does the CEO of a major company deal with imposter syndrome?

• What does a Board of Directors for a public company actually do?

• What is the moral obligation of a Board of Directors?

• How can a company truly live by its values?

• Why is what matters most invisible?

• How can businesses become simpler?

• What is the paradox of choice?

• What are some of the greatest challenges the workforce faces?

• Is outsourcing manufacturing to China a force for good in the world?

• What are the limitations of governance in a globalized world?

• How does AI stack up?

• What book will help you flirt?

• How can good habits serve us at different stages of life?

• Why should you not answer emails?

• Why should we delegate more?

• What is the importance of perspective?

• What does achieving a balance over life mean?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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: 

• How do we advocate for the vulnerable?

• What was the single greatest act of giving in the modern world?

• How do you deal with intimidation when you have a family?

• How do you become an activist?

• What are the biggest issues in Kenya right now?

• Why is it so hard to travel as a black person?

• What should African unity bring?

• How was the mafia brought down in Italy?

• How do you live in fearlessness?

• Why must we all be activists?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• How do we think about reflecting and visioning in the middle of big projects?

• How do we learn to accept imperfections?

• What are the pros and cons of creating something independent?

• How do you stay true to a mission?

• What is one of Neil’s three most formative books?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

Cal Newport is a guide, a visionary, a role model to me and millions of others on living an intentional and productive life amidst our noisy, scatterbrained, tech-drenched world.

He’s an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University and author of 10 books which have collectively sold over 2 million copies including ‘Deep Work,’ ‘Digital Minimalism,’ and his latest bestseller, ‘Slow Productivity.’

“I sometimes joke that my entire career is built on giving two-word terms to things everyone thinks and knows,” Cal says, but the truth is he’s doing a lot more than that.

Take ‘Slow Productivity.’

He’s boiled this new phrase down into three principles: 1) Do fewer things, 2) Work at a natural pace, and 3) Obsess over quality.

Sounds simple, right? Trite, even! But that’s when you raise your head and realize the world is conspiring against you doing any of these. Doesn’t our world today reward… doing *more* things, working at an *unnatural* pace, and obsessing over *quantity*?

There’s a reason Cal has no social media apps on his phone. Why he has no social media accounts at all…and never has! With his books, and his wonderful podcast ‘Deep Questions,’ he is focused on helping us find our way as we navigate ever-changing technology and work patterns that increasingly feel at odds with our shared quest of living intentional lives.

Cal has a giant mind and it was on full display in this chat as we discuss: how Cal measures success, the neuroscience of reading, Denis Villeneuve, the relationship between rest and work, the ideal age for unrestricted Internet access, The Washington Nationals, leetspeak and productivity pr0n, the role of books today and their future, Andrew Huberman, positive reinforcement theory, Jonathan Haidt and ‘The Anxious Generation,’ technology boundaries for children, and much, much more…

Let’s turn the page to Chapter 135 now…

Did you grow up with Judy Blume?

My mom says I “found my voice” reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to my sister in the bathtub when I was a little kid. Well, I grabbed that tattered copy and carried it with me down to Key West, Florida where I had the extreme privilege of sitting down with the one and only Judy Blume (@JudyBlume).

Join us as Judy shares her three most formative books, how they inspired her, and we pull out some themes relevant to today.

Judy and I met on a hot and sweaty day in her Books & Books bookstore … where she works! I’m not joking. Step off your cruise ship and Judy Blume will ring up a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey if you like. We grabbed a little circle table, set it up in front of the bestseller wall you see behind us, and then talked about her most formative books.

(As a special bonus, near the end of the chat we get up out of our seats and Judy gives us a walking tour of her store!)

In this chapter, Judy and I discuss censorship, why sexy scenes should be kept in books, how to get kids to love reading, the role of bookstores in a community, and a surprise reveal on which book Judy says is the only one she has left to write... 

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• What is one of the greatest gifts parents can give their children?
• How can a writer create a world that readers can easily fall into with relatable characters?
• How does Judy free her mind in order to come up with incredibly imaginative stories?
• What book could Judy not put down in her 20s?
• Why does Judy prefer not to reread books?
• How do you recommend the right books to encourage children to love reading?
• Why aren't there sex scenes in books anymore?
• What do Judy and Neil disagree on?
• What's the first thing Judy does once her books are published?
• What's the only book Judy has left to write?
• What book did Judy steal... and why?
• What was Judy's household policy on reading censorship?

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/6

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/

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:

• How should we define gender?

• What is gender spirituality?

• What is the #DeGender fashion movement?

• How can we learn to see the world in a non-binary way?

• Why is hate the easy path?

• What is true gay and queer history?

• What is the crisis of anti-trans violence and anti-trans discrimination?

• What is the history of non-binary gendering?

• What is the link between colonization and binary gendering?

• What is the reality of everyday life for gender non conforming people?

• How can we truly love our kids?

• How do we get better at self-love?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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​,' and am looking forward to Frey's new novel, '​Next To Heaven​,' which is coming out in June 2025.

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.

In this classic chapter of 3 Books. 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, why (and how) we can slowly stop comparing ourselves to others, what getting drunk really means, and much, much more...

Let's flip the page back to Chapter 25 now...

Welcome! This is an unusual first chapter. In every other chapter I'll have a guest, their three most formative books, and a discussion touching on life's biggest themes. But this one? You'll join me and my wife Leslie in an intimate chat in our basement just after we put our kids to bed. I share my idea of starting 3 Books and talk about the rough vision, goals, and values of the show. She asks some surprising questions and you'll hear me struggling with my desires and the shape of the show.  

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/1

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/

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:

• What makes for a good podcast conversation?

• What are the different types of vacation?

• How might you plan a vacation to optimize learning?

• Why are books a long-term technology?

• What does technology want?

• How might AI change us?

• How do you define optimism?

• How is technology both the problem and the solution?

• How do we learn to think longer term?

• What are recursive loops and how do they help explain the world?

• Why should we strive to engage in infinite games for growth?

• Why is population a concern?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

Do you make your own luck?

Do you really control what happens?

Or do you simply dump everything you can in the system, press the big green button, and then hang on for the hairy-scary ride?

Elan Mastai is the award-winning screenwriter and novelist behind one of my favorite books of last year – the incredibly fast-paced, head-twisting, and emotionally moving sci-fi epic All Our Wrong Todays.

I was crying hot salty tears when I reached its final pages and was delighted when Elan accepted my invite to share his three most formative books on our show.

And! Just to tease the very first story he shares.

Elan received a $1,250,000 advance for his first book. You read that right.

A seven-figure book advance for All Our Wrong Todays.

His first book!

How did that happen?

Well, I ask him, and you’re going to love the story he shares.

And then we get deeper into ambition versus contentment, how hard you push versus what you get, and whether or not we control the inputs and the outputs… or whether we all have to really learn to just practice getting comfortable dumping whatever we can into the system.

Pressing the green button.

And holding on for the hairy-scary ride.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• How did Elan get a $1,250,000 advance on his first book?
• Why did Elan choose to make each chapter of his book 2-3 pages?
• Which book helped Elan become more grateful and gave him perspective at a young age?
• Why are our values less important than our actions when we’re trying to discover who we truly are?
• Which body part does Elan compare a writer to, and how is it considered a “documented form of pain”? 
• Which of Elan’s three most formative books was the only one he chose to read since he was forced to read the other two?
• Why did Elan, Kurt Vonnegut, and I all choose not to put semicolons in our books?
• How do you wrestle with book shame when you don’t love classic novels you assumed you’d enjoy?
• What book reminds Elan of listening to a Pink Floyd’s song? 
• What should aspiring authors keep in mind when looking for a literary agent?
• How do royalties and advances work in publishing? 
• How does an author entrench universal themes so deeply into their work that their stories stick with people and transcend time?
• What’s the process of getting another author to write a blurb for your book?
• How do you find your voice as an author?

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/10

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/

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

• What is emotional coziness?

• How do we navigate self-consciousness?

• What makes children’s books so unique?

• How can we better understand our values?

• How can we process our grief?

• What is the difference between processing versus coping with grief?

• What is the difference between grief and depression?

• How soon should you start dating after becoming a widower?

• Why is the grief of divorce or breakups underestimated?

• Why is it so important to convey the humanity of experiences vs the absurdity?

• How do you turn the mundane into the interesting?

• How can we curb digital self harm?

• What is the value of effort?

• What is digital enlightenment?

• Why is categorization counterproductive?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What is the difference between content and process in therapy?

• How do people move through their struggles?

• What makes us human at our core?

• How can we find ourselves in the stories of others?

• How much should we share about ourselves on social media?

• What is the importance of authenticity for a writer?

• How do therapists use their own humanity to help others?

• How should we navigate vulnerability in writing?

• How can authors write about their own children without betraying their stories which are their own to tell?

• What is true vulnerability?

• What are the misconceptions surrounding therapy?

• How do you test drive your therapist?

• How do we discover our dark side and how can it help us grow as a human being?

• What is the beauty of mentor mentee relationships?

• Why are adult friendships hard to come by, specifically for men?

• Why is it harder for men to be vulnerable?

• Why do we apologize when we cry?

• What is the danger of labeling feelings?

• How can we use our feelings without judgement to make better decisions?

• What is the danger of numbing our feelings?

• Why should we not talk our kids out of their feelings?

• How should we deal with loss and why are the commonly listed stages of grief not necessarily helpful?

• How do we grieve better?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• Where are we in the universe?

• What is the true definition of time?

• How does time work?

• Do calendars reflect time?

• How do we define the future?

• Is there other life in the universe?

• What is a back-up book?

• Why is the term colonization wrong for space?

• Is astrology a science?

• What is the smallest scale of measurement in the universe?

• What is the largest scale of measurement in the universe?

• What is the unobservable universe?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• How do you say ‘yes’ to what is?

• Why doesn’t the game of infinite orgasms work?

• How do we shift from thinking of travelling through the world … to realizing we are the world?

• How can God be seen as a metaphor?

• Why do we withhold love?

• Why are cell phones manifestations of a mental problem we all have?

• And much, much more..

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

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:

• What is a midwife?

• What are the trends around midwifery versus physician care?

• What are the values underpinning midwife care?

• What is assimilation?

• What is the significance of the phrase: people of the global majority?

• What is the Truth and Reconciliation movement?

• What is cultural competence training?

• What are some of the less discussed effects of colonization?

• What does it mean to be ‘a Jughead’?

• What is The Farm?

• What is an ambivalent baby?

• What holistic approaches do midwives bring to the magic of birthing a child?

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 

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:

• What is a “third place”?
• Why don’t we spend as much time and money on mental health as we do physical health?
• How do you create an authentic community without it feeling manufactured?
• How do teachers play a powerful role during our most formative years?
• What is the “producer high”?
• What should a bookstore try and be?

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/

No one does it like Angie.

Racial tensions, police shootings, citizen uprisings. Does this sound like the setting of a YA novel? How about three of them? Her debut '​The Hate U Give,​' her sophomore release '​On The Come Up​,' and her third '​Concrete Rose​' were all on The New York Times bestseller list, and her fantasy middle school-level book '​Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy​' was *also* an instant New York Times bestseller!

In this classic chapter of 3 Books, 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.

Let's flip the page back to Chapter 26 now...

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:

• How can we find leanness in an era of fat?

• How can enforcing creative restraints help people produce better work?

• What’s more important: the conquest or the journey?

• Which book should every aspiring writer read?

• How can a short story paint a very elaborate and moving picture in so few words?

• How should we deal with our kids experiencing failure?

• What’s the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset?

• How can we navigate changes that don’t seem like we’re moving ‘forward,’ such as the transition from teacher to student, doctor to patient, spouse to divorcee?

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/ 

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:

• How can ‘getting drunk’ help you enjoy life more?
• How do we avoid comparing ourselves to others in the age of social media?
• Why should writers focus less on following rules and expectations of the literary world?
• How can we learn to live more in alignment with our morals and what we think is right?
• How can different activities be forms of meditation?
• How do we learn to accept ourselves?

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/  

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…

From a sunny balcony in San Diego overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Frank Warren of PostSecret and I uncover and discuss his three most formative books and pull out the resonant themes affecting us all. How do we give people a voice? In a flattening world, how do we build trust with new people? And what are the lessons we can take and apply to our own lives from these three life-changing 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/2

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/

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:

• What is the Equal Justice Initiative?

• How can cultural institutions help redress the wrongs of oppression?

• What is strategic rest?

• What was it like being in a segregated school?

• What is the true power of reading?

• What does it mean to be sentenced to die in prison?

• What is freedom?

• How is justice served by the law?

• What is narrative work?

• How can we begin to deal with true reconciliation?

• Why must we speak of genocide in North America?

• How has false narrative perpetuated racism?

• Why does capitalism perpetuate racism?

• Why is truth so essential?

• What is the history of the death penalty?

• What is the link between racial bias and the death penalty?

• What is happening with the Supreme Court?

• Why are fear and anger such powerful forces?

• How can a book teach compassion?

• How must we cultivate optimism?

• Why is hope essential?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What do we say to children who are struggling?
• How do we manage overwhelm and disorientation?
• How do we get through this if we are alone?
• How do we manage guilt we are feeling?
• And much, much more... 

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  

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:

• What is the other definition of USSR?
• Why is it important to lose yourself in art or in stories?
• Why should a conversation flow like a river?
• Who did JRR Tolkien go to school with to help inspire Lord of the Rings?
• Why are booksellers and librarians ‘doctors of the mind’?
• How can living with less give us more?
• What are the dangers of the ‘pants computer’?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/44    

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:

• What does it take to survive in the restaurant business?

• What is the cost of obsession in business?

• What is the importance of the big tech giants in running a business today?

• Why are the basics so critical?

• What can we learn from those truly in the trenches?

• What can we learn from the doers?

• What is the tension between choice and the lesser evil?

• Why is feedback so vital?

• Who will give you the most sincere feedback in your lifetime?

• How do you cultivate leadership and respect when there is no economic relationship?

• What is the gift of time?

• How do you become lucky?

• Why is generosity so important in business and in life?

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.

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list 

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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 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 

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• Why should you order a #0 Taco at Mi Madre?
• How do writer and reader energies complement each other?
• Why should unread piles not stress you out?
• What is the intersection of reading and travel?
• Why is an awakening to misinformation crucial to growing up?
• Why is violence so prominent in the US?
• What is ‘home’?
• Why should we all have ‘a room of one’s own’?
• What is the difference between lies and bullshit?
• What is real freedom?
• What’s wrong with the car?
• Why are dumb questions the best?
• How do we manage giving our kids freedom?
• How does mentorship shape you?
• Why should you use your hands when you create art?
• Why is teaching like a quilt?
• What is the power of doodling and why should we all draw?
• How does keeping a diary promote writing?
• What is the true power of a walk?
• How can social media be used … productively?
• Why is nature the best metaphor?
• What is the optimal tension for creativity and life?
• Why should we all take public transit on a regular basis?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• How do you take care of yourself during these uncertain times?
• What is forest therapy? What are the immune-boosting properties of being in nature?
• What are great books to build your leadership and capacity for hard work?
• How can you benefit from forest bathing in a city or while stuck inside?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/51 

I’ve been lucky enough to be invited onto ‘The Social’ (@TheSocialCTV) a few times. Do you know the show? It’s like ‘The View’, but Canadian, with four dynamic hosts sharing fast-paced opinions in a raucous, bombastic, high-energy exchange. Producers hand you the topics of the day about 30 minutes before you go on — formed by that morning’s early headlines — and then it’s time to form an opinion and get ready to, no big deal, share it live with millions of people a few minutes later. Definitely one of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever had and I can’t tell you how much I admire people like Melissa Grelo, Cynthia Loyst, Lainey Lui, and Jess Allen, who do it day after day.

Since I’m guest-hosting it’s usually me onstage with three women — while one’s away — and we end up having full-on laugh attacks. Well, one day, early in the pandemic, during the “live from everybody’s basement” era, I showed up ready to go on and discovered I was one of *two* guest hosts. The other was Jully Black! Canada’s R&B Queen. I’d heard of her but when the camera started rolling I fell in love. She was dynamic, bombastic, full of love, full of energy, and in the virtual green room after the show I invited her on 3 Books. (I knew she was a book lover because she’d been on Canada Reads — “the Survivor of Books” — a couple years before.)

Well, after a few years of planning we finally pulled off our long-awaited live and in-person recording of 3 Books — up in Markham, Ontario, an hour north of Toronto — inside the 24-hour, 365-day-a-year, 68,000-square foot sauna and bath house Go Place (@goplace_toronto). I had never been but Jully was a regular so we put on our checkerboard paper shorts and shirts and lounged on a couple curvy chairs before hitting record (and before hitting the hot and cold rooms afterwards.)

I think you’ll find this as fascinating a conversation as I did. Jully is a true icon — named one of ‘The 25 Greatest Canadian Singers Ever’ (CBC Music) with multiple singles reaching Top 10 pop, R&B, and dance music charts. She has sung for the Queen of England, she’s been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame, and, as you’ll hear, she took the bold stance of changing the words to Canada’s National Anthem on its largest global stage. Her activism wins praise, plaudits, and, yes, some poo-pooing, but if you know Jully — and you will soon if you don’t! — she takes it all in stride and then she manifests another great day. She’s somebody who is seemingly always vibrating on another level.

Jully has been in the game for three decades, scoring her first record deal as a teenager, and collaborating with endless legends like Nas, Choclair, and Destiny’s Child. She’s an activist, award-winning musical theater star, community organizer, and much, much more. In this conversation Jully shares secrets of artistic longevity, thoughts behind her decision  to change the lyrics of ‘O Canada’ at the NBA All-Star game, her definition of allyship, how we learn to forgive ourselves, what a ‘blanket ceremony’ is, how we navigate the death of our parents, her 3 most formative books (of course), and much, much more…

Let's flip the page into Chapter 126 now...

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You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/126

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/3mail

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

I started 3 Books back in 2018.

I didn't fully appreciate how big, wide, and deep the core question of this 22-year conversation was at the beginning. "What are your 3 most formative books?" Sounds simple! But as you trace back which books inspired ideals, ignited passions, altered values, slingshotted directions...well, it turns out there's always a lot there.

That was definitely the case as I recorded Chapter 128 of 3 Books in a Washington DC hotel room overlooking the Potomac with writer, designer, and speaker Heather McGowan. Heather is a big thinker focused on the "future of work" and she has elegantly stitched her business and industrial design backgrounds along with some fascinating experiences into two bestselling books called 'The Adaptation Advantage' and 'The Empathy Advantage.' She has spoken at the World Economic Forum, TEDx, and SXSW, has written for Forbes and Harvard Business Review, and is an advisor to the Business Higher Education Forum and Innovate+Educate.

We talk why empathy is essential for leaders, how we rebuild trust, how we can learn to let go, what is a "belligerent optimist", Heather's 3 most formative books, and much, much more...

Let’s flip the page into Chapter 128 now...

---

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/128

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/3mail

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What is the 40 days of dating project?

• How should we question our stereotypical tropes about gender?

• When should a couple think about couples therapy?

• What does it mean to be an expressionist?

• How can artists stay fresh?

• How can you maintain balance in life?

• How do you prioritize creativity & values?

• What does it mean to mourn yourself?

• How should we take in social media?

• What is an artist’s responsibility?

• What does it mean to sell out?

• What is an artist?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What is the real definition of capitalism?

• How do we get capitalism working for the middle class?

• What is “multi-homing” and how can we do it?

• What are the issues with Amazon, Facebook, and other monopolies?

• How should politicians really be passing laws?

• How would you introduce gun control in the US?

• What is slack and why do we need more in business?

• Why is principled leadership so critical and what does it look like?

• Why is face to face better for conflict resolution?

• How can we change repetitive behaviours which do not serve us?

• How do you move yourself along the path towards true mastery in any art or craft?

• And, of course, what are Roger Martin’s three most formative books?

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 

​Nick Sweetman​ is one of Toronto's most prominent graffiti artists.

Last February I was walking down Lansdowne Avenue in Toronto with my friend ​Michael Bungay Stanier​, who was our guest back in ​Chapter 48​, and as we strolled under a giant bridge I saw a giant ... well, it looked like a photo! But it wasn't a photo. It was a massive spray-painted image of a ​Hooded Merganser​, and at the very bottom corner was a signature that said "Nick Sweetman."

Looks like a photo, right? Look at that eye! That bill! But I discovered there's this Toronto mural artist named Nick Sweetman and turns out I've seen the guy's stuff all over the place. He paints ​pollinators​, ​birds​, ​insects​, and ​animals​ of all kinds...

He painted a ​whale shark​ I've ridden by on my bike for years without knowing it was him! Squint and you'll see the 'Sweetman' underneath its cavernous mouth.

So I decided to reach out to Nick Sweetman and ask him about doing a unique partnership with me and 3 Books. He was game! We found a 750 square foot brutalist bare concrete wall behind a subway station in Toronto begging to be beautified. And now 11 months later I am very proud to present...

After I spent six months getting approvals from the Toronto Transit Commission (shoutout to Cameron Penman, David Nagler, Kerry-Ann Campbell, and Councillor Dianne Saxxe!), Nick started painting the wall behind ​Dupont Station​ on September 17th, 2024 (my birthday!) and finished it up on November 1st.

What resulted is honestly the most beautiful piece of public art I have ever seen. I know I'm birdy biased but Nick's beauty, his eye, his senses—they just know no bounds. He doesn't use stencils! He's not tracing anything! The guy is literally just looking at a dirty, bare, curved 750-square-foot wall and, NO BIGGIE painting 16 HYPERREALISTIC LOCAL BIRDS ON IT!

Over the six weeks of painting I pulled out my recorder many times, Nick's friend and fellow graffiti artist Blaze Wiradharma (​@blazeworks​) pulled up with his video gear, and then genius editor Scott Baker (​@adjacentp​) rolled in to edit our first-ever 3 Books audio-video documentary experience.

Listen! Watch! Be amazed by the wonder of Nick Sweetman! We explore questions like: Why did Nick leave the wine drinking art gallery world for dirty street corners? What do people who have owe to people who don't? How do we see the crustaceans in our parking lot? And ... do we still have a shared reality?

We talk about mural painting, graffiti, street art, what it means to live in a world where humans overtake everything and, of course, Nick's 3 most formative books. We even get a live splice of Leslie teasing out his third book in real-time which is pretty special!

I highly recommend you WATCH this chapter if you can as we put so much heart and soul into making Nick's masterpiece come to breathtaking visual life.

But, of course, as we flip the page to Chapter 144, you can always just listen in on Apple or Spotify, too.

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:

• What is the greatest compliment for a film-maker?

• Why should you journal about a project before sharing it with an audience?

• What is the alpha-verse?

• Why is kindness a power?

• How can we evaluate our own projects?

• What is the tension between listening and hubris?

• How do the greats deal with imposter syndrome?

• What is it like to grow up with ADHD?

• How do people diagnosed with ADHD view the world?

• How can we learn to appreciate discomfort in art?

• How do we create visceral emotion in others?

• How do we supercharge our creativity and access ideas?

• What are schools doing wrong?

• What should school curriculums emphasize?

• How can we cultivate creativity in our kids?

• Why should we talk more openly about sex?

• Why should we question what we’ve been taught about relationships and sex?

• How can cartoon strips help us answer big questions?

• Are we living in a post physical world?

• How does what we consume shape us?

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• When is it okay to be a quitter?

• How can authors retain creative control in the strict world of publishing?

• What are the most important steps to take when publishing a book?

• How have self-published books radically changed over the past decade?

• How did the Harlem Renaissance affect book publishing, particularly for black authors?

• How has poetry transformed over the past century and why is it resurfacing again?

• What makes a book accessible to readers and how do writers tap into that?

• What book can help us learn from trauma and look past it with a fresh perspective?

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/

I felt trapped early in the pandemic.

I normally walk every day in downtown Toronto. I write on park benches and in distant coffee shops and love popping into bookstores and bumping into friends. I am very privileged in that I get to travel one or two days a week, too. But then: the pandemic. It hit hard and I was suddenly sitting in a makeshift office upstairs. Staring at four blank walls and peering out a glass door into the trees and electrical wires outside.

And then I saw it. A bird! A bird I'd never seen before! It was ... a robin? No. Way bigger than a robin? And the chest was red but ... the rest looked different. Some white. Was it a woodpecker? I ran downstairs, got some binoculars, and then downloaded the Merlin ID app a friend had told me about. Within a couple of minutes more of looking and using the app: I had it! It was a Rose Breasted Grosbeak.

Later that day my wife and I put together a (desperately needed) trampoline in the backyard ... and the bird didn't fly away. The next day I noticed there were three of them. Maybe four. My kids started jumping underneath them. It seemed like everyone was smiling at each other. It was a strange bit of connection in that suddenly-so-disconnected time. I felt less ... speciesist? Just more aware of all life. All energy. It helped me zoom out from my mind chewing on problems and worries.

I got hooked on birdwatching. I became... a birdwatcher. I am, today, as I stand here beside you, a birder. Yes, hearing them counts. For me, I got hit by the birding bug in 2020. It really has changed my life. Now when I touch down in a new city, time zone, or airport... I go birding. I reconnect with the natural world. I practice shinrin-yoku and really feel my cortisol and adrenaline lowering. Basically: I recombobulate. And I have made wonderful friends birding through the eBird app -- shoutout to Tommy in Phoenix, JC in Jacksonville, Dave in Vegas, and Alannah in Newfoundland! -- and have found birding a wonderful source of conversation, beauty, exercise, nature, perspective, inspiration, and community. I even wear the big hat and khakis now and get a kink in my neck in the Spring. As I write this (March 20th, 2023) my life list is 401 after my first Snow Buntings and Wild Turkeys last week. I even snuck a couple of birding entries into OUR BOOK OF AWESOME, which as of now has spent 12 weeks on the international non-fiction bestseller list thanks to you! (Thank you so much and, if you don't have a copy, get one here.

It was a pleasure to be interviewed by Jody Allair of Birds Canada on the wonderful Birds Canada podcast "The Warblers." late in 2022. Birds Canada is a non-profit run by extremely passionate people with the mission of driving understanding, appreciation, and conservation of birds in Canada. Leslie and I donate to Birds Canada and, if you're interested, you can donate here.

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

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3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

Welcome to the first chapter of 3 Books recorded live in an open bookstore!

Book City is in the heart of Toronto's beautiful Bloor West Village neighborhood and that's where I settled into the children's section to talk blame, beauty, and growth with my favorite bookseller in the world -- the one and only Sarah Ramsey.

I love Sarah because she takes the art of bookselling seriously and seemingly reads people’s minds to find the exact book they need to help them grow. As we always say: Humans are the best algorithm.

Listen in to hear us touch on themes of beauty, loss, and honoring ones we love...

What you'll learn:

• What makes a great bookseller?
• Who owns grief after loss? 
• How do you honor a life through storytelling?
• What Judy Blume book is the first to appear on 3 Books?
• What is one of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard involving marital guilt, shame, and Kindles?
• Why are humans the best algorithms?
• How can books transcend generations?
• What memoir helped invent the category -- and have we "over-memoired" ourselves?
• Why can you judge a book by its cover?

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/4

Sign up to receive podcast updates here: https://www.3books.co/email-list/

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.

Listen to Kim, Penn, and I discuss: finding an ikigai, ambition versus contentment, the joy of making, the 4 S's of great work, a better name for ADHD, how to tactically get the phones out of the bedroom, how much money we need to be happy, replenishing decision-making energy, the true meaning of awe, why Our Book of Awesome is my last awesome book, reconciling a desire to be happy with what we have with a desire to improve, and, of course, fitting for these hyper-talented twenty-first century Weird Als (and I mean that in the best possible way), our go-to karaoke songs. 

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 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

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:

• What does a day in the life of a critical care worker in remote regions look like?

• How do we encourage young people to ask questions?

• How did a single mother turn her kids lives around with books?

• How does it feel to raise Black children in the world today?

• How can language help defuse stressful situations?

• What is the value of unconditional love?

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 

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:

• How do we make time for friends?

• How do we find contentment within our sphere of influence?

• What does it mean to be spiritually fit?

• Why is it so critical to set boundaries with family and friends?

• What is the difference between being sweet and being kind?

• How can a classroom be transformed into a sacred space?

• What does it take to be a great teacher?

• What is meant by the phrase “education as the practice of freedom”?

• How can we better train teachers to be agents of change?

• What is a love ethic?

• What is a pandemic of lovelessness?

• How can we learn to love?

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 

Another year around the sun!

It is the Winter Solstice which means it is time for our sixth annual "Best Of" episode of 3 Books. 3 Books began ​back in 2018​ with a simple goal of counting down the 1000 most formative books in the world ... 3 books at a time. We wanted this show to help all of us read more and read better and we wanted to do that by being different -- with a lunar-based schedule and a deep intention of being an ‘intrinsically-motivated journey’ with no ads, sponsors, commercials, or interruptions.

We started collecting ​values​ like: "No book shame, no book guilt", "Humans are the best algorithm", and "You are what you eat and you are what you read."

Over the years this journey has been a warm ray of sun in my life. I hope it’s felt the same for you.

My goal with the “Best Of” is to reflect on the year by picking a snippet from every Chapter and Bookmark that helps us pause and ponder.

You'll hear (or re-hear) wisdom from our chats with ​Steve Toltz​, ​Timothy Goodman​, ​Johann Hari​, ​Tank Sinatra​, ​Suzy Batiz​, ​Martellus Bennett​, ​Chefs Osama and Houssam​, ​Jully Black​, ​Lenore Skenazy​, ​Heather McGowan​, ​Sahil Bloom​, ​Ralph Nader​, and J. Drew Lanham (his interview is coming out on December 26th!!)

Thank you for sharing time with me and our incredible warm-hearted community of 3 Bookers around the world. I hope this (lengthy!) Best Of can keep you company on a long drive, late-night walk, or over some quiet moments through the holidays.

Let’s stop and reflect and then keep enjoying the ride.

Listen now at 3books.co/chapters/best-of-2023

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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/3mail

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General 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 full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 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 Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co