I got to sit down with the very funny Andrew Kimler to talk about his choice, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World (2016), by Adam Grant. It's a fascinating book that challenges all sorts of conventional wisdom. Why did the Segway scoo

Justin Budlow Talks Ishmael

Mar 11th, 2018 42m 36s

I sat down with my old friend Justin Budlow to talk about his choice, a wonderful book called Ishmael, written by Daniel Quinn. Like most good books, it's about a single man talking to a single gorilla. It's part philosophy book and part novel,

Amy Lynne Berger Talks One More Thing

Mar 4th, 2018 41m 43s

I sat down with actor, comedian, and writer Amy Lynne Berger to talk about her excellent choice, B. J. Novak's One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014). It's the best book of short humor pieces I've read since Jon Stewart's Naked Pictur

Meredith Houff Talks The Most Magnificent Thing

Feb 25th, 2018 36m 35s

I sat down to talk with educator Meredith Houff about her choice, The Most Magnificent Thing, which was written by Ashley Spires and published in 2014. It's a great read about a little girl (and her dog/assistant) who tries and tries to bring t

Phil Stamato Talks The Swerve

Feb 18th, 2018 44m 34s

This week, I sat down with standup comic and student of the classics Phil Stamato to talk about The Swerve: How The World Became Modern, written by Stephen Greenblatt and published in 2011. It tells the story of a long-lost text, On The Nature

Monique Moses Talks Ready Player One

Feb 11th, 2018 42m 34s

I sat down with Monique Moses to talk about Ready Player One, written by Ernest Cline and published in 2011. The book tells the story of a dystopian future in which civilization has mostly fallen apart and everyone spends much of their time ins

David Sonshine Talks The Fifth Sacred Thing

Feb 4th, 2018 43m 28s

In this episode, I sat down with David Sonshine to talk about The Fifth Sacred Thing (1993) by Starhawk. This is a really cool book which tells the story of a dystopian future in which an eco-feminist society in the Bay Area comes into conflict

Mike Diaz Talks How To Win Friends And Influence People

Jan 28th, 2018 39m 53s

I sat down with my friend and colleague Mike Diaz, who chose the book How To Win Friends And Influence People (1936) by Dale Carnegie. It's a fascinating book that lays out principles for human relationships, and demonstrates with exhaustive ev

Dre Wright Talks The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

Jan 21st, 2018 41m 11s

I sat down with Dre Wright to talk about the vital, classic work The Autobiography of Malcolm X As Told To Alex Haley (1965). Dre is a friend and coworker who may soon be starting a podcast of his own - stay tuned! We get into the arc of Malcom

Colin Canny Talks Fire And Fury

Jan 14th, 2018 41m 9s

This week, I sat down with my friend and coworker Colin Canny to talk about the new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House (2018) by Michael Wolff. Colin agreed to speed read the book with me so that we could get an episode out in tim

Shand Thomas Talks The Vacationers

Jan 7th, 2018 43m 55s

This episode had me sitting down Shand Thomas to talk about Emma Straub's The Vacationers (2014). It's a fun and breezy story of - you guessed it - people on vacation, and we had a blast chatting about it. We covered the characters' relationshi

Momoh Pujeh Talks The Power Of Now

Dec 31st, 2017 48m 59s

I sat down with standup comedian Momoh Pujeh to talk about his selection, The Power of Now (1997) by Eckhart Tolle, a book which extols the importance of "Now" (read the book or listen to the episode for a deeper understanding of the concept, o

Julianna Haubner Talks Ragtime

Dec 24th, 2017 46m 29s

In this episode, I sat down with Julianna Haubner, who my friend and colleague from our college newspaper, the Colby Echo. She is one of the most voracious readers I know and is currently an editor for the publisher Simon & Schuster. We had a b

Jeremy Bent Talks The Dispossessed

Dec 17th, 2017 44m 46s

I sat down with Jeremy Bent to talk about Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed (1974). This is a riveting science fiction novel about two worlds & societies that have largely existed in isolation until the narrative present, and the story of th

Ellen Castellini Talks The Dinner

Dec 10th, 2017 33m 8s

I talked with Ellen Castellini about The Dinner (2009) by Herman Koch, which tells the story of two families who must address a horrible secret over the course of - and this came out of left field for me - a dinner. It's a by turns grim and fun

Kelsey Nash Talks The War Of Art

Dec 3rd, 2017 53m 33s

In this episode, I talk with my friend Kelsey Nash about Steven Pressfield's The War of Art (2002). It was an honest and interesting conversation about the different battles we fight in trying to do creative work (or, different facets of "Resis

Maggie Bower Talks East of Eden

Nov 26th, 2017 41m 51s

My friend Maggie Bower came on to talk about John Steinbeck's East of Eden (1952). This is one of my favorite books too, and I really enjoyed talking about Maggie's first reading of the book while leading a 50 day canoe trip in Ontario, the tre

Sarah Jean Alexander Talks Inferno (A Poet's Novel)

Nov 19th, 2017 37m 36s

In this episode, I sat down with friend and poet Sarah Jean Alexander, who chose the book Inferno (A Poet's Novel), by Eileen Myles. This was a really interesting book that explores poetry, writing, queerness, and living in New York, among othe

Ken McGraw Talks Belushi

Nov 12th, 2017 42m 7s

I sat down with actor and comedian Ken McGraw to talk about his choice, Belushi: A Biography (2005) by Judith Belushi Pisano and Tanner Colby. We get into Belushi's tremendous life & works, his influence on Ken's life and comedy, as well as Ken

Bridget Scanlon Talks Cloud Atlas

Nov 5th, 2017 50m 17s

I sat down with Bridget Scanlon to talk about David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (2004). It's a great read, both interesting for the story/stories it contains as well as it's stylistic and structural innovations. Bridget and I talk about the novel's

Ben Hargrave Talks The Meditations Of Marcus Aurelius

Oct 29th, 2017 40m 55s

This episode has me talking with Ben Hargrave about The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. We talk about its prescriptions for living a good life, the good emperor's emphasis on death and on what matters, and the weird serendipity you feel when yo

Brandon Follick Talks You'll Grow Out Of It

Oct 22nd, 2017 40m 17s

In this episode, I got to talk with my fried Brandon Follick about the book You'll Grow Out Of It (2016) by Jessi Klein. We talk all about her hilarious writing style, my love of baths, and how her style in the book relates to some of her sketc

Anthony Andreassi Talks The Power And The Glory

Oct 15th, 2017 38m 3s

In this episode, I sit down with Father Anthony Andreassi, who is a Priest of the Brooklyn Oratory of St. Philip Neri and a history teacher at Regis High School in New York. Anthony chose Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory (1940), a grippi

Lucia Mueller Talks The Kite Runner

Oct 8th, 2017 47m

In this episode, I sat down with standup and improviser Lucia Mueller to talk about The Kite Runner (2003) by Khaled Hosseini. We talk about the book's big strengths (emotionally affecting!) and some of its weaknesses (overdrawn archetypes and

Andy Maguire Talks The Golden Spruce

Oct 1st, 2017 41m 52s

I sat down with my friend Andy Maguire to talk about The Golden Spruce (2005) by John Vaillant. The book tells the story of Grant Hadwin, a logger who in 1997 cut down a giant golden Sitka Spruce tree in an act of protest against logging practi