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 to life the invention in her mind and only manages it after realizing what she can learn from the "wrong things" she made. We talked about the book, about teaching, and about Growth Mindset. Enjoy!

This week, I sat down with standup comic and student of the classics Phil Stamato to talk about The Swerve (2011), written by Stephen Greenblatt. It tells the story of a long-lost text, On The Nature Of Things, was rediscovered in fifteenth century Italy, as well as the effects of that discovery on the thinkers (or, "Thought Leaders") of the Renaissance.

You can see Phil do standup at his monthly show Nothing Important in Crown Heights, read his writing on Splitsider.com, and follow him on Twitter.

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 with their capitalist, theocractic neighbors to the south. It's a compelling adventure story, a vivid illustration of a society that lives in harmony with nature, and a meditation on nonviolence.

David is a longtime friend of my brother and I.

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 evidence how those principles can redound to your and others' benefit.

Mike and I talked about our favorite principles, worked on the cast for a movie version, and discussed the line between influence and manipulation.

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 X's life, his philosophy (and its evolution), wolves vs. foxes, and we discuss whether Malcolm X (or someone like him) could rise to prominence today.

Enjoy!

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 time to jump on the trending topics bandwagon. What a thrilling ride!

This was a fascinating book in the same way that the Hindenburg was a fascinating rigid airship explosion. We talked about the constant leaking, the cast of a movie version, and Steve Bannon's diet.

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' relationships, which ones we hated and which ones we loved, some of the book's best lines, and - inexplicably - the film You've Got Mail.

You can catch Shand doing improv in the city, and you can follow her on twitter @shandthomas.

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, or perhaps just further confusion).

Momoh performs standup comedy in New York City - you can catch him at The Grisly Pear, and possibly on a webseries "when he gets around to it." You can follow him on Twitter at @Yopujeh.

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 ball talking about E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime (1975), a riveting book about turn of the century New York. We talked about historical fiction, Julianna's job at S&S, and independent bookstores!

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 the physicist, Shevek, who attempts to break down the walls between the two worlds.

Jeremy is a hilarious improviser based in New York City, and also founded and performs on the sci-fi improv podcast Mission To Zyxx. Follow him on twitter at @JeremyMBent!