Talking Books

Graham Weaver, Lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Founder of Alpine Investors, shares four ways to live an asymmetric life.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. Released in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life. The anecdotes in the book are based on recorded audio conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. Released in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life. The anecdotes in the book are based on recorded audio conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. Released in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life. The anecdotes in the book are based on recorded audio conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton.

No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.
There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat twenty-five thousand times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.
Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren’t found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.
Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is.
Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

Ray Kurzweil is the inventor of the most innovative and compelling technology of our era, an international authority on artificial intelligence, and one of our greatest living visionaries. Now he offers a framework for envisioning the twenty-first century--an age in which the marriage of human sensitivity and artificial intelligence fundamentally alters and improves the way we live. Kurzweil's prophetic blueprint for the future takes us through the advances that inexorably result in computers exceeding the memory capacity and computational ability of the human brain by the year 2020 (with human-level capabilities not far behind); in relationships with automated personalities who will be our teachers, companions, and lovers; and in information fed straight into our brains along direct neural pathways. Optimistic and challenging, thought-provoking and engaging, The Age of Spiritual Machines is the ultimate guide on our road into the next century.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. Released in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life. The anecdotes in the book are based on recorded audio conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character is an edited collection of reminiscences by the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard Feynman. Released in 1985, covers a variety of instances in Feynman's life. The anecdotes in the book are based on recorded audio conversations that Feynman had with his close friend and drumming partner Ralph Leighton.

Jordan Peterson discusses his reasons for writing self-help books, his goal being to provide a case for why certain axiomatic propositional statements were not simple or obvious, while also creating a thorough process to help others understand these ideas. Peterson emphasizes the importance of finding meaning and leading a practical, actionable life, and the difficulty of maintaining order in one's environment. He also talks about the importance of interpersonal relationships and the need to distribute responsibility and opportunity to those around him, especially young people. In matters of personal growth, Jordan Peterson believes that it is more useful to partition oneself into the part that is aiming up and can be trusted as an aid to further growth rather than relying on unconditional positive regard. He discusses the importance of having a sense of purpose in life, setting goals, and working towards them. Peterson emphasizes the importance of experimentation, learning, and transformation, and the need to create a meaningful goal that regulates negative emotions, brings positive emotions, and expands one's competence.

In 2017, several of my close friends died in rapid succession. It was a very hard year, as it was for many people.
It was also a stark reminder that time is our scarcest, non-renewable resource.
With a renewed sense of urgency, I began asking myself many questions:
Were my goals my own, or simply what I thought I should want?
How much of life had I missed from underplanning or overplanning?
How could I be kinder to myself?
How could I better say “no” to the trivial many to better say “yes” to the critical few?
How could I best reassess my priorities and my purpose in this world?
To find answers, I reached out to the most impressive world-class performers in the world, ranging from wunderkinds in their 20s to icons in their 70s and 80s. No stone was left unturned.
This book contains their answers―practical and tactical advice from mentors who have found solutions. Whether you want to 10x your results, get unstuck, or reinvent yourself, someone else has traveled a similar path and taken notes.
This book, Tribe of Mentors, includes many of the people I grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. Less than 10% have been on my podcast (The Tim Ferriss Show, more than 200 million downloads), making this a brand-new playbook of playbooks.
No matter your challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help.
Among other things, you will learn:
More than 50 morning routines―both for the early riser and those who struggle to get out of bed.
How TED curator Chris Anderson realized that the best way to get things done is to let go.
The best purchases of $100 or less (you'll never have to think about the right gift again).
How to overcome failure and bounce back towards success.
Why Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton believes that the best art will always be the riskiest.
How to meditate and be more mindful (and not just for those that find it easy).
Why tennis champion Maria Sharapova believe that “losing makes you think in ways victories can’t.”
How to truly achieve work-life balance (and why most people tell you it isn’t realistic).
How billionaire Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz transformed the way he engages with difficult situations to reduce suffering.
Ways to thrive (and survive) the overwhelming amount of information you process every day.
How to achieve clarity on your purpose and assess your priorities.
And much more.
This reference book, which I wrote for myself, has already changed my life. I certainly hope the same for you.
I wish you luck as you forge your own path.
All the best,
Tim Ferriss