Worthwhile Podcasts
Dan Carlin - Maybe the most engaging podcast I have ever listened to. His lengthy series on the Eastern Front in WWII, the fall of the Roman Republic, and the Mongols are incredible. Dan is a master story teller and its almost impossible to stop listening to him recount these violent and historic eras. Even if you don't care about history, you will find these podcasts enjoyable and worthwhile.
Tim Ferriss - In each episode Tim interviews a master of their respective craft and tries to dissect what sets them apart. I enjoy them because there is typically some actionable tips, routines, or techniques we can implement to somehow improve our lives.
Finding Mastery - Michael Gervais is a high performance psychologist and in this podcast he converses with a broad range of high performers and digs into their backgrounds, mindsets and how they think about mastery.
Masters of Scale - Reid Hoffman does an excellent job highlighting some of the strategies, tactics, business plans, and more of some of today's fastest growing companies.
Invest Like the Best - Patrick O'Shaughnessy dissects different investors and their approaches in a clear and thoughtful manner.
Naval - clear, concise, actionable wisdom on a huge range of topics
Acquired - A deep dive into the history and founding of some seminal companies
An ongoing playlist of my favorite podcast episodes
Worthwhile YouTube Channels / Videos
Shots of Awe - Jason Silva is energetic, inspiring and exploring fields aimed towards "cognitive ecstasy" and other mindblowing concepts. These videos are usually just 2-3 minutes long and in them he explores anything from the spiritual to psychedelics (are they intertwined?) and too many other amazing topics to call out. I have gotten sucked into these videos for hours at a time and can't recommend highly enough.
Big History Project - Started by Bill Gates and David Christian, this series of videos blends different fields in order to attempt to create one coherent timeline of our universe and how we as humans fit into it.
TED, TEDx, TED-Ed - TED (Technology, Education and Design) is an amazing platform aimed to "spread great ideas." TEDx is the extension for independent organizers and TED-Ed is more focused on creating lessons. Fascinating talks from a vast range of people.
Crash Course - informational and animated videos which aim to simplify and give you a good overview over a variety of different topics
Talks at Google - A collection of authors, musicians and innovators of different fields who discuss their particular passions
Learning to Learn - Richard Hamming's lectures on science, engineering, and learning to learn.
Feynman's Lectures on Physics - not all the lectures are available on video but you can find the missing ones in print here
Worthwhile Blogs
Paul Graham - Paul, co-founder of Y-Combinator, has one of the most fascinating blogs out there - discussing venture capital, human nature, trends, biases, and more (my notes here)
Kevin Simler - Kevin's blog, Melting Asphalt, is incredibly well written and covers a huge spectrum of topics from social status to religion. He takes a different perspective on some relatively common topics and it is fascinating.
Tim Urban - Wait but Why? seems like a labor of love. Tim's older posts are a bit goofy but I have found all worth reading. If you're ready to tackle what is essentially a book in blog format, the 4 piece article on Elon Musk is fantastic.
Seth Godin - Best selling author, marketer, entrepreneur and public speaker sends out a short, daily blurb with some food for thought. Always quick and worthwhile
Shane Parrish - Entrepreneur and author sends out a weekly newsletter with fascinating insight into books, articles and other interesting reads. I have unashamedly adopted many of Farnam Street's layout and goals. Imitation is the highest form of respect.
Maria Popova - Author and overall wisdom seeker, Maria sends out a weekly newsletter which also compiles and analyzes a mind-blowing number of books and articles. Her analysis is always fresh and beautifully written.
Intelligent Fanatics - compiling and synthesizing the major lessons from some of the most successful investors and operators, helping us "stand on the shoulders of giants"
Seven Questions With... - Sequoia puts out a weekly newsletter with a founder, CEO, partner, etc. and asks the same 7 questions. Tons of insights and pattern recognition to be gained from these short-form interviews
On Health
Health is life's fountainhead. Without proper health, nothing else matters. You can’t enjoy life, time with loved ones, help others, or pursue those things which truly matter to you.
My goal is to have surplus energy, a clear head, intense focus, and a good mood on a stable and consistent basis – able to draw forth what I need, when I need it. The above link has a high-level overview of how I pursue this aim.
Worthwhile Articles
What Counts is Where You're Coming From in Your Inner Self - Brian Arthur
The Road to Self-Renewal - John Gardner
The Mundanity of Excellence - Daniel Chambliss
The Technology - Paul Buccheit
Driven by Compression Progress - Jurgen Schmidhuber
Principles (videos) - Ray Dalio
How The Economic Machine Works - Ray Dalio
Teal Organizations - John Naisbitt
Rules to Live by for Infinite Learners - Reid Hoffman
Invisible Asymptotes - Eugene Wei
Compress to Impress - Eugene Wei
Positive Alacrity - Patrick Ewers
You and Your Research - Richard Hamming
On Being the Right Size - JBS Haldane
Solitude and Leadership - William Deresiewicz
Aligning Business Models to Markets - Kevin Kwok
Laws of Tech: Commoditize Your Complement - Gwern
First Principles of Value Creation - Joe Plumeri
This is Water - David Foster Wallace
The Lattice Organization - WL Gore
The Psychology of Human Misjudgment - Charlie Munger
On Getting Up Again - Rodney Mullen
The Beautiful Game - Gregg Popovich
1982 Barcelona Olympics - Derek Redmon
UT 2014 Commencement Speech - Admiral William McRaven
MLB Hall of Fame Speech - Rhyne Sandberg
Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile - Chip Conley
Worthwhile Kids Books
Elephant and Piggy series: Why? The language is concise, and there is a lesson to each book! Fun and fast reads from toddler to elementary age.
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson: Why? This story has a beautiful message about why kindness matters. Jacqueline Woodson is a beautiful writer. Check out all her stories!
We Found A Hat by Jon Klassen: Why? This is a funny story about wants and dreams that keeps you guessing! It’s fun to ask your child what they think will happen during this story.
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis: Why? It gives great power to the imagination.
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty: Why? The messaging in this book centers around perseverance and curiosity, two important traits to celebrate and teach.
What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada: Why? This book takes a perspective switch on problems and how to persevere through them.”
What Do You Do with an Idea?” by Kobi Yamada: Why? This book shows the beauty of having an idea, playing with it, sticking with it, and seeing it grow.
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae: Why? Gerald shows that if you authentically listen to your own beat, you'll find your groove.
