Recommendations you can check.
Journalist and author of The Sports Gene (2013) and Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (2019); writes the Range Widely newsletter; formerly a senior writer at Sports Illustrated.
6 things
Slow ProductivityBook Cal Newport
Slow Productivity is a fantastic blend of stories and practical tips aimed at helping people work in a more sustainable fashion — without compromising their most important projects (which may include personal sanity).
Range Widely Q&A with Cal Newport about his book Slow Productivity
2024-03-06·davidepstein.substack.com ↗
The Way of ExcellenceBook Brad Stulberg
DE: As you know, I like to nerd out about writing, and I think you have some of your best writing here—really sharp turns of phrase.
Range Widely Q&A with Brad Stulberg on his book The Way of Excellence
2026-01-29·davidepstein.substack.com ↗
Pablo Torre Finds OutPodcast Pablo Torre
I agree. Congrats on a great new show, and is it a sports podcast?
Range Widely Q&A with Pablo Torre about his new podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out
2024-02-06·davidepstein.substack.com ↗
Master of ChangeBook Brad Stulberg
I’ve read a lot of Brad’s work, and he always marshals a mix of philosophy, science, and personal stories while managing to write about health and human performance topics in a conscientious way.
Range Widely post introducing Brad Stulberg’s book Master of Change
2023-09-14·davidepstein.substack.com ↗
Discipline is DestinyBook Ryan Holiday
I underlined this anecdote in Ryan Holiday’s book, Discipline is Destiny, which came out last year. I think it’s a microcosm of the book as a whole, which argues, in my view, that self-imposed limits — of body and mind — can free rather than restrict us.
Range Widely Q&A with Ryan Holiday on self-imposed limits and creative freedom
2023-08-22·davidepstein.substack.com ↗
Anatomy of a BreakthroughBook Adam Alter
NYU psychologist Adam Alter is this week’s Q&A subject, and I took so many notes in his new book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most, as to obliterate the margins.
Range Widely Q&A with Adam Alter about his book on getting unstuck
2023-05-18·davidepstein.substack.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
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The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
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