In his new book, “Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters,” Steven Pinker writes: “When humans set themselves the goal of improving the welfare of their fellows … and they apply their ingenuity in institutions that pool it with others’, they occasionally succeed. When they retain the successes and take note of the failures, the benefits ... Show More
Jun 1
Best Of: Gretchen Rubin’s Guide to Getting Out of Your Head and Into the World
What do your five senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — have to do with happiness? According to Gretchen Rubin, a great deal. The world around us, she says, has the potential to dazzle, to entertain, to trigger a state of rapture. If only we pay attention. Today on the ... Show More
54m 32s
May 28
The Case for Speechmaking in the Age of Doomscrolling
America's a funny place. It's not a country with a fixed geographic or religious identity. We don't have a common story of divine creation. "What we have," writes Ben Rhodes in his new book, All We Say, "are words." The words of the founding documents, yes — but also "the words ... Show More
1h 6m
May 25
Best Of: Stop Chasing More. Start Embracing Your Limits.
In his mega-bestseller Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman showed that the finitude of life “isn’t a reason for unremitting despair, or for living in an anxiety-fueled panic about making the most of your limited time. It’s a cause for relief.” In his follow-up book, Meditations ... Show More
1h 19m
Jul 2024
Books, Routines, and Habits: The Founders' Guide to Self-Improvement
<p>A lot of self-improvement advice and content feels empty. And there's a reason for that. It often offers routines and habits to practice, but doesn't offer a strong, overarching reason to practice them.</p><p>That's why the self-improvement advice of the Founding Fathers is pa ... Show More
44m 50s
<p><strong>Steven Pinker</strong> (<a href="https://twitter.com/sapinker" target="_blank">@sapinker</a>) is a psychology professor at Harvard, one of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind, and an author of several bestsellers. His latest is <a href="https://www ... Show More
<p>Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease.</p><p> </p><p>RESOURCES:</p><ul><li><a href="https://amzn.to/45mpkoA"><i>Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well</i></a><i>, < ... Show More
