PodRecs #002: Money, Books & Breathing (but mostly books)
Hello! Hi. Kia ora (that’s hello in my native language).
Here’s your weekly dose of awesome stuff recommended on your favorite podcasts.
I’m learning that books are by far the most commonly recommended things on podcasts.
I’m cool with that. I love books. There are quite a few books sprinkled throughout this edition of PodRecs.
But I’ll do my best to sniff out PodRecs that aren’t books because, well, there’s more to life than reading.
This week we’ve got:
Doctor for distraction Nir Eyal with a device to reclaim your evenings
Former UFC fighter Ben Askren with the best books he’s read this year
Investor and bitcoin guy Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano with the books that helped him understand how money works (and get rich af)
Author and breather (aren’t we all?) James Nestor with a hack for beating snoring and sleep apnea
Modern guru Naval Ravikant with the books that shaped his worldview
A quick request from me before you jump in: Can you please take a moment to reply to this email (you can just say “hey”) or add me to your contacts to ensure you receive the newsletter in your inbox each week? That’s what you signed up for, right?
Ok, let’s get into it!
Bye bye wi-fi: Nir Eyal on the Feel Better Live More podcast
Nir Eyal started his career by helping tech-companies develop addictive products.
Now he’s trying to stop the monster he helped to create by teaching us how to have a healthier relationship with technology and reclaim our attention.
He’s got a new book out, Indistractable: How To Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, which seems to be the antidote to his 2014 book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.
I’ve got to say, that’s quite a cunning business strategy: Create problem, solve problem you created.
Anyway, Nir dropped an interesting recommendation towards the end of his appearance on the Feel Better Live More podcast with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee.
He’s talking about different “pacts” you can make with yourself and your loved ones to prevent you from getting distracted.
An “effort pact” is something you do that puts a bit of work or friction between you and something you don’t want to do.
In Nir’s household, him and his wife found they were going to bed later and later every night, which was having a negative impact on their relationship and sex life.
“Because she would fondle her iPhone and I’d caress my iPad as opposed to being with each other.”
So they decided to buy a:
Outlet timer - Get it here
Nir plugs his internet router into the outlet timer and sets it to switch off at 10pm every night.
“So every night at 10pm our internet shuts off. Now, could I turn it back on? Of course I could. I could fiddle with it, go under my desk, unplug it, replug it.
“But that takes effort, that takes work and that bit of effort makes me insert a bit of mindfulness to ask myself, wait, do I really need to go online right now or can I wait until later? And of course, 99% of time there’s nothing all that urgent.”
It’s a cool idea, but I don’t know if I could commit to this.
I mean, what if I’m part-way through an episode of Dark on Netflix?
But if technology is ruining your life, maybe it’s worth a try?
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Youtube | Overcast | Spotify
Ultimate Reading Challenge: Former UFC fighter Ben Askren on My First Million
I was surprised to see Ben Askren, a top US wrestler and retired UFC fighter, on My First Million, a show that’s mostly about Silicon Valley start-ups.
But it was a cool conversation.
Early on, co-host Sam Parr and Ben start riffing on renowned author Robert Greene.
Ben says he read Greene’s book 48 Laws of Power after Sam recommended it to him.
“I loved 48 Laws of Power… It was outstanding.”
Sam says Mastery, one of Greene’s other books, changed his life.
Later in the conversation, Ben mentions that he has a goal to read 25 books in 2020 and he’s already read 22.
Sam and co-host Shaan Puri ask him which book has been the best so far.
Ben can’t choose one, but these are at the top of his list:
48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene - Get it here
What You Do is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz - Get it here
The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath - Get it here
The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman - Get it here
“Those are probably the best ones,” Ben says.
It’s a good list.
I’m kind of surprised to learn “Funky” Ben Askren is into this stuff.
Respect.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Castro | Spotify
How money works: Anthony Pompliano on the Bill Bert Podcast
I don’t know if I’m just new to “Pomp”, but it seems like he’s blowing up online at the moment.
Who’s Anthony Pompliano? He’s a bitcoin guy, investor and venture capitalist who’s worked at Facebook and Snapchat.
He recently made an appearance on the Bill Bert Podcast with comedians Bill Burr and Bert Kreischer.
During the conversation, Bill asks Pomp about how money works.
“So how does somebody right now that’s living paycheck to paycheck - two things - if they don’t have any money right now, what’s the best way for them to educate themselves as to how money works…
“Where could they go to educate themselves and what can they do to diversify what little they have so the next time something like this happens, this pandemic where we’re all in this together but in reality you’re on your fucking own. How can people learn about this stuff?”
Pomp says three books he read in his early 20s changed the way he thinks about money.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki - Get it here
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason - Get it here
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill - Get it here
“All three of them are pretty easy reads but they basically get you out of this mentality of if you’re an employee working for someone else, you’re never going to get rich,” Pomp says.
“It’s about personal responsibility, right. No one is coming to save you. Nobody. So you’ve got to educate yourself. If you don’t get educated you’re going to get screwed because thee system’s stacked against most of these people.”
These books are well-known classics so it’s about time I read them.
Pomp’s a super rich and successful guy so there must be something worthwhile in these books.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Youtube
Shut your mouth: James Nestor on The Joe Rogan Experience
Journalist and author of the latest book on breathing, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, James Nestor was on The Joe Rogan Experience this week.
Joe recently listened to James’ book and has been raving about it on the podcast.
The conversation focuses on the contents of the book - the health benefits of breathing correctly and how to do it.
The one recommendation that stood out to me was:
Mouth Tape for Nasal Breathing - Get it here
James says he tapes his mouth shut every night.
“I thought this sounded pretty sketchy until I heard about it from the doctor of speech and language therapy at Stanford, Dr Mark Burhenne.”
The idea of taping your mouth shut to assist with nasal breathing during sleep has long been promoted as a health hack (just Google Patrick McKeown).
James says he took part in an experiment where he wasn’t able to breathe through his nose for 10 days, followed by 10 days of taping his mouth during sleep.
When his nostrils were plugged, he was snoring within two days and had sleep apnea (a sleep disorder where breathing stops and starts) by day four.
“The day we took that stuff out and we taped our mouths and were nasal breathing, snoring went away, sleep apnea went away, my blood pressure dropped about 10-15 points.”
James says you don’t need a thick piece of tape.
“You need a piece of tape that has a really light and easy adhesive, about the size of a stamp, you put it on the middle of your lips.”
I’ve been practicing nasal breathing for the past 4 months or so, but I haven’t yet committed to taping my mouth at night.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Youtube
What life is: Matt Ridley on the Naval podcast
When Naval Ravikant recommends something, pay attention. It’s that simple.
Naval recently released a couple of podcast episodes with British journalist and businessman Matt Ridley, who recently released his latest book How Innovation Works: And Why it Flourishes in Freedom.
Naval says he doesn’t have heroes, but Matt is at the top of the list of people he’s learned a lot from.
“Growing up I was a voracious reader, especially reading science. Matt had a bigger influence on pulling me into science and a love of science than almost any other author.”
The first of Matt’s books that Naval read was:
Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters - Get it here
“I must have six or seven dog-eared copies of it lying around in various boxes,” Naval says.
“It helped me define what life is, how it works, why it’s important, and placed evolution as a binding principle in the center of my worldview.”
Naval also recommends Matt’s other books:
All of these books are going straight to the top of my reading list.
Naval’s one of the sharpest thinkers out there and his PodRecs carry extra weight.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Youtube
There you have it.
Another snazzy edition of PodRecs to spice up your shopping list for success.
If you got something out of this, please give it a plug on Twitter.
As always, if you hear anything cool recommended on a podcast, let me know!
Thank for reading.
Have a beautiful week!
- Jonathan