Here are some of my favorite books and podcast episodes.
Books
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
One rainy afternoon, while riding a city bus, Gretchen Rubin asked herself, “What do I want from life, anyway?” She answered, “I want to be happy”—yet she spent no time thinking about her happiness. In a flash, she decided to dedicate a year to a happiness project. The result? One of the most thoughtful and engaging works on happiness to have emerged from the recent explosion of interest in the subject.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits—whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, and achieve success that lasts.
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world—conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. In The Namesake, the Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri brilliantly illuminates the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations.
Between Two Kingdoms:
A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
A searing, deeply moving memoir of illness and recovery that traces one young woman’s journey from diagnosis to remission and, ultimately, a road trip of healing and self-discovery. Between Two Kingdoms is a profound chronicle of survivorship and a fierce, tender, and inspiring exploration of what it means to begin again.
Podcasts
The Lex Fridman Podcast
Conversations about the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power with some of the brightest and sharpest minds. Here are my favorite episodes: Omar Suleiman, Elon Musk, Andrew Huberman, Andrej Kaparthy, Sam Altman, and Tim Dodd.
Andrew Huberman Lab
Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. Here are my my favorite episodes: Vivek Murthy, Maya Shankar, Marc Andreessen, and Tim Ferriss.
Modern Wisdom with Chris Williamson
Life lessons from the greatest thinkers on the planet with Chris Williamson. Understanding the world is hard, this should help. Here are my favorite episodes: Andrew Huberman, Sam Harris, Adam Mastroianni, David Goggins, and Chris Bailey.
A Slight Change of Plans with Maya Shankar
Dr. Maya Shankar blends compassionate storytelling with the science of human behavior to help us understand who we are, and who we become, in the face of a big change. Here are my favorite episodes: Adam Grant, Richard Harris, and Vivek Murthy.
Farhan Haque 