The Exodus

Classic Episode: How Do I Learn Hard Things? | Monday Advice

Deep Questions with Cal Newport, 3 August 2026. The book comes up at 1 hr 12 min in.

Cal Newport read this follow-up by Richard Elliott Friedman, which applies the same textual-criticism method to the book of Exodus. He describes Friedman's theory—not universally accepted but widely held—that the Exodus story likely involved a smaller group, perhaps the Levites, who left Egypt under a figure named Moses and whose account was later adopted as the national narrative of the broader Jewish people. Cal says he loved both this and Who Wrote the Bible.

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