What Cal read in 2023 · What Did They Read?

Books read, not necessarily recommendations. Compiled by Brian Renshaw from podcast transcriptions.

December 2023

1 episode

Home EconomicsWendell BerryEp. 281: Learning Hard Things ↗
Pandora’s BoxPeter BiskindEp. 281: Learning Hard Things ↗
The ExodusRichard Elliott FriedmanEp. 281: Learning Hard Things ↗
Where the Deer and the Antelope PlayNick OffermanEp. 281: Learning Hard Things ↗
Who Wrote the Bible?Richard Elliott FriedmanEp. 281: Learning Hard Things ↗

November 2023

1 episode

Be Useful: Seven Tools for LifeArnold SchwarzeneggerEp. 277: From Chaos to Calm (in 1 day) ↗
Israel: A HistoryMartin GilbertEp. 277: From Chaos to Calm (in 1 day) ↗
Letters to My Palestinian NeighborYossi Klein HaleviEp. 277: From Chaos to Calm (in 1 day) ↗
The Exchange: After the FirmJohn GrishamEp. 277: From Chaos to Calm (in 1 day) ↗
The Identity TrapYascha MounkEp. 277: From Chaos to Calm (in 1 day) ↗

October 2023

1 episode

AweDacher KeltnerEp. 273: A Deep Response to Distraction ↗
Build the Life You WantArthur C. Brooks and Oprah WinfreyEp. 273: A Deep Response to Distraction ↗
Dr. NoIan FlemingEp. 273: A Deep Response to Distraction ↗
IsraelNoa TishbyEp. 273: A Deep Response to Distraction ↗
MeditationsMarcus AureliusEp. 273: A Deep Response to Distraction ↗

September 2023

1 episode

Four Thousand WeeksOliver BurkemanEp. 268: Stoicism and the Deep Life ↗
Full Wolf MoonLincoln ChildEp. 268: Stoicism and the Deep Life ↗
Ice Station ZebraAlistair MacLeanEp. 268: Stoicism and the Deep Life ↗
Rethinking FandomCraig CalcaterraEp. 268: Stoicism and the Deep Life ↗
The UnderworldSusan CaseyEp. 268: Stoicism and the Deep Life ↗

August 2023

1 episode

AbductionRobin CookEp. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living ↗
At Home in the UniverseStuart KauffmanEp. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living ↗
Ninth HouseLeigh BardugoEp. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living ↗
The Affluent SocietyJohn Kenneth GalbraithEp. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living ↗
The Soul of an OctopusSy MontgomeryEp. 265: Big Ideas for Deeper Living ↗

July 2023

1 episode

Power and ProgressDaron Acemoglu and Simon JohnsonEp. 260: Make Haste Slowly ↗
River of the GodsCandice MillardEp. 260: Make Haste Slowly ↗
Shadow DiversRobert KursonEp. 260: Make Haste Slowly ↗
The IslandAdrian McKintyEp. 260: Make Haste Slowly ↗
The Last Action HeroesNick De SemlyenEp. 260: Make Haste Slowly ↗

June 2023

1 episode

A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away…Paul HirschEp. 257: Refusing Overwork ↗
Can Science Explain Everything?John LennoxEp. 257: Refusing Overwork ↗
DrowningT. J. NewmanEp. 257: Refusing Overwork ↗
The WagerDavid GrannEp. 257: Refusing Overwork ↗
Welcome to the Circus of BaseballRyan McGeeEp. 257: Refusing Overwork ↗

May 2023

1 episode

A Book of LifeMichael StrassfeldEp. 254: The Laws of Less ↗
A Statin-Free LifeAseem MalhotraEp. 254: The Laws of Less ↗
ConsciousAnnaka HarrisEp. 254: The Laws of Less ↗
The Lifecycle of Software ObjectsTed ChiangEp. 254: The Laws of Less ↗
The Soul of a New MachineTracy KidderEp. 254: The Laws of Less ↗

April 2023

1 episode

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the ForestSuzanne SimardEp. 250: In Defense of Thinking ↗
Levels of the GameJohn McPheeEp. 250: In Defense of Thinking ↗
The Real WorkAdam GopnikEp. 250: In Defense of Thinking ↗
The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of ScienceAlan LightmanEp. 250: In Defense of Thinking ↗

March 2023

1 episode

HavenEmma DonoghueEp. 246: Kids and Phones ↗
Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled WorldHelen Nearing and Scott NearingEp. 246: Kids and Phones ↗
Shadows ReelC. J. BoxEp. 246: Kids and Phones ↗
The Colorado KidStephen KingEp. 246: Kids and Phones ↗
The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today’s AmericaMark SundeenEp. 246: Kids and Phones ↗

February 2023

1 episode

America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a NationMichael MacCambridgeEp. 240: Disciplined Laziness ↗
Rising SunMichael CrichtonEp. 240: Disciplined Laziness ↗
The Clockwork UniverseEdward DolnickEp. 240: Disciplined Laziness ↗
The Conquest of HappinessBertrand RussellEp. 240: Disciplined Laziness ↗
Wandering HomeBill McKibbenEp. 240: Disciplined Laziness ↗

January 2023

1 episode

A Thousand BrainsJeff HawkinsEp. 236: Hacking Remote Work ↗
Civil DisobedienceHenry David ThoreauEp. 236: Hacking Remote Work ↗
ComaRobin CookEp. 236: Hacking Remote Work ↗
Feynman Lectures on ComputationRichard FeynmanEp. 236: Hacking Remote Work ↗
Letter from Birmingham JailMartin Luther King Jr.Ep. 236: Hacking Remote Work ↗
The Nineties: A BookChuck KlostermanEp. 236: Hacking Remote Work ↗

By year

The supplied archive covers October 2021 through August 2026. October 2022 is absent from the source list; monthly totals are preserved as compiled. Episode names are taken from the show’s own podcast feed. This is an independent archive, not an official Cal Newport project.