Jena Malone on "The Flowering Wand" || Books That Changed My Life
Release Date: 05/21/2026
JORDY on "I Let You Go" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris "Bulldog" Collins sits down with singer-songwriter Jordy to dive into I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. Jordy opens up about rediscovering reading during a hard stretch in late 2023, and how this psychological thriller became the book that turned him into a two-books-a-week reader for good. He walks through the novel's now-legendary Part One twist — and the strange full-circle moment when Mackintosh herself saw his reaction video online, reached out, and sent him an early copy of her latest book with a handwritten note. The...
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Justin Halpern on "Lord of the Flies" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
This week on Books That Changed My Life, host Chris "Bulldog" Collins sits down with writer and executive producer Justin Halpern (Abbott Elementary, Harley Quinn, S**t My Dad Says) to talk about Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Justin opens up about growing up as an only child in San Diego, spending countless after-school hours in a VA cancer ward where his father worked, developing a love of sitcoms as a latchkey kid, and finally discovering reading through the shortest book on his father's shelf. He and Chris dig into Golding's examination of power, tribalism, and masculinity, tracing...
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Joan Lunden on "Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
On this episode of Books That Changed My Life, Chris "Bulldog" Collins sits down with broadcast journalism icon Joan Lunden to talk about the book that changed her life: Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water by Brian Luke Seaward. Lunden traces the book back to a pivotal moment at 40, when she found herself facing the end of her marriage and, for the first time in decades, looking inward instead of outward. After years spent racing through a career that had her up at 3:30 a.m. and living at "180 miles an hour," she made a conscious decision to get physically strong — and discovered, almost by...
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Emily Silva on "The Wild Edge of Sorrow" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by author and mindfulness coach Emily Silva. Emily opens up about growing up in a strict fundamentalist Baptist household in the San Francisco Bay Area, the anxiety and panic attacks that pushed her out of a banking career and into therapy, coaching, and eventually writing, and the Book That Changed Her Life: The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller. She and Chris go deep on why grief and gratitude are inseparable rather than opposites, the case for becoming "an advocate for grief" instead of tidying it away, the...
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Hayley Kiyoko on "The Four Agreements" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by singer-songwriter and filmmaker Hayley Kiyoko. Hayley opens up about the decade-long journey of turning Girls Like Girls from a song into a music video, a novel, and now her directorial debut film, growing up in a chaotic artistic household with a World Hall of Fame ice-skating choreographer for a mother and a stand-up comedian for a father, and the Book That Changed Her Life: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. She and Chris go deep on the book's four principles — being impeccable with your word, not taking...
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Kal Penn on "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by actor and author Kal Penn. Kal opens up about his two years as a presidential aide in the Obama White House, landing a role in Superman Returns after an hour spent geeking out over comic-book history with the writers, and the Book That Changed His Life: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. He and Chris go deep on the novel's big themes — family and belonging, identity and persecution, escape and acceptance, and the role of art as a weapon — alongside the emptiness of revenge, his...
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Ruth B on "The Guest Cat" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by singer and songwriter Ruth B. Ruth opens up about her childhood in Edmonton, the days spent her room reading and writing, the overnight success that threw her into the music industry at 21, and the Book That Changed Her Life: The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Ruth and Chris explore what it means to love something you can't own, how a fleeting connection can matter as much as a permanent one, the grief at the story's center, and how a quiet little book became the "slow down button" she needed during an overwhelming...
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Tori Kelly on “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tori Kelly. Tori opens up about growing up in a musical household in California's Inland Empire, her unlikely path into music through "YouTube University," and the Book That Changed Her Life: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. She and Chris go deep on discovering the book during the pandemic, the four cures for busyness, reframing Sabbath as a joyful family ritual instead of a rule, and the image she keeps returning to of herself at 80 looking back on whether she...
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Andrew East on "The GAP and the GAIN" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by retired NFL player and author Andrew East. Andrew opens up about growing up in Indianapolis, his college and NFL careers, the contract-bound book club that made him a reader, and the Book That Changed His Life: The GAP and the GAIN by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. He and Chris explore what happens when you measure yourself by the "GAIN" instead of the "GAP," the link between high achievers and depression, gratitude, and the annual goal-setting ritual he and his wife swear by. Stick around to the end, where...
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Shawn Johnson on "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" || Books That Changed My Life
Books That Changed My Life
In this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by Olympic gold medalist and author Shawn Johnson. Shawn opens up about growing up an only child in Des Moines, the obsessive intensity that made her a champion at three and an Olympian at sixteen, the two-year stretch of depression that followed her step back from gymnastics, and the Book That Changed Her Life: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. She and Chris go deep on perfectionism, the impossibility of "winning" at parenting, the four cures for busyness, consumerism as the new religion, and the...
info_outlineIn this episode of Books That Changed My Life, host Chris Collins is joined by actress, musician, and certified permaculture designer Jena Malone!
Jena opens up about her latest album Flowers for Men (available now!), the vulnerability of songwriting, and how becoming a mother was a "happy death" of old ideals that reshaped her creative life.
Chris and Jena dive into the Book That Changed Her Life, The Flowering Wand by Sophie Strand. Jena explains how Strand's invitation to redefine ancient myths around masculinity arrived at the perfect moment.
The book found her as she navigated dating, raised a young son, and hungered for stories of the sacred masculine in a culture obsessed with the toxic.
Together, they explore Strand's vision of a grounded, earth-rooted masculinity, why an answer often ends a story, and how revision, curiosity, and community in the unknown might be the most radical tools we have.
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