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Chapter 142: Oliver Burkeman relishes reflection and reveals writing rituals

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

Release Date: 11/15/2024

Chapter 36: Two teenage Mormon missionaries on missing mom to make miracles show art Chapter 36: Two teenage Mormon missionaries on missing mom to make miracles

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

So one day I’m out taking one of my magical when suddenly two guys are like “Hi! How are you?!” And I look up kind of stunned because I’m walking around downtown Toronto where no one really pops out of the woodwork to shout a “Hi! How are you?!” at you … What do I see? Two young men smiling back at me. Like, big smiles! Gigantic smiles. Dressed up, too. It takes me a minute to piece it together but turns out they’re Mormon Missionaries living away from home for two years with the sole purpose of teaching people about their church. They asked me what I’d heard about...

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Chapter 154: Peter Kimani on conquering the curse of choreographed colonialism show art Chapter 154: Peter Kimani on conquering the curse of choreographed colonialism

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

We're heading to Africa! Over the years we have taken the 3 Books podcast on the road many times ... from recording in in Key West to to the in St. Louis to in New York we've gone where the stories take us. And for the first time we are going to the 55-country and 1.5 billion person continent of Africa. I am so excited to share the first of three chapters of 3 Books recorded in Nairobi, Kenya. I landed there and went whizzing down busy streets with colourful stalls, wandering goats, people pulling carts full of eggs, women carrying baskets on their heads, endless whizzing bodas...

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Chapter 35: Jen Agg on fussy feminism and ferocious fastidiousness show art Chapter 35: Jen Agg on fussy feminism and ferocious fastidiousness

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

"Whatever Jen Agg says is worth listening to," said Anthony Bourdain. I fully agree! If you live in Toronto you probably know Jen Agg. If you don't, let me tell you she runs the best restaurants in town! Come visit and try them! Her most recent stunner is a two-story converted auto-body shop turned Toronto Life #1 ranked restaurant called "" and it is a feast for the senses. Jen describes the place as "part Narnia, part fancy British pub, and part '80s cocaine dream" which gives you a sample of her incredible way with words on top of dishes on top of lighting on top of music on top of...

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Chapter: 153: Carl Honoré imparts illuminating insights into intentional idleness show art Chapter: 153: Carl Honoré imparts illuminating insights into intentional idleness

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

The pace of living is accelerating. I often feel like things are happening too quickly to process ... the reels are going too fast, the scrolls have too many colors, the information feed feels like a flood. I just can't process it all! Do you feel the same way? If so you need this conversation as much as I did. Carl Honoré is the godfather of the "slow movement" — a Canadian born, UK-based author, journalist, and whose first book, the 2004 long-running bestseller '', sparked a global conversation about time, speed, and how we live. What's happened since 2004? Life has gotten even...

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Chapter 27: Robin the Bartender on fiddling with frankincense and fighting for freedom show art Chapter 27: Robin the Bartender on fiddling with frankincense and fighting for freedom

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

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Chapter 152: Robin Sloan weaves wonder and weirdness into the warbly world of words show art Chapter 152: Robin Sloan weaves wonder and weirdness into the warbly world of words

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

Last year I picked up a book called ‘’ by Robin Sloan and it blew me away. Reading it was like riding some rainbow-speckled rocket ship where I experienced the bizarre combination of having no idea what was going on while not being able to wait for what happened next. The book was full of talking beavers. Talking swords! Strange video games. And ever-expanding worlds with wizards, who maybe aren’t really wizards, and oh—it's narrated by a microscopic AI-type chronicler, who’s been in many different lives across millennia and who now sits inside our protagonist’s left shoulder. ...

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Chapter 30: Jerry Howarth on branding, bereavement, and Blue Jays baseball show art Chapter 30: Jerry Howarth on branding, bereavement, and Blue Jays baseball

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

My friend Drew Dudley once told me that, other than his parents, he hadn’t heard anyone speak to him more in his life than Jerry Howarth… The voice of the Toronto Blue Jays. I can relate. Growing up I would listen to Jerry Howarth call the Blue Jays games on the radio on long summer drives, with my friends at the park, or just on my clock radio with the “Sleep” timer on as I fell asleep. Why do I love Jerry? Because for thirty-six years he was a local leader and community-builder who created trust with millions of baseball fans… So I was thrilled to visit the Skydome in...

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Chapter 151: The Holderness Family conquers content creation by corralling chaos show art Chapter 151: The Holderness Family conquers content creation by corralling chaos

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

What do Xmas Jammies, ADHD, and The Amazing Race have in common?   The Holderness Family!   Penn and Kim Holderness have created viral videos with ... billions of views.   They entered Season 33 of The Amazing Race ... and won.   They wrote one of my favourite books ... 'ADHD is Awesome'.   Penn and Kim started their careers in broadcasting but have old ditched that to find a massive 8 million person following as creators of hilarious yet educational videos on topics as wide-ranging as wearing masks during COVID, the 5 stages of pickleball, and, of course, losing your...

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Chapter 4: Sarah Ramsey on beating book blame with brilliant bookselling show art Chapter 4: Sarah Ramsey on beating book blame with brilliant bookselling

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

A few years ago, I settled into the children's section of Book City in the heart of Toronto's beautiful Bloor West Village for the first chapter of 3 Books recorded live in an open bookstore with my favorite bookseller in the world—the one and only Sarah Ramsey.   I love Sarah because she takes the art of bookselling seriously and seemingly reads people’s minds to find the exact book they need to help them grow. As we always say: Humans are the best algorithm. Listen in to hear us talk about how books can transcend generations, if memoirs are over, why you *can* judge a...

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Chapter 150: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien lays down lifelong lessons on leadership, liberalism, and longevity show art Chapter 150: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien lays down lifelong lessons on leadership, liberalism, and longevity

3 Books With Neil Pasricha

Born in 1934, the 18th of 19 children in the small blue-collar town of Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Jean Chrétien has risen to become the "grandfather of Canada" and a definitive force in global politics for over 50 years.   Chrétien was one of the longest-serving Prime Ministers in Canadian history and led three successive majority terms as leader of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 2003.   He famously said no to joining the US in the Iraq War (solidifying Canada’s independence on foreign policy), signed the Kyoto Protocol (committing Canada to its first-ever international...

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Are you ready for a writing masterclass from one of the best self-help writers in the world?
 
After graduating from Cambridge, Oliver Burkeman wrote the popular column “This Column Will Change Your Life” in ‘The Guardian’ for over 15 years sharing his real-world, real-time poetic exploration of the self-help universe. In 2021 he published 'Four Thousand Weeks,' a literary examination of how we live today. Mark Manson (our guest in Chapter 28) called it “a reality check on our culture’s crazy assumptions around work, productivity and living a meaningful life” and Adam Grant (our guest in Chapter 72) called it “the most important book ever written about time management."
 
Oliver's work is much more about how to live a good life in the limited time we have than the system and hacks you find in other popular productivity books, and he’s just released a wonderful follow-up called 'Meditations For Mortals.' This book offers the reader 28 short chapters meant to be read one a day for 28 days, a quiet evening ritual with Oliver's potent words.
 
Naturally with such a talented guest, this Chapter dives deep into writing craft. How does a productivity writer focus on meaningful work? What does Oliver always have in his pocket on a walk to help him write? And what is his dream writing schedule?
 
But we also mine Oliver's brilliant mind in wide conversations that ask: What are the signs of living in a totalitarian state? What is Jungian analysis? Is promotion offensive? And why does Oliver wear earplugs even in silence?
 
Oliver Burkeman is my favorite self-help writer so it was a great pleasure that he joined me on 3 Books. Join me to learn how Oliver manages his writing projects, his 3 most formative books, the best question to ask before making big decisions, why mess is necessary, and much, much more.
 
Let’s flip the page to Chapter 142 now...