Chapter 38: Ryan Holiday bashes beachy books and builds a balanced base
Release Date: 01/19/2026
Chapter 163: Jon Klassen talks turtles, tackling tension, and turning toward the terrifying
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Happy Buck Moon, everyone! As we sink into the summer heat, I'm thrilled to welcome Jon Klassen on 3 Books! Jon is a Canadian born, LA living author and illustrator whose darkly humorous, minimalist storytelling has helped define contemporary children’s literature. In 2016, Jon concluded his breakout book series ‘’, which features ‘, ‘, and ‘’ ‘This Is Not My Hat’ was the first book to ever win both the and the . Jon’s books have now sold over 12 million copies (!) and he might be the most...
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Chapter 49: Dr. Andrea Sereda’s oddly original offerings on opioid overdosing
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
I sat down with at the Sherbourne Health Centre on the east side of downtown Toronto, an area of the city sometimes known for its challenges with drug abuse. Who is Dr. Andrea Sereda? She is a family physician who practices street outreach medicine and provides care through the in London, Ontario. She works with the emergency safer supply substitution program, prescribing hydromorphone, an opioid used by injection drug users to reduce the risk of contaminated street drugs. Wait! What? Yes, on the face of it, Dr. Andrea Sereda gives drugs to drug users but there is a...
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Chapter 162: Shawn Achor on becoming boundlessly buoyant by building better beliefs
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Happy Strawberry Moon, everyone! As we ease into summer and the hydrangeas and garden roses begin blooming here in Toronto, I find myself struck by the awe and beauty that quietly surrounds us each day. There’s so much science behind how we experience the world. My guest on this moon’s chapter of 3 Books has spent his career proving just that. Join me in welcoming one of the world’s leading experts on happiness and human potential, a Harvard-trained positive psychologist and researcher whose has been watched over 30 million (!) times, and a genuinely warm human I am proud to call a...
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Chapter 48: Michael Bungay Stanier on massive moons and the magic of metaphor
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
On a pair of folding lawn chairs on his front porch in Toronto's Roncesvalles neighborhood, I sat down with my friend Michael Bungay Stanier. Michael’s mind is like a box that you open and a whole bunch of springs suddenly fly out in all directions. Here’s a bit of to give you a taste of this guy: “I’ve never quite fit the traditional mold, and honestly, I think that’s been the advantage that has shaped my life. Smart and successful don’t have to look one way. But making space for that – for different voices, different ambitions, different ways of moving through...
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Chapter 161: Yann Martel on rural revelations and reliable writing routines
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Happy blue moon, everyone! Yes, it is indeed the second full moon of the month which brings us a second May chapter of 3 Books. This one features an author I’ve been hoping to have on our show for years. Join me in welcoming the Booker Prize–winning novelist, deeply philosophical storyteller, and one of Canada’s most distinctive literary voices ... Mr. Yann Martel! Yann is best known for ‘, the global phenomenon that won , sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and was later adapted into an . Born in Salamanca, Spain in 1963,...
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Chapter 46: Dr. Laura Markham on prioritizing presence to parent peacefully
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Nestled into a beautiful century-old brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I spoke with the amazing —a preacher of love, letting love in, sending love out, and using that as a way to deepen our connection with ourselves and our children. Who is Dr. Laura Markham? She’s a Columbia-trained clinical psychologist, founder and editor at , author of including my favorite, a parenting expert, and a life-changer for many, many families—including mine. (You’ll hear what my wife Leslie thinks at the beginning of this chapter!) Dr. Laura Markham translates...
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Chapter 160: Nita Prose on mastering manuscripts and making Molly the Maid
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Happy , everyone! Up in Toronto we're experiencing a wonderful blooming, a beautiful , and lots of slowly-getting-warmer days as we inch towards summer. With this warm spring breeze I’m thrilled to welcome our latest 3 Books guest: a luminous force in publishing, a powerhouse editor-turned-author, and a wonderful storyteller ... the one and only ! Today Nita is best known for her mystery series which features three main titles and a holiday edition—‘,’ ‘,’ ‘,’ and ‘’—which have collectively sold over 2 million copies. Raised in Ontario’s Simcoe County, Nita began...
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Chapter 45: Rich Roll on wrestling with recovery and running to redemption
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Happy new moon, everybody! Today we fly down to the hills of Calabasas, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where I sat behind a microphone at a walnut desk across from the one and only Rich Roll. Rich went to Stanford and Cornell and was a national athlete in swimming before his career was cut short by a decade-long struggle with alcohol—eventually landing him in jail and rehab. On the eve of his 40th birthday, as he walked up the stairs he was left totally winded… and decided it was time to make a change. The next day, Rich overhauled his life. He switched to a 100% vegan,...
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Chapter 159: Eve Harlow on bolstering bibliophilia and boosting bookish brains
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
We welcome global gallivant and raging bibliophile Eve Harlow on 3 Books! Born in Russia, raised in Israel, living in Canada and the U.S., is a talented actress best known for roles in , , and her current star turn as Dr. Ingrid Derian in , the medical-mystery thriller inspired by stories of Sherlock Holmes. Somehow between her busy acting schedule, Eve finds time to read a book a week. She's a library junkie, a reading phenom, and posts stacks of her latest reads between red carpet shots and behind-the-scenes clips from...
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Chapter 42: Molly Bloom on poker princess privileges and pushing past pomposity
3 Books With Neil Pasricha
Join me on the couch in Molly Bloom's hotel room at the Four Seasons in downtown Toronto. Molly began her career as a world-class skier, but while training as a pre-teen was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. Her doctor told her she could never ski again, but even as a pre-teen Molly had incredible strength of mind and she ended up back on the slopes only a year after her surgery. By age 21, she was ranked #3 in North America. She then took off to LA and began running one of the most exclusive, high-stakes, underground poker games in the world, featuring players like Alex...
info_outlineThirteen years ago I was surfing online when I stumbled on a blog post called “How To Read More — A Lot More” by someone I'd never heard of named Ryan Holiday.
I started reading the post and got sucked in. He had a point! Many great points, actually. And he was young. 26 years old! A 26-year-old young man telling the world to read more books? In an era where most twenty-something men read, uh, none?
I found Ryan to be a breath of fresh air.
I immediately began to copy everything he did!
He launched a monthly book club. I launched a monthly book club! (With his blessing, of course.)
He was talking about reading fifty then a hundred and then hundreds of books a year.
Well, I started reading five books and then ten books and then fifty books a year.
I began cancelling news subscriptions and consciously put my phone away. I installed a bookshelf at my front door. I moved my TV to the basement!
And, of course, I started this podcast—all about reading.
In a way 3 Books would not exist without Ryan Holiday. In some ways I can probably trace my rediscovered passion for reading all the way back to that 2013 blog post.
But Ryan is not just a blogger anymore. He’s not just a writer guy on the internet anymore.
Ryan Holiday has sold over 10 million books (!) and essentially leads the repopularization of stoic philosophy. Some of his books include 'The Obstacle Is The Way', 'Ego Is The Enemy', 'Stillness Is The Key', 'Discipline is Destiny', and his new book, out just a few months ago, 'Wisdom Takes Work'.
Ryan also runs DailyStoic.com, the consulting company Brass Check, Daily Dad, and The Painted Porch indie bookstore in Bastrop, Texas. He and his wife Sam live with their two sons in nearby Austin.
He’s become a friend and I have definitely caught his bug.
So in Chapter 38 of 3 Books we're going to fly down to Ryan's home in Austin and get 4 of his most formative books. (You’ll hear why on the show.) Among other things Ryan shares how to decide who to trust, how he got fired from his first job, and why we shouldn’t turn parenting into a job.
I hope you enjoy this classic chapter of 3 Books with Mr. Ryan Holiday.