# Huberman Lab book recommendations > Every book mentioned on Huberman Lab, most mentioned first, with the strongest quote for each. Compiled by Podshelf from episode transcripts. - Show page: https://podshelf.io/podcasts/huberman-lab - Hosted by Andrew Huberman - 159 books, 213 mentions and 7 top picks across 196 episodes since 2025-01-02 ## Books - [Protocols](https://podshelf.io/books/9781668032145) by Andrew Huberman: 22 mentions, the host's own book > “For those of you that haven't heard, I have a new book coming out. It's my very first book. It's entitled Protocols, an Operating Manual for the Human Body. This is a book that I've been working on for more than five years, and that's based on more than 30 years of research and experience. And it covers protocols for everything from sleep to exercise to stress control, protocols related to focus and motivation. And of course, I provide the scientific substantiation for the protocols that are included. The book is now available by presale at protocolsbook.com.” — How Your Immune System Works & How to Improve It | Dr. Max Krummel (2026-08-03) - [Dopamine Nation](https://podshelf.io/books/9781524746728) by Dr. Anna Lembke, Anna Lembke: 5 mentions, 1 top pick > “Dr. Anna Lembke's Dopamine Nation is essential reading for understanding the pleasure-pain balance in our brains.” — How to Overcome Addiction to Substances or Behaviors | Dr. Keith Humphreys (2026-01-12) - [Why We Sleep](https://podshelf.io/books/9780141983769) by Matthew Walker: 4 mentions > “I do think it's great that books like Matt Walker's, you know, Why We Sleep, et cetera, came out, although that book focused more on the bad things that happen if you don't sleep enough.” — Using Your Mind to Control Your Physical Health & Longevity | Dr. Ellen Langer (2025-02-03) - [The Doors of Perception](https://podshelf.io/books/9780060801717) by Aldous Huxley: 3 mentions > “These are called filter theories of consciousness. And the implication of them, Henri Bergson, the French philosopher, was an exponent of this. And Aldous Huxley believed this and talked about it in Doors of Perception, that he had had some access to this field. And for him, it was psychedelics. It was a mescaline experience that convinced him of this. And the idea was that there's more consciousness out there than we can handle. And that there is a filter or what Huxley called a reducing valve.” — What Humans, Animals and Plants Tell Us About Consciousness | Michael Pollan (2026-09-28) - [Biochemistry](https://podshelf.io/books/9780716718437) by Lubert Stryer: 3 mentions > “You learn electrophysiology from Berto Hill. You get the biochemistry book from Stryer. Like these are the books used everywhere. So that doesn't matter if you're in a, you know, a state university and wherever, um, or you're at Stanford, pretty much everyone is educated at the front end from the same textbooks.” — How to Accelerate Learning & Improve Education | Joe Liemandt (2026-08-31) - [The Creative Habit](https://podshelf.io/books/9780743235266) by Twyla Tharp: 3 mentions > “I've been listening to an amazing book by Twyla Tharp. She's a choreographer. She was a ballerina. She's a choreographer. And she said that what distinguishes, you know, sort of virtuosity from mastery” — How to Set & Achieve Massive Goals | Alex Honnold (2025-09-01) - [Steve Jobs](https://podshelf.io/books/9781451648539) by Walter Isaacson: 3 mentions > “He was, you know, passed away, I think, in 2015 or something like that. In any case, he was thinning out then. But, you know, if you listen to his biography with Walter Isaacson, written by Walter Isaacson, I mean, it was very clear that he had a mission. He was on it. That life was you had to maximize on your life, that you couldn't compromise.” — How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castel (2026-07-13) - [Can't Hurt Me](https://podshelf.io/books/9781544507859) by David Goggins: 3 mentions > “Yeah. I've known David a while. I don't know him very well, but I've known him since before his book, the first book. And so I can tell you he's always been exactly the same outwardly, very kind, unbelievably driven. You know, he sat in that very chair and, you know, he shared a bit of what his inner process is. But, you know, it's a bit of a mystery what drives him internally or anyone for that matter in the moment to moment.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [The Secret Pulse of Time](https://podshelf.io/books/9781600940170) by Stefan Klein: 3 mentions > “I am here to tell you it will change your life if you can find your way into that space. It really will. There's a wonderful book in addition to yours. It turns out there's another great book out there. How dare someone? No audio version, but it's called The Secret Pulse of Time.” — The Mental Frame & Specific Daily Actions to Succeed | Andy Stumpf (2026-06-15) - [The Emperor of All Maladies](https://podshelf.io/books/9781508279327) by Siddhartha Mukherjee: 2 mentions, 1 top pick > “I would highly recommend this book, the emperor of all maladies, which is really a biography of cancer as a disease” — Avoiding, Treating & Curing Cancer With the Immune System | Dr. Alex Marson (2026-03-09) - [On Death and Dying](https://podshelf.io/books/9780025671119) by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: 2 mentions > “As we wade into this important topic, I'd like to emphasize some of the common myths and misunderstandings about grief. Some of the myths and misunderstanding arrive from the beautiful work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, a psychologist who wrote the famous book on death and dying. The different stages of grief very quickly are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.” — Essentials: The Science & Process of Healing from Grief (2026-05-28) - [Principles of Neural Science](https://podshelf.io/books/9780071120005) by Eric R. Kandel, James H. Schwartz, Thomas M. Jessell, J.H. Schwartz: 2 mentions > “Is there not a textbook for, for teachers? I mean, like if somebody wants to become a neuroscientist or even just get a neuroscience degree, they read the book principles of neurobiology by Leach and low or principles of neuroscience, which used to be by Kandel, Jesselyn Schwartz. I think there's someone else on there, but like everyone gets those books. Like these are the books used everywhere.” — How to Accelerate Learning & Improve Education | Joe Liemandt (2026-08-31) - [The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma](https://podshelf.io/books/9780143127741) by Bessel van der Kolk: 2 mentions > “I think that whole verbiage comes from this notion and the quite pioneering, although I would say somewhat out-of-date book, The Body Keeps the Score, I think it was an important book. Best title of any book you could imagine in the psychology space because it's so catchy. And I want to give proper respect to Bessel for doing that book.” — Movement Practice to Strengthen Your Mind-Body Connection | Ido Portal (2026-06-29) - [Open](https://podshelf.io/books/9780307388407) by Andre Agassi: 2 mentions > “I read Andre Agassi's book, Open, which is basically a story of his dad pushing him to play a game he did not want to play.” — How Your Thoughts Are Built & How You Can Shape Them | Dr. Jennifer Groh (2025-11-10) - [Awakenings](https://podshelf.io/books/9780330523677) by Oliver Sacks: 2 mentions > “So initially, we tried levodopa, L-dopa, which is the drug that Oliver Sacks describes in Awakenings and many people have seen the film. And it's used a lot in Parkinson's disease for treatment. We slowly ramped up that drug, but seemed to make absolutely no difference behaviorally to David or on our tests of reward sensitivity.” — How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husain (2026-08-24) - [Principles of Neurobiology](https://podshelf.io/books/9780367514716) by Liqun Luo: 2 mentions > “Is there not a textbook for, for teachers? I mean, like if somebody wants to become a neuroscientist or even just get a neuroscience degree, they read the book principles of neurobiology by Leach and low or principles of neuroscience, which used to be by Kandel, Jesselyn Schwartz. I think there's someone else on there, but like everyone gets those books. Like these are the books used everywhere.” — How to Accelerate Learning & Improve Education | Joe Liemandt (2026-08-31) - [The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals](https://podshelf.io/books/9780486817316) by Charles Darwin: 2 mentions > “The most influential text, I think, till this day in emotion research is Darwin's book, The Showing of the Emotions in Man and Animals, I think is the full name of the book. And an entire chapter, chapter six, is devoted to tears. So Darwin systematically went through the expressions of emotions and for each one went to their functional antecedent and explained everything very nicely. And then he got stuck with tears, right? Because tears are an obvious emotional expression and he could not find a functional antecedent.” — Essentials: How Smells Influence Our Hormones, Health & Behavior | Dr. Noam Sobel (2026-10-29) - [The Anxious Generation](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593655030) by Jonathan Haidt: 2 mentions > “Teen suicide has skyrocketed since social went on mobile. It's not the only reason, but it's either number one or number two, according to my colleague Jonathan Haidt and Gene Twenge at San Diego State.” — Male Roles, Obligations and Options for Building a Fulfilling Life | Scott Galloway (2026-04-27) - [The Fertility Formula: Take Control of Your Reproductive Future](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593994306) by Natalie Crawford: 2 mentions > “Some fertility experts will also recommend other things. And for that, I'll just cue you to Natalie Crawford's excellent book on the, titled The Fertility Formula, as well as her podcast episode that she did with us where she gets into some details of some other things that can be beneficial because some experts will recommend things like low-dose melatonin at night, presumably to improve sleep, perhaps other things as well.” — Your Top Health Questions Answered (2026-07-27) - [The Denial of Death](https://podshelf.io/books/9780684832401) by Ernest Becker: 2 mentions > “I can imagine there are probably two responses to that. One is that something has been deftly slid in front of them to give them the illusion that they're getting that thing, but it's not that thing. Right? That they've made other aspects of life their, I don't want to say their God, but it's sort of filled in that hunger or thirst. The terror of death. All that Ernest Becker stuff. And yeah.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [Daily Rituals](https://podshelf.io/books/9781529059960) by Mason Currey: 2 mentions > “I've been listening to this book that unfortunately is only available as an audio book called Daily Rituals, which it's got two minute chapters” — How Nature & Other Physical Environments Impact Your Focus, Cognition & Health | Dr. Marc Berman (2025-07-14) - [A Fighter's Heart](https://podshelf.io/books/9781843547327) by Sam Sheridan: 2 mentions > “There's a great book by a guy named Sam Sheridan called A Fighter's Heart. He's actually a Harvard grad. I think he was an art major there. His dad was a Navy SEAL. He's a very interesting guy. And he has this joke that, you know, that sparring is like a, it's like a one night stand or something. You've like done something very intimate with someone you barely know. And so it has both a feeling of connection, but it's also the illusion of connection.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles](https://podshelf.io/books/9781936891023) by Steven Pressfield: 2 mentions > “Stephen Pressfield said this the first time I heard of him, he was on the Joe Rogan podcast talking about his book and resistance.” — Improve Energy & Longevity by Optimizing Mitochondria | Dr. Martin Picard (2025-12-15) - [Be the Pack Leader](https://podshelf.io/books/9780307381668) by Cesar Millan: 1 mention, 1 top pick > “Years ago when I got my first puppy Costello, who was a bulldog mastiff, I read his book, Be the Pack Leader. And the principles within that book were critical for developing an incredible relationship with Costello, who lived 11 years. You could bring him into any environment. I would bring him to class. I would bring him into different people's homes. I could take him essentially anywhere. He loved kids. He loved people and he was extremely well behaved. And I credit that to the methods that I learned from Cesar's book.” — Raising a Dog & Mastering Calm Assertive Energy | Cesar Millan (2026-07-06) - [The Polyvagal Theory](https://podshelf.io/books/9780393707007) by Stephen Porges: 1 mention, 1 top pick > “I love, love, love the book, Polyvagal Theory by Steven Porges. And there's just a beautiful set of studies and clinical data that he describes in that book” — Control Your Vagus Nerve to Improve Mood, Alertness & Neuroplasticity (2025-06-23) - [Drownproof: Eight Life Lessons to Keep Your Head Above Water](https://podshelf.io/books/9781250379610) by Andy Stumpf: 1 mention, 1 top pick > “I tell you that before we start. I've read a lot of books, including a lot of the quote unquote seal books. It's awesome. I'll mention a few of the reasons why it's awesome, but I'll let people read it for themselves. But just to really get right to it, one of the practices that you describe in the book is something that I decided to do right away.” — The Mental Frame & Specific Daily Actions to Succeed | Andy Stumpf (2026-06-15) - [The Last Lecture](https://podshelf.io/books/9781410407115) by Randy Pausch: 1 mention, 1 top pick > “In fact, in one of my favorite books, The Last Lecture by Randy Posh, he talks about, he was a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon.” — Unlearn Negative Thoughts & Behaviors Patterns | Dr. Alok Kanojia (2026-03-02) - [Longitude](https://podshelf.io/books/9781857027143) by Dava Sobel: 1 mention, 1 top pick > “in my opinion is the book Longitude... I'm interviewing Dava Sobel... this is an incredible book about the development of the first reliable timekeeping devices for navigating at sea” — Charting the Architecture of the Universe & Human Life | Dr. Brian Keating (2025-01-20) - [Attention Span](https://podshelf.io/books/9780008525989) by Gloria Mark: 1 mention > “So I will eliminate notifications. But at least for me, what I found is that if I if I have a ton of friction in terms of trying to get something done, I will usually step away from it. And again, I returned to Gloria Mark work. She wrote an excellent book called Attention Span if anybody's like really interested in this. But you get used to a pattern of distraction such that when you're not actually being distracted, you will distract yourself.” — Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Wood (2026-07-20) - [Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution](https://podshelf.io/books/9780060012038) by Robert Atkins, Atkins, Robert C.: 1 mention > “Three of those were popular books that were bestsellers, and they were wildly different in carbs and fats. Atkins was super low-carb.” — How Different Diets Impact Your Health | Dr. Christopher Gardner (2025-05-12) - [Little Chapel on the River](https://podshelf.io/books/9780060564063) by Wendy Bounds: 1 mention > “he Wall Street Journal, a reporter. Um, her name is Gwendolyn Bounds, Wendy Bounds. And she wrote a book called Little Chapel on the River. And it's about, she was at the Wall Street Journal, uh, when 9-11 happened and she was living in the city. Like she was taking a shower and ...” — How to Grow From Doing Hard Things | Michael Easter (2025-06-16) - [Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning](https://podshelf.io/books/9780060628666) by James W. Fowler: 1 mention > “This is a weird thing. People tend to get more religious as they get older. And, you know, James Fowler, the sociologist, wrote about this. He says people are, you know, they wander away and they're in their 20s. And I'm like, yeah, come on, man. But when they're in their 40s, what Fowler notices is people get more religious for the following reason. When you're in your 40s, that's when you're like, yeah, you know what? Nothing makes sense.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [Mating in Captivity](https://podshelf.io/books/9780060753641) by Esther Perel: 1 mention > “And I don't want to put words in her mouth, but I think the perception about some of her messaging, whether accurate or not, is that there can be some value to, you know, in her first book, I think, and I haven't read it, but the excerpt that was relayed to me was this notion like, oh, like someone isn't feeling as much chemistry in their relationship.” — Science of Attraction, Compatibility & Romance | Dr. Paul Eastwick (2026-06-22) - [Flow](https://podshelf.io/books/9780061339202) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: 1 mention > “Maybe we could talk about flow for a second. You know, one of the most bastardized terms in neuroscience performance, psychology, and the rest. When Csikszentmihalyi talked about it initially, when he really defined the term, it was about being engaged in a process where you have a certain level of skill. But the thing you're trying to do is just beyond your skill level. So really striving a bit and that kind of general sense of well-being that can come from that.” — Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Wood (2026-07-20) - [The Zone](https://podshelf.io/books/9780061751059) by Barry Sears: 1 mention > “Three of those were popular books that were bestsellers. Zone was kind of in the middle.” — How Different Diets Impact Your Health | Dr. Christopher Gardner (2025-05-12) - [Awareness Through Movement](https://podshelf.io/books/9780062503220) by Moshe Feldenkrais: 1 mention > “Awareness through movement. In that sense, the same thing that I'm practicing. I've learned a lot from him. Not personally, of course. He died when I was four years old. But in the sense of don't tell me how I'm built. Let me build myself. Let me model myself. I can refresh how my shoulder is with the right approach. And it's extremely powerful when you can interact with it.” — Movement Practice to Strengthen Your Mind-Body Connection | Ido Portal (2026-06-29) - [Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings: (When) Do Leaders Matter?](https://podshelf.io/books/9780063517578) by Jared Diamond: 1 mention > “I'm super excited about Prophets, Prophets, Coaches and Kings, When Do Leaders Matter? Today's conversation only makes me more excited about it. I will say that your father, despite his encouragement to you to continue and become a biologist and not a translator, with all due respect, he partially failed. Because for me and for millions of other people, you've become a translator of ideas that we would have never encountered or considered.” — What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (2026-10-19) - [Searching for Bobby Fischer](https://podshelf.io/books/9780140230383) by Fred Waitzkin: 1 mention > “His early life achievements were the topic and focus of the book and movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer” — The Art of Learning & Living Life | Josh Waitzkin (2025-01-27) - [Letters from a Stoic](https://podshelf.io/books/9780140442106) by Seneca: 1 mention > “I talk a lot about stoicism because I found on my swim, sports psychology can only take you so far. But when I started reading about Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, I was like, well, this is, this is more applicable. You know, control the controllables, accept the uncontrollables. This, this feels better, you know, because with sports psychology, it's prehab, rehab, conditions are perfect. And that's easy.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [Beyond Good and Evil](https://podshelf.io/books/9780140449235) by Friedrich Nietzsche: 1 mention > “Was it Nietzsche. Who said. You know. Whoever fights monsters. Should see to it. That he doesn't become a monster himself. For if you gaze into the abyss too long. The abyss gazes back into you. And I think for me. Swimming through Loch Ness. That was going through my head. And I definitely stared into the abyss too long.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [The Righteous Mind](https://podshelf.io/books/9780141039169) by Jonathan Haidt, Antonio Kuntz: 1 mention > “So John Haidt, you've had him on the show, right? Yes. Yeah, John Height's great. The guy's a visionary. He's probably the greatest social scientist of our generation. He wrote book, a book about moral foundations. And he talked about the fact that there are two moral foundations that everybody has in common. And that's care and fairness. Care for others and fairness.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [This Is Your Mind on Plants](https://podshelf.io/books/9780141997346) by Michael Pollan: 1 mention > “It is in a print book too. Oh, great. I subsequently put it in a book called This Is Your Mind on Plants and which came out a couple years ago and it's one of three chapters in that book. So caffeine is a really interesting drug. First of all, most of us don't think of it as a drug but it is a drug to which most of us are addicted and something like 90% yeah, use it on a daily basis whether it's in the form of coffee, tea or herbamante or a couple other substances.” — What Humans, Animals and Plants Tell Us About Consciousness | Michael Pollan (2026-09-28) - [The Art of Seduction](https://podshelf.io/books/9780142001196) by Robert Greene: 1 mention > “So I have a chapter called The Love Sublime. And it's not The Art of Seduction. And people are going, Robert, have you changed? And I go, well, no. Seduction is a book in itself, but love is something different. And so I talk about the sense of falling so deeply in love with another human being that you lose a sense of your own ego.” — Access the Sublime & Live Your Best Life | Robert Greene (2026-11-02) - [On Aggression](https://podshelf.io/books/9780151689606) by Konrad Lorenz: 1 mention > “Or maybe it was Conrad, I can't speak now, excuse me, Conrad Lorenz, who talked about a kind of hydraulic pressure towards behavior.” — Essentials: The Biology of Aggression, Mating & Arousal | Dr. David Anderson (2026-04-09) - [Better with Age: The Psychology of Successful Aging](https://podshelf.io/books/9780190279981) by Dr. Alan Castel: 1 mention > “Your book, I didn't know you were going to give me a book today. Better with Age. I'm going to read it. The Psychology of Successful Aging. I'm going to encourage you to write more books because clearly you've gathered more knowledge since then. But it's a rare find that somebody is doing really interesting science and their work is immediately applicable.” — How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castel (2026-07-13) - [Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Ecology, and Biogeography](https://podshelf.io/books/9780195141702) by Ernst Mayr, Jared M. Diamond: 1 mention > “But one of my teachers, one of my influential teachers, Ernst Mayer, the great evolutionary biologist, Ernst Mayer loved making lists. And he and I spent 30 years preparing a book together on the birds of northern Melanesia, the islands east of New Guinea. Ernst and I were very compatible. Both of us loved making lists.” — What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (2026-10-19) - [What Is It Like to Be a Bat?](https://podshelf.io/books/9780197752791) by Thomas Nagel: 1 mention > “…experience. And I would argue AIs don't have subjective experience, but we can talk about that later. Another popular, I don't know if it's a definition exactly, is Thomas Nagel, the philosopher in the 1970s, wrote a brilliant essay called What Is It Like To Be A Bat? And his point was, if it is like anything, then you're conscious. So even though we don't know exactly what it's like to be a bat, we can kind of imagine a creature that navigates the world through sonar, through sound waves instead of li…” — What Humans, Animals and Plants Tell Us About Consciousness | Michael Pollan (2026-09-28) - [The Prince of Medicine](https://podshelf.io/books/9780199767670) by Susan P. Mattern: 1 mention > “I'm fascinated by these old kind of barbaric experiments in medicine. Wonderful book, by the way, folks, is The Prince of Medicine about Galen. If you ever want to learn about how we learned about medicine back when it was truly barbaric. It was like surgeries done on warriors and without anesthesia. And we've known for a long time that if somebody, God forbid, has a finger lopped off or a hand lopped off, that might actually be a worthwhile investment to make an incision in the gut and stuff that thing in the gut to keep it warm and keep the tissue viable for regeneration once you try and put it back on.” — How Your Immune System Works & How to Improve It | Dr. Max Krummel (2026-08-03) - [What Emotions Really Are](https://podshelf.io/books/9780226308722) by Paul E. Griffiths: 1 mention > “Paul Griffiths, a philosopher, wrote a book some years ago, I think 97 or so, What Emotions Really Are, where he first kind of made the claim that, well, they don't really exist. And you could see how people come to that conclusion if you survey all the different theories that are out there. Joe Ledoux or Lisa Feldman Barrett or Paul Ekman, they look pretty different.” — Neuroscience of Emotions & Tools for Improving Emotion Regulation | Dr. Ralph Adolphs (2026-08-17) - [Hemingway on Writing](https://podshelf.io/books/9780246126467) by Larry W. Phillips: 1 mention > “Hemingway on Writing is another book of that nature, which takes all of Hemingway's from his books, from his letters” — The Art of Learning & Living Life | Josh Waitzkin (2025-01-27) - [The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World](https://podshelf.io/books/9780300245929) by Iain McGilchrist: 1 mention > “That function, that quantification function, that essentializing function of how much, that's what we're really good at using the left hemisphere of our brains. That's that whole theory of hemispheric lateralization that McGilchrist brought back. When I was a kid, there was right brain, left brain people. Right brain people are artsy and left brain people are analytical. That's not right. The right side of the brain deals fundamentally more with complex questions, which don't have quantifiable answers.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [Lone Survivor](https://podshelf.io/books/9780316007504) by Marcus Luttrell: 1 mention > “Lone Survivor. Amazing book, I should say. I really enjoyed the book. The movie does, I think, a pretty good job of extracting some of the key moments from the book.” — How to Make Yourself Unbreakable | DJ Shipley (2025-10-06) - [Spark](https://podshelf.io/books/9780316113519) by John J. Ratey: 1 mention > “John Ratey's Spark was really one of the pioneering books connecting exercise to brain function and mental health.” — Restore Youthfulness & Vitality to the Aging Brain & Body | Dr. Tony Wyss-Coray (2026-02-23) - [Alice in Wonderland](https://podshelf.io/books/9780342163960) by Lewis Carroll: 1 mention > “It was in Alice in Wonderland. Most of what we know about the dodo is from cartoonish drawings of this animal. There are some, and of course there's skeletons that we can piece together using the many, many bones in Mauritius that do not have any DNA in them based on m…” — Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life | Dr. Beth Shapiro (2026-10-05) - [Maybe You Should Talk to Someone](https://podshelf.io/books/9780358299233) by Lori Gottlieb: 1 mention > “She wrote this book called Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.” — How to Find & Be a Great Romantic Partner | Lori Gottlieb (2025-04-07) - [Thinking, Fast and Slow](https://podshelf.io/books/9780374275631) by Daniel Kahneman: 1 mention > “Some of these findings make sense. And so I can remember it that way, but some of them are counterintuitive. And a lot of this, like, people aren't always rational, this Kahneman and Tversky, you know, all these biases. People have, well, that's fascinating. So I just remember it that way, the things that made sense and the things that didn't make sense.” — How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castel (2026-07-13) - [Guns, Germs, and Steel](https://podshelf.io/books/9780393317558) by Jared Diamond: 1 mention > “Dr. Jared Diamond, welcome. It's a pleasure to be with you. Delighted to have you here. I'm such a fan of your books, Guns, Germs, and Steel was the first one I read, and I'm going to resist the temptation to ask about the topics in each of all of your books and mainly focus on your book, which is Prophets.” — What Makes Great Leaders & How to Live an Extraordinary Life | Dr. Jared Diamond (2026-10-19) - [The Myth of Sisyphus](https://podshelf.io/books/9780394700755) by Albert Camus: 1 mention > “But then it was Albert Camus, the philosopher who said he was able to outsmart the gods one more time. And that's if you imagine that Sisyphus was smiling. And this is the part I love. He said, because the struggle alone is enough to fill a man's heart. And I think for me, they've even coined the phrase that, that Sisyphus was the absurd hero. And I think for me, swimming sometimes I'm like, this is Sisyphus. This is my boulder. You know, it's not going anywhere. But the struggle alone is enough to fill a man's heart.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [The Good Old Days](https://podshelf.io/books/9780394709413) by Otto Bettmann: 1 mention > “I think why it's hard for people to wrap their head around these things and they default to thinking about, oh, it was better in the past is because, A, most people never experienced that. They have no concept. I think there's a great book that I had to read years ago called The Good Old Days. They were terrible. But we hear the good old days and you hear about all like the dysentery, the lack of antibiotics. Like, but we tend to look back and say, oh, that was, it must have been so nice back then. Everything bucolic and beautiful. And you forget all the dark side of that.” — Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life | Dr. Beth Shapiro (2026-10-05) - [I Am a Strange Loop](https://podshelf.io/books/9780465008377) by Douglas R. Hofstadter: 1 mention > “That's why also grief is so devastating. Because it removes in a moment huge amount of resources. All of a sudden it's pulled out of you as if it's not really. The Hofstetter talks about this, the loop is still there. It's part of your loop already. It's integrated.” — Movement Practice to Strengthen Your Mind-Body Connection | Ido Portal (2026-06-29) - [Enchiridion](https://podshelf.io/books/9780486433592) by Epictetus: 1 mention > “I talk a lot about stoicism because I found on my swim, sports psychology can only take you so far. But when I started reading about Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, I was like, well, this is, this is more applicable. You know, control the controllables, accept the uncontrollables. This, this feels better, you know, because with sports psychology, it's prehab, rehab, conditions are perfect. And that's easy.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [Food Politics](https://podshelf.io/books/9780520240674) by Marion Nestle: 1 mention > “So I never, you know, I didn't set out to start something and, and certainly there were other important books that came out around the same period. Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Marion Nessel wrote a book called Food Politics that was very influential. The difference, I would say they're great and I, great admiration for them, but I would say that those were about what not to do.” — What Humans, Animals and Plants Tell Us About Consciousness | Michael Pollan (2026-09-28) - [Chatter](https://podshelf.io/books/9780525575245) by Ethan Kross: 1 mention > “I think if you polled most people, they would say that they experience too much inner what's been called chatter. We had Ethan Cross on the podcast. He's a psychologist at University of Michigan. And he wrote a book about chatter. And people would love to turn off their thoughts because most of what people report as their inner chatter is not pleasant.” — How to Improve Motivation & Overcome Procrastination | Dr. Masud Husain (2026-08-24) - [Nutrition Against Disease](https://podshelf.io/books/9780553230666) by Roger Williams: 1 mention > “the gut flora of cows when he was studying to understand fiber and the microbiome. And he gave me a book called Nutrition Against Disease by Roger Williams. And this is like in 1980. And I read it and I was like, oh, wow, this is nutrition is such an important thing. So I think d...” — How to Improve Your Vitality & Heal From Disease | Dr. Mark Hyman (2025-04-14) - [800-COCAINE](https://podshelf.io/books/9780553340945) by Mark S. Gold: 1 mention > “Somebody wrote a book called, I think it was Dr. Gold, 1-800-COCAINE where they were starting to see that we could classify addiction as a psychological addiction.” — Tools for Overcoming Substance & Behavioral Addictions | Ryan Soave (2025-04-21) - [An Immense World](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593133231) by Ed Yong: 1 mention > “, I need to revisit it. I like to reread books. Yeah. I believe in rereading books. Ed Yong wrote a book called An Immense World. He's not a scientist, but he's a science writer, and it's about different sensory modalities that different animals use. Yeah. And for an animal love” — Science & Tools of Learning & Memory | Dr. David Eagleman (2026-01-26) - [The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593138762) by Michael Easter: 1 mention > “He wrote the book, The Comfort Crisis.” — Using Existing Drugs in New Ways to Treat & Cure Diseases of Brain & Body | Dr. David Fajgenbaum (2025-11-03) - [A Little More Social](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593319543) by Nick Epley: 1 mention > “Social anxiety is something we really can help people with. For this book, A Little More Social, that I just wrote, I had a conversation with the guy who is responsible for really developing exposure therapy to treat anxiety disorders. Stefan Hoffman is his name. And essentially, the strategy is very simple.” — How to Overcome Social Anxiety | Dr. Nick Epley (2026-05-18) - [Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of Forgiveness](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593447628) by Kathryn Paige Harden: 1 mention > “I titled my new book, Original Sin, to really spotlight this exact thing. I wrote this book, my new book, because I was really attempting to wrestle through that question.” — How Genes Shape Your Risk Taking & Morals | Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden (2026-02-09) - [The Mindful Body](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593497944) by Ellen Langer: 1 mention > “So in The Mindful Body, which started off as a memoir, I have lots of stories that show the leading up to this idea.” — Using Your Mind to Control Your Physical Health & Longevity | Dr. Ellen Langer (2025-02-03) - [The Creative Act: A Way of Being](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593653425) by Rick Rubin: 1 mention > “I forget the exact title of the chapter, but there's a chapter about being on the lookout for clues. Do you think there are clues in every, everywhere?” — Essentials: How to Access Your Creativity | Rick Rubin (2026-08-20) - [The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593716625) by Morgan Housel: 1 mention > “This Morgan Housel, who did a really wonderful episode on the psychology of money. And I really love his first book, but also his second book, The Art of Spending Money. He put out a, he said, it's a Russian quote. The past is more unpredictable than the future.” — How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castel (2026-07-13) - [The Stimulated Mind](https://podshelf.io/books/9780593797815) by Tommy Wood: 1 mention > “I should also mention that Tommy recently released a new book that he wrote entitled, The Stimulated Mind, Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age. It's an excellent book if you're interested in following up on today's discussion and learning more about how you can make your brain better at any age.” — Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Wood (2026-07-20) - [Fast Food Nation](https://podshelf.io/books/9780618232406) by Eric Schlosser: 1 mention > “So I never, you know, I didn't set out to start something and, and certainly there were other important books that came out around the same period. Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Marion Nessel wrote a book called Food Politics that was very influential. The difference, I would say they're great and I, great admiration for them, but I would say that those were about what not to do.” — What Humans, Animals and Plants Tell Us About Consciousness | Michael Pollan (2026-09-28) - [Mastery](https://podshelf.io/books/9780670024964) by Robert Greene: 1 mention > “I know I've asked you this in a previous meeting, but long ago when I read Mastery, I was just, you know, like clubbed over the head in the best possible sense of the phrase with the statement that you made. I think that some event early in life for each of us kind of portends what we should or ought to explore later in life.” — Access the Sublime & Live Your Best Life | Robert Greene (2026-11-02) - [The 48 Laws of Power](https://podshelf.io/books/9780670881468) by Robert Greene: 1 mention > “So if 48 Laws of Power was about how the world is constructed and how to navigate it, and mastery was about mentorship and how to realize our unique gifts and potential. Yeah. And Laws of Human Nature, you've written a lot of books, my friend, is how we understand ourselves and others in the context of general principles.” — Access the Sublime & Live Your Best Life | Robert Greene (2026-11-02) - [The Case Against Perfection](https://podshelf.io/books/9780674043060) by Michael J. Sandel: 1 mention > “a Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel who years ago wrote a short book called The Case Against Perfection and it's a really beautiful meditation” — Avoiding, Treating & Curing Cancer With the Immune System | Dr. Alex Marson (2026-03-09) - [Network Medicine](https://podshelf.io/books/9780674545533) by Albert-László Barabási: 1 mention > “e for System of Biology and folks like at Harvard, like Kazim Barbasi was studying this and wrote a book called Network Medicine about the body as a network. But for me, I had to start to, you know, apply this in clinic. And so I would, people come into autoimmune diseases or wit...” — How to Improve Your Vitality & Heal From Disease | Dr. Mark Hyman (2025-04-14) - [Speak, Memory](https://podshelf.io/books/9780679433187) by Vladimir Nabokov: 1 mention > “He has no photographs, no memorabilia, no family left. But he has this memory of this magical childhood. And so his experiment, he wrote a book called Speak Memory, in which he tries to recreate the experience of his childhood in the adult mind, remembering it. Not remembering facts, but remembering the experience. And so he talks a lot about time.” — Access the Sublime & Live Your Best Life | Robert Greene (2026-11-02) - [The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat](https://podshelf.io/books/9780684853949) by Oliver Sacks: 1 mention > “There's a photograph that I love of the great Oliver Sacks, the neurologist turned writer, man who mistook his wife's hat, awakenings and so forth.” — Improve Focus with Behavioral Tools & Medication for ADHD | Dr. John Kruse (2025-03-10) - [The Neuroscience of Emotion](https://podshelf.io/books/9780691174082) by Ralph Adolphs, David J. Anderson: 1 mention > “And so David Anderson and I did that in our book a decade ago or so, Now the Neuroscience of Emotion, where we listed some features of emotions that helps to answer the question and sort of get a handle on what is it that these all share in common. I elaborate on that and have a longer list and really go into detail. Okay, so what are the features of emotions in my forthcoming book?” — Neuroscience of Emotions & Tools for Improving Emotion Regulation | Dr. Ralph Adolphs (2026-08-17) - [Atomic Habits](https://podshelf.io/books/9780735211292) by James Clear: 1 mention > “James Clear is the author of Atomic Habits and one of the world's foremost experts on how to build rock-solid habits” — Best Ways to Build Better Habits & Break Bad Ones | James Clear (2026-01-05) - [Altered Traits](https://podshelf.io/books/9780735220317) by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson: 1 mention > “Daniel Goleman, who I wrote the book Altered Traits with” — Science-Based Meditation Tools to Improve Your Brain & Health | Dr. Richard Davidson (2026-03-16) - [The Self-Driven Child](https://podshelf.io/books/9780735222526) by William Stixrud, Ned Johnson: 1 mention > “And so what you have to decide for parents is starting in middle school. And there's a great book called Self-Driven Child that alpha parents read that you have basically six years. Right. Or seven years in middle and high school where you're trying to decide one of two things. Are you trying to unlock your kids potential or impose your value system on them?” — How to Accelerate Learning & Improve Education | Joe Liemandt (2026-08-31) - [12 Rules for Life](https://podshelf.io/books/9780735278516) by Jordan Peterson, Jordan B. Peterson: 1 mention > “Because I love the work of Jordan Peterson when he's just like, life is suffering, life is going to be horrible, so you might as well pick your suffering with Sisyphus, pick up the boulder. Do you know what I mean? That I think is absolutely true. And I don't want to see that I'm a pleasant headache for her.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [On Food and Cooking](https://podshelf.io/books/9780739460375) by Harold McGee: 1 mention > “When I started writing my book about the chemistry of cooking, I didn't know that much about cooking or about chemistry.” — The Chemistry of Food & Taste | Dr. Harold McGee (2025-06-30) - [The Art of Learning](https://podshelf.io/books/9780743277464) by Josh Waitzkin: 1 mention > “I read The Art of Learning. And I must say I'm a fan and somewhat obsessed with the uniqueness of your arc” — The Art of Learning & Living Life | Josh Waitzkin (2025-01-27) - [The Moral Sense](https://podshelf.io/books/9780786197378) by James Q. Wilson: 1 mention > “He had written monumental books. He had done works. He had written a great book called The Moral Sense. That was the first time that a social scientist had actually used the tools of, of empirical social science survey-based data to understand the, the moral sensibilities, the complex moral sensibilities that they actually possessed. And just quantifying it. And I read that. I said, I just want to do that. I want to do that. I don't want to be James Q. Wilson, though. I want to be Arthur Brooks, you know, and doing it my own, in my own way.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [Second Nature: A Gardener's Education](https://podshelf.io/books/9780802140111) by Michael Pollan: 1 mention > “And he, you know, actually when I was writing my first book, Second Nature, I was trying to figure out how to behave in the garden, which is a microcosm of how do we behave in nature, right? In other words, I had pests. I had problems. I had fertility issues. And the American tradition of thinking about nature, which goes back to Thoreau and John Muir and Emerson is all about celebrating the wilderness and being a spectator in nature. And of course the gardener can't afford to do that. You have to act or you're not going to have anything to eat.” — What Humans, Animals and Plants Tell Us About Consciousness | Michael Pollan (2026-09-28) - [Man's Search for Meaning](https://podshelf.io/books/9780807014271) by Viktor E. Frankl: 1 mention > “The only thing I know is with, you know, Viktor Frankl talking about, you know, the meaning of life is to give life meaning. Jordan Peterson saying the purpose of life is to pick up the heaviest load and carry it. All of those things resonated so much with me that I do need purpose. And Viktor Frankl says that over fame, money, just a human needs to wake up. What is your reason for getting up in the morning?” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [Meditations](https://podshelf.io/books/9780812968255) by Marcus Aurelius: 1 mention > “I talk a lot about stoicism because I found on my swim, sports psychology can only take you so far. But when I started reading about Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, I was like, well, this is, this is more applicable. You know, control the controllables, accept the uncontrollables. This, this feels better, you know, because with sports psychology, it's prehab, rehab, conditions are perfect. And that's easy.” — Unlocking Persistent Motivation & Extreme Resilience | Ross Edgley (2026-10-26) - [The Road to Character](https://podshelf.io/books/9780812983418) by David Brooks: 1 mention > “To begin with, it's, you know, it's like, these are, David Brooks talks about no relation, friend, but no relation. He talks about resume versus eulogy virtues. And, you know, it's true. You know, it's probably better if you don't imagine people at your funeral saying, he had five million miles on Delta.” — The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks (2026-09-14) - [Of Boys and Men](https://podshelf.io/books/9780815739876) by Richard Reeves: 1 mention > “Richard Reeves kind of gave me, who's sort of my Yoda on this stuff, is this notion of surplus value. That some men are born males, but never, they die never having become men.” — Male Roles, Obligations and Options for Building a Fulfilling Life | Scott Galloway (2026-04-27) - [The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness](https://podshelf.io/books/9780857197689) by Morgan Housel: 1 mention > “It's the perfect time, I think, to raise the quote that a former guest on this podcast put on social media the other day. They weren't his words, but this Morgan Housel, who did a really wonderful episode on the psychology of money. And I really love his first book, but also his second book, The Art of Spending Money.” — How to Improve Your Memory & Cognitive Function at Any Age | Dr. Alan Castel (2026-07-13) - [Ion Channels of Excitable Membranes](https://podshelf.io/books/9780878933211) by Bertil Hille: 1 mention > “You learn electrophysiology from Berto Hill. You get the biochemistry book from Stryer. Like these are the books used everywhere. So that doesn't matter if you're in a, you know, a state university and wherever, um, or you're at Stanford, pretty much everyone is educated at the front end from the same textbooks.” — How to Accelerate Learning & Improve Education | Joe Liemandt (2026-08-31) - [Biochemical Individuality](https://podshelf.io/books/9780879838935) by Roger Williams: 1 mention > “in functional medicine was Roger Williams who discovered pantothenic acid or vitamin B5. He wrote a book called Biochemical Individuality. And actually his book was the one that got me interested in this in college because I lived with a nutrition PhD student who was talking abou...” — How to Improve Your Vitality & Heal From Disease | Dr. Mark Hyman (2025-04-14) - [DMT: The Spirit Molecule](https://podshelf.io/books/9780892819270) by Rick Strassman: 1 mention > “Rick Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule was one of the first rigorous scientific explorations of psychedelic compounds.” — Build Muscle & Strength & Forge Your Life Path | Dorian Yates (2026-01-19) - [Under Saturn's Shadow](https://podshelf.io/books/9780919123649) by James Hollis: 1 mention > “relating under Saturn's shadow on the, about trauma and healing” — Science-Based Meditation Tools to Improve Your Brain & Health | Dr. Richard Davidson (2026-03-16) - [The Eden Project](https://podshelf.io/books/9780919123809) by James Hollis: 1 mention > “He wrote, he's written a number of books, the Eden Project, which is about relationships” — Science-Based Meditation Tools to Improve Your Brain & Health | Dr. Richard Davidson (2026-03-16) - [Relax Into Stretch](https://podshelf.io/books/9780938045281) by Pavel Tsatsouline: 1 mention > “I love your book, Relax Into Stretch. I got that book initially because in the early days of starting my laboratory, I was traveling a ton.” — The Correct Way to Build Strength, Endurance & Flexibility at Any Age | Pavel Tsatsouline (2025-02-10) These are the 100 most-mentioned of 159 books. The full list is on the show page.