Steven Johnson
Non-fiction writer, podcaster and TV host; author of The Ghost Map, Where Good Ideas Come From and Extra Life, and of the Adjacent Possible newsletter.
Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott
reading some of the early reviews suggested to me that it has a lot of overlap with this astonishing book by James Scott
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
Enemy Of All Mankind by Steven Johnson
The other book of mine that makes a thoughtful gift for the history buff in your extended clan is my 2020 book, Enemy of All Mankind
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer by Steven Johnson
If you’re looking for gifts to buy your history-minded friend or family member, I’d recommend my last two books. First, there’s Extra Life , which tells the heroic story of how we doubled life expectancy over the past hundred years.
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive by Carl Zimmer
That led me to pick up this new book from one of the great science writers of our time, Carl Zimmer, and it did not disappoint.
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values by Brian Christian
I just finished this book a few weeks ago and it is still reverberating in my mind
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell
It’s one of the first truly audio-first books that I’ve encountered, both in the prose style which has clearly been written from the ground up to be heard, not read
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity by Toby Ord
I wouldn’t say that this is the most compelling book I’ve ever read in terms of the prose style or storytelling, but it does provide a very helpful, almost quantitative overview of all the potential threats looming out there
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
But what really makes it brilliant is a kind of meta-fictional twist that happens in the middle of the book
on adjacentpossible.substack.com · 23 Nov 2021
Everything Steven Johnson recommends — not just books — on rcmnd →