Chapter 113: Alie Ward oozes originality over odysseys and ologies

10/09/22 • 109 min

Oh hey.

It’s the person who just dropped their phone on the bus right when the driver hit the gas and now the phone’s sliding across the sandy floor all the way to the back... Neil. Neil Pasricha. And now it is finally time for our much-anticipated 3 Books chapter with the one and only ... Alie Ward.

Alie is the Sacramento-raised youngest of 3 girls who grew up in the 80s listening to DadWard deliver the morning news from the local radio station. She spent her childhood playing with bugs and just being told by her parents, “Come back by sundown and don’t get tetanus.”

Alie fell in love with science and studied science and film in college. An unlikely but prophetic mix. She went on to win an Emmy for being CBS’s correspondent for Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocco and was a host for Did I Mention Invention? on CW. She’s a consulting producer for the Barack and Michelle Obama-produced Netflix show Ada Twist Scientist and appears in the Netflix science series Brainchild and the science channel’s How to Build Everything.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! The piece de resistance of her science-and-performing ways is, of course, her jaw-droppingly great podcast, Ologies. Everybody I've suggested this podcast to just loves it. There's a reason it's the number one science podcast in the world! What are ... ologies? There are so many! There’s Myrmecology which is about ants, there’s Scorpiology which is about scorpions, there’s Etymology which is about word origins and, of course, there's one on Awesomeology about gratitude and happiness starring yours truly.

Now it’s time to pull up your petrified stump and get ready to talk about: self-help books, starting a podcast, skunk predators, Life lists, Cervidology, infectious energy, confidence versus arrogance, visioning, the Galápagos Islands, fostering community, building trust, formative books and much, much more...

Let’s flip the page into Chapter 113 now...

What You'll Learn:

Are self-help books formulaic?
What is independence?
What are east vs west coast podcast styles?
What is Alie’s advice for starting a podcast?
What is a life list?
What is cervidology?
Why should we never be embarrassed about our favorite books?
Does the Law of Attraction work?
How can we make our energies more infectious?
What is the fine line between confidence and arrogance?
What is the etymology of confidence?
What is the power of ‘show up like you belong’?
Why is visioning so important?
Why do reviews matter in the podcast world?
How can we make people care about others?
What is wrong with the news?
What makes the Galapagos so special?
How can we foster community?
How can we build trust?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/113

Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.

3 Books is a completely insane and totally epic 22-year-long quest to uncover and discuss the 1000 most formative books in the world. Each chapter discusses the 3 most formative books of an inspiring person. Sample guests include: Brené Brown, David Sedaris, Malcolm Gladwell, George Saunders, Angie Thomas, Daniels, Cheryl Strayed, Rich Roll, Soyoung the Variety Store Owner, Derek the Hype Man, Kevin the Bookseller, Vishwas the Uber Driver, Roxane Gay, David Mitchell, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Mark Manson, Seth Godin, Judy Blume, and Quentin Tarantino. 3 Books is published on the lunar calendar with each of the 333 chapters dropped on the exact minute of every single full moon all the way up to April 26, 2040. 3 Books is an Apple "Best Of" award-winning show and is 100% non-profit with no ads, no sponsors, no commercials, and no interruptions. 3 Books has 3 clubs including the End of the Podcast Club, the Cover to Cover Club, and the Secret Club, which operates entirely through the mail and is only accessible by calling 1-833-READ-A-LOT. Each chapter is hosted by Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Happiness Equation', 'Two-Minute Mornings', and 'The Book of Awesome.' For more info check out: https://www.3books.co

Oh hey.

Let’s flip the page into Chapter 113 now...

What You'll Learn:

Are self-help books formulaic?
What is independence?
What are east vs west coast podcast styles?
What is Alie’s advice for starting a podcast?
What is a life list?
What is cervidology?
Why should we never be embarrassed about our favorite books?
Does the Law of Attraction work?
How can we make our energies more infectious?
What is the fine line between confidence and arrogance?
What is the etymology of confidence?
What is the power of ‘show up like you belong’?
Why is visioning so important?
Why do reviews matter in the podcast world?
How can we make people care about others?
What is wrong with the news?
What makes the Galapagos so special?
How can we foster community?
How can we build trust?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/113

Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.

Previous Episode

Chapter 112: Katie Mack on cultivating curiosity and contemplating the cosmos

I want to make you dizzy.

I want to make you look up into the sky and comprehend, maybe for the first time, the darkness that lies beyond the evanescent wisp of the atmosphere, the endless depths of the cosmos, a desolation by degrees

These two lines begin an incredible poem called “Disorientation”... by Katie Mack.

Did you feel dizzy reading it? I did. I do!

What is the universe? Where did it come from? What was here before it? How long has it lasted? How long will it last? How could it ... end?

Do you remember being a little kid and it maybe suddenly hitting you that there was this overwhelming gigantic thing we were a part of that was almost too vast to even comprehend? I feel like a lot of us have that feeling. Sort of reminds me of this super-short clip from Annie Hall where 8-year old Alvy Singer is taken to the doctor by his mother because the vastness of the cosmos has suddenly hit him.

Why isn't he doing his homework? "What's the point?" he concludes.

That's one reaction. But if you're Katie Mack growing up in California you run the other way. You pick up a book called A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and continue chasing these near-impossible questions and just never, never stop. Katie kept asking these questions through her undergrad in Physics at CalTech and her PhD in Astrophysics from Princeton before she launched into even more fascinating work like, no big deal, building a dark matter detector.

Today Dr Katie Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who studies a range of questions in cosmology -- i.e., the study of the universe from beginning to end. Her wonderful, recent bestselling book The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) is a New York Times bestseller and goes through a very helpful history of the universe before exploring a number of different ways the universe might end. At times complex, but often (thankfully) accessible, reading her book is like hanging out with a really, really smart friend, illuminating what is going on up there.

Since June 2022, Katie is the Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. This is a relatively new institute based in Waterloo, Canada, and it's where Katie does research on dark matter and the early universe and engages in conversations, like the one we are having today, to make physics more accessible to the general public. So: she does podcasts! And: she's extremely viral! I highly recommend you join the 426,367 people who currently follow her on Twitter @AstroKatie.

Let's talk big puzzles, time, malleable fabric, wordplay, living on mars, the possibility of alien life, "colonizing" space, Katie’s 3 most formative books, and much, much more.

This is a mind expanding conversation. You'll hear me playing catch-up the whole time. Not sure I ever caught up, or ever will, but Katie is a gift to the world.

Let’s flip the page into Chapter 112 now...

What You'll Learn:

Where are we in the universe?
What is the true definition of time?
How does time work?
Do calendars reflect time?
How do we define the future?
Is there other life in the universe?
What is a back-up book?
Why is the term colonization wrong for space?
Is astrology a science?
What is the smallest scale of measurement in the universe?
What is the largest scale of measurement in the universe?
What is the unobservable universe?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/112

Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.

Next Episode

Chapter 114: Light Watkins on Mexico's marvels, meditation myths, and mental mastery

Five years ago I was invited down to Brooklyn to speak at an event called The Shine Movement. It was an intriguing soul-refueling combination of meditation, drumming, giving, and a few words by me. The event attracted a fascinating subculture of people and I felt slightly entranced meeting the man and mind behind it all: Light Watkins.

Light Watkins is someone I consider a master of spirit and mind. He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama (with siblings Candy, Trey, and Dusty!) in the 70s and 80s, traveled the world as a fashion model, and then worked as one of the most prominent yoga instructors in LA (including teaching future princesses). Deepak Chopra calls his meditation insights "simple and profound." Today Light has taught meditation to thousands of people from all walks of life in retreats and workshops around the world. He is the author of three bestselling books: The Inner Gym, Bliss More, and Knowing Where to Look. And each morning since 2016, Light has been sending out a daily dose of inspiration email.

Light also hosts The Light Watkins Show, a podcast that shares inspiring stories of regular people who’ve found their purpose in life.

Not only is Light incredibly prolific but he is also a wandering spirit -- literally. He lives out of a backpack. Not a giant hiking backpack, either! A normal backpack. I was grateful to catch up to him from Mexico City to finally reconnect many years later. I think you'll love this conversation and his 3 most formative books.

We discuss: fostering community, happiness as a muscle, learning to meditate, leading with your heart, managing resistance, and much, much more...

Let’s flip the page into Chapter 114 now...

What You'll Learn:

What is the Shine Movement?
How do you cultivate community?
Why is consistency so critical to personal growth?
Why does criticism not work?
How can you establish a meditation practice?
Why are more people not leaning towards meditation?
Why is passion in teaching so critical?
Why is happiness a muscle?
How can we learn to master our minds?
How can meditation help with sleep?
When is the optimal time to meditate?
What does it mean to live out of a backpack?
Why is Mexico City so special?
What does it mean to seek to understand?
Why should you begin with the end in mind?
Why is name change controversial in the West?
How did Light get his name?
How can we let our heart guide us?
How can we manage resistance?
How can we manage overwhelm and guarantee rest?
How can we learn to prioritize?

You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://www.3books.co/chapters/114

Leave us a voicemail. Your message may be included in a future chapter: 1-833-READ-A-LOT.

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