29 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Up the Organization by Robert Townsend
Up the Organization was published in the mid-seventies, which technically makes it just about as old as I am. The lessons, though, are actually timeless and...
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22 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell
Broadly, magical thinking describes the belief that one’s internal thoughts can affect external events. Mythologizing the world as an attempt to “make sense” of it...
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15 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Afrofuturism by Kevin M. Strait and Kinshasha Holman Conwill
“There are Black people in the future.” That’s the brilliant reminder on the back cover of this book I recall reading and selecting for our...
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11 2025 July
Season 5 of the Non-Obvious Show Podcast Is Now Live!
Over the past six months I’ve been recording conversations with people whose books and body of work I find most fascinating. Earlier this week I’m...
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08 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Generations by Jean M. Twenge
If there was ever a book that could demystify and explain the differences between these generational labels we assign to one another, this is it....
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01 2025 July
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Problems in the Art World by Brainard Carey
Being an artist is hard. When you choose to do it professionally, you’ll likely face many problems. According to Brainard Carey, the renowned director of...
Read Now24 2025 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Power of Onlyness by Nilofer Merchant
Starting with her own powerful story of standing up for herself, this book from author and thinker Nilofer Merchant is a play-by-play guide on how...
Read Now17 2025 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: All the Living and All the Dead by Hayley Campbell
The first time I read All the Living and All the Dead, it was an easy pick for the Most Original book winner in the 2022...
Read Now10 2025 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The New Tourist by Paige McClanahan
Ask anyone if they describe themselves as a tourist or a traveler and most people will say the latter. Seeing yourself as a “tourist” has...
Read Now03 2025 June
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Long Game by Dorie Clark
The title of this book pretty much tells you exactly what it’s about but what makes this a truly great read is exactly how practical...
Read Now27 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Always Eat Left-Handed … And Other Secrets for Killing It at Work and in Real Life by Rohit Bhargava
Back in 2013, I wrote a career and life advice book. It was my third book and before I really understood what it took to...
Read Now20 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard
From all the “30 under 30” lists to the stories of tech billionaires who made their fortunes in their early 20s it can seem like...
Read Now13 2025 May
The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Smarter Than You Think by Clive Thompson
“Tools for thinking help make people smarter. But they don’t necessarily make them morally better. So what happens when you take brutal rulers and give...
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