2018 in Review – My Top 10 Books and Podcast Episodes

In 2018 I set a goal for myself of reading 20 books. I’m happy to say I finished the 19th and 20th during the last two days of the year!

Of the 20 books I read in 2018, I have decided to list the top 10, as well as why they’re important to understand. All top five books in this list are must reads. They provide guidance to become a better version of yourself, as well as understand prominent societal problems with mental health, culture, academia, and much more. This list is not limited to books authored in 2018.

1) The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

A must-read, Manson explains why we should give less fucks, as well as some cultural issues that are becoming more apparent and the psychology behind them. This is a real self-help book, not any of that Hallmark crap. A few essential excerpts from the book are listed below.

-Not giving a fuck follows the backwards law: the pain you pursue in the gym results in better all-around health and energy. The failure in business is what leads to a better understanding of what's necessary to be successful, being open with your insecurities paradoxically makes you more confident and charismatic around others.

-Both physical and psychological pain are good for us. The pain helps us set limitations and expectations to learn from past failures. And this is what's so dangerous about a society that coddles itself more and more from the inevitable discomforts of life: we lose the benefits of experiencing healthy doses of pain, a loss that disconnects us from the reality of the world around us

-A lot of people fuck up their happiness in one of two ways 1. denial - deny the existence of the problem 2. Victim mentality - people believe there is nothing they can do to solve their problem and blame others. Blaming others is a quick high, but it doesn't solve problems. A lot of the self-help bs gives you ways to get these quick highs, ignoring the underlying issue.

-Being average has become the new standard of failure. The worst thing you can do is be in the middle of the pack. When a culture's standard of success is to be extraordinary, it then becomes better to be at the extreme low-end of the bell curve than to be in the middle because at least there are you’re still unique and deserve attention. Many people choose the strategy to prove to everyone that they are the most miserable or the most oppressed or the most victimized.

Key Takeaway: We are all going to die one day. The mark you leave should be a mark you desire and that you value, whether it is fame and fortune or family and friends. There is nothing to be afraid of. Manson outlines the following five values to live by:

1)     Responsibility: taking responsibility for everything that occurs in your life, regardless of who’s at fault

2)     Uncertainty: the acknowledgement of your own ignorance and the cultivation of constant doubt in your own beliefs

3)     Failure: the willingness to discover your own flaws and mistakes so that they be improved upon.

4)     Rejection: the ability to both say and hear no, thus clearly defining what you will and will not accept in your life

5)     Contemplation of one’s own mortality: paying attention to your own death

2) 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Key Takeaway: 12 Rules for Life is easily one of the best books I have ever read, a body of work that genuinely provides guidance for each individual reader to become a better version of themselves. Peterson is one hell of an intellectual, and the way he unravels an idea or concept is magnificent and thought-provoking. I analyzed each chapter of this book in a blog post earlier this year, which can be found here.

3) Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari

I read this book after finding out a family member of mine was being treated for depression. This needs be read by everyone in the United States since we all know somebody close to us who is depressed, and some of the solutions to depression are societal. This book, if widely read, would push the conversation and research on depression in the right direction.

Hari takes readers through his personal journey of talking to professors, researchers, and people who are/were depressed to paint a new picture of what causes depression for most, and the personal and societal changes that should be made to combat that depression. The scientific community doesn’t even agree that there is significant research that shows taking antidepressants is a valid solution. Big pharma companies have been spent billions marketing pills and only publishing studies that show a positive effect on patients, when in reality they often conduct hundreds of studies that show no results.

Hari shows that while depression is biological for some people, a lot of people acquire depression through circumstances and situations they have the power to get out of. Hari discusses the nine causes of depression and then dedicates a few ways to reconnect to rid the depression.

Key Takeaway: Antidepressants don’t work for most people for a reason. They aren’t a long-term solution to a problem that isn’t biological for most people who are depressed. This book will change the way you think about depression and has the knowledge and power to change the face of depression, how we deal with it, and how we research it, all for the better.

4) The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

All children, parents, and members of academia must get their hands on this book.

This book is about three great untruths that seem to have spread widely in recent years 1. The Untruth of Fragility: what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker 2. The untruth of emotional reasoning: always trust your feelings 3. The untruth of us versus them: Life is a battle between good people and evil people.

The authors claim the problems these untruths have caused at the university level are anxiety, depression, and suicide rates. They say the culture on many college campuses have become ideologically uniform, comprising the ability of scholars to seek the truth, and of students to learn from a broad range of thinkers. Extremists are on both the right and left. Social media has created a “callout culture” where anyone can be publicly shamed for saying something well-intentioned that someone else interprets uncharitably. Social media allows people to retreat to a safe space where their worst fears of the other side can be confirmed by extremists and cyber trolls. 

There are six interacting explanatory threads for these three untruths: rising political polarization and cross-party animosity; rising levels of teen anxiety and depression; changes in parenting practices; the decline of free play; the growth of campus bureaucracy; and a rising passion for justice in response to major national events, combined with changing ideas about what justice requires.

The authors do an excellent job analyzing each of these untruths and explanatory threads and offer advice for parents, kids, students, and academics to all do a better job in their respective roles.

Key Takeaway: There are significant problems in our culture, in academia, and in the way, kids are being raised. Being cognizant of the problem is the first step to solving it. This book uncovers what variables are making up these problems, and provides advice and solutions I know I will carry with me when I become a father, and in the meantime, my young adult life.

5) The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo

Understanding how good people turn evil. The nearly 500-page book can be broken down into two parts. The first part of the book is the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, told by the professor who created and oversaw the experiment. If you have not read into the Stanford Prison Experiment, or watched any of the movies that mimic it, prepare to be in awe.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was a 1971 social psychology experiment that attempted to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and prison officers. In the study, volunteers were randomly assigned to be either "guards" or "prisoners" in a mock prison, with Zimbardo himself serving as the superintendent.

In The Lucifer Effect Zimbardo discusses everything that happened during the experiment, gives first-hand testimonies and recaps from participants and analyzes the transformation of behaviors in each participant over the course of the experiment. During this retelling of the experiment, Zimbardo describes what situational forces are taking place, and how those forces are shaping the actions and mindsets of the participants.

The experiment gets out of hand on multiple levels, with guards abusing their powers, and all prisoners genuinely believing they were in captivity, and that they did not have the option to quit the experiment.

The second half of the Lucifer Effect discusses how situational factors play a significant role in causing ordinary people to act malevolently. Zimbardo shows how people fall victim to evil by citing the famous Milgram study, discussing real-life examples of people falling into a Nazi-like mindset, and much more.

The vast majority of the second half of The Lucifer Effect focuses on the abuse and torture of Abu Ghraib prisoners, by US military members. I felt physically disgusted by reading about some of these abuses. Some of the pictures and descriptions of torture evoked emotions I’ve never before felt from reading. Zimbardo breaks down what internal and external forces caused US military members to commit such acts of violence and torture, and how the systemic leadership was broker from the top-down.

Key Takeaway: Ordinary people can commit acts of extreme malevolence under the right situational forces. Analyzing acts of evil from all lenses helps to better determine whether you have “a few bad apples” or a broken system. As individuals, it is important to have a set ideology and a strong value system, so that no matter how much adversity is faced, we don’t succumb to the banality of evil.

6) Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data. And What The Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

Everybody Lies takes readers on a journey of Google searches, and how this type of big data is a more accurate reflection of who we are than simple surveys. The author uses Google search data to show us what types of candidates certain people voted for in the last two elections, what our porn searches really say about us, and how corporations benefit from using big data.

Key Takeaway: Newer types of big data, such as search history, are empowering smart businesses to make more highly-targeted advertisements. Being cognizant of this type of data can empower your company, and help you operate a more effective business.

As an individual, don’t feel like you’re the only one going through a tough time. People present the best version of themselves on social media when reality is entirely different.

7) The Most Important Things Illuminated by Howard Marks

Practical for anyone who invests in stocks, The Most Important Things Illuminated provides insight into “second-level thinking” such as the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. The book provides investing wisdom, much like the memos that Marks releases via Oaktree Capital. The edition of the book I have also has annotations from Christopher Davis, Joel Greenblatt, Paul Johnson, and Seth Klarman.

Marks advises readers how to look for good companies at cheap prices, deal with risk, stages of both bull and bear markets, how to be a contrarian, and avoiding pitfalls, amongst other topics. The book provides some excellent analysis on investing psychology, and the effect it has on the market in times of both success and turmoil.

Key Takeaway: This book is great for investors who want to gain useful information about investing psychology without reading a dull 1,000-page book. Marks is worth $2 billion for a reason, and the way he articulates his strategies and wisdom can be insightful for all investors.

8) The Four by Scott Galloway

Professor Scott Galloway analyzes how Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple infiltrated our lives over the years, as well as how the four companies became so successful. Galloway deconstructs the strategies of the four and provides statistics to argue which will be the first trillion-dollar company. Spoiler alert: Apple and Amazon both surpassed a $1 trillion market cap in 2018, but declined back under in Q4.

Reading about these four companies which impact our lives daily, is fun as well as thought-provoking.

After analyzing strategy and statistics, Galloway points out some character flaws with each of the four. For example, both Facebook and Google stated earlier in the decade, they wouldn't share information across platform (Google to Gmail to YouTube) (Facebook to Instagram). They lied. They changed privacy policy, and now you must opt out if you don't want this.

Key Takeaway: Reading about these four companies is entertaining. Analyzing the strategies that got each company to these positions of enormous power and influence can be useful for anyone that studies business, or has plans to become an entrepreneur. The Four makes you realize the vast amount of data and information each horseman has about their consumers and invokes cautionary wisdom about their monopolistic characteristics.

9) Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Shoe Dog is a memoir by the creator of Nike. The book provides a fascinating look at how Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and turned it into a household company name with a market cap of $86 billion.

Reading this book was pure fun. The way business was conducted in the ‘60s and ‘70s is comical to read, and it provides a perspective of just how much can change in 50-60 years. For example, Phil told Oanda, the Japanese shoe company he originally partnered with, that he had physical stores set up throughout on the east and west coast. In reality, he was operating a company with less than five people in one physical office space.

Each time Phil bit off more than he could chew, he ended up delivering. What I noticed throughout the book was the strength of the first employees Phil brought on. He managed to find employees who were dedicated, fearless, and relentless. Employees wouldn’t cash their paychecks because they were more concerned with the success of the company. They embodied the all-day, everyday style of their CEO, who worked day and knight to ensure success. I can’t do this book justice in 1-2 short paragraphs. It is truly inspiring and left me a newfound appreciation for the slogan, “Just Do It”.

Note: If you like this story, check out the Business Wars podcast miniseries on Nike vs. Adidas. Adidas was started by two German brothers. The brothers started feuding and one left to start Puma, while the other managed Adidas.

Key Takeaway: Nobody is going to hold your hand and show you how to grow a business. Having a kick-ass team and a kick-ass leader is a great recipe for success when all parties are on the same page.

10) The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History by David Enrich

The Spider Network tells the story of Tom Hayes, a UBS Trader, who became the fall guy for a scandal where LIBOR was being intentionally manipulated for traders and bankers to profit off it. LIBOR, the London Interbank Offered Rate, is the primary benchmark for global short-term interest rates. It is the rate at which global banks can borrow from each other.

The following paragraph from Investopedia explains how LIBOR is calculated:

Each morning, just before 11 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) asks a panel of contributor banks (usually 11 to 18 large, international banks) to answer the following question: “At what rate could you borrow funds, were you to do so by asking for and then accepting interbank offers in a reasonable market size just prior to 11 a.m. London time?" Only banks that have a significant presence in the London market are considered for membership on the ICE LIBOR panel, which is determined annually.

The story itself is fascinating as we follow the rain-man-like protagonist, Tom Hayes as he builds a network of shady bankers and financial figures all willing to help him manipulate LIBOR. Tom is an anti-hero, a socially awkward man who makes millions of dollars for himself and his employers over a few short years. Once everything comes crashing down, all his accomplices rat him out to minimize their own personal punishment. Tom doesn’t lie during court and ends up receiving fourteen years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

While the book uses Tom as the main character, the real story is how broken the financial system can become when traders, brokers, and bank executives can operate without oversight. The LIBOR scandal was inevitable, as are most financial scandals.

Key Takeaway: When you build a financial system out of Jenga blocks, people will continue pulling on the loose parts of the structure until it inevitably comes crashing down.

Podcasts

After listening to hundreds of hours of podcasts throughout the year, here are 10 of my favorites, all of which aired in 2018.

The Joe Rogan Experience #1212 – David Goggins

The Joe Rogan Experience #1208 – Jordan Peterson

The Joe Rogan Experience #1198 – Derren Brown

The Joe Rogan Experience #1191 – Peter Boghossian & James Lindsay

The Joe Rogan Experience #1163 – Banachek

The Joe Rogan Experience #1077 – Johann Hari

The Joe Rogan Experience #1147 – Dr. Debra Soh

Revisionist History Season 3 Episode 7: Malcolm Gladwell’s 12 Rules for Life

Revisionist History Season 3 Episode 2: Burden of Proof

Business Wars Season 2: Nike vs. Adidas

An Aside

I was recently asked by an individual I look up to as a mentor what my takeaways for the year were on all the reading I’ve done and the podcasts I listen to. The question caught me off guard, and I found myself thinking about it over the next few days.

After pondering the question, I determined I read and listen to podcasts because: 

1)     Knowledge is important. Learning about the past helps me to better predict the future. I can have better and more intelligent conversations the more I know about past and present world problems, business leaders, top companies, and stories of both success and failure. 

2)     Non-fictional stories allow me to view thoughts, ideas, and conflicts from multiple perspectives. One of societies biggest challenges today is viewing conflict or debate without letting emotion or biases interfering. When having discussions about politics, religion, or general philosophy, I find it much easier to work through ideas by following a path of logic and reason and drawing on the perspectives of individuals whose work I have read or listened to in order to remain conscious of how the person I’m talking to might be feeling.

3)     I enjoy it. Exercising both the body and the mind are pivotal to growth. Even if you are not a fan of reading, listening to an audiobook can provide the same mental exercise if you pause and reflect on the audio content.

4)     It’s a far better use of time than watching tv or playing video games. Television or video games are both useful in moderation, but on aggregate, I find reading more useful to me.

5)     Reading improves my vocabulary…. At least, I hope!

My favorite quote of the year - “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle