Jerry Seinfeld and Maria Popova (#746)
This episode is a two-for-one, and that’s because the podcast recently hit its 10-year anniversary and passed one billion downloads. To celebrate, I’ve curated some of the best of the best—some of my favorites—from more than 700 episodes over the last decade. I could not be more excited. The episode features segments from episode #485 “ Jerry Seinfeld — A Comedy Legend’s Systems, Routines, and Methods for Success ” and episode #39 “ Maria Popova on Writing, Workflow, and Workarounds .”
Please enjoy!
Bios of guests may be found at tim.blog/combo .
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Podcast Addict , Pocket Casts , Castbox , YouTube Music , Amazon Music , Audible , or on your favorite podcast platform .
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#746: Jerry Seinfeld and Maria Popova
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SHOW NOTES
[05:16] Notes about this supercombo format.
[06:19] Enter Jerry Seinfeld.
[06:46] Jerry’s writing process for survival in the comedy ecosystem.
[15:43] Lessons Jerry would teach in a writing class and how they relate to his fitness methods.
[15:43] Soliciting creative feedback while preserving pride over doing the work.
[20:33] Routines essential to Jerry’s well-being and their frequency and duration.
[24:50] How nurturing creativity is like parenting, and Jerry’s belief about pain and knowledge.
[26:17] Additional ways Jerry mitigates depressive episodes.
[27:27] A resilience-building failure.
[32:05] The importance of playing the game well.
[33:42] “Survival is the new success.”
[36:12] Jerry’s billboard.
[39:06] Enter Maria Popova.
[39:30] Are you correctly pronouncing names you’ve only read but never heard?
[41:13] What does Maria do ?
[41:50] What is Brain Pickings (now The Marginalian )?
[42:31] What percentage of New York Times best sellers are a result of Maria’s coverage?
[47:55] The common denominator that guides Maria’s reading list.
[49:16] The importance of writing for an audience of one.
[52:07] Contending with the temptation to create BuzzFeed-like content.
[59:44] The daily discipline required for Maria’s well-being.
[1:07:10] Maria’s note-taking system.
[1:12:53] Seneca and the time-tested challenge of presence vs. productivity.
[1:16:08] Start-up opportunity? Build a note-taking tool for heavy readers/highlighters.
[1:22:52] About the team behind [ The Marginalian ].
[1:24:28] Collaborative proofreading and copyediting.
[1:27:21] Self-reliance pathology and how to overcome it.
[1:29:56] Finding a professional personal assistant and learning to delegate.
[1:34:36] Maria’s weightlifting regimen and favorite bodyweight-only exercise.
[1:37:22] Designing content infrastructure to be evergreen.
[1:39:28] Cutting out the commentary contrarians.
[1:46:13] Scheduling social media.
[1:48:25] Coping with email — and sometimes snail mail.
[1:50:31] How to cultivate a personal inner circle and pre-screen book review requests.
[1:54:54] What donation model works best for site revenue?
[2:01:22] Recommended reading from [The Marginalian] and parting thoughts.
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Jerry Seinfeld :
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld
Seinfeld | Sony Pictures Entertainment
Jerry Seinfeld | Netflix
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee | Netflix
23 Hours to Kill | Netflix
Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian, Innovator, Micromanager | Harvard Business Review
The Black Stallion | Prime Video
Transcendental Meditation (TM)
Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength by Bill Phillips and Michael D’Orso
An Officer and a Gentleman | Prime Video
Hugh Jackman on Best Decisions, Daily Routines, The 85% Rule, Favorite Exercises, Mind Training, and Much More | The Tim Ferriss Show #444
High-Intensity Interval Training: How to Do HIIT Workouts for Weight Loss | Self
Jerry Seinfeld Opens up about Depression and the Two Tools He Uses to Address It | Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The Comedy Store
Jerry Seinfeld Recalls the Legendary Comedy Promoter Who Hated Him | Cheat Sheet
Alexis Ohanian: My Infamous “Rounding Error” Story | Twitter
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick | Amazon
In the Heart of the Sea | Prime Video
Jerry Seinfeld’s First Appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show | NBC
The Skinner Box or Operant Conditioning Chamber | Verywell Mind
Hollywood Improv
Connect with Maria Popova :
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Threads
Becoming the Marginalian: After 15 Years, Brain Pickings Reborn | The Marginalian
How to Make Sure Your Readers Pronounce Words and Names Correctly? | r/Fantasywriters
Blog | Sam Harris
Neuroscientist Sam Harris on Happiness, Spirituality Without Religion, and How to Cultivate the Art of Presence | The Marginalian
Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris | Amazon
Vino Sans Snobbery: A Charming Illustrated Scratch-and-Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert | The Marginalian
The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert: Take a Whiff of That by Richard Betts, Wendy MacNaughton, and Crystal English Sacca | Amazon
The Science and Philosophy of Friendship: Lessons from Aristotle on the Art of Connection | The Marginalian
The Man Who Hated Semicolons | The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Cool It, Vonnegut: Rethinking the Semicolon | Litro Magazine
29 Dumb Things People Posted Online This Month | BuzzFeed
Oscar Wilde on Art and Cultivating the Crucial Temperament of Receptivity | The Marginalian
Werner Herzog on Creativity, Self-Reliance, and How to Make a Living Doing What You Love | The Marginalian
Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed: Conversations with Paul Cronin by Werner Herzog and Paul Cronin | Amazon
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss | Amazon
What is Malbec Wine? Plus Four Amazing Facts | Wine Folly
What Actually Happens While You Sleep and How It Affects Your Every Waking Moment | The Marginalian
Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep by David K. Randall | Amazon
Famous Writers’ Sleep Habits vs. Literary Productivity, Visualized | The Marginalian
Tara Brach on Meditation and Overcoming FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) | The Tim Ferriss Show #94
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach | Amazon
Five Ways to Boost Productivity While on an Elliptical | CalorieBee
Kindle Paperwhite, Oasis, Scribe, and More E Readers | Amazon
I’m Maria Popova, and This Is How I Work | Lifehacker
How to Build Your Own Index of Notes and Ideas When Reading Books | The Focus Course
Maria’s Literary Jukebox | Tumblr
On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It by Seneca | Amazon
Good Will Hunting | Prime Video
Stoicism Resources and Recommendations | Tim Ferriss
The Tao of Seneca: Letters from a Stoic Master (aka The Moral Letters to Lucilius) | Tim Ferriss
Tame Your Work, Organize Your Life | Evernote
Best 10 Evernote Alternatives in 2024 | Toolfinder
TextWrangler Is Now BBEdit | Bare Bones Software
The Art of Timing: Alan Watts on the Perils of Hurrying and the Pleasures of Presence | The Marginalian
Learn to Proofread Your Own Work | California Coast University
Blog Tool, Publishing Platform, and CMS | WordPress
Corpus Callosum | 2-Minute Neuroscience
Share a Draft WordPress Plugin | WordPress
Stop Hating Your CMS | WordPress VIP
Google Docs | Google Workspace
How to Delegate Effectively: Nine Tips for Managers | Harvard Business School Online
80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) | Investopedia
Project Management Software, Online Collaboration | Basecamp
Manage Your Team’s Work, Projects, & Tasks Online | Asana
The Pull-Up | CrossFit
Elevated Push-Up | CrossFit
Bent-Knee Inverted Row | Fitness AI
Plyometrics: Three Explosive Exercises Even Beginners Can Try | Harvard Health
Suspension Weight Training | TRX
Weighted Jump Ropes | Amazon
Bulgaria in Weightlifting | Olympedia
Sam Harris, PhD, on Spirituality, Neuroscience, Meditation, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #14
Social Media Toolkit | Buffer
A Manifesto for Digital Humanity | The Email Charter
Finding the One Decision That Removes 100 Decisions (or, Why I’m Reading No New Books in 2020) | Tim Ferriss
William Gibson on Cultivating a “Personal Micro-Culture” | The Marginalian
Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson | Amazon
The Four Buddhist Mantras for Turning Fear into Love | The Marginalian
Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh | Amazon
Henry Miller on the Beautiful Balance of Giving and Receiving | The Marginalian
Weekly Conversations with Non-Fiction Writers | Longform Podcast
Showcasing and Discovering Creative Work | Behance
How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love | The Marginalian
The Shortness of Life: Seneca on Busyness and the Art of Living Wide Rather Than Living Long | The Marginalian
Happy Birthday, Brain Pickings: 7 Things I Learned in 7 Years of Reading, Writing, and Living | The Marginalian
Reads Tagged with “Alan Watts” | The Marginalian
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Sascha Seinfeld
Julian Seinfeld
Bill Phillips
Lou Gossett, Jr.
Hugh Jackman
Mitzi Shore
Alexis Ohanian
Adam Wright
Ron Howard
Johnny Carson
Jimmy Fallon
Naval Ravikant
Kathy Sierra
Sam Harris
Chris Sacca
Crystal English Sacca
Wendy MacNaughton
Richard Betts
Aristotle
Kurt Vonnegut
Kevin Kelly
John Romaniello
Oscar Wilde
Werner Herzog
Paul Cronin
The Three Stooges
Tara Brach
Seneca
Madonna
Sitting Bull
William Shakespeare
Alan Watts
William Gibson
Max Linsky
Scott Belsky
The post Jerry Seinfeld and Maria Popova (#746) appeared first on The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss .
