On Being with Krista Tippett
Book Recommendations

On Being with Krista Tippett

Wisdom to replenish and orient in a tender, tumultuous time to be alive. Spiritual inquiry, science, social healing, and poetry. Conversations to live by. With a 20-year archive featuring luminaries like Mary Oliver, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Desmond Tutu, each episode brings a new discovery about t...

Episodes 2,036
Books 1,312
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Latest Recommendations

The Carrying: Poems cover

The Carrying

Ada Limón

Mentioned 2 years ago

“The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón

It was the book that won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.

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Bright Dead Things: Poems cover

Bright Dead Things

Ada Limón

Mentioned 2 years ago

“The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón

It was a finalist for the National Book Award.

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The Hurting Kind cover

The Hurting Kind

Ada Limón

Mentioned 2 years ago

“The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón

This is her most recent published volume.

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You Are Here: A Novel cover

You Are Here

David Nicholls

Mentioned 2 years ago

“The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón

It was edited by Ada Limn as part of her project focusing on how poetry can connect us to the natural world.

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Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science cover

Complications

Atul Gawande

Mentioned 2 years ago

Atul Gawande — On Mortality and Meaning

The book is about Gawande's experience as a surgical resident, and it was reviewed by Sherwin Nuland in the New York Review of Books.

When I started writing for The New Yorker and then wrote my first book, Complications, during my surgical residency, he wrote the review in the New York Review of Books and then reached out to me.

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The Three-Body Problem (The Three-Body Problem Series, 1) cover

The Three-Body Problem (The Three-Body Problem Series, 1)

Cixin Liu

Mentioned 2 years ago

Atul Gawande — On Mortality and Meaning

The book was about a three-sun planetary system and how a message from this system affects Earth, as well as the consequences of that message. The book explores the extinction of humanity, but the continuation of life in other forms.

So I just, I finished recently this three book series by a Chinese science fiction writer named Liu Cixin. It begins with a book called The Three-Body Problem.

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The Philosophy of Loyalty cover

The Philosophy of Loyalty

Royce Josiah

Mentioned 2 years ago

Atul Gawande — On Mortality and Meaning

This book, published at the beginning of the 20th century, by philosopher Royce argued that people have a deep need to live for something larger than themselves.

I end up calling it loyalty in the book I wrote about Royce. A philosopher who was at Harvard in the late 19th century and wrote a book at the very beginning of the 20th century called The Philosophy of Loyalty. And what it meant was that we all have a, he was arguing we all have a deep need to live for something larger than ourselves.

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The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right cover

The Checklist Manifesto

Atul Gawande

Mentioned 2 years ago

Atul Gawande — On Mortality and Meaning

This book is one of Gawande's four books. It was not discussed in the podcast.

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The Trayvon Generation cover

The Trayvon Generation

Elizabeth Alexander

Mentioned 2 years ago

“Ars Poetica #100: I Believe” by Elizabeth Alexander

It is Elizabeth Alexander's most recent book.

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The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation cover

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

Padmasambhava

Mentioned 2 years ago

Luis Alberto Urrea — On Our Belonging to Each Other

This book of poetry was described as being beautiful, and was mentioned by name during the podcast episode. The author of the podcast episode described reading the first poem from the book and it being too long to read aloud, and also mentioned its ending. He also described reading a portion of the poem about anti-immigrant rhetoric, and how it mirrored his own life experiences.

This is a beautiful book of poetry.

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The Devil's Highway: A True Story cover

The Devil's Highway

Luis Alberto Urrea

Mentioned 2 years ago

Luis Alberto Urrea — On Our Belonging to Each Other

This book of nonfiction reportage focuses on the Mexican-American border and was the result of an adventure that changed the author's perspective of the border. It tells the story of 26 Mexican men attempting to cross the desert, which was known as 'The Devil's Highway', where 14 died from heatstroke. It was described as being both reportage and narrative nonfiction, and as being written out of frustration with people's dehumanizing perceptions of migrants.

His books include Into the Beautiful North, The Devil's Highway, The Hummingbird's Daughter, and a 2023 novel, Goodnight Irene, inspired by his mother's service in the Red Cross.

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The Hummingbird's Daughter: A Novel cover

The Hummingbird's Daughter

Luis Alberto Urrea

Mentioned 2 years ago

Luis Alberto Urrea — On Our Belonging to Each Other

This historical novel was based on the author's father's Aunt Teresa, a Mexican mystic folk healer and revolutionary insurgent. The author described the process of writing it as a 20-year study with shamans and medicine people, and said that the book explores the soul's journey. It was mentioned as one of the author's books that explores the complicated nature of human identity and borders.

His books include Into the Beautiful North, The Devil's Highway, The Hummingbird's Daughter, and a 2023 novel, Goodnight Irene, inspired by his mother's service in the Red Cross.

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Most Recommended

Kabbalah: A Love Story Cover

Lawrence Kushner

Kabbalah

A Love Story

The author mentioned this book as one of his own, and that he pointed out in it that the Zohar is a mystical novel, a fitting way to introduce the text to modern people.

"

Yeah, well, Sholem suggested that the Zohar was a novel.

— Episode: [Unedited] Lawrence Kushner with Krista...

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Episode: [Unedited] Lawrence Kushner with Krista Tippett

The author mentioned this book as one of his own, and that he pointed out in it that the Zohar is a mystical novel, a fitting way to introduce the text to modern people.

"

Yeah, well, Sholem suggested that the Zohar was a novel.

I'm God; You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego Cover

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

I'm God; You're Not

Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego

The author mentioned this book as one of his own, and referenced its title in relation to the ongoing nature of creation and the importance of recognizing that one is not God.

"

I think, yeah, I titled my last book, I'm God, You're Not.

— Episode: [Unedited] Lawrence Kushner with Krista...

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Episode: [Unedited] Lawrence Kushner with Krista Tippett

The author mentioned this book as one of his own, and referenced its title in relation to the ongoing nature of creation and the importance of recognizing that one is not God.

"

I think, yeah, I titled my last book, I'm God, You're Not.

Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism Cover

Gershom Scholem

Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism

This book by Gershom Scholem was described as his magnum opus, and it brought the Jewish mystical tradition to the English-reading public. It was described as tough, serious, and heavy, but also extraordinary.

"

And he gave it to me and I ran home and tried to read it and at about 10 o'clock I fell asleep because it's really tough, serious, heavy Jewish history. But it's extraordinary.

— Episode: Lawrence Kushner — Kabbalah and Everyday...

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Episode: Lawrence Kushner — Kabbalah and Everyday Mysticism

This book by Gershom Scholem was described as his magnum opus, and it brought the Jewish mystical tradition to the English-reading public. It was described as tough, serious, and heavy, but also extraordinary.

"

And he gave it to me and I ran home and tried to read it and at about 10 o'clock I fell asleep because it's really tough, serious, heavy Jewish history. But it's extraordinary.

Episode: [Unedited] Lawrence Kushner with Krista Tippett

This book, by Gershom Scholem, was given to the author by his professor and introduced him to Jewish mysticism. It was described as tough but extraordinary for bringing the Jewish mystical tradition to the English reading public.

"

And he gave it to me and I ran home and tried to read it and at about 10 o'clock I fell asleep because it's really tough, serious, heavy Jewish history. But it's extraordinary. And what Sholem did in that book was that he brought the Jewish mystical tradition to the English reading public.

Stag's Leap: Poems Cover

Sharon Olds

Stag's Leap

Poems

It is a collection of poems about the end of a long marriage, and Sharon Olds won the Pulitzer Prize for it in 2013. It was also the recipient of the T.S. Eliot Prize.

"

You won the Pulitzer for Stag's Leap, which was about the end of your marriage.

— Episode: [Unedited] Sharon Olds with Krista Tippe...

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Episode: [Unedited] Sharon Olds with Krista Tippett

It is a collection of poems about the end of a long marriage, and Sharon Olds won the Pulitzer Prize for it in 2013. It was also the recipient of the T.S. Eliot Prize.

"

You won the Pulitzer for Stag's Leap, which was about the end of your marriage.

I wrote an awful lot of poems in the maybe four years in which this book was written, most of them in the first year.

Known to be Left. If I pass a mirror, I turn away. I do not want to look at her and she does not want to be seen.

Episode: Sharon Olds — Odes to the *****

It received the Pulitzer Prize and was written over a period of several years during the end of her long marriage. It was described as a fulsome depiction of the experience from many different perspectives.

"

She won the Pulitzer Prize for her collection Stag's Leap about walking through the end of a marriage

I wrote an awful lot of poems in the maybe four years in which this book was written, most of them in the first year.

She won the Pulitzer Prize for her 2012 collection Stag's Leap, which she wrote over a period of several years through the end of her long marriage.

Odes to Common Things, Bilingual Edition Cover

Pablo Neruda

Odes to Common Things, Bilingual Edition

This book, published in 2016, is a collection of odes that pay homage to the human body and experience. It contains poems with words considered unsuitable for public radio.

"

Your newest book, your 2016 book is Odes and this is the one that has lots of words in it that we can't say on public radio

— Episode: [Unedited] Sharon Olds with Krista Tippe...

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Episode: [Unedited] Sharon Olds with Krista Tippett

This book, published in 2016, is a collection of odes that pay homage to the human body and experience. It contains poems with words considered unsuitable for public radio.

"

Your newest book, your 2016 book is Odes and this is the one that has lots of words in it that we can't say on public radio

It includes the ode to the hymen, ode to the clitoris, ode to the penis, ode to the condom, ode to the tampon, lots of others.

I'm not going to ask you to read the ode to the penis because most of it would get, but I'm going to read a little bit of it because it's fabulous.

I have realized that this book came about as a book of odes. I was traveling with my then boyfriend and a book of Neruda's just about fell off a shelf in an old used bookstore, and it fell on him.

Episode: Sharon Olds — Odes to the *****

This recent book pays homage to the human body and experience. It includes poems with explicit language about sexuality and the female body.

"

Her most recent book, Odes, pays homage to aspects of the human body and experience that get bleeped out on public radio to follow FCC rules, including ode to the clicks, ode to the and ode to the tampon.

Your newest book, your 2016 book is Odes, and this is the one that has lots of words in it that we can't say on public radio, and I'm going to say a few of them right here, and we have to, we'll probably have to cut it out. It includes the ode to the hymen, ode to the clitoris, ode to the penis, ode to the condom, ode to the tampon, lots of others, ode of withered cleavage, celibates, ode to balls.

And I pulled out a few... I wonder if you might want to read the Unmatching Legs, Ode? Because I think that also is part of the story of where you are and with your dancing and just that piece of drama in your life right now as your life is progressing.

I have realized that this book came about as a book of odes. I was traveling with my then boyfriend, and a book of Neruda's just about fell off a shelf in an old used bookstore. And it fell on him, and he said, here are poems. This is a book of poems.

THE DEAD & THE LIVING Cover

Sharon Olds

THE DEAD & THE LIVING

Published in 1984, this book contains poems about the public and private aspects of death and life. It includes poems about the Tulsa race riots, China, and other global events. It also contains poems about the author's children.

"

So in this book as well, because it's the dead and the living, and I think you pick up on something that also runs all the way through your work, which is the love that we have for our children and th...

— Episode: [Unedited] Sharon Olds with Krista Tippe...

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Episode: [Unedited] Sharon Olds with Krista Tippett

Published in 1984, this book contains poems about the public and private aspects of death and life. It includes poems about the Tulsa race riots, China, and other global events. It also contains poems about the author's children.

"

So in this book as well, because it's the dead and the living, and I think you pick up on something that also runs all the way through your work, which is the love that we have for our children and the intimacy, that particular intimacy is there.

And when I look at The Dead and the Living, which I think was one of the books that made your name as a poet,

Exclusive for my daughter. I lie on the beach watching you as you lie on the beach, memorizing you against the time when you will not be with me.

Episode: Sharon Olds — Odes to the *****

This book explores themes of love for children and the intimacy of motherhood. It contains a poem about the speaker's memorization of her daughter's body.

"

So this book came out in 84. So the poem would have been written maybe two years before then. So maybe 10 years old, 12 years old.

Exclusive for my daughter. I lie on the beach watching you as you lie on the beach, memorizing you against the time when you will not be with me. Your empurpled lips swollen in the sun and smooth as the inner lips of a shell. Your biscuit gold skin glazed and faintly pitted like the surface of a biscuit. The serious knotted twine of your hair. I have loved you instead of anyone else, loved you as a way of loving no one else. Every separate grain of your body building the god as you were built within me, a sealed world. What if from your lips I had learned the love of other lips? From your starred gummed lashes, the love of other lashes. From your shut quivering eyes, the love of other eyes. From your body, the bodies. From your life, the lives. Today I see it is there to be learned from you to love what I do not own.

in this book as well, because it's the dead and the living, and I think you pick up on something that also runs all the way through your work, which is the love that we have for our children, and the intimacy, that particular intimacy is there.

Open City: A Novel Cover

Teju Cole

Open City

A Novel

This novel was mentioned for its unique structure, starting "in medias res" and beginning in the middle of a story, which was discussed by the author.

"

My novel Open City begins, and so when I began to go on evening walks last fall, I found Morningside Heights an easy place from which to set out into the city.

— Episode: [Unedited] Teju Cole with Krista Tippett

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Episode: [Unedited] Teju Cole with Krista Tippett

This novel was mentioned for its unique structure, starting "in medias res" and beginning in the middle of a story, which was discussed by the author.

"

My novel Open City begins, and so when I began to go on evening walks last fall, I found Morningside Heights an easy place from which to set out into the city.

Figuring Cover

Maria Popova

Figuring

It was described as a magnificent first book, revisiting a conversation on what it means to lead a good life intellectually, creatively, and spiritually. The author's intellectual confidence and generosity were noted as key qualities.

"

She's written a magnificent first book, Figuring.

— Episode: Maria Popova — Cartographer of Meaning i...

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Episode: Maria Popova — Cartographer of Meaning in a Digita...

It was described as a magnificent first book, revisiting a conversation on what it means to lead a good life intellectually, creatively, and spiritually. The author's intellectual confidence and generosity were noted as key qualities.

"

She's written a magnificent first book, Figuring.

Her new book just out this week is titled Figuring.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.