Deep Work

This book by Cal Newport has been genuinely recommended 5 times across 2 different shows: Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman. The people who vouched for it on air: Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman. It comes up in conversations about addiction & recovery, anxiety & stress, brain health, consciousness, depression & mood. The earliest recommendation we indexed is from Nov 2020 and the most recent from May 2024. Every quote below is verbatim, attributed, and linked to the exact second it was said. Sourced expert opinion, not medical advice.

One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy.

• “I'm very much with kort on this he wrote deep work and a lot of other amazing books he talks about task switching as a sort of the thing that really destroys productivity”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “he wrote deep work and a lot of other amazing books”
  Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · May 202402:52:58

  Said during "Charan Ranganath: Human Memory, Imagination, Deja Vu, and False Memories | Lex Fridman Podcast #430". The episode features Charan Ranganath: A psychologist and neuroscientist at UC Davis specializing in human memory, where he runs a lab using fMRI and other methods to study how the brain encodes and retrieves events. He is the author of 'Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold On to What Matters.'. Neuroscientist Charan Ranganath explains how human memory works as a reconstructive, predictive system shaping identity, imagination, false memories, and our sense of time.

• “I'm a big fan of Cal Newport who wrote the book "Deep work." He's also written an excellent book, "A world without Email."”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “I'm a big fan of Cal Newport”
  Andrew Huberman · Huberman Lab · Sep 202102:12:28

  Said during "ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus". The episode features Andrew Huberman: Professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast. This is a solo episode with no guest. Huberman explains the dopamine biology of ADHD and shares drug, diet, supplement, and behavioral tools anyone can use to sharpen focus.

• “i'm a big fan of uh cal newport his ideas of deep work that uh i spend uh with few exceptions i try to spend the first two hours”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “i'm a big fan of uh cal newport his ideas of deep work”
  Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · May 202100:29:42

  Said during "Bryan Johnson: Kernel Brain-Computer Interfaces | Lex Fridman Podcast #186". The episode features Bryan Johnson: Founder of Kernel, which builds non-invasive brain-measuring devices (Flow and Flux). Previously founded the payments company Braintree, which acquired Venmo and was itself acquired by PayPal/eBay. Kernel founder Bryan Johnson makes the case for non-invasively quantifying the brain to engineer better health, cognition, and human futures.

• “I'm a big fan of Cal Newport. He wrote the book Deep Work. He I believe he was the one who said context switching is terrible for the brain”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “I'm a big fan of Cal Newport”
  Andrew Huberman · Huberman Lab · Mar 202101:00:46

  Said during "How to Increase Motivation & Drive". The episode features Andrew Huberman: Professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab podcast, where he translates neuroscience into practical, science-based tools. Andrew Huberman explains the neuroscience of dopamine, the hidden pleasure-pain balance, and how to schedule rewards to stay motivated long-term.

• “this guy named Cal Newport wrote a book about deep work oh yeah I love that book yeah he's great”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “I love that book”
  Andrew Huberman · Lex Fridman Podcast · Nov 202000:26:09

  Said during "Andrew Huberman: Neuroscience of Optimal Performance | Lex Fridman Podcast #139". The episode features Andrew Huberman: Neuroscientist at Stanford studying how the brain changes through experience and how to repair damaged brain circuits. Runs the Huberman Lab and is known for public science education. Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman breaks down fear, optimal performance, and how the brain constructs reality from raw neural firing.