Michael Lewis — Inside the Mind of the Iconic Writer (#427) | Ferriss Show notes
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[08:06] A story about the first time I was (kindly) rejected by Michael Lewis.
[09:35] How handing in a book report almost got Michael kicked out of middle school.
[12:39] What Michael’s thesis advisor at Princeton thought about his writing as an undergrad.
[16:38] How did Michael develop the ability to write without studying it directly?
[23:24] What was it about writing that got Michael hooked enough to keep submitting content to various publications even when he’d get more rejections than acceptance?
[25:46] Was it a hard decision for Michael to give up a high-paying job at Salomon Brothers to gamble on a career as a first-time author in 1989?
[33:57] Unintended consequences: Michael wrote Liar’s Poker as a cautionary tale with humorous overtones, but a lot of young people entering the workforce read it as a how-to book.
[36:45] In his own life, how does Michael think about ambition? By what metric does he measure success?
[41:00] Maximizing self-satisfaction, optimizing the writing process, and learning to sing.
[45:45] When you’re a developing writer, there’s no underestimating the value of having an honest, earnest editor on your side who isn’t afraid to give you impolite feedback — whether it’s Michael Kinsley or John McPhee.
[53:20] On the merits of productive laziness.
[58:37] One good question Michael asks himself to help determine if a potentially worthwhile project should proceed.
[1:00:38] An example of how feeling an obligation to the material resulted in a project that grew from an idea for a few pages in a magazine about baseball to a book about the way markets value people: Moneyball.
[1:06:37] How has Michael self-consciously cultivated the narrative that he’s “one of the happiest people” anybody knows (including fellow writer Walter Isaacson), and how does this direct his interactions with others?
[1:11:53] Since Michael’s perpetually cheerful disposition disarms conversations that invite complaints before they even begin, what conversational prompts emerge instead?
[1:14:15] Who are Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky — the subjects of Michael’s book The Undoing Project — and what has he taken away from studying their somewhat tempestuous relationship?
[1:21:01] Among the small group of friends with whom Michael shares his work in progress, how does he phrase his requests for feedback?
[1:24:48] Michael gives us a sneak peek of what we can expect from the upcoming episode of his Against the Rules podcast in which he interviews The Inner Game of Tennis author Timothy Gallwey and delves into why the coaching methods outlined there can be applied across disciplines — from playing tuba to hitting a softball.
[1:33:39] Now that he’s dipped his toes in the waters of podcasting, are we going to see a decrease in Michael’s literary output?
[1:38:56] What does Michael’s exercise regimen look like? How does pandemic exercise differ from non-pandemic exercise?
[1:44:08] Books Michael has gifted most.
[1:49:05] What would Michael’s billboard say?
[1:51:07] Parting thoughts.
