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1 week ago | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
Last month I had the honor and pleasure of giving the commencement address at Drew University. Michael Lewis, one of the great nonfiction writers of a generation (Moneyball, The Blind Side, etc.), delivered the Drew commencement address fifteen years ago. I watched a clip of Michael’s address, and his main point was that people shouldn’t be so quick to define what they’ll do in life.
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3 weeks ago | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
Last week, I watched a clip of Vice President Vance downplaying concerns about scientific “brain drain.” His remarks came after the administration abruptly paused new federal research grant awards and student visa interviews.
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1 month ago | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
This post was going to be a short note saying that I might not post for a bit. Instead, I figured it would be more interesting to write about what, precisely, has me so busy: fact-checking. My new book is in finished-enough form that I hired someone to torture me on a daily basis by combing the manuscript for errors. So far the necessary changes have been numerous but blessedly small. Still, they take up an enormous amount of time.
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2 months ago | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
Last month, I had the pleasure of joining Forrest Hanson on “Being Well,” a mental health-focused podcast that he often co-hosts with his father, psychologist Rick Hanson. At one point, we discussed how professionals who specialize very narrowly can sometimes become rigid and stop improving. One manifestation of this is the so-called Einstellung effect, in which a problem solver reflexively relies on familiar methods — even when they no longer work, or better ones are available.
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2 months ago | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
The book Abundance, by journalists Ezra Klein (New York Times) and Derek Thompson (The Atlantic), came out last month — and during the week that followed, not a day passed without a friend or acquaintance bringing it up. Some praised it, others had critiques, but every conversation was interesting. If Helen of Troy was “the face that launched a thousand ships,” Abundance may be a book that launches a thousand policy debates.
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Mar 25, 2025 | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
Is the drive to explore new places and ideas embedded in human biology? In a rapidly changing work world, should we all be exploring a little more? Can trying new things actually be good for your health? These are the kinds of questions at the heart of a new book, The Explorer’s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map, out today. The author, Alex Hutchinson, is one of the best science writers working today.
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Mar 18, 2025 | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
What do you think of when you hear the word “warmup”? If you’re like me, probably athletes limbering up before competition. But perhaps we should think of it more broadly. Last week, I read an intriguing study that applied the idea of a warmup in less obvious arena: pediatric anesthesia.
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Feb 25, 2025 | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
The most memorable athletic feat I’ve ever seen in person took place at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. While warming up for the women’s individual sprint, Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdič — who was projected to win several medals at those Games — slid off course and fell ten feet into a frozen creek bed. Her chest slammed into a rock and the impact snapped her ski poles like toothpicks and splintered the tip of one of her skis.
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Feb 4, 2025 | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
In 2015, I worked with the BBC on a documentary that examined illicit medical practices at the Nike Oregon Project, then the most famous and well-funded distance-running group in the world, led by marathon legend Alberto Salazar. Salazar was subsequently banned, and the Oregon Project dissolved. One of the sources for that film was a former Oregon Project assistant coach named Steve Magness.
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Jan 9, 2025 | 
davidepstein.substack.com | David Epstein
A few years ago, I wrote a New Year’s post about the “fresh start effect,” a finding in psychology research that a sense of some new beginning (like a new year) helps people make behavioral changes. After that post, economist and journalist Tim Harford, whose work I’ve long admired (he is the host of the wonderful “Cautionary Tales” podcast), wrote me a note, the essence of which was: I’m not so sure about that.