The book this episode covers
The River of Doubt
Candice Millard · Reading rank 120 · in 4 other episodes
David calls the book absolutely fantastic immediately after finishing it.
Dedicated episode · Explicit praise · Founder theme
Books David recommends along the way
The Fish That Ate the Whale
Rich Cohen · Reading rank 2 · in 38 other episodes
David uses Zemurray's belief in physical labor as a parallel founder theme to Roosevelt's story.
Cross-episode reference · Founder theme
Liftoff
Eric Berger · Reading rank 53 · in 11 other episodes
David returns to Liftoff's lesson that successful companies become effective problem-solving machines and applies it to the obstacles in Roosevelt's expedition.
Cross-episode reference · Founder theme
The Dao of Capital
Mark Spitznagel · Reading rank 58 · in 9 other episodes
David says he revisited the conifer chapter a few days earlier and has listened to it dozens of times.
Cross-episode reference · Founder theme · Reread language
Endurance
Alfred Lansing · Reading rank 94 · in 7 other episodes
David calls Endurance a fantastic book widely read by entrepreneurs.
Cross-episode reference · Explicit praise · Founder theme
Mornings on Horseback
David McCullough · Reading rank 189 · in 3 other episodes
Cross-episode reference
Also mentioned
The Big Rich
Bryan Burrough · Reading rank 100 · in 6 other episodes
David uses Big Rich wildcatters as an example of finding overlooked resources and reselling them.
Cross-episode reference · Founder theme
The Big Score
Jacquie McNish · Reading rank 311 · in 3 other episodes
David uses Robert Friedland's mining-securities story from The Big Score as another example of exploiting an overlooked opportunity.
Cross-episode reference · Founder theme
The Incas
Gordon F. McEwan · Reading rank 431 · in 1 other episode
David names Gordon McEwan's The Incas: New Perspectives and reads its account of the Incas building a great imperial state without wheels, draft animals, hard metals, or writing to argue that there is always another way to solve a problem.
Founder theme
Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela · Reading rank 472
David quotes Mandela's account of rigorous exercise as an outlet for tension and stress, then uses it to reinforce the same mind-body pattern in Theodore Roosevelt's life.
Founder theme
Each note is a short paraphrase of why David brings the book up. Book pages show every piece of evidence and its review status. How ranking works