She’s a botanist, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass. In her new book she criticizes the market economy — but she and Steve find a surprising amount of common ground.

• SOURCES:
  • Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

• RESOURCES:
  • The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024).
  • Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2015).
  • Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2003).
  • "The Deadweight Loss of Christmas," by Joel Waldfogel (The American Economic Review, 1993).
  • "Reproductive Ecology of Tetraphis pellucida. I. Population Density and Reproductive Mode," by Robin Wall Kimmerer (The Bryologist, 1991).

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Deadliest Disease in Human History," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2025).
  • "How Smart Is a Forest?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
  • "Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done." by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).

Palliative physician B.J. Miller asks: Is there a better way to think about dying? And can death be beautiful?

• SOURCES:
  • B.J. Miller, palliative-care physician and President at Mettle Health.

• RESOURCES:
  • A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death, by Shoshana Berger and B.J. Miller and (2019).
  • “After A Freak Accident, A Doctor Finds Insight Into ‘Living Life And Facing Death,'” by Fresh Air (W.Y.P.R., 2019).
  • “Dying In A Hospital Means More Procedures, Tests And Costs,” by Alison Kodjak (W.Y.P.R., 2016).
  • “The Final Year: Visualizing End Of Life,” by Arcadia (2016).
  • “What Really Matters at the End of Life,” by B.J. Miller (TED, 2015).
  • “The Flexner Report ― 100 Years Later,” by Thomas P. Duffy (Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 2011).
  • “My Near Death Panel Experience,” by Earl Blumenauer (The New York Times, 2009).
  • The Center for Dying and Living.

• EXTRAS:
  • “Max Tegmark on Why Superhuman Artificial Intelligence Won’t be Our Slave (Part 2),” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “Max Tegmark on Why Treating Humanity Like a Child Will Save Us All,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “Amanda & Lily Levitt Share What It’s Like to be Steve’s Daughters,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “Edward Glaeser Explains Why Some Cities Thrive While Others Fade Away,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “Sendhil Mullainathan Explains How to Generate an Idea a Minute (Part 2),” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “Sendhil Mullainathan Thinks Messing Around Is the Best Use of Your Time,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “How Does Facing Death Change Your Life?” by No Stupid Questions (2021).
  • “How to Be Better at Death,” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).

Historian Tom Holland narrowly escaped a career writing vampire novels to become the co-host of the wildly popular podcast The Rest Is History. At Steve’s request, he compares President Trump and Julius Caesar and explains why the culture wars are arguments about Christian theology.

• SOURCES:
  • Tom Holland, historian and host of The Rest is History.

• RESOURCES:
  • Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, by Tom Holland (2019).
  • Rubicon, by Tom Holland (2005).

• EXTRAS:
  • Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence, by Jens Ludwig (2025).
  • "A Solution to America’s Gun Problem," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2025).
  • "Richard Dawkins on God, Genes, and Murderous Baby Cuckoos," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).