Episode Date August 8, 2023
Featured Guest Madeleine Dore
Featured Book "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Episode Summary

Madeleine Dore reading from Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, and discussing unlearning the ‘rules’ of life.

Today, we’re pulling one of our best episodes from the vaults, featuring the brilliant Madeleine Dore.

Recommend this show by sharing the link: pod.link/2Pages

I still remember reading my first Nicholson Baker book, The Mezzanine. This extraordinary book slows down the pace of life to one where all the details are able to be noticed. For someone like me–a little bit in my head and moving too fast–reading the book resembles bullet time from The Matrix movies, only with the detritus of everyday living zipping past, instead.

Madeleine Dore reminds me of myself; both a great author and a great asker of questions, though they differ a bit from mine. She’s made a career out of asking obvious questions to important people, with all of the answers she’s received ending up in her best-selling book I Didn’t Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt.

Madeleine reads two pages from ‘Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life,’ by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. [reading begins at 12:12]

Hear us discuss:

  • Making more generous assumptions. [16:24]
  • The relationship between playfulness and routine. [17:15]
  • Knowing what’s essential vs transitory about yourself: “It takes a long time to become who you are.” [20:12]
  • “Things are just experiments and projects—we’re not tied to anything forever.” [25:28]
  • The complexity of awaiting your next project. [26:35]

Join our free membership site, The Duke Humfrey’s, and get access to full transcripts, past episodes, exclusive downloads and more. You’ll find it all at www.MBS.works/podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher 

Resources:

Madeleine Dore | Website | I Didn’t Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt

Amy Krouse Rosenthal | Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

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Michael Bungay Stanier

Michael Bungay Stanier

I'm the author of five books that have collectively sold more than a million copies. I'm the founder of Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations move from advice-driven to curiosity-led. I'm the host of the *2 Pages with MBS* podcast.

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