The experiment: who is the one writer or blogger whose new material you make a point to go check out?
The motivation: a two-part hunch–
a) that people’s favorite writers are not necessarily the most well-known
b) that a lot of people actually don’t know who their favorite writer is
The distribution:
The full list (in order of frequency) + sample writing:
- Bill Simmons, sportswriter @ Grantland – God Loves Cleveland
- Tim Ferriss, entrepreneur & life hacker – Smash Fear, Learn Anything
- Seth Godin, entrepreneur – The Tribes We Lead
- James Altucher, investor & entrepreneur – The Only Rules You Need to Know
- Ta Nehisi Coates, culture writer @ The Atlantic – The Case for Reparations
- Zach Lowe, sportswriter @ Grantland – In Search of the Elusive Makeup Call
- Joel Stein, freelance writer – The New Army Recruiting Pamphlet
- Paul Graham, investor & entrepreneur – Do Things That Don’t Scale
- Rembert Browne, culture writer @ Grantland – Taylor Swift, New York?
- Jason Silva, host of NatGeo’s BrainGames – The World in a Sentence
- John Siracusa, software developer & blogger – Creativity, Inc.
- J Kenji Lopez Alt, culinary director @ Serious Eats – The Food Lab: Poached Eggs
- Atul Gawande, surgeon & writer – The Best Possible Day
- Nicholas Kristof, columnist @ NYTimes – American Dream Leaving America
- Jhumpa Lahiri, novelist – Brotherly Love
- Ben Wellington, statistician & blogger – Affordable Housing w/o Representation
- Cass Sunstein, professor @ Harvard Law – “Nudge” & Decision-Making
- Roman Mars, host of radio show 99% Invisible – Straight Line, Godless Line
- Pepto von Bismol, blogger/writer – Breaking News
- Brandon Sanderson, novelist – Centrifugal
- Alastair Campbell, journalist & former political aide – Robin Williams Tragedy
- Megan Smith & Kara Parker, education bloggers – Creative Language Class
- Ji Kim/Luxirare, fashion blogger – Ideas Cannot Be Imprisoned
- Chris Ballas, blogger @ The Last Psychiatrist – Who Bullies the Bullies?
- Shane Snow, entrepreneur & journalist – The Art of Strategic Laziness
- Tina Roth Eisenberg, designer – Clever Bike Rack
- Randall Munroe, former NASA roboticist, founder of xkcd – Physical Salary
- James Clear, entrepreneur – The Theory of Cumulative Stress
- Tim Urban, founder of WaitButWhy – Why You Secretly Hate Cool Bars
- Samantha Sharf, writer @ Forbes, Penn alum!! – The Recession Generation
- Penelope Trunk, entrepreneur – What Type of Woman Should Freeze Her Eggs?
- Leo Babauta, Zen entrepreneur – The Empty Container
- Adam Bryant, columnist @ NYTimes – Scratching the Itch to Create
- P. L. Thomas, educator – My (Often Painful) Online Education
- Arts and Letters Daily, Chronicle of Higher Education – The Cult of Speed
- Tadas Viskanta, founder of Abnormal Returns – Daily Rundown of the Market
- Russell Brand, actor – Bare Minimum Wage
- George Will, columnist @ WashPo – The Nastiest Political Tactic This Year
- Ezra Klein, E-i-C of Vox – Washington Is Returning to Normal. And It Sucks.
- Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabbarok, economists/founders @ Marginal Revolution – The East 25 Years After Communism
- Sarah Kliff, senior editor @ Vox – The Secret History of Birth Control Pills
- Jon Youshaei, Googler, writer @ Forbes, Penn alum!! – Succeed w/o Being a Workaholic
- Venkatesh Rao, philosopher & decision theorist – How to Fall off the Wagon
The categories (terribly drawn):
The “Self”:
Tim Ferriss
Seth Godin
James Altucher
James Clear
Tim Urban
Penelope Trunk
Leo Babauta
Jon Youshaei
Venkatesh Rao
Culture/Society:
Ta Nehisi Coates
Atul Gawande
Rembert Browne
J Kenji Lopez Alt
Jhumpa Lahiri
Ben Wellington
Pepto von Bismol
Ji Kim/Luxirare
Chris Ballas
Randall Munroe
Arts & Letters Daily
Policy/Business:
Cass Sunstein
Alastair Campbell
P.L. Thomas
Tadas Viskanta
Samantha Sharf
Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabbarok
George Will
Ezra Klein
Sarah Kliff
Tech/Design:
Paul Graham
Jason Silva
John Siracusa
Shane Snow
Roman Mars
Tina Roth Eisenberg
General Opinion:
Joel Stein
Nicholas Kristof
Adam Bryant
Russell Brand
Other:
Bill Simmons
Zach Lowe
Megan Smith & Kara Parker
Brandon Sanderson
** if you’ve got better articles to include for authors, or better categories, or if you want to do this experiment at a bigger scale, hit me up! ammar.mian08@gmail.com
ammar mian 