New to Farnam Street? Start Here
Welcome!
If you’re like most of our readers, you’re looking for an edge — a reliable way to learn and pick up new skills more quickly, to see opportunities and obstacles that others don’t, and avoid costly blunders that set you back in years or dollars.
We help give you that edge by “Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out.” That’s our strapline and the north star that guides everything we do.
In a world obsessed with moving fast and adopting the next shiny new thing, we take a different approach. We comb through the chaff to find the timeless and enduring truths that compound — meaning you need to pivot less and won’t have to scramble to keep up.
The ideas you’ll discover through Farnam Street (or FS) can be applied to many areas of your life; work, leadership, relationships, parenting, and more. No matter where you are starting from, we’ll give you the tools to make better decisions, avoid regrets, and close the gap between where you are and what’s possible.
This page will show you around. You’ll get a tour of everything we do at Farnam Street as well as some of our very best resources to get you started.
Where would you like to start?
Ok, let’s dig in.
What We Do
Our weekly newsletter, Brain Food, offers quick and useful multidisciplinary wisdom. Our articles explore timeless ideas and people. Our podcast, the Knowledge Project, offers deep and nuanced conversations. And our books offer a deeper exploration of ideas that never expire.
Every Sunday we send out our newsletter to stimulate the minds of over 300k people. We share a selection of thought-provoking material, including links to articles and podcasts, book recommendations, and more. Feed your brain and enrich your life with the best of human thought.
If you haven’t yet, give it a try and see what you’ve been missing.
We write about enduring topics like making better decisions, accelerating learning and more. You’ll also find articles explaining how to use mental models, how to read better, and finding your purpose.
Since we focus on timeless wisdom, you don’t have to read anything when it comes out. Articles from 2014 are just as useful and relevant as the one we wrote last week.
Ready to explore? Here are some popular articles:
- The Feynman Technique: The Best Way to Learn Anything
- The Difference Between Amateurs and Professionals
- The Best Summary of How to Win Friends and Influence People
- The Munger Operating System: How to Live a Life That Really Works
- Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use To Outperform
- How to Remember What You Read
- The Buffett Formula: Going to Bed Smarter Than When You Woke Up
Scroll the whole archive, peruse some random posts, or explore categories.
Nuanced conversations that are both timely and timeless. Shane Parrish interviews guests ranging from Nobel Prize winners and NYT bestselling authors to CEOs and Hollywood film producers.
Apple selected The Knowledge Project as one of their ‘Best Podcasts of 2019’ and Wired Magazine ranked it as #1 best podcast for enquiring minds.
Learn the lessons picked up from years of experience and hear the tactics that took them to the tops of their fields. The Knowledge Project is like the mentor you’ve always dreamed of having in work and life.
Get started with some of our most popular episodes:
- #18 Naval Ravikant: The Angel Philosopher
- #62 Cracking the Code of Love with Dr. Sue Johnson
- #68 Putting Your Intuition on Ice with Daniel Kahneman
- #57 Decoding Difficult Conversations with Sheila Heen
- #67 Keeping the Flywheel in Motion with Jim Collins
- #60 Leading Above the Line with Jim Dethmer
Subscribe right now on Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Google Podcasts
The Learning Community is a place to meet new people, learn about inspiring books, get feedback on your ideas, hear cutting-edge news, and develop your thinking. As a member, you’ll gain access to:
- AMAs (Ask Me Anything) – Get your burning questions answered by experts, with past guests including James Clear, Ryan Holiday, Mark Manson, and Josh Kaufman.
- Knowledge Library – A treasure trove of exclusive original resources, updated regularly, ranging from curated advice to in-depth guides.
- Online Courses – Members get free access to 3 of our most popular online courses; The Art of Reading, Productivity That Gets Results, and The Art of Focus.
- Podcast Transcripts – Our members love printing these for reference and note-taking.
- The Virtual Reading Group – Join guided read-alongs of specially selected books to help you go deeper and gain extra insights.
- Meetups – Meet like-minded people in person at meetups all around the world.
And we’re always adding more! Take your learning to the next level here.
Books
The more angles from which you can view a problem, the clearer the solution becomes. That’s what The Great Mental Models book series aims to provide. By holding the core ideas of all the major disciplines in your mind, you can make connections that others can’t see.
We’re publishing four reference books covering the most useful mental models found in many different fields of study.
Volume 1, The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts. The Instant Wall-Street Journal bestseller. This volume details nine of the most versatile, all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making, productivity, and how clearly you see the world. You will discover key concepts that have wide applicability and how to focus your efforts so you can harness them to your advantage, rather than fight with them or worse yet— ignore them.
Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology The second volume of the popular Great Mental Models series. Discover how the core ideas of biology, physics and chemistry can improve your communication, increase your productivity, help you think more clearly, and eliminate stupid mistakes.
Why the Name Farnam Street
Early inspiration for Farnam Street emanated from the ideas of billionaire investor Warren Buffett and his business partner Charlie Munger. Both write and speak widely about mental models and interdisciplinary thinking. Our name is a homage to the pair; the address of their business, Berkshire Hathaway, is 3555 Farnam Street.
Who We Are and Where to Find Us
Founded and led by Shane Parrish, Farnam Street is run by a small team. You can find us on Twitter and Instagram.