The Secret Behind 20 Years of Daily Writing (Maria Popova Interview)

Maria Popova writes one of the internet's best personal blogs. Originally called "Brain Pickings", it is now known as "The Marginalian". She has published more than 6 million pages of writing there, and it has become such a treasure that the Library of Congress recognized its value and made it part of their permanent archive. This conversation, however, explores much more. It delves into how to live and how to see, and how to turn to books for wisdom when confused and comfort when suffering. How can we read and learn to improve our lives? That is the driving question behind our discussion. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 Why writers should visit archives 00:04:39 What diaries reveal 00:09:41 Letters vs diaries 00:11:35 Presence over productivity 00:17:18 Why change the blog's name 00:18:30 How language shapes thought 00:19:48 Why Maria started reading poetry 00:36:46 Why college failed her 00:39:58 Reading to survive 00:41:41 Why epiphanies don't stick 00:43:57 Thoughts on famous quotes 00:47:32 Why AI can never make art 00:53:10 Stop calling it content About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... YouTube:    / @davidperellchannel   Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSbo... X: https://x.com/david_perell