

Curiosity Chronicle
Sahil Bloom
Delivering curiosity-inducing content every single week.
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Episodes
Mentioned books

35 snips
Mar 27, 2026 • 5min
The 85% Rule: A Secret of the World’s Best
A deep dive into the 85% Rule and why relaxed, steady effort often beats all-out strain. Stories from athletics and Zen illustrate how reversed effort can backfire. Everyday examples show where overexertion harms creativity, sleep, and relationships. Practical tips for sustainable performance and building long-term momentum round out the conversation.

30 snips
Mar 25, 2026 • 12min
The Deathbed Regret List
A narrator shares the Alfred Nobel obituary story that sparks a thought experiment about life choices. He walks listeners through a deathbed regret list and how to reverse engineer actions to avoid those regrets. Topics include prioritizing financial security, protecting childhood magic years, investing in relationships, choosing courageous leaps, and guarding presence against phone addiction.

16 snips
Mar 20, 2026 • 6min
The Empty Cup Mindset
A dramatic 19th century medical mystery about why handwashing cut maternal deaths. A story of evidence clashing with entrenched beliefs and the social cost of being right. A Zen parable about emptying your mind to learn. Practical questions to test whether your views can change.

12 snips
Mar 18, 2026 • 14min
Dear Parker: A Letter to a 17-Year-Old Reader
A thoughtful reply to a 17-year-old's million-dollar dream and how to reframe goals into a lasting wealth machine. Practical habits to build agency like early mornings and daily workouts. A roadmap for mapping, stacking, and scaling marketable skills. Advice on skills-first networking and the core money levers: income, expenses, and investments.

17 snips
Mar 13, 2026 • 4min
The Motivation Triangle: The Science of Progress
A look at a classic rat experiment and its surprising lessons about hope and survival. Introduction of the Motivation Triangle framework: benefit, behavior, and the often-overlooked power of belief. A contrast between limiting and liberating beliefs with personal examples. Practical prompts for auditing your core beliefs to reshape progress.

4 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 12min
How to Break Your Phone Addiction (3 Painfully Simple Steps)
A personal confession about a phone addiction and a 30-day intervention plan. Concrete results like huge screen-time drops and reclaimed hours. Stories about improved family presence and deeper work focus. Three practical tactics: grayscale, no-phone zones, and adding friction to reduce checks.

27 snips
Mar 6, 2026 • 10min
AI Negativity Bias: Why You Only Hear About AI Doom
A look at why dire AI headlines spread so fast and how negative words drive clicks. Discussion of the self-reinforcing doom cycle and how a skewed media diet warps perception. Exploration of balancing pessimism and optimism while adapting to technological change. Practical tips for diversifying what you read and holding two opposing ideas at once.

98 snips
Mar 4, 2026 • 11min
The Most Powerful Paradoxes of Life
A whirlwind tour of 25 striking life paradoxes that challenge simple thinking. Short lessons cover growth that hides sudden leaps, how effort makes things feel effortless, and why early wins can breed danger. Other highlights explore boredom as a creative spark, the power of listening over speaking, and why embracing contradiction reveals deeper truths.

15 snips
Feb 27, 2026 • 6min
The Paradox of Effort
A look at sprezzatura and why extraordinary effort often appears effortless. A Picasso anecdote shows how years of hidden work enable quick mastery. The four-stage hierarchy of competence is unpacked. The science of myelin explains how practice becomes automatic. A call to appreciate the unseen labor behind jaw-dropping performances.

21 snips
Feb 25, 2026 • 10min
The Anti-To-Do List: A Major Life Hack
They explore the inversion principle from math and life, turning problems around to find easier paths. The anti-to-do list idea is introduced as a via negativa tool with rules for structure and placement. Practical examples cover avoiding distractions, unhelpful habits, and simulation instead of real work. A quick three-step method shows how to create your own anti-to-do list.


