Author David Epstein on Sports Gene, Curiosity, Self-Discovery

This week’s conversation is with David Epstein. David is author of the New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene. He is a science writer and investigative reporter at ProPublica, and before that was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he authored or co-authored a number of the magazine’s most highprofile pieces. Despite his success as a writer, David didn’t always know that was what he was meant to do. Prior to becoming a science writer, David was an 800-meter runner and University record holder at Columbia University, where he studied geology and astronomy. He lived and worked both on a seismic research vessel in the Pacific Ocean as well as in the Arctic as a science researcher. The trigger for David becoming an investigative reporter was the sudden collapse and death of a friend and teammate during a track competition. David was compelled to get to the bottom of what really happened that day and it led him on a much deeper journey: to understand the relationship between sport and gene. This conversation is about curiosity. It’s about having the courage to seek the truth. It’s about the commitment to share the truth with sensitivity. We get into the topic of self-discovery and how valuable “having space” can be when it comes to innovating and pushing boundaries. We learn about his writing process and how to tell a compelling story. David’s work ran contradictory to some of the findings of both Malcolm Gladwell and previous Finding Mastery guest, Dr. Anders Ericsson (episode #045 — brilliant), so this is something I was very curious to learn more about. We also get into the factors that are tied to race, and gender affecting performance in sport. I found this conversation to be deeply thought provoking and applicable to all, no matter your craft or interests. I hope this inspires you to continue down your path of self-discovery.