To guide you on the path of positivity in the new year, four books provide support, affirmation and inspiration. Whether inspiring parents to join their children in trying new activities, encouraging group learning experiences or explaining how a neurobiologist might benefit from studying the tango, Vanderbilt maintains an upbeat and optimistic tone, like an encouraging friend.

There may be instructional videos galore on YouTube, he argues, but it’s still better to learn with a class and a teacher.

He’s also subtly radical in his unabashed rejection of futurism. In this episode of the podcast, I ask best selling author Tom Vanderbilt about his new book Beginners and why engaging in the childhood joy of learning is. As he chronicles his own experiences of studying how to sing, surf, draw, weld and juggle, he encourages listeners to embrace a “beginner’s mind” that facilitates lifelong learning. Tom Vanderbilt’s book explores how to learn completely new skills, how to change our world even after we’re supposed to be done with schooling. He takes listeners on an exploratory tour through infant psychology, educational theory and cognitive science. Vanderbilt, who reads his own book, acknowledges that adults are rarely comfortable learning new skills. In Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning (7.5 hours), author Tom Vanderbilt invites us to work through our fears and embrace the joy of learning something new. The larger idea is that by being able to look at the world anew. Acquiring a new skill is often daunting, and as an adult it can be downright embarrassing to struggle with an unfamiliar process. Vanderbilt: Beginner’s mind is a concept, from Zen Buddhism, that refers to having the almost-childlike mindset of a beginner.

Beginners book tom vanderbilt