David Epstein

Why you should listen

David Epstein was previously a reporter at ProPublica, where his investigative reporting spanned poor medical research to poor drug enforcement practices. Prior to that, he was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he authored or coauthored many of the magazine’s most high profile stories.

While getting his master’s degree in environmental science, Epstein lived on a ship in the Pacific Ocean and in a tent in the Arctic; only later, as an investigative science reporter, did he realize why his own scientific research had been mostly poor. He recently started the Range Report so to scrutinize science in the news, and share tips for scientific thinking.  

In 2019, Epstein authored Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. He is also the author of The Sports Gene, a book that explores the complex factors that make up a championship athlete.

What others say

“I recommend this book generally to sports fans, but more importantly this book should also be read by people who are broadly interested in how an individual’s biology interacts with their behavior (training), their environment, and their culture.” — Dr. Mike Joyner, Mayo Clinic