This week, bestselling author Tom Vanderbilt joins me to talk about his 5th book, the recently released, Beginners:The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning. In this book Tom writes about his experience  learning a handful of new activities from scratch while in his late 40’s. These new adventures include learning chess, surfing, singing, juggling and drawing. Tom, like many adult chess enthusiasts, discovered chess through his school-aged daughter’s interest in the game. In our conversation, Tom reflects on what was like to be thrown headfirst into the chess world, and shares many of the resources that he found most helpful in accelerating his learning. Tom also shares broader conclusions from his learning experiences across disciplines. It was a fascinating conversation about an enjoyable book. As always, read on for more details, timestamps and relevant hyperlinks. Mentioned: NY Times review of Beginners  Mentioned: The Queen’s Gambit , Szymon Rudowski, GM Daniel Naroditsky’s YouTube Channel- https://www.youtube.com/c/DanielNaroditskyGM/playlistsDaniel King’s YouTube Channel-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMBATpFb--uLNAODOVWvCTA The Amateur’s Mindby Jeremy Silman IM Levy Rozman’s YouTube Channel-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQHX6ViZmPsWiYSFAyS0a3QIM John Bartholomew’s Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6hOVYvNn79Sl1Fc1vx2mYA https://www.chessable.com/courses/for-beginners/ Mentioned: Chessable’s 100 Endgames You Must Know, The Brooklyn Strategist, The Marshall Chess Club  Mentioned: Her Move Next, US Chess’ Women in Chess Initiative   Mentioned: William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days, The Passion Paradox, Mindset, Anders Ericsson,  Tim Krabbe’s The Rider, Perpetual Chess Episode 44 with GM Jesse Kraai, GM Robert Hess, Tim Krabbe’s Chess Curiosities Website:https://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/chess.html Mentioned: Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition You can find him on Lichess here:https://lichess.org/@/wernerherzogYou can purchase his book here:https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Transformative-Power-Lifelong-Learning/dp/1524732168/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=beginners&qid=1610383429&s=books&sr=1-2If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here:https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices