Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
We're heading to Africa!
Over the years we have taken the 3 Books podcast on the road many times ... from recording in Judy Blume's bookstore in Key West to to the back of Jackie's Uber in St. Louis to Jonathan Haidt's kitchen in New York we've gone where the stories take us. And for the first time we are going to the 55-country and 1.5 billion person continent of Africa.
I am so excited to share the first of three chapters of 3 Books recorded in Nairobi, Kenya.
I landed there and went whizzing down busy streets with colourful stalls, wandering goats, people pulling carts full of eggs, women carrying baskets on their heads, endless whizzing bodas (motorcycles).
I visited the lovely home of novelist and professor Peter Kimani — where he lives with his wife Anne and their two boys. Peter is a huge mind and talented writer whose work spans New York Times Notable novels such as ‘Dance of the Jakaranda’ to writing a poem for Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration. Peter has studied at the University of Iowa—the Harvard of writing schools, perhaps!—and earned his doctorate at the University of Houston. He was awarded the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, Kenya's highest literary honor, and is a professor at Aga Khan University in Nairobi.
Let's sit down outside in his backyard garden, near the mango and orange trees, below the calls of the Pied Crows, and discuss normalizing abnormalities, decolonizing our minds, The Hardy Boys, writing as an extension of living, whitewashing conservation, Peter's 3 most formative books, and much, much more...
Let's flip the page to Chapter 154 now...
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0:00 - Introduction: The Power of Storytelling
3:24 - A Letter!
6:52 - Stories from Africa
9:38 - Who is Peter Kimani?
12:42 - The Origins of Kenya
25:34 - Setting the Scene of Africa
35:21 - Conservation
45:24 - Out of Africa
55:42 - The 3 C's of Colonialism
1:09:54 - Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani
1:24:26 - Book 1: The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon
1:39:43 - Book 2: Weep Not Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
1:50:32 - Book 3: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
2:01:26 - Fast Money Round!
2:03:33 - Lifelong Friendship with Ngugi
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SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want more 3 Books? Check out my top interviews with:
Brené Brown youtube.com/watch?v=X5l-Auv7h8Y
Quentin Tarantino youtube.com/watch?v=VVFdvfiPB-w
David Sedaris youtube.com/watch?v=wzz8tqnz1mI
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
We're heading to Africa!
Over the years we have taken the 3 Books podcast on the road many times ... from recording in Judy Blume's bookstore in Key West to to the back of Jackie's Uber in St. Louis to Jonathan Haidt's kitchen in New York we've gone where the stories take us. And for the first time we are going to the 55-country and 1.5 billion person continent of Africa.
I am so excited to share the first of three chapters of 3 Books recorded in Nairobi, Kenya.
I landed there and went whizzing down busy streets with colourful stalls, wandering goats, people pulling carts full of eggs, women carrying baskets on their heads, endless whizzing bodas (motorcycles).
I visited the lovely home of novelist and professor Peter Kimani — where he lives with his wife Anne and their two boys. Peter is a huge mind and talented writer whose work spans New York Times Notable novels such as ‘Dance of the Jakaranda’ to writing a poem for Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration. Peter has studied at the University of Iowa—the Harvard of writing schools, perhaps!—and earned his doctorate at the University of Houston. He was awarded the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature, Kenya's highest literary honor, and is a professor at Aga Khan University in Nairobi.
Let's sit down outside in his backyard garden, near the mango and orange trees, below the calls of the Pied Crows, and discuss normalizing abnormalities, decolonizing our minds, The Hardy Boys, writing as an extension of living, whitewashing conservation, Peter's 3 most formative books, and much, much more...
Let's flip the page to Chapter 154 now...
-
0:00 - Introduction: The Power of Storytelling
3:24 - A Letter!
6:52 - Stories from Africa
9:38 - Who is Peter Kimani?
12:42 - The Origins of Kenya
25:34 - Setting the Scene of Africa
35:21 - Conservation
45:24 - Out of Africa
55:42 - The 3 C's of Colonialism
1:09:54 - Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani
1:24:26 - Book 1: The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon
1:39:43 - Book 2: Weep Not Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
1:50:32 - Book 3: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
2:01:26 - Fast Money Round!
2:03:33 - Lifelong Friendship with Ngugi
-
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want more 3 Books? Check out my top interviews with:
Brené Brown youtube.com/watch?v=X5l-Auv7h8Y
Quentin Tarantino youtube.com/watch?v=VVFdvfiPB-w
David Sedaris youtube.com/watch?v=wzz8tqnz1mI
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
