JOEL MILLER: Books Make Us Better
The Double Win
Michael Hyatt
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 5 November 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why do some ideas spark movements while others fizzle? Joel—author of The Idea Machine, veteran publisher, and Chief Content Officer at Full Focus—explains how books transform vague thoughts into precise, shareable frameworks. You’ll hear the case for analog reading, how writing unlocks buy-in at work, and why AI and books actually belong together. Practical, contrarian, and deeply encouraging for any high achiever who wants clearer thinking and better communication.
Memorable Quotes
- “Ideas that start in the mind of an author as just kind of a gooey, fuzzy idea. And in the course of writing, it forces them to get clear on it. It forces them to get specific about it and develop it in a way that actually becomes useful.”
- “Not only can these ideas live in a way that we can understand them, but they can live through time. And that's one of the greatest things about a book—that it perpetuates ideas across time.”
- “It forces you to get clear. It forces you to develop an argument. It forces you to develop a line of thought that other people can follow. And without that, you're kind of left with a grab bag of ideas that are probably cool. They're great, but they're not in a system that can be used or explained or anything like that.”
- “I think this is true for leaders. They have a lot of personal charisma and people want to follow them, but that's not enough. You really do have to go to the discipline of getting these ideas clear for yourself so that they can be clear to other people.”
- “Part of what we've done is we've just de-skilled ourselves in reading and we just need to re-skill ourselves in reading.”
- “Never read a book 'cause you're supposed to. Read books because they delight. You read books because they're entertaining to you. Read books because you get something out of it that you really like.”
Key Takeaways
- Books Are Tech. Treat books as an information technology that lets ideas scale with precision and longevity.
- Writing Creates Clarity. If you want buy-in, don’t rely on vibes—write the memo. Make your idea explicit and specific.
- Right Format, Right Job. Use audio/ebook for breadth and speed. Reach for print when you need depth, notes, and recall.
- AI Is a Companion. From library science to today’s models, AI extends the book’s mission—use it to augment (not replace) critical thinking.
- Build a Daily Reading Habit. Aim for 30–60 minutes a day (top and bottom of day works). Follow your curiosity. Quit the books that don’t serve you.
Resources
- The Idea Machine by Joel J. Miller
- Miller’s Book Review (Joel’s Substack)
Watch on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/e36acyYWBnM
This episode was produced by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Not only can these ideas live in a way that we can understand them, but they can live through time. |
| 0:05.3 | And that's one of the greatest things about a book, is that it perpetuates ideas across time. |
| 0:11.5 | Hi, I'm Michael Hyatt. |
| 0:12.8 | And I'm Megan Hyatt Miller. |
| 0:14.1 | And you're listening to The Double Wind Show. |
| 0:16.3 | Today, we are thrilled to talk with Joel J. Miller, also my husband, about how books have literally |
| 0:23.3 | built the world we live in. And there's some great application in this conversation for those |
| 0:29.6 | of us who are thinking about what role reading plays in our leadership, our personal development, |
| 0:35.7 | and where do physical books fit in with that? So you're going to want to |
| 0:38.4 | pay attention to this conversation. And I thought I would just tell you a little bit about him, |
| 0:41.3 | because I'm the proud father-in-law, but Joel and I, believe it or not, have worked together |
| 0:45.3 | for over 25 years. He was my first editor. He stuck with me all these years and it edited |
| 0:53.1 | my stuff and turned it into better pros that I could have done on my own. |
| 0:58.6 | The book he's just finished and the book that we're excited about and want to talk to him about is called The Idea Machine, how books built our world and shape our future. |
| 1:07.1 | Joel is a former vice president and publisher at Thomas Nelson. |
| 1:28.8 | So I had the privilege of moving him from Oregon where he was living at the time to Nashville, Tennessee to be part of our publishing company. He's been the chief content officer at full focus for what, a decade, Megan? More than that, I think, at this point. But yes. Yeah, a long time. But he runs the show when it comes to content. He also runs a substack newsletter called Miller's Book Review. And you can just go to millersbookreview.com and subscribe to it. But you |
| 1:34.9 | will be introduced to some fascinating books because the only ones that Joel reviews are |
| 1:40.4 | ones that stand out are extraordinary. But he's obsessed with literature, big ideas, lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his family, |
| 1:48.4 | of whom Megan has his better half, and he has five kids. |
| 1:52.2 | So with that, let's talk. |
| 1:58.3 | Joel, welcome to the show. |
| 2:00.0 | Thanks for having me. Oh, my gosh. We are pumped to have you, and I'm super pumped to talk about this topic. Me too. I love this thing. I've been working on it for years and years and years, so I'm really enjoying this part of the process of getting to share it now. So, Joe, you mentioned it that you've been working on this for several years, but I want to hear about the process. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 4 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Michael Hyatt, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Michael Hyatt and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.