The Power of the Notebook — The History and Practice of Thinking on Paper

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The idea for the Art of Manliness came to me 17 years ago as I was standing in the magazine section of a Borders bookstore. As inspiration struck, I took my Moleskine out of my pocket and jotted down some notes, like potential names — I considered things like “The Manly Arts” before settling on “The Art of Manliness” — categories of content, and initial article ideas. Almost two decades later, the fruits of those notebook jottings are still bearing out. That’s the power of a pocket pad’s possibilities, something Roland Allen explores in The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper. Today on the show, Roland traces the fascinating history of notebooks and how they went from a business technology for accounting to a creative technology for artists. We talk about how famous figures from Leonardo da Vinci to Theodore Roosevelt used notebooks, the different forms notebooks have taken from the Italian zibaldone to the friendship book to the modern bullet journal, and why keeping a personal diary has fallen out of favor. Along the way, we discuss ways you can fruitfully use notebooks today, and why, even in our digital age, they remain an irreplaceable tool for thinking and creativity.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
0:11.6	The idea for the Art of Manliness came to me 17 years ago as I was standing in the
0:15.7	magazine section of a Borders bookstore. As inspiration struck, I took my moleskin out of my
0:20.4	pocket and jotted down
0:21.3	some notes, like penitial names. I consider things like the manly arts before settling on the
0:26.0	art of manliness, categories of content and initial article ideas. Almost two decades later,
0:31.7	the fruits of those notebook jottings are still bearing out. That's the power of a pocketpad's
0:36.2	possibilities, something Roland Allen explores in the
0:38.7	notebook, a history of thinking on paper.
0:41.5	Tate in the show, Roland traces the fascinating history of notebooks and how they went from
0:45.3	a business technology for accounting to a creative technology for artists.
0:49.2	We talk about how famous figures from Leonardo da Vinci to Theodore Roosevelt used notebooks,
0:53.4	the different forms notebooks have taken from the Italian Zibaldone to the friendship book to the modern
0:57.4	bullet journal, and why keeping a personal diary has fallen out of favor. Along the way, we discuss
1:02.8	ways you could fruitfully use notebooks today, and why? Even in our digital age, they remain an
1:07.5	irreplaceable tool for thinking and creativity. After the show's over, check at our show notes at AIM.is.com.
1:26.4	All right, Roland Allen, welcome to the show.
1:28.9	Hi, it's nice to be here, Brett.
1:30.0	Thank you.
1:30.5	So you put out a book called The Notebook, a history of thinking on paper.
1:34.6	And this is a history of the humble notebook.
1:38.5	And I think hopefully by the end of the show, we're going to find out it's not so humble.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Art of Manliness, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Art of Manliness and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.