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The Alchemist

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Chris Williamson Joshua Weissman
+1

3 creators use or recommend it

▲ 2 active in the last 90 days

1 use 2 recommend 3 mention
Last discussed Oct 5, 2026

A philosophical novel by Paulo Coelho about a young shepherd's journey to find treasure.

What else do they all swear by?

Chris Williamson and Joshua Weissman use or recommend The Alchemist. See what else they have in common.

See what they all swear by Or pick your own people

What creators think

Mark McLaughlin recommends Paulo Coelho's *The Alchemist*, calling its core lesson — that following your personal legend causes the world to conspire in your favor — genuinely meaningful. The mentions from others are harder to read as endorsements: Chris Williamson describes it as a formative early read without recommending it, and Arsenio Hall jokes that he's been stuck on page 12 for a year and a half. Note that Joshua Weissman's quote and Andrew Huberman's reference are about an entirely different product also called The Alchemist — a restaurant and a biotech company, respectively — so those don't reflect on the book at all.

What creators say

Used for: Read while on Love Island, sparking self-reflection

"I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I was in a like psychedelic fugue state for the entirety of the time that I was on there. It's a bad idea. A piece of advice to anyone going on reality TV: do not read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho before you ..."

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+1 more mention from Chris

"The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. That was like the first book I read. I went so long without reading a book. My mom gave me this book. She said, 'You..."

Joshua Weissman
recommends
Used for: Special-occasion fine dining experience Praised: Immersive multi-room experience, operational excellence, hospitality

"Honestly, this is a place that I think you should go to... It is a 50 course, seven and a half hour dining experience through three or four different dining rooms. It is the most absurd restaurant experience I've ever seen in my entire life. Not j..."

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MM
Mark McLaughlin
recommends
Used for: Finding one's personal legend and building self-identity from the ground up when feeling lost or broken Praised: Core lesson that following your personal legend causes the world to conspire ...

"I love the book Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. The kernel of truth in that book — the main lesson — is you need to find your personal legend and you need to follow it with all your heart, and when you do, the world will conspire for your success."

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Ali Abdaal
mentioned
Praised: Sold hundreds of thousands of copies in its first week vs: The published adaptation of the fanfiction Manacled

"Manacled is actually been turned into a proper book. It's been turned into a book called Alchemist, which came out recently, like a few months ago, and sold like hundreds of thousands of copies in its first week."

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AH
Arsenio Hall
mentioned

"The Alchemist. I have been on page 12 for like a year and a half. Sit down on a plane and just read the alchemist at the top of the page and I'm out."

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Andrew Huberman
mentioned

"I'm very excited by Tony Wyss-Coray's work from Stanford. And he had a company that's now sold, Alchemist, which talked about factors in young blood and in exercised blood that can rejuvenate the brain and body."

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About this data

  • ✓48,000+ mentions extracted from real podcast transcripts
  • ✓Every quote links to the source episode
  • ✓Sponsored mentions are always labeled
  • ✓Critical takes are shown, never filtered out
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