Gathering With Purpose: 5 Audiobooks to Help You Get Better at Getting Together
As Priya Parker writes in her introduction to The Art of Gathering, “The way we gather matters… Gathering—the conscious bringing together of people for a reason—shapes the way we think, feel, and make sense of our world.” When Parker’s book first came out in 2018, it struck a chord—and that chord has never stopped sounding. Now more than ever, we are seeking meaningful community. And these five audiobooks, starting with Parker’s tent peg work, provide various ways of building those spaces and connections. Take a minute to listen to the clips below, and bring what you learn to your next happening, whatever it may be.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive–which they don’t have to be. Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Gathering takes listeners inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn’t, and why. The result is an audiobook that’s both journey and guide, and will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue.
Revealing by Leslie John
We all know the feeling: that gut-wrenching post-conversation replay, cringing at how much we just revealed. We live in fear of saying too much, so we keep our mouths shut, and lock away our most personal thoughts. But what if we’ve been worrying about the wrong thing? Revealing is a groundbreaking audiobook on the surprising potential of revealing more of ourselves to others, from a celebrated Harvard Business School professor and expert on the psychology of self-disclosure decisions.
Playful by Cas Holman
We’re all born playful. But when we grow up, we learn to suppress this critical, hardwired instinct and our lives become ruled by “getting things done.” As world-famous designer Cas Holman explains, this disconnection from our playful selves is hazardous to everything from our emotional wellbeing to our ability to problem solve and innovate. The emerging science of play shows that it sparks joy, wonder, creativity, and insight at any age. Playful draws on psychology, history, art, and design thinking to make a powerful case for the vital importance of play for grown-ups in a world obsessed with productivity.
Platonic by Marisa G. Franco
How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between us—for example, why your friends aren’t texting you back (it’s not because they hate you!), and the myth of “friendships happening organically” (making friends, like cultivating any relationship, requires effort!). As Dr. Franco explains, to make and keep friends you must understand your attachment style—secure, anxious, or avoidant: it is the key to unlocking what’s working (and what’s failing) in your friendships.
A Time to Gather by Bruce Feiler
Coming 5/19/2026. Since time immemorial, humans have turned to ritual to connect us in periods of change. Until today. “It took us ten thousand years to establish cultural norms around how we mark collective life transitions,” writes Bruce Feiler. “It took us fifty years to dismantle them.” Can this threat to society be reversed? To find out, Feiler went on a round-the-world ritual road trip, attending—and participating in—life rituals in sixteen countries on six continents. What he found may surprise and inspire you.
