An old high school friend recently asked me who my closest friends were. I thought for a moment, thinking of who I spend the most time with, who I trust the most and who I have learnt the most from, and I realised that most of my best friends are dead. In fact, most of them don’t even know I exist.

Books, blogs and podcasts give unprecedented access to people and ideas. Through writings and recordings we can learn from the greatest, most influential minds in the world and bear witness to the most amazing literary novels in history. This is why I get so emotional when exploring a bookstore – I sense the legacy and wisdom behind these mountains of pages but lack the time and energy to read them all.

I am fortunate to have some close human connections who I can live life alongside. But alongside my living friends are Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Friedrich Nietzsche, Charles Bukowski, Malcolm Gladwell and dozens other literary and podcast giants, people who are mostly dead and have surely never heard of me, yet still guide and teach me day after day.

It is the greatest privilege.