A. J. Jacobs

A. J. Jacobs – Life, Career, and Memorable Insights

Explore the life of A. J. Jacobs (born March 20, 1968)—journalist, author, and master of immersive experiments—his major works, philosophy, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Arnold Stephen “A. J.” Jacobs Jr. (born March 20, 1968) is an American journalist, author, and lecturer best known for conducting ambitious life experiments and writing about them with humor, curiosity, and self-reflection.

Jacobs has turned his life into a living laboratory—reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica, living according to the Bible’s literal rules for a year, outsourcing his life, optimizing his health, and other projects. His work blends memoir, science, humor, ethics, and self-help, making him one of the most recognized writers in the realm of “immersion journalism.”

Early Life and Family

Jacobs was born and raised in New York City on March 20, 1968, to secular Jewish parents: his father, Arnold Jacobs Sr., was a lawyer, and his mother was Ellen Kheel.

He was educated at the Dalton School in New York City before attending Brown University, where he studied philosophy.

Youth and Intellectual Formation

At Brown, Jacobs’s study of philosophy may have shaped his later quests to test and question conventions through empirical life experiments.

After graduating, Jacobs began working in journalism—writing for publications such as the Antioch Daily Ledger and Entertainment Weekly—and eventually earning a position as or at Large at Esquire.

His journalistic style gradually evolved into the format for which he is best known: choosing bold, self-imposed experiments to explore human behavior and meaning, then reflecting on them publicly.

Career and Achievements

“Stunt” / Immersion Experiments & Memoirs

Jacobs’s signature approach is to immerse himself in extreme or eccentric life experiments and then document the results:

• The Know-It-All (2004): Jacobs read all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica over 18 months, aiming to know “everything” (or at least something about everything).

• The Year of Living Biblically (2007): He attempted to follow every command of the Bible as literally as possible for one year, exploring faith, literalism, and what it means to live seriously.

• The Guinea Pig Diaries / My Life as an Experiment (2009): A collection of shorter experiments (e.g. thanking everyone, behavior experiments) in daily life.

• Drop Dead Healthy (2012): An experimentation with health systems—diet, exercise, longevity strategies—often performed on treadmills or under controlled conditions.

• It’s All Relative (2017): With this work, Jacobs focused on genealogy, family trees, and how humans connect across lineages.

• Thanks A Thousand (2018): A gratitude project in which Jacobs attempts to thank everyone who had a role in producing his morning cup of coffee—even indirectly (farmers, transporters, roasters).

• The Puzzler (2022): In this book, Jacobs frames global issues as puzzles, drawing on his interest in logic, problem solving, and human systems.

• The Year of Living Constitutionally (2024): His most recent book applying the same immersive method to the U.S. Constitution (this is noted in his bibliography).

These efforts have made him a best-selling author and a public intellectual in the niche of experiential nonfiction.

Journalism, Columns, & orial Roles

Jacobs has held editorial and columnist roles:

• He is or at Large at Esquire magazine.

• He has contributed to NPR (National Public Radio) as commentator.

• He has written for Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, New York, The New York Times, and others.

• At times he has maintained a column for Mental Floss.

Jacobs’s work often appears across media platforms—print, podcasts, TED Talks, and public speaking—blurring boundaries between journalism, memoir, and performance.

Public & Media Projects

• Jacobs has given TED Talks on his projects, such as The Year of Living Biblically and Drop Dead Healthy.

• In 2015 he hosted the Global Family Reunion, a massive genealogy gathering which aimed to invite many people to a shared family tree project.

• He worked on a podcast called Twice Removed, focused on genealogy, though it ran only one season.

• His style has sometimes led to options for adaptation: e.g. The Year of Living Biblically was picked up by CBS for a TV series adaptation, retitled Living Biblically.

Historical Context & Literary Significance

Jacobs emerged as a distinctive voice in late 20th and early 21st century nonfiction particularly aligned with the tradition of immersion journalism—where a journalist becomes the subject of the experiment. His style sits at the intersection of:

• New Journalism / Gonzo traditions, where the writer puts themselves into the narrative

• Self-help / productivity culture, leveraging his experiments as lessons for others

• Popular science / curious inquiry, making intellectual questions accessible and entertaining

Whereas many nonfiction works present analysis from distance, Jacobs’s strength is doing and then reflecting—giving readers both authority and vulnerability. His experiments provoke questions about identity, belief, knowledge, gratitude, health, and systems.

Legacy and Influence

Although Jacobs is still active, his influence is already evident:

• He popularized a style of curiosity-based memoir, inspiring others to treat personal life as laboratory.

• His books have sparked public conversation about culturally debated concepts—faith, health, gratitude, connectivity.

• His public speaking and cross-media presence amplify the reach of his experiments beyond literary audiences.

• His blending of ethics, humor, and data has made his work accessible across intellectual and popular audiences.

His approach encourages readers to ask: “What if I pushed myself to live differently—and what would I learn?” That spirit is perhaps his most enduring legacy.

Personality Traits & Working Philosophy

From his writings and interviews, certain traits emerge:

• Curiosity-driven: Jacobs seems endlessly fascinated by questions, even if they lead to discomfort or absurdity.

• Boldness + humility: He embarks on radical experiments, yet reflects openly on failures and limitations.

• Playfulness: His tone often mixes earnestness with self-deprecating humor.

• Discipline: Projects like reading the entire Britannica require substantial sustained effort.

• Systems thinking: He often frames his experiments in terms of systems (e.g. how the body works, how genealogies connect people).

Famous Quotes & Reflections

Here are a few quotes and ideas that capture Jacobs’s mindset:

1. “My life is one long unofficial science experiment.” — expressing his self-view as a human guinea pig.

2. On gratitude (from Thanks A Thousand): he reflects on how “so many invisible people help make our lives possible.”

3. About the Biblically experiment:

   “I decided to take the Good Book literally—but spiritually.” (a paraphrase of Jacobs’s stance)

4. On health: he’s noted that striving for bodily perfection can backfire: “How healthy living nearly killed me.” is a TED talk title, reflecting his awareness of risk in extremes.

Lessons from A. J. Jacobs

• Experiment on yourself: Jacobs shows that self-experiments—even odd or extreme ones—can illuminate universals about human behavior.

• Document failure as well as success: Many of his projects don’t go perfectly, and he often emphasizes what goes wrong as lessons.

• Curiosity is sustainable: Long projects (years, not just weeks) show how sustained curiosity can yield depth.

• Gratitude magnified: Projects like Thanks A Thousand teach how widening our lens helps us see hidden interdependence.

• Balance is necessary: His health experiments warn against extremism; the best path may lie in moderation.

Conclusion

A. J. Jacobs is a unique figure in contemporary nonfiction: a journalist who turns life itself into narrative, a subject and observer in one. Through audacious self-experiments and reflections, he invites us all to reconsider how we live, what we believe, and what we might learn by pushing boundaries.