
Mapping Cloud Nine
Neuroscience, Flow, and the Upper Possibility Space of Human Experience
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $29.90
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Steven Kotler
-
By:
-
Steven Kotler
About this listen
What are the upper limits of human potential?
At the intersection of flow states, mystical experiences, peak performance, and psychedelics lies a mysterious space of possibility. In Mapping Cloud Nine, best-selling author and award-winning journalist Steven Kotler takes us on a heady thrill ride through the history of human potential - and how what we’ve learned so far might unlock even greater levels of creativity, performance, and meaning in our lives.
From Nietzsche to now - a tour of human consciousness
In this six-part audio program, Kotler bridges science and spirituality to explore how our understanding of peak experiences has evolved over time - from early inquiries into altered and mystical states; to the birth of positive psychology and research on high performers; to pioneering studies on meditation and near-death experiences; and into current explorations of psychedelics, flow states, and technological breakthroughs.
A brilliant synthesizer and gifted storyteller, Kotler paints a compelling portrait of our greatest human potential, inspiring us to leverage this growing body of research and step into new realms of possibility.
Highlights
- The evolutionary impulse for altered states of mind - psychedelics throughout time
- The neurobiology of flow states, mystical experiences, and hallucinations
- The spiritual path and the high-performance path - are they one and the same?
- Altered states lead to altered traits - the next wave of consciousness hacking
- Why bridging the gap between science and spirituality leads to even greater breakthroughs
- How you can leverage flow states for a more meaningful - and interesting - life
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Gnar Country
- Growing Old, Staying Rad
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times bestselling author and human performance expert tests his knowledge and theories on his own aging body in a quest to become an expert skier at age fifty-three.
-
-
8 hours and all about tricks
- By michael wojcik on 04-12-23
By: Steven Kotler
-
Recapture the Rapture
- Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost Its Mind
- By: Jamie Wheal
- Narrated by: Jamie Wheal
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A peak-performance expert maps out a revolutionary new practice - hedonic engineering - that combines the best of neuroscience and optimal psychology. It’s an intensive program of breathing, movement, and sexuality that mends trauma, heightens inspiration, and tightens connections - helping us wake up, grow up, and show up for a world that needs us all.
-
-
solid meh
- By John on 06-10-21
By: Jamie Wheal
-
The Future Is Faster Than You Think
- How Converging Technologies Are Disrupting Business, Industries, and Our Lives
- By: Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Peter H. Diamandis
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In their book Abundance, best-selling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the best-selling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than You Think, a blueprint for how our world will change in response to the next 10 years of rapid technological disruption.
-
-
Totally Mixed on This One
- By D. Sooley on 02-03-20
By: Peter H. Diamandis, and others
-
Stealing Fire
- How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
- By: Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The authors of the best-selling Bold and The Rise of Superman explore altered states of consciousness and how they can ignite passion, fuel creativity, and accelerate problem solving, in this groundbreaking book in the vein of Daniel Pink's Drive and Charles Duhigg's Smarter Faster Better.
-
-
Very disappointing. Not what it promises to be.
- By R8r on 03-18-17
By: Steven Kotler, and others
-
Hidden Potential
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
-
-
Nope
- By Anna OConnor-McClure on 10-27-23
By: Adam Grant
-
The Art of Impossible
- A Peak Performance Primer
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and peak performance expert Steven Kotler decodes the secrets of those elite performers - athletes, artists, scientists, CEOs, and more - who have changed our definition of the possible, teaching us how we too can stretch far beyond our capabilities, making impossible dreams much more attainable for all of us. What does it take to accomplish the impossible? What does it take to shatter our limitations, exceed our expectations, and turn our biggest dreams into our most recent achievements?
-
-
The power of this book is IMMENSE. One of a kind.
- By TL on 01-23-21
By: Steven Kotler
-
Gnar Country
- Growing Old, Staying Rad
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times bestselling author and human performance expert tests his knowledge and theories on his own aging body in a quest to become an expert skier at age fifty-three.
-
-
8 hours and all about tricks
- By michael wojcik on 04-12-23
By: Steven Kotler
-
Recapture the Rapture
- Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost Its Mind
- By: Jamie Wheal
- Narrated by: Jamie Wheal
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A peak-performance expert maps out a revolutionary new practice - hedonic engineering - that combines the best of neuroscience and optimal psychology. It’s an intensive program of breathing, movement, and sexuality that mends trauma, heightens inspiration, and tightens connections - helping us wake up, grow up, and show up for a world that needs us all.
-
-
solid meh
- By John on 06-10-21
By: Jamie Wheal
-
The Future Is Faster Than You Think
- How Converging Technologies Are Disrupting Business, Industries, and Our Lives
- By: Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Peter H. Diamandis
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In their book Abundance, best-selling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the best-selling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than You Think, a blueprint for how our world will change in response to the next 10 years of rapid technological disruption.
-
-
Totally Mixed on This One
- By D. Sooley on 02-03-20
By: Peter H. Diamandis, and others
-
Stealing Fire
- How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
- By: Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The authors of the best-selling Bold and The Rise of Superman explore altered states of consciousness and how they can ignite passion, fuel creativity, and accelerate problem solving, in this groundbreaking book in the vein of Daniel Pink's Drive and Charles Duhigg's Smarter Faster Better.
-
-
Very disappointing. Not what it promises to be.
- By R8r on 03-18-17
By: Steven Kotler, and others
-
Hidden Potential
- The Science of Achieving Greater Things
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant, Maurice Ashley, R. A. Dickey, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
-
-
Nope
- By Anna OConnor-McClure on 10-27-23
By: Adam Grant
-
The Art of Impossible
- A Peak Performance Primer
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and peak performance expert Steven Kotler decodes the secrets of those elite performers - athletes, artists, scientists, CEOs, and more - who have changed our definition of the possible, teaching us how we too can stretch far beyond our capabilities, making impossible dreams much more attainable for all of us. What does it take to accomplish the impossible? What does it take to shatter our limitations, exceed our expectations, and turn our biggest dreams into our most recent achievements?
-
-
The power of this book is IMMENSE. One of a kind.
- By TL on 01-23-21
By: Steven Kotler
-
Bold
- How to Go Big, Make Bank, and Better the World
- By: Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Steven Kotler
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bold is a radical, how-to guide for using exponential technologies, moonshot thinking, and crowd-powered tools to create extraordinary wealth while also positively impacting the lives of billions.
-
-
The Best Book for Exponential Entrepreneurs
- By Sean on 02-17-15
By: Peter H. Diamandis, and others
-
The Rise of Superman
- Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler decodes the mystery of ultimate human performance. Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand reporting with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes like big wave legend Laird Hamilton, big mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones, and skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, Kotler explores the frontier science of “flow”, an optimal state of consciousness in which we perform and feel our best.
-
-
There is no way some of these reviews are real
- By Mike on 05-01-15
By: Steven Kotler
-
Abundance
- The Future Is Better Than You Think
- By: Steven Kotler, Peter H. Diamandis
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Space entrepreneur turned innovation pioneer Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler document how progress in artificial intelligence, robotics, digital manufacturing synthetic biology, and other exponentially growing technologies will enable us to make greater gains in the next two decades than we have in the previous 200 years.
-
-
Perhaps multiply his time estimates by 10
- By Rick on 11-06-21
By: Steven Kotler, and others
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Tomorrowland
- Our Journey From Science Fiction to Science Fact
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, Discover bestselling author Steven Kotler has written extensively about those pivotal moments when science fiction became science fact...and fundamentally reshaped the world. Now he gathers the best of his best, updated and expanded upon, to guide listeners on a mind-bending tour of the far frontier, and how these advances are radically transforming our lives.
-
-
Covers a lot of different topics in many industries
- By ErnieA on 06-27-15
By: Steven Kotler
-
$100M Leads
- How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff
- By: Alex Hormozi
- Narrated by: Alex Hormozi
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook contains the playbooks that took me from sleeping on my gym floor to owning a portfolio of companies that generate $200,000,000 per year in under a decade. Wanna know the biggest difference between those two time periods? How many leads I was getting.
-
-
Better than $100M Offers, But Read Both in Order
- By Jonathan and Hannah on 09-13-23
By: Alex Hormozi
-
Build the Life You Want
- The Art and Science of Getting Happier
- By: Arthur C. Brooks, Oprah Winfrey
- Narrated by: Arthur C. Brooks, Oprah Winfrey
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Build the Life You Want, Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey invite you to begin a journey toward greater happiness no matter how challenging your circumstances. Drawing on cutting-edge science and their years of helping people translate ideas into action, they show you how to improve your life right now instead of waiting for the outside world to change.
-
-
You already know all of this
- By Indigo on 09-13-23
By: Arthur C. Brooks, and others
-
Last Tango in Cyberspace
- A Novel
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hard to say when the human species fractured exactly. Harder to say when this new talent arrived. But Lion Zorn is the first of his kind—an empathy tracker, an emotional soothsayer, with a felt sense for the future of the we. In simpler terms, he can spot cultural shifts and trends before they happen. It’s a useful skill for a certain kind of company.
-
-
An uncomfortably believable world. Powerful story
- By Olivia Wylie on 09-01-19
By: Steven Kotler
-
I Know What to Do, So Why Don't I Do It?
- The New Science of Self-Discipline
- By: Nick Hall
- Narrated by: Nick Hall
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You might think laziness, lack of willpower, and/or low motivation are to blame for the fact that you aren't achieving your goals. But fascinating research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology has revealed another, far more likely possibility. One with the potential to transform your life in a dramatic way.
-
-
Big Disappointment!
- By TP on 01-29-15
By: Nick Hall
-
The Devil's Dictionary
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hard to say when the human species fractured exactly. Harder to say when this new talent arrived. But Lion Zorn, protagonist of Last Tango, is the first of his kind—an empathy tracker, an emotional soothsayer, with a felt sense for the future of the we. In simpler terms, he can spot cultural shifts and trends before they happen. The Devil's Dictionary finds Lion Zorn enmeshed with a strange subculture: polyamorous crypto-currency fiends with a tendency toward eco-terrorism. These crypto-eco-punks have executed the largest land grab in US history.
-
-
Better than the first of the series
- By Michael on 09-09-22
By: Steven Kotler
-
Outlive
- The Science and Art of Longevity
- By: Peter Attia MD, Bill Gifford - contributor
- Narrated by: Peter Attia MD
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.
-
-
Too Much Filler
- By J. Badaracco on 04-09-23
By: Peter Attia MD, and others
-
Never Finished
- Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within
- By: David Goggins
- Narrated by: David Goggins, Adam Skolnick, Jacqueline Gardner
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins’ smash hit memoir, demonstrated how much untapped ability we all have but was merely an introduction to the power of the mind. In Never Finished, Goggins takes you inside his Mental Lab, where he developed the philosophy, psychology, and strategies that enabled him to learn that what he thought was his limit was only his beginning and that the quest for greatness is unending.
-
-
He did it again!
- By Christian C. on 12-06-22
By: David Goggins
What listeners say about Mapping Cloud Nine
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jayson Gerbec
- 08-25-21
Fantastic flow work!
I mean—Flow by Mihaly is considered the best introduction to Flow—but Mapping Cloud Nine is a fantastic update into the last twenty years of Flow research and a nice deep dive into where we are now and what we still need to find out. Life changing and paradigm shifting book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HelloSunshine
- 07-04-24
Grating
I didn’t like the narrator. I know it’s the author, but not all writers are good readers. This audiobook is like a one-sided conversation for 6+hours. 😵💫
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jeromy
- 11-15-19
I could not stop listening
With a powerful narration the author gives insight with amazing stories. Learning about the new scientific advances in spiritual understanding then into plant medicine , this book is amazing!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- hp
- 07-22-24
Loved the clarity
synthesis of science of spirituality and biology/physiology was 10/10. Steven Kotler does it again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David Krichmar
- 06-07-20
Amazing
Truly amazing. A must listen. It’s brilliant and really breaks down flow and how to get it. 🙏🙏
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gerald
- 12-20-19
Good Book
Enjoyed this book except for a few areas, he seemed to over state a number of his claims. Other then that was truly better,than stealing fire.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erick McGregor
- 12-10-19
mountaintop views
a masterful insight ful next edge great data and science - follow up to Stealing Fire. nice work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rikke Nørgaard
- 05-17-22
LOVE! Incredibly exciting and informative book!
I just couldn’t stop listening!
I love how Kotler brings science, philosophy and spirituality together! Listen to this book if you seek more flow, spirituality, high performance in you life. Personally, I find that when I get more educated on a topic I can better understand it and thus commit to it!
You’ll be left with a greater understanding of your inner Self and he will even serve you flow triggers; both on an individual level, social level and cooperate level where he gives examples of how Google, Amazon, Meta, Patagonia have incorporated some of these ‘flow habits’ into their businesses!
I will certainly listen again and I highly recommend this to anyone on a spiritual path or high performance path, leadership path or creative path - so I guess anyone really.
Go get it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 06-23-23
i need to read many time
a ton of stuff going on here. fascinating. hopeful. amazing stuff! This is a book I'll need and want to read more than once.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joshua R. Zufelt
- 11-10-19
Extremely educational!
I’m glad I listened to this book, and I learned a lot of very interesting things about the history of psychology and neuroscience research.
The real gems of the book are chapters 38-46, where you finally learn how to apply the information leading up to them to your own life should you chose.
I most definitely have to re-listen to this book multiple times because this amazing scientist/author has so much to teach us and he’s so excited about this information that he’s speaking so fast that if you’re not listening carefully, you’ll miss important examples. I’ll admit it did take me a while to get used to his pronunciation of the “H” at the beginning of words (or lack thereof—lol).
When it finished, I felt like the author was in the middle of something big and I was left feeling a sense of incompletion. If that makes sense.
Will totally listen again and recommend—and buy more of his books! Haha!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful