Scaling three-story rope ladders up the sides of ships, memorizing every rock and current in a harbor, and narrowly avoiding catastrophic collisions with Captain Grant Livingstone, a retired harbor pilot. What do you do when your engine and anchors fail in heavy fog? And how do you dock a ship the size of the Empire State Building?
Grant and his twin brother Captain George Livingstone co-authored the recent book Shiphandling, The Beautiful Game.
About What It’s Like to Be…
In each episode of What It’s Like to Be…, bestselling author Dan Heath speaks with someone about what it’s like to walk in their (work) shoes. Behavioral Scientist serves as a distribution partner with episodes released every other week. Learn more about the podcast’s mission of “slow curiosity” here, and head here to get Dan’s reflections on how the mission is going after a year of conversations.
The “Harbor Pilot” episode of What It’s Like To Be… featured Captain Grant Livingstone. It was produced and edited by Matt Purdy. Copyright © 2025 by Dan Heath. All rights reserved.
