James Nestor

James Nestor is an American author and journalist specializing in science, health, and human physiology, best known for his New York Times bestselling book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art (2020), which examines the history, science, and practice of proper breathing techniques.

Nestor's career includes contributions to prominent outlets such as Scientific American , Outside Magazine , The New York Times , The Atlantic , BBC, and National Public Radio, where he has reported on topics ranging from freediving and ocean exploration to meditation and ancient practices. His earlier work, Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves (2014), earned recognition as a finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing and was named an Amazon Best Science Book of the Year. Breath achieved widespread acclaim, spending 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling over three million copies, and being translated into 44 languages; it won the American Society of Journalists and Authors' Best General Nonfiction Book award in 2020 and was a finalist for the Royal Society Science Book Prize.

Beyond writing, Nestor has engaged in notable projects, including a surfing expedition across Norway and Russia for Outside Magazine and co-founding Project CETI in 2020 to study whale communication using artificial intelligence. He co-created the virtual reality documentary The Click Effect (2016), which received an Emmy nomination in 2017 and has garnered over one million views. Nestor collaborates with The Global Classroom, a partnership of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, to educate children on breathing techniques for health and wellness. He has spoken at institutions including Stanford, Harvard, and Yale, as well as on platforms like NPR's Fresh Air and the Joe Rogan Experience.

James Nestor was born in Tustin, California , a suburb in Orange County, into a lower-upper-middle-class family. He was the youngest of two siblings, with an older brother who aspired to be a rocker and an older sister. His father served as a U.S. Air Force pilot before transitioning to a career as an engineer specializing in navigational equipment for nuclear submarines , where he worked at the same company for more than 40 years.

Nestor spent his entire youth in Tustin, immersed in the suburban environment of Orange County. At age 18, he relocated to northern California , marking a shift from his childhood surroundings.

During his formative years, Nestor developed an interest in music and subculture, forming a straight-edge punk rock band called Care Unit at age 14. Influenced by his brother's musical pursuits, he learned to play bass on a thrift-store Cort instrument and embraced the straight-edge movement's emphasis on sobriety and rebellion against mainstream norms. He had briefly played the clarinet in third grade but soon gravitated toward punk rock as a youthful expression of independence.

James Nestor moved to northern California at the age of 18 to pursue studies in literature and art history . He earned a Master of Arts in English, along with a minor in art history and certification to teach English composition, from an unspecified university in the region.

Nestor's early interests in writing, art, and science were shaped by his experiences in a punk rock band and familial influences. At 14, he formed the straight-edge punk band Care Unit in his hometown of Tustin, California , drawing inspiration from the burgeoning Orange County music scene of the 1980s ; he taught himself to play bass on a thrift-store instrument after briefly attempting the clarinet in third grade. These creative outlets, combined with his family's encouragement—particularly his father's background as an Air Force pilot and nuclear submarine engineer—fostered a curiosity that bridged artistic expression and technical inquiry.