If you’re an ABC News person, you probably know who Dan Harris is. He’s been everywhere throughout the news division. Good Morning America, Nightline, World News Tonight, and anywhere else he could be. His reporting is smart and sassy, and he covers topics ranging from the religious to the political, from hard-hitting interviews to personal interest stories.

And then he broke down on the air. While reading the news, he suffered a panic attack on live television, and then he went looking for answers. To help deal with his anxiety, he tried therapy, talked to religious leaders, and eventually stumbled into meditation.

In 10% Happier, Harris tells the whole story, from the drugs he took to deal with the stress of being an international journalist to the panic attacks to the long road to mindfulness. And he doesn’t hold back. He says what he really thinks, and in beautifully constructed sentences filled with the kind of words you usually only see in SAT study guides. He shares about his relationship with Peter Jennings. He confronts cheating pastors about their very public sins. He reads Eckhart Tolle so that you don’t have to. He tells of his entire 10-day no-talking meditation retreat, from keeping an illegal apple in his room to crying uncontrollably while trying metta (a compassion meditation) to having a moving one-on-one moment with a hummingbird.

He wasn’t won over into the meditation world in a day. It took him years to come around, and his skepticism feels so genuine, I feel like he’s now a friend. I’m not entirely on board yet, but I see the benefits. As someone who also suffers from anxiety, I see how it can help. I may never want to try the 10-day retreat, but I may try to meditate more consistently. And this is an excellent introduction.

10% Happier is also a fascinating look at news journalism. The stories of his early days read like an alternative script to Broadcast News, and the insider peek behind the cameras made this more than worth my time, even when some of the meditation talk got a little thick for my taste. And for this, especially, the audio version that Harris reads himself is pure gold.

The whole title of this is 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in my Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help that Actually Works—A True Story. And that’s what it is. But with fascinating stories, humor, intelligence, honesty, and more than a few Jewish Buddhists. And it’s completely worth your time.