Book Insights Podcast

*Aristotle’s relentless quest to categorize everything has had a massive impact on philosophical and scientific thinking over the last 2,000 years. *His very rational, left-brain way of seeing is the essence of Western civilization. *The Nicomachean Ethics (dedicated to his son, Nicomachus) is the best expression of Aristotle’s moral philosophy. It provides a recipe for the good life that is still...

*Through his discussion of his early life and studies, his long career in law enforcement and role in the spotlight of various Clinton and Trump controversies, ex-FBI head James Comey examines what it takes to be an effective, ethical leader. *Comey led the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails that some believe tipped the 2016 election result in Donald Trump’s favor. *Getting to the truth w...

*In Shoe Dog , the famously reticent founder of Nike opens up to tell the story of how he transformed a $50 loan into a multibillion-dollar business. *Opening with Knight on a brisk morning run, aged 24, we’re treated to a description of the almost divine manner in which the idea for starting a shoe company first strikes. *Yet the actual making of the future megabrand was founded on Knight’s own a...

*Despite the attention-grabbing title, this isn’t a guide for rebels without a cause, keen to flip the middle finger at society and authority. Instead, it’s an unusually deep and thought-provoking look into the human experience. *Mining his own memories of being expelled from school for drug possession, travelling around the world seducing women, coming to terms with his parents’ divorce, and stru...

*Banned from elite schools due to the circumstances of his birth, Leonardo propelled his own education through endless reading, observation and experimentation. *He found refuge in the world of art, where his paintings of sacred dramas and Earth-based beauty astonished contemporaries. *Today, most of us know the name Leonardo da Vinci and something of his genius, but little of the full breadth of...

*Countless books have been written about him, but The Essays of Warren Buffett (first published in 1997) is the only edited compendium of writings from the ‘Sage of Omaha’ himself. *Buffett’s eagerly anticipated annual letters to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway contain valuable insights into his philosophy and idiosyncratic investing style, plus many simple nuggets of wisdom that everyone – mul...

*The twelve chapters of The Meditations , the personal writings of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD), offers modern audiences a clear understanding of Stoic philosophy. *The ancient Greek school of Stoicism hails from the 3rd century BC and was a flourishing movement in ancient Greece and Rome for some four hundred years. *It was used to build strength of character and emotional resilience in o...

*Admiral William McRaven belongs to the US military elite, a Four-Star Admiral who was tasked with some of the country’s most crucial missions. *He hopes his true stories of perseverance, determination, and valor against all odds during his time as a United States Navy SEAL will inspire others to overcome their own challenges. *McRaven came face to face with high-profile war criminals such as Sadd...

*Sebastian Junger’s work as a journalist and film-maker in war zones led him to some startling facts about conflict and hardship: people are often happier in times of war than in peace; disasters are sometimes recalled more fondly than vacations or weddings; and mental illness increases the richer a society becomes.  *Rather than hardship, what people cannot bear is the feeling that they are...

*Katharine Graham had an image as a cultured society hostess who held court from a grand Washington residence, and as the friend of US presidents and their wives.  *But this image omits the less fabulous details of her life and the decades of hard work to make The Washington Post into the institution it became.  * Personal History is partly the story of the building of that enterprise, b...

*Our brains are machines that are always simplifying and approximating, focusing on some detail that captures our attention. Those details may be important, but we are only a brain within a vast universe, and our biases often lead us to bad predictions.  *Drawing on his groundbreaking forecasting work, Nate Silver surveys the field of prediction and discusses how to identify a meaningful sign...

*Viktor Frankl’s wife, parents and brother died in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Enduring extreme hunger, cold and brutality, first in Auschwitz then Dachau, Frankl himself was under constant threat of going to the gas chambers.  *He lost every physical belonging on his first day in the camps, and was forced to surrender a scientific manuscript he considered his life’s work. Yet ha...

*The story of Steve Jobs’s rise, fall and restoration at Apple resembled a Greek epic, and Walter Isaacson was fascinated by the chance to reconstruct this odyssey.  *Like the fabled Icarus, Jobs tested the limits of technology and design to soar ever higher.  *But while he took a number of nosedives – descending for a time from the heights of Apple’s leadership – he never totally crashe...

*The common sense and clarity of Michael Pollan’s message – Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants – is what gives it its power, all the more so when contrasted with the dizzying, conflicting dietary advice and convoluted lists of ingredients we are faced with on a daily basis.  *Pollan is a voice of reason amid the earnest, often ill-informed clean eating and wellness debates. Here he explain...

*In later life, Isaiah Berlin regretted calling his essay The Hedgehog and the Fox , but it’s an undoubtedly intriguing title.  *While it investigates the two ways of approaching knowledge, that of the fox who ‘knows many things’ and the hedgehog who ‘knows one big thing’ – outlining what would become a key principle of modern cultural theory – the essay’s real subject matter is the Leo Tolst...

*Parenting can be tough work, and at times it can feel like just surviving is the most you’re able to do. But psychotherapists Siegel and Bryson show that the most difficult moments are actually opportunities to thrive – you just need to use integration .  *Integration means connecting the two sides of your – and your child’s – brain.  *This can occur both horizontally, left brain to rig...

*In today’s world, competition is becoming increasingly fierce. This leads to bloody battles among competitors who are forced to keep reducing prices while continuously spending money on incremental improvements in product quality.  *If they are successful at this, they will merely stay afloat in red oceans. Because other firms are doing the same, everyone is facing the risk of drowning.&nbsp...

*Like many people, Rachel Hollis had a difficult time growing up. But she realized that, whatever her circumstances, it was no excuse for not designing and building a great life.  *Success has to be seized, and involves sacrifices, but it’s no harder than settling for mediocrity.  *The former party planner with a flourishing media company and family reveals what’s behind the influencer p...

*If dying is a certainty, dying early is almost always a choice.  *This is the thread running through Michael Greger’s How Not To Die . Backed up by a catalogue of studies, Greger compellingly demonstrates how we can prevent, treat and even reverse our most common chronic diseases.  *The subtitle is Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease .  *Greger a...

*Arguably the most influential self-help book of all time, Dale Carnegie’s bestseller had an immediate impact on publication in 1936, going through 17 editions in its first year alone, and coining a much-imitated phrase. *Still highly popular today, How to Win Friends and Influence People is a paean to integrity and good humor in the name of healthy capitalism, and a touchstone of American self-im...

*Arguably the most influential self-help book of all time, Dale Carnegie’s bestseller had an immediate impact on publication in 1936, going through 17 editions in its first year alone, and coining a much-imitated phrase.  *Still highly popular today, How to Win Friends and Influence People is a paean to integrity and good humor in the name of healthy capitalism, and a touchstone of American s...

*Elon Musk is an enigma. His vision seems to be motivated by a love for humanity, but he has no trouble treating individuals poorly.  *He’s left two ex-wives and countless ex-SpaceX and ex-Tesla employees in his wake, but he wants to ensure the survival of our species.  *What drives him towards achievements that seem closer to fiction than reality?  *Bloomberg reporter Ashlee Vance’...

Today in the Book Lounge, Tom & Karin discuss the book Good to Great with special guest Gary Garth . Each week Book Insights creator and author of The 50 Classics Series Tom Butler-Bowdon and Memo’d Program Manager Karin Richey invite you to join their fun and casual conversation about the book of the week. Hear what they love it about, what they don’t, how they rate it, and how it can advance...

*Most great companies enjoyed years of obscurity before their great results compelled the world to look at them. In fact, they seemed just like any other company until a certain ‘transition point’ saw them leave the pack behind.  *These leaps into greatness did not occur through revolution. Contrary to popular opinion, these firms did not get in an expensive new CEO to turn things around.&nbs...

Today in the Book Lounge, Tom & Karin discuss the book This Is Marketing with special guest Brandon Leibowitz. Each week Book Insights creator and author of The 50 Classics Series Tom Butler-Bowdon and Memo’d Program Manager Karin Richey invite you to join their fun and casual conversation about the book of the week. Hear what they love it about, what they don’t, how they rate it, and how it c...