A Need To Read

The Serotonin Myth: Is depression really caused by a chemical imbalance? with Joanna Moncrieff

Today’s paid partner is BetterHelp, to get 10% off your first month of online therapy with a credentialed therapist head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread
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Today's conversation is with Joanna Moncreiff, the author of 'Chemically Imbalanced: the making and unmaking of the serotonin myth'. We discuss the history of the link between depression and serotonin, side effects of taking SSRI's and the emerging mental health treatment methods that we should be wary of. 
 
For help understanding how you can come off Anti Depressants, follow this link 
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A Need To Read is partnered with The Breath Space, a online Breath-work education and practise portal that I have been using for the last couple of months, alongside my course to become a breath-work facilitator. To check out how breathwork can help you, follow the link and use the code ED for 50% off your first 2 months. 
https://courses.thebreathspace.co.uk/your-breath-space-online-membership 
 
You can also support my work by heading to www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread 
 
Any feedback is welcome: aneedtoread.podcast@gmail.com 

Irelands native rainforests with Matt Smith

Matt Smith is a former professional surfer and sailor, now he spends his time on the west coast of Ireland as CEO of the charity HOMETREE (https://www.hometree.ie/about).
 
You can find him on Instagram @thehonestcaptain where he talks about his projectsshow support 
www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread
www.buymeacoffee.com//aneedtoread 

Welcome back

Welcome back! I’ve been away for a while, and never even said see ya later or goodbye. 
This episode covers a little bit about why I stopped the podcast, what I’ve been up to, and where the podcast will go in the future. 
books recommended:
100 years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda
Someone To Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob Wakesburg 
 
COMING UP: interviews with Matt Smith (Hometree CEO) & Ellie Middleton (author of UNMSKED & How To Be You), and a review of ‘The Compassionate Mind’ by Paul Gilbert 
 
let me know if you have any suggestions for guests or topics you want me to look in to aneedtoread.podcast@gmail.com
 
sponsors: www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread for 10% off your first month of therapy 

Entangled life of fungi with Merlin Sheldrake

 
www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread
Www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 
Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist, writer, and speaker with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama.
 
His book Entangled life was a Sunday Times Bestseller.
 
 
A-need-to-read is the code for an additional 10% off your first purchase with Urban Farm It, who do homegrown mushroom kits: https://urban-farm-it.com/

Novels to read in 2023

In this episode, I chat about some fiction books that you might like to read this year. 
 
Books discussed
 
When We Cease To Understand The World by Benjamin Labtut
Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo
A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Someone To Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksburg
First Person Singular by Hariku Murakami
If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura
The Virgin Suicides & Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 
A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara
Siddartha & Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
 
All of the links will take you to Bookshop.org, a website where when you buy books, you support small bookstores, and I also get 10% of the sale. Which is quite nice, init. 
 
Support for the podcast
 
If you want to help me produce podcasts directly, which would be VERY KIND, head to www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread 
 
You will have heard me bang on about how transformational therapy can be, that's why I am proud that Betterhelp sponsors A Need To Read. Meaning you get 10% off your first month if you wanted to chat with a therapist, just head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread
 
If you have any feedback, requests, or well-wishes, send me an email at hello@aneedtoread.co.uk

#187 Dan Osman

Dan Osman is a Health and Wellbeing Educator, who has worked in the health and fitness industry for 17 years. 
 
We discuss; problems with social media, People’s relationships with diets, exercise, and themselves, Self-awareness, How to use values to guide you, confusing avoidance with enlightenment, body-image issues across genders,  society’s contribution to body image issues, self-objectification, and have a general moan about empty mental health advocacy.
Support for the podcast
 
I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
 
- Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
 
- Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
 
- The show is sponsored by BetterHelp, so you can get matched with a therapist within 48 hours and get 10% off your first month by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 
 
- You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk
 

Saving the planet without the bullshit, with Assaad Razzouk

Support for the podcast
 
I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
 
- Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
 
- Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
 
- The show is sponsored by BetterHelp, so you can get matched with a therapist within 48 hours and get 10% off your first month by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 
 
- You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk
 

Nutrition, Politics and Philosophy, with Alan Flanagan

Dr. Alan Flanagan, PhD, holds an MSc and PhD in nutrition from the University of Surrey, and is a former practicing Lawyer (Barrister) from Dublin, Ireland. In this podcast we discuss; nutrition, the protein problem for plant-based diets, what we’re seeing in British politics, philosophy, and Alan’s favourite books.
 
 

Earth is a hothouse with Prof. Bill McGuire

Bill McGuire is a Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London, and a writer, who is regularly published in The Guardian, The Times, and The Observer. He is the author of many books, notably the newest, Hothouse Earth - an inhabitants guide, which is a look towards the future of our planet. 
 
 
In this podcast we discuss:
The impact of rising sea levels on the earth's crust, volcanos, coastal cities, and marine life
Humanity’s downward spiral due to the climate crisis  
Capitalism and climate change
And at the end, I chat about how I'm trying not to be sad all the time about what the future is looking likely to hold. 
 
Support for the podcast
 
I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
 
- Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
 
- Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
 
I work with a couple of great companies who have discounts arranged for A Need To Read listeners, they're listed below. The discounts (BH) + freebies (AG) will already be applied when you click the link. 
 
- Go to Therapy and get 10% off your first month with BetterHelp, who sponsor the show
 
- Get your nutrition covered with the all-in-one AG1 shake from Athletic Greens, who also sponsor the show. 
 
- You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk
 

BEING YOU: Consciousness, Dreams and the Self with Prof. Anil Seth

Professor Anil Seth is a Computational and Cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Sussex. His book Being You was a Sunday Times Bestseller. 
 
Take part in Anil's research
 
In this podcast we discuss:
Anil’s latest project ‘The Dream Machine’
What dreams are for?
How your brain creates experience 
How we see colour
Why we all see things differently 
What happens to your brain on Psychadelics
What happens to your brains when you learn something new
The illusion of Self
Free Will 
 
Support for the podcast
 
I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
 
- Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
 
- Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
 
I work with a couple of great companies who have discounts arranged for A Need To Read listeners, they're listed below. The discounts (BH) + freebies (AG) will already be applied when you click the link. 
 
- Go to Therapy and get 10% off your first month with BetterHelp, who sponsor the show
 
- Get your nutrition covered with the all-in-one AG1 shake from Athletic Greens, who also sponsor the show. 
 
- You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk