A Need To Read
For the curious mind.
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Episodes
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Siobhan O'hagan is a Personal Trainer and Content Creator, she is also a good friend of mine. She's back on A Need To Read for the third time to discuss; Tony Robbins, self-help, effective altruism, whether or not the laptop lifestyle is sustainable, Angel numbers, the meaning of suffering, Whether books REALLY helped me as much as I thought, The recently UCL study on the chemical imbalance narrative around depression, the effectiveness of IAPT (Immediate Access to Psychological Therapies) in the UK, and the problems with the economics of happiness.
Books Discussed
The existentialist Cafe
The Antidote
Manufacturing Happy Citizens
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter.
You can also see the archive posts with this link.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, so if you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
This podcast is also sponsored by Athletic Greens so you can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
Get a Free audiobook with Audible!
Get in touch: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Azeem Azhar is one of the world’s most trusted voices in technological innovation. He has worked within the tech industry since the early 90s with companies like the BBC, The Guardian, and The Economist. More recently, Azeem has become an active startup investor and has advised organizations like the World Economic Forum. He is a contributor to publications including the Financial Times, Wired, and the MIT Technology Review. He's been producing the Exponential view newsletter— which looks at intersections between technology and business— for the last 7 years and has attracted a high-profile readership.
Azeem’s new book, Exponential, looks at how technology has come to advance so rapidly, and the different ways we are struggling to keep up.
In this podcast we discuss:
What are the characteristics of The Exponential Age
Why the Metaverse is a bit meh
Which technologies that have been getting exponentially cheaper
How clean energy is being held back
The ways big tech firms use your data
Cyber security and the threat of misinformation
Russia’s cyber antics
How advanced does tech have to be for us to be suspicious of living in a simulation?
Azeem can be found on Twitter: @Azeem
Or at Exponential View: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter.
You can also see my older newsletters with this link.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, so if you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
This podcast is also sponsored by Athletic Greens so you can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
Get a Free audiobook with Audible!
Get in touch: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Tuesday Jul 19, 2022
Professor Rory O’Connor is Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and Past President of the International Academy of Suicide Research. Rory leads the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory) at the University of Glasgow, one of the leading suicide and self-harm research groups internationally. His book, When It Is Darkest, was the winner of the 2021 British Psychological Society Popular Science Book Award
He can be found on twitter (@suicideresearch).
Rory and I spoke about; his book- When It Is Darkest, How to talk about suicide, Why the mental health services are lacking in the UK, socio-economic influences on mental health, how ‘The Social Dilemma’ documentary was too simplistic in terms of suicide attempts and self-harm statistics, Socially prescribed perfectionism, Status, and mental health, Explaining the statistics around global suicides, Alcohol and suicide and how you can help the suicide issue.
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter.
You can also see my older newsletters with this link.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, so if you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
This podcast is also sponsored by Athletic Greens so you can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
Get a Free audiobook with Audible!
Get in touch: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
Tuesday Jul 12, 2022
I chatted with Emily Kenway who's a writer, an activist, and the author of The Truth About Modern Slavery. In the past, Emily has advised the first Anti-Slavery Commissioner for the UK, and she now researches and writes about crucial forces shaping our lives and communities.
We discussed:
We look at the statement: “There are more people enslaved today than at any other point in history.”
What’s meant by “Modern Slavery”
The Rwanda flights
What Human Trafficking really looks like
The UK’s hostile environment for migrants
How exploitative labour laws are being leveraged abroad by big businesses
How Sex Work is being used as a scapegoat
Exploitation in the UK (John Lewis)
Read Emily’s article on the 46 people found dead in Texas on OpenDemocracy.net
Emily’s Website (+ Instagram & Twitter): https://www.emilykenway.com/about
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter. You can also see my older newsletters with this link.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, so if you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
This podcast is also sponsored by Athletic Greens so you can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
Get a Free audiobook with Audible!
Get in touch: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Nichola Raihani is a professor of Evolution and Behavior at University College London. She joined me to discuss her new book The Social Instinct. We also spoke about: cooperation from cell to society, what makes us different from the great apes, what we have in common with meerkats, peacocking and why reputation matters, paranoia as a normal function of life, the impact of community on mental health and the idea of self-interested altruism.
You can find Nichola on Twitter: @nicholaraihani
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
This episode is about the different ways we deceive ourselves, and why we do so. If you want to find out more you can read Elephant in the Brain by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson.
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter.
You can also see my older newsletters with this link.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp, so if you want to learn to understand your behaviour or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
This podcast is sponsored by Athletic Greens so you can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
Get a Free audiobook with Audible!
Get in touch: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
I had a great chat with Ben Aldridge, the author of both How To Be Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable, and How To Control The Uncontrollable. Ben's most recent book How To Control The Uncontrollable is a practical guide to Stoicism and how to bring it into your daily life.
We chatted about; combining fear and play, Ben’s favorite Stoic, how he got over himself, voluntary discomfort, the misconceptions about Stoicism, how to do negative visualization, how to become more grateful for the people you love, Sam Harris’ app Waking Up, Taoism and Buddhism, and Stoicism's use in parenting,
You can find everything for Ben on his website: https://www.benaldridge.com/
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter. You can also see my older newsletters with this link.
If you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
You can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
I am reachable here: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Tuesday May 31, 2022
I spoke with Dan, the man behind the Nice-Ish-Psychologist Instagram and Twitter accounts, and the Nice-ish Ramblings podcast. He is a HCPC registered Forensic and Clinical Psychologist, and uses his spare time to educate people on the internet about issues relating to masculinity, sexual violence against women, gender, and sometimes how all these aspects of society and culture interlink.
In the podcast we discuss; Masculinity and the ManBox culture, #Notallmen, How to speak about gender, Religion’s role in the patriarchy, the patriarchy in the government, Women in government, and how to be an ally.
Content discussed
Man Box Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_porter_a_call_to_men?language=en
Invisible Women by Carolina Criado Perez
Is Masculinity Toxic by Andrew Smiler
Laura Bates's books
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter. You can also see my older newsletters with this link.
If you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
You can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
I am reachable here: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
In this episode I’m joined by Otto English — he’s a journalist who writes for; Politico, The Byline Times, and The Independent, among other publications. We talk about his new book Fake History, which looks to dispel some of the myths we are taught about historical figures and events. In the podcast we chat about; Churchill, Nationalism and Fake History, What really happened at Dunkirk, Boris Johnson, Whether we should be wary of China (or feel bad for doing so), and much more!
More from Otto can be found on Twitter @Otto_English
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter.
If you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
You can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
I am reachable here: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
In this meta-episode, I review Alain de Botton's review of Marcel Proust's life and work. Marcel Proust is one of the 20th Century's most influential authors and his In Search Of Lost Time spanned 7 volumes on love, art, time, and memory. His personal life is also on display in this book as Alain de Botton asks what Proust can teach us about; loving life, expressing emotions, suffering, reading, being a good friend, and how to be happy in love.
Support
The best thing you can do is share the podcast with a friend, or sign up for my new weekly newsletter.
If you want to learn to understand your behavior or emotions with the help of a professional you can get 10% off your first month of therapy by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread from there you’ll just need to run through a 5-minute questionnaire and you’ll be matched with a therapist within 48 hours.
You can get an additional 5 free travel packs and a year's supply of Vitamin D3 with your Athletic Greens subscription at www.athleticgreens.com/aneedtoread
I am reachable here: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact