Best Book Geeks Sam Harris Podcasts (2024)

1
No Offence, But... by Gina Martin 44:09

2M ago44:09

44:09

How to have difficult conversations, for meaningful change. We break down Gina Martin's book addressing how to navigate some of the worst conversation-stoppers and poor thinking in our culture today. It also features chapters from other widely recognized speakers on the topics of equality and diversity. Labeled as "An empowering guide to navigating…

1
The Signal and The Noise - Nate Silver 35:44

4M ago35:44

35:44

Making good predictions is tough. We think we know more than we do and let emotions and biases creep in. How do some forecasters beat the odds? Our hosts, Nico and Sam, chat about the book "The Signal and the Noise" by Nate Silver exploring why predictions fail and uncovering practical insights. A little statistical training can go a long way! We g…

1
The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene 39:15

10M ago39:15

39:15

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene are described as amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive. This multi-million-copy New York Times bestselling book brands itself as the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control. 50 Cent loved the book so much that he reached out to the author to work…

1
The changing world order - Ray Dalio 39:27

11M ago39:27

39:27

From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from thos…

1
The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu 27:42

1y ago27:42

27:42

Review of the Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, one of the most impactful hard-science fiction books this century. Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Eart…

1
False Alarm - Bjorn Lomborg - The cost of climate change panic 32:22

1y ago32:22

32:22

In False Alarm, Bjorn Lomborg examines how climate change panic costs us trillions, hurts the poor, and fails to fix the planet. This is a divisive book and even had us as hosts disagreeing on subjects. Bjorn Lomborg proposes to debunk the myths and hype surrounding climate change, revealing the true costs and benefits of our response to this globa…

1
The Culture Code: Secrets of Highly Successful Groups - Daniel Coyle 35:44

1y ago35:44

35:44

Teamwork is renowned for being the key to success. The practicalities of making it happen to rely on building a brilliant culture. But what does that mean? This book breaks down some memorable and thought-provoking examples leading to some actionable lessons. In our view, it is a perfect book for anyone in management or trying to bring out the most…

1
4000 weeks: Time management for mortals - Oliver Burkeman 32:48

1y ago32:48

32:48

4000 weeks is a productivity book that is anti-productivity. We are all going to die and optimising our day for every last morsel of work is not the way to be happy or effective. We break down the biggest lessons from the book which are practical to adopt in your life. We also discuss what the opportunities are economically and philosophically. - -…

1
The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch 19:40

1+ y ago19:40

19:40

What we do if most of civilization collapsed to survive as a species? What human knowledge is most important to preserve and use to rebuild society as quickly as possible? Lewis Dartnell assesses the most important actions to take during an apocalypse to survive. He then cherry-picks the most important inventions to teach us how to rebuild everythi…

1
How To Change Your Mind - Michael Pollan 24:21

1+ y ago24:21

24:21

What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. We break down our main lessons from the book and open our own minds to a new way of thinking. About Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the front…

1
Body Keeps the score 24:23

1+ y ago24:23

24:23

Body Keeps the score is a book that you keep hearing about especially as mental health and trauma become more and more relevant. Bessel Van Der Kock explains what we experience in the brain, mind and body whilst healing from trauma. Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five American…

1
We're back - A quick update 5:48

1+ y ago5:48

5:48

We had a long hiatus since the summer of 2022. The mind series rather dragged and we realised we needed to sort out a better system for things. We also had a few big life updates as Sam went on a long cycling trip and Nico's job became a little overwhelming along with launching his own podcast on the Future of Gaming. Back on track with a schedule …

1
NEURODIVERSITY: The Man Who Mistook His Wife and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks 31:24

2y ago31:24

31:24

In this book, neurologist Oliver Sacks, describes the case histories of some of his patients. Sacks chose the title of the book from the case study of one of his patients who has visual agnosia, a neurological condition that leaves him unable to recognize faces and objects. Sacks wrote the stories of 24 patients and their neurological conditions wh…

1
NEURODIVERSITY - PSYCHOPATHS: The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success by Kevin Dutton 27:29

2y ago27:29

27:29

The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a scale of "madness" along which we all sit. Incorporating the latest advances in brain scanning and…

1
NEURODIVERSITY - AUTISM: NeuroTribes; The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman 29:55

2y ago29:55

29:55

NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity By Steve Silberman What is autism? A lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more—and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. Wired reporter Steve Silberman…

1
NEURODIVERSITY - ADHD: Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain by Peter Shankman 38:47

2y ago38:47

38:47

Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain By Peter Shankman In Faster Than Normal, Shankman shares his hard-won insights and daily hacks for making ADHD a secret weapon for living a full and deeply satisfying life. Both inspiring and practical, the book presents life rules, best practic…

1
Investing Recap 41:20

2+ y ago41:20

41:20

Thoughts and Learnings in InvestingEveryone should be thinking about investing.Every money decision you make is an investment decision.All investments are broadly equal on the risk/reward spectrum.Only actively make investment decisions when you have an edge.Your investment strategy will depend on your situation (your age, tolerance for downturns, …

1
Investing: Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market by Noah Horowitz 35:33

2+ y ago35:33

35:33

Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial MarketBy Noah HorowitzArt today is defined by its relationship to money as never before. Prices of living artists' works have been driven to unprecedented heights, conventional boundaries within the art world have collapsed, and artists now think ever more strategically about how to advance th…

1
Investing: What is Decentralized Finance or DeFi 54:27

2+ y ago54:27

54:27

Decentralized Finance or DeFiDecentralized Finance offers financial instruments without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks. Instead, it uses smart contracts on a blockchain. DeFi platforms allow people to lend or borrow funds from others, speculate on price movements on assets using derivatives, trade cryptocurrencies…

1
Investing: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson 52:29

2+ y ago52:29

52:29

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and HappinessBy Eric JorgensonGetting rich is not just about luck; happiness is not just a trait we are born with. These aspirations may seem out of reach, but building wealth and being happy are skills we can learn.So what are these skills, and how do we learn them? What are the principles that sho…

1
Investing: The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel 43:15

2+ y ago43:15

43:15

The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and HappinessBy Morgan HouselDoing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.Money―investing, personal finance, and business decisions―is typically taught as a math-based field, where data an…

1
Investing: The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment by Guy Spier 48:24

2+ y ago48:24

48:24

The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and EnlightenmentBy Guy SpierWhat happens when a young Wall Street investment banker spends a small fortune to have lunch with Warren Buffett? He becomes a real value investor. In this fascinating inside story, Guy Spier details his career from Harvard MBA to hedge fund …

1
Investing: Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups—Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 Into $100,000,000 by Jason Calacanis 43:59

2+ y ago43:59

43:59

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups—Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 Into $100,000,000By Jason CalacanisOne of Silicon Valley’s most successful angel investors shares his rules for investing in startups.There are two ways to make money in startups: create something valuable—or invest in the people that are creating…

1
Investing: NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), explained 39:54

2+ y ago39:54

39:54

NFTs (Non-Fungible Token), explainedA non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger (blockchain). NFTs can be associated with easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, 3D models, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items (analogous to a certificate of authenticity). NFTs u…

1
Investing: The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking by Saifedean Ammous 51:25

2+ y ago51:25

51:25

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central BankingBy Saifedean AmmousThe Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications. While Bitcoin is a new invention of the digital age, the prob…

1
Investing: The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham 44:26

2+ y ago44:26

44:26

The Intelligent InvestorBy Benjamin GrahamThe Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, first published in 1949, is a widely acclaimed book on value investing. The book provides strategies on how to successfully use value investing in the stock market. Historically, the book has been one of the most popular books on investing and Graham’s legacy rem…

1
Investing: Talking To My Daughter About The Economy by Yanis Varoufakis 45:18

2+ y ago45:18

45:18

Talking To My Daughter About The Economy: A Brief istory of CapitalismBy Yanis VaroufakisIn this letter to his teenage daughter, one of the world's most famous economists uses vivid stories to explain what economics is and why it is so dangerous. What is money and why does debt exist? Where do wealth and inequality come from? How come economics has…

1
Investing: Introduction to Investing 39:06

2+ y ago39:06

39:06

Introduction to InvestingWe live in a capitalistic society, where everything revolves around adding value. Adding value can be anything: farmers, bakers, architects, artists, teachers, athletes. When you go to school, you are being trained to bring value to society. After you finish school and start working, you are being paid for creating value. I…

1
Body Recap 36:01

2+ y ago36:01

36:01

Recap of the human body books that we have readIf Our Bodies Could Talk: A Guide to Operating and Maintaining a Human Body - James HamblinWhy We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - Matthew WalkerBreath: The New Science of a Lost Art - James NestorLifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don't Have To - David SinclairGut: The Inside Story of O…

1
Body: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall 33:17

2+ y ago33:17

33:17

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never SeenBy Christopher McDougallInspiration for reading this book came when Nico's friend came for dinner wearing these weird-ass shoes. Naturally - he asked him about it, cause Nico love weird stuff, and told him that humans have evolved to walk and run barefoot, and…

1
Body: Death by Food Pyramid - Denise Minger 32:35

2+ y ago32:35

32:35

Death by Food Pyramid: How Shoddy Science, Sketchy Politics and Shady Special Interests Have Ruined Our HealthBy Denis MingerDenise Minger shares her personal story about how she got convinced to go all-out raw vegan at a pretty young age. She initially saw tremendous health improvements, but after a while she started losing a lot of weight. She de…

1
Body: Burn by Herman Pontzer 32:27

2+ y ago32:27

32:27

Burn: The Misunderstood Science of MetabolismBy Herman PontzerWe burn 2,000 calories a day. And if we exercise and cut carbs, we'll lose more weight. Right? Wrong.the Hadza, who every day move around for ~4 hours and 15,000 steps, use the same amount of energy as couch-potato North Americans.Exercise doesn't increase our metabolism. Instead, we bur…

1
Body: Gut by Giulia Enders 29:59

2+ y ago29:59

29:59

Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organby Giulia EndersFor too long, the gut has been the body’s most ignored and least appreciated organ, but it turns out that it’s responsible for more than just dirty work: our gut is (literally and figuratively) at the core of who we are. The book starts with a voyage through our full digestive…

1
Body: Lifespan by Dr. Savid Sinclair 44:14

3y ago44:14

44:14

Lifespan: why we age - and why we don’t have toBy Dr. Savid Sinclair#1: Aging is a disease: We must move away from treating age-related diseases and focus on their root. Reclassifying aging as a disease is a critical first step in this shift in approach.Sinclair believes we’re wasting money and time on what he calls “whack-a-mole” medic“There is no…

1
Body: Breath by James Nestor 37:49

3y ago37:49

37:49

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James NestorNo matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you're not breathing properly.The missing pillar in health is breath, it all starts thereNestor finds that the science of breathing really is a lost art, and discovers more in ancient burial …

1
Body: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker 38:06

3y ago38:06

38:06

Why we sleepWritten by Matthew WalkerAmazing breakthrough - science has discovered a new treatmentLive longerEnhances memoryMore creativeLook more attractiveMakes slimLowers food cravingsProtects cancer and dementiaWards off colds and the fluLowers risk of heart attacks and stroke and diabetesYoull even feel happier, less depressed and less anxious…

1
Body: If Our Bodies Could Talk by James Hamblin 44:55

3y ago44:55

44:55

If Our Bodies Could Talk: A Guide to Operating and Maintaining a Human Bodyby James HamblinDoctor turned journalistLaunched a series of videos for the atlantic in 2014explores the human stories behind health questions that never seem to go away—and which tend to be mischaracterized and oversimplified by marketing and news media.He covers topics lik…

1
Business Recap 36:52

3y ago36:52

36:52

Recap of the business books that we have readShoedog: Autobiography of Phil Knight, founder of NikeThe lean startup, Eric Ries:How to build a startup, the antifragile wayBen Horowits The Hard thing about hard things helps throw light at the challenges a CEO goes through.The Messy Middle - Scott Belsky: Talks about stuff between the most romantic pa…

1
Business: Good Strategy, Bad Strategy - Richard Rumelt 42:29

3y ago42:29

42:29

Good strategy, bad strategy: The difference, and why it mattersBy Richard RumeltKey insightsStrategy =/= ambitious goal setting, vision, charismaAround the 60’s, many authors started ascribing leader’s success to their vision, combined with their charisma. This has resulted in a lot of bad strategy, based on ambitious goal setting. Example: 20/20 p…

1
Business: Venture Deals - Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson 38:05

3y ago38:05

38:05

Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason MendelsonEver thought about getting investments for your startup? Ever thought about investing in a startup?Whether you are an entrepreneur, an investor, a lawyer or just a stakeholder in the venture capital market, this book is for you!In it, renowned investor Brad Feld addresses some topics within the Venture …

1
Business: Hooked - Nir Eyal 37:47

3y ago37:47

37:47

Hooked - how to build habit-forming products by Nir EyalHow do successful companies create products people can't put down?Why do some products capture widespread attention while others flop? What makes us engage with certain products out of sheer habit? Is there a pattern underlying how technologies hook us?Nir Eyal answers these questions (and man…

1
Business: Obviously Awesome - April Dunford 30:04

3y ago30:04

30:04

Obviously AwesomeApril Dunford extracts from her own 20+ years of real-world tech marketing experience a basic positioning framework that actually works, because she sees that positioning is often misunderstood, and can be really powerful, especially for saas startupsDefinition: Positioning is the act of deliberately defining how you are the best a…

1
Business: The High Growth Handbook 32:42

3y ago32:42

32:42

The High Growth HandbookGlobal technology executive, serial entrepreneur, and angel investor Elad Gil has worked with high-growth, tech companies like Airbnb, Twitter, Google, Stripe, and Square as they've grown from small companies to global enterprises.Across all of these breakout companies, a set of common patterns has evolved into a repeatable …

1
Business: The Messy Middle - Scott Belsky 32:55

3y ago32:55

32:55

The Messy middle by Scott BelskyMost startup stories describe the most romantic parts of a venture, from starting in a garage or college dorm to successfully doing a multi-billion dollar IPO. Scott Belsky, who is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, Chief Product Officer at Adobe, and product advisor to many of today's top start-ups, goes about it d…

1
Business: The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz 27:20

3y ago27:20

27:20

The Hard thing about hard thingsA valuable book for tech entrepreneurs, The Hard thing about hard things helps throw light at the challenges a CEO goes through. Ben Horowitz launched Loudcloud in 1999, just before the dotcom bubble. Their company offers enterprise SaaS to tech clients. Then the trouble began* Because of the dotcom bubble, many of t…

1
Business: The Lean Startup - Eric Ries 33:45

3y ago33:45

33:45

The Lean Startup by Eric RiesA startup is a grand experiment = "a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty"Too many startups begin with an idea for a product that they think people want. They then spend months, sometimes years, perfecting that product without ever showing the product, eve…

1
Business: Shoe Dog - Phil Knight - The story of Nike 31:01

3y ago31:01

31:01

Shoe Dog is a memoir by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. The memoir chronicles the history of Nike from its early struggles to its evolution into one of the world's most recognized and profitable companies. It also highlights certain parts of Phil Knight's life.This book is a great insight into the world of business and how a huge company and brand is …

1
The best books of 2020 35:15

3+ y ago35:15

35:15

We (Sam and Nico) look back at what we read on the show in 2020.We both choose our top three books from the year that we discussed on the show and share what the biggest lessons were that really stuck with us. Looking back with hindsight at the most powerful lessons was a great tool to really show what the absolute best books were which can be less…

1
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius 38:59

3+ y ago38:59

38:59

Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe.While the Meditations were composed to pr…

1
Seneca - On the Shortness of Life 28:44

3+ y ago28:44

28:44

The Stoic writings of the philosopher Seneca offer powerful insights into the art of living, the importance of reason and morality, and continue to provide profound guidance to many through their eloquence, lucidity and timeless wisdom.Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves—and each oth…

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