A Need To Read

Dr. Mike Banna is a GP in the South of England, a GP educator, and a Director of the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine. He also writes a weekly newsletter for Gymshark called The Doctors Note.

This podcast discusses mental health services in the UK, Instagram wellness advice, behaviour change journeys, shamelessly being bad at things, and a few of his favourite books. 

Dr. Mike is on Instagram and Twitter as @DrMikethe2nd

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

George Monbiot is one of Britain's finest writers on Climate. He has a weekly column where he writes on political and environmental issues with The Guardian and is the author of multiple books.  His book feral has inspired a rewinding movement in the UK, and his latest book Regenesis looks at the future of farming. 

In this podcast we discuss

• The complexity of soil 

Find more from George on his website: https://www.monbiot.com/about/

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

David Robert Grimes is a Science communicator and author. His book The Irrational Ape has been discussed on this show many times. He joins me today to discuss the Law of Attraction, the pseudoscientific craze that has made millennials, Gen-Zers, and Gwyneth Paltrow believe they can bend the universe to suit their will.

More from David is on his website: https://www.davidrobertgrimes.com

I highly recommend reading his book if you have ever wondered what on the flat earth makes people believe in conspiracy theories. David's an excellent communicator. and a great voice for science and rationality. 

Support for the podcast

Hey!

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

Dr. Nicola Fox Hamilton is a cyberpsychology researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, in Dublin. She has authored a new series called 'The Psychology of Online Behaviour' on audible, and regularly appears in the media to discuss her research. 

We discuss

- How Tinder changed online dating

- Social Media use

- Why social media gets the blame for the mental health crisis

- The psychology of Dick Pics

- How men can be more successful with online dating

- How men and women's experiences vary with online dating

- How to think rationally about screen time & technology use

- How school shooters aren't linked with gaming 

For more from Nicola head to her website: https://www.nicolafoxhamilton.com/ 

Get a Free audiobook with Audible and access to Nicola's Audible Original 'The Psychology of Online Behaviour'

Support

Get my new weekly newsletter

www.Buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread

BetterHelp sponsors this podcast, 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 in touch: www.aneedtoread.co.uk/contact 

Mark Maslin is a Professor of Earth System Science at University College London, a thought-leader on global heating, and the author of popular books on climate change and human evolution, most recently How To Save Our Planet: The Facts.

Mark joined me to discuss:

- How much it will cost to limit further damage and save the planet,

- Why Jordan Peterson is wrong about environmentalists,

- Who will be dealing with the worst of the consequences of global heating,

- How capitalism can save the planet,

- What it means to be in The Anthropocene,

- How governments, individuals, and corporations can do their bit 

You can find Mark on Twitter: @profmarkmaslin

Support

Get my new weekly newsletter

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 

Or to support my work by making a donation please head to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread

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 

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

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 

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 

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.”

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 

In this episode, I cover some of my favorite books on religion, my religious experiences, and explore the article I wrote the other day on the Roe Vs Wade overturning (+religions role in that decision).

Books discussed

God is Not Great & The Missionary Position by Christopher Hitchens

Waking Up, The Moral Landscape, The End of Faith & Letters to a Christian Nation By Sam Harris

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