Bookcast

Bookcast

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Bookcast episodes

  • The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology | Ray Kurzweil
    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Celebrated futurist Ray Kurzweil, hailed by Bill Gates as “the best person I know at predicting the future of artificial intelligence,” presents an “elaborate, smart, and persuasive” (The Boston Globe) view of the future course of human development.
    “Artfully envisions a breathtakingly better world.”—Los Angeles Times
    “Startling in scope and bravado.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
    “An important book.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer
    At the onset of the twenty-first century, humanity stands on the verge of the most transforming and thrilling period in its history. It will be an era in which the very nature of what it means to be human will be both enriched and challenged as our species breaks the shackles of its genetic legacy and achieves inconceivable heights of intelligence, material progress, and longevity.
     
    While the social and philosophical ramifications of these changes will be profound, and the threats they pose considerable, The Singularity Is Near presents a radical and optimistic view of the coming age that is both a dramatic culmination of centuries of technological ingenuity and a genuinely inspiring vision of our ultimate destiny.

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    22 min
  • A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy | William B. Irvine
    One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have. Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own lives. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.

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    14 min
  • The Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold | Robert Levine

    "An engaging, highly readable survey of the sophisticated methods of persuasion we encounter in various situations. From television to telemarketing and from self-deception to suicide cults, Levine takes a hard look at all the ways we attempt to persuade each other—and how and why they work (or don't). . . . The next time you wonder what possessed you to pay $50 for a medallion commemorating the series finale of Friends, you'll know where to turn."
    —Slashdot.org

    "If you're like most people, you think advertising and marketing work—just not on you. Robert Levine's The Power of Persuasion demonstrates how even the best-educated cynics among us can be victimized by sales pitches."
    —The Globe and Mail

    "Levine puts [his] analysis in the service of his real mission—to arm the reader against manipulation."
    —The Wall Street Journal

    "This wonderful book will change the way you think and act in many realms of your life."
    —Philip Zimbardo former president, American Psychological Association

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    22 min
  • Politics: A New Translation | Aristotle

    This new translation of Aristotle's Politics is a model of accuracy and consistency and fits seamlessly with the translator's Nicomachean Ethics, allowing the two to be read together, as Aristotle intended.
    Sequentially numbered endnotes provide the information most needed at each juncture, while a detailed Index of Terms indicates places where focused discussion of key notions occurs. A general Introduction prepares the reader for the work that lies ahead, explaining what sort of work it is and what sort of evidence it relies on.

    Politics is a work of political philosophy by Aristotle, a 4th-century BC Greek philosopher. At the end of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle declared that the inquiry into ethics leads into a discussion of politics.

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    43 min
  • Winners Never Cheat | Jon Huntsman
    Next time someone tells you business can't be done ethically -- corners must be cut, negotiations can't be honest -- hand them Jon Huntsman's new book. He started with practically nothing, and made it to Forbes'list of America's Top 100 richest people. Huntsman's generous about sharing the credit, but in the 21st century, he's the nearest thing to a self-made multi-billionaire. Now, he presents the lessons of a lifetime: a passionate, inspirational manifesto for returning to the days when your word was your bond, a handshake was sacred, and swarms of lawyers weren't needed to back it up. This is no mere exhortation: it's a practical business book about how to listen to your moral compass, even as others ignore theirs. It's about how you build teams with the highest values, share success, take responsibility, and earn the rewards that only come with giving back. Huntsman's built his career and fortune on these principles. You don't live these principles just to 'succeed': you live them because they're right. But in an age of non-stop business scandal, Huntsman's life proves honesty is more than right: it's the biggest competitive differentiator.

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    18 min
  • The Master Key System | Charles F. Haanel

    The definitive edition of the timeless classic about health, wealth, and success. It is complete and unabridged with footnotes and a biography of Charles F. Haanel, the author.

    The book that inspired the international hit movie THE SECRET!

    “The inscription ‘Know Thyself,’ as written over the entrance of the Temple Delphi, 600 B.C., does not apply to the Greeks alone, but is a command to every man and every woman of every age. It is written over the door of each living temple, not as a decoration, but is the passport into the city beautiful. Every door that swings ajar from ignorance to wisdom, from lack to plenty, from death to life, has done so because the Master of the House has found the Master Key.”

    The Master Key System is the only clear, concise, comprehensive, definitive, distinctive, and scientific presentation of the creative power of thought ever formulated by any one at any one time. It is a system that teaches the ultimate principles, causes, effects, and laws that underlie all attainment and success. When you want to attain something, The Master Key System will show you how to get it.

    The results you will gain from using this system are so startling as to appear incredible. For this reason, more and more people are becoming students of The Master Key System than ever before.

    Unlock your power and potential by reading and learning The Master Key System.

    Read it! You will learn the solution to attaining your goals and solving all of your problems — personal, financial, and business

    Synopsis

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    13 min
  • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success | Carol S. Dweck
    Mindset is one of those rare books that can help you make positive changes in your life and at the same time see the world in a new way.
    A leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, Carol Dweck has discovered in more than twenty years of research that our mindset is not a minor personality quirk: it creates our whole mental world. It explains how we become optimistic or pessimistic. It shapes our goals, our attitude toward work and relationships, and how we raise our kids, ultimately predicting whether or not we will fulfill our potential. Dweck has found that everyone has one of two basic mindsets.
    If you have the fixed mindset, you believe that your talents and abilities are set in stone-either you have them or you don't. You must prove yourself over and over, trying to look smart and talented at all costs. This is the path of stagnation. If you have a growth mindset, however, you know that talents can be developed and that great abilities are built over time. This is the path of opportunity-and success.
    Dweck demonstrates that mindset unfolds in childhood and adulthood and drives every aspect of our lives, from work to sports, from relationships to parenting. She reveals how creative geniuses in all fields-music, literature, science, sports, business-apply the growth mindset to achieve results. Perhaps even more important, she shows us how we can change our mindset at any stage of life to achieve true success and fulfillment. She looks across a broad range of
    applications and helps parents, teachers, coaches, and executives see how they can promote the growth mindset.
    Highly engaging and very practical, Mindset breaks new ground as it leads you to change how you feel about yourself and your future.
    This book is an essential read for parents, teachers, coaches, and others who are instrumental in determining a child's mind-set, and in turn, his or her future success, as well as for those who would like to increase their own feelings of success and fulfillment. --Library Journal
    Contents
    Introduction
    1. The Mindsets
    Why Do People Differ?
    What Does All This Mean for You? The Two Mindsets
    A View from the Two Mindsets
    So, What's New?
    Self-Insight: Who Has Accurate Views of Their Assets and Limitations?
    What's iIn Store
    2. Inside The Mindsets
    Is Success About Learning-Or Proving You're Smart?
    Mindsets Change the Meaning of Failure
    Mindsets Change the Meaning of Effort
    Questions and Answers
    3. The Truth About Ability and Accomplishment
    Mindset and School Achievement
    Is Artistic Ability a Gift?
    The Danger of Praise and Positive Labels
    Negative Labels and How They Work
    4. Sports: The Mindset Of A Champion
    The Idea of the Natural
    Character
    What Is Success?
    What Is Failure?
    Taking Charge of Success
    What Does It Mean to Be a Star?
    Hearing the Mindsets
    5. Business: Mindset and Leadership
    Enron and the Talent Mindset
    Organizations That Grow
    A Study of Mindset and Management Decisions
    Leadership and the Fixed Mindset
    Fixed-Mindset Leaders in Action
    Growth-Mindset Leaders in Action
    A Study of Group Processes
    Groupthink Versus We Think
    Are Leaders Born or Made?
    6. Relationships: Mindsets In Love (Or Not)
    Relationships Are Different
    Mindsets Falling in Love
    The Partner as Enemy
    Competition: Who's The Greatest?
    Developing in Relationships
    Friendship
    Shyness
    Bullies and Victims: Revenge Revisited
    7. Parents, Teachers, And Coaches:
    Where Do Mindsets Come From?
    Parents (and Teachers): Messages About Success and Failure
    Children Learn The Messages
    Teachers (and Parents): What Makes a Great Teacher (or Parent)?
    Coaches: Winning Through Mindset
    Our Legacy
    8. Changing Mindsets: A Workshop
    The Nature of Change
    The Mindset Lectures
    A Mindset Workshop
    Brainology
    More About Change
    Taking the First Step: A Workshop for You
    People Who Don't Want to Change
    Changing Your Child's Mindset
    Mindset and Willpower
    Maintaining Change
    The Road Ahead
    Notes
    Recommended Books
    Index
    From the Hardcover edition.Source: Publisher

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    26 min
  • Mastery: The Keys to Long-term Success and Fulfillment | George Leonard

    The definitive edition of the timeless classic about health, wealth, and success. It is complete and unabridged with footnotes and a biography of Charles F. Haanel, the author.

    The book that inspired the international hit movie THE SECRET!

    “The inscription ‘Know Thyself,’ as written over the entrance of the Temple Delphi, 600 B.C., does not apply to the Greeks alone, but is a command to every man and every woman of every age. It is written over the door of each living temple, not as a decoration, but is the passport into the city beautiful. Every door that swings ajar from ignorance to wisdom, from lack to plenty, from death to life, has done so because the Master of the House has found the Master Key.”

    The Master Key System is the only clear, concise, comprehensive, definitive, distinctive, and scientific presentation of the creative power of thought ever formulated by any one at any one time. It is a system that teaches the ultimate principles, causes, effects, and laws that underlie all attainment and success. When you want to attain something, The Master Key System will show you how to get it.

    The results you will gain from using this system are so startling as to appear incredible. For this reason, more and more people are becoming students of The Master Key System than ever before.

    Unlock your power and potential by reading and learning The Master Key System.

    Read it! You will learn the solution to attaining your goals and solving all of your problems — personal, financial, and business

    Synopsis

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    23 min

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