Sounds About Right: Audiobooks to Help Us Understand the World

Prof. Lewis Dartnell is a research scientist, presenter and author based in London, UK.

He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class degree in Biological Sciences and completed his PhD at University College London in 2007. He now holds the Professorship in Science Communication at the University of Westminster.

He has also published five books: THE KNOWLEDGE was the Sunday Times ‘New Thinking’ Book of the Year and international bestseller, and ORIGINS: How the Earth Made Us is a Sunday Times top History book of 2019.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Lewis about his latest book titled: BEING HUMAN: How our Biology shaped World History

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

1. The process of deciding which topics Lewis wanted to focus on in each chapter.
2. Family: How did we through evolution come up with 'pair bonding' and what did it help solve?
3. Endemic diseases & Pandemic diseases - and the link between how some of them has has changed the world
4. Exploring the argument that  agriculture  is 'the worst mistake in human history'
5. Cognitive biases and why being aware of them alone, still doesn't allow us to stop them.

The Book and Audiobook: BEING HUMAN: How our Biology shaped World History
 is out now.

You can also find out more about Lewis on his website http://lewisdartnell.com




As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

Mary-Jane Rubenstein is Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University, and is affiliated with the Philosophy Department and the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. She holds a B.A. from Williams College, an M.Phil. from The University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in from Columbia University. Her research unearths the philosophies and histories of religion and science, especially in relation to cosmology, ecology, and space travel.

I spoke to Mary-Jane about her latest book Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

1. Why should we care about bible stories, in a book about out of space? 
2. How integral the Christian victory over paganism  was in transforming a world full of living things to objects for us to consume and absorb 
3. Should we be wary that the space race will be any different from how the West's exploration of new frontiers in the past has always been at the expense of a people or group? 
4. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos space race ideologies and how they differ from one another.
5. Will the space race be beneficial for everyone on earth or just a select few?
6. Is there a better way to go about space exploration than the way its been so far?

 The Book and Audiobook:  Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race is out now.





As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

She studied at Oxford and Manchester, gaining her PhD in 2000. Postdoctoral research and teaching followed, including a prestigious Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Fellowship, before she was appointed to a lectureship at Birkbeck in 2004. She became Professor of Mathematics there in 2013, and served in various management roles including as Head of Mathematics and Statistics, Assistant Dean, and Programme Director for the MSc Mathematics.

Her academic publications have been mainly in the area of pure mathematics known as group theory, which has many applications both inside and outside of mathematics, for example in coding theory and cryptography. She is actively involved in the British Society for the History of Mathematics, and has served a three-year term as President of the Society from 2021-2023.

Her book Once Upon a Prime: the Wondrous Connections between Mathematics and Literature, was published in 2023, and has been positively reviewed in the press, including The Sunday Times, The Observer, The Economist, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

I had the pleasure of discussing the book with her, some of the talking points include:

1. How Sarah first made the link between literature & mathematics and the perceived disassociation between the two.
2. The structure of the book being in three parts and whether the significance of the number '3' has anything to do with it!
3. How maths, structures stories in poetry and literature 
4. Numbers in literature- is there a hidden maths in the symbolic numbers in literature and biblical texts
5. The mathematical references in the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville 

 The Book and Audiobook:  Once Upon a Prime: the Wondrous Connections between Mathematics and Literature is out now.




As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod



Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

William D. Eggers is the Executive Director of Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights where he is responsible for the firm’s public sector thought leadership.

He also serves as a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration, a governance futures council member at the World Economic Forum, an advisory board member at What Works Cities and chairs the Leadership Council for New America.

He is the author of numerous books including his newest Bridgebuilders: How Government Can Transcend Boundaries to Solve Big Problems. Which I had the pleasure of discussing with him

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• The vending machine form of government and why this no longer works.
• The 10 Key areas for Bridgebuilding.
• The power of collaboration between government and multi-sector organisation's
• Expanding on some of the key areas
• The process of writing the book for William & Donald and whether their perspectives changed during it.
• While putting the book together, who did he have in mind to read it?

 The Book and Audiobook:  Bridgebuilders: How Government Can Transcend Boundaries to Solve Big Problems is out now.

As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

Dr. Rank is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts and speakers in the country on issues of poverty, inequality, and social justice. His research and teaching have focused on poverty, social welfare, economic inequality, and social policy. Dr. Rank has published numerous scholarly articles.

His first book, Living on the Edge: The Realities of Welfare in America, explored the conditions of surviving on public assistance and achieved widespread critical acclaim. His 2004 book, One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All, provided a new understanding of poverty in America.

I spoke to him about his latest book The Poverty Paradox: Understanding Economic Hardship Amid American Prosperity

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• The main viewpoint of poverty and why its something Mark has argued against it in the book
• The different ways 'poverty' has been defined.
• The forces behind poverty:  The failure at structural rather than individual level.
• How the system is designed for everyone to buy into the American Dream, rags to riches story despite the low levels of economic mobility. 
• Human Capital 
•  Investing on children on the front end,  (reducing childhood poverty) rather than on the back end (spending  in the future due).
• How compared to other developed nations the US assist and spend the least on the vulnerable.
• Why has government programmes so far not really worked?
• Are there reasons to be optimistic for the future? 

 The Book and Audiobook:  The Poverty Paradox: Understanding Economic Hardship Amid American Prosperity is out now.

As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

Steven H. Miles is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Bioethics. His medical career was in Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. He is a former Maas Family Endowed Chair in Bioethics at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

Dr. Miles has published thirty chapters and more than 200 medical articles on medical ethics, human rights, tropical medicine, end of life care, and medical torture. He has extensive international experience including global work with refugees and work on behalf of victims of torture. He currently serves on the board of the Minnesota ACLU Foundation, the editorial board of Torture Journal (Denmark) and is a Master Gardener.

I spoke to him about his latest book The Torture Doctors: Human Rights Crimes and the Road to Justice.

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• Understanding what a torture doctor is and do they take part in it?
• The role of a physician when it comes to torture.
• Some of the  physician supervised  practices that has taken place
• Why it was important for the UK to be highlighted in the book
• How impactful Human Rights Organisations have been in bringing about change.
• How  Medical Associations have been complicit
• How rare it is for a country to take accountability for its torture doctors.
• What more can medical licensing boards and associations can do in promoting more accountability around this.

 The Book and Audiobook:  The Torture Doctors: Human Rights Crimes and the Road to Justice  is out now.







As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

Jeff Maynard is an author and documentary maker specialising in historical subjects. Jeff is renowned for uncovering little-known, or long forgotten historical events. His research is undertaken over many years, and he uses that research to reveal character driven stories.

I spoke to him about his latest book The Frontier Below: The Past, Present and Future of Our Quest to Go Deeper Underwater

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• Why Jeff divided the book into 4 understandable ocean zones, and why illustrations of this in the past has been misleading.
• The diving bell
• The Epipelagic Zone and the first known why that people used to dive 
• The creation of the diving helmet and how the compressed air led to its success.
• Is it fair to say that the ship wreckage  revival business led to the exploration and the development of going deeper under water
• The creation of the bathyscaphe 
• The mixed gas air system and what it helped achieve
• What does the future hold regarding our quest to go deeper?

 The Book and Audiobook:  The Frontier Below: The Past, Present and Future of Our Quest to Go Deeper Underwater is out now.

You can also  find out more about Jeff and his projects  via his website: https://www.jeffmaynard.net/

As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

David Delmar Sentíes is a professional designer and interface developer with experience working with award-winning startups, as well as established brands. Before founding Resilient Coders, he was at PayPal, leading a cross-disciplinary team of designers and coders.

He helped set up PayPal's startup incubator, Start Tank, and served as its UX subject matter expert. David believes in technology as an opportunity for real meritocracy. And he believes in the resilience of Boston's youth.

I spoke to him about his book What We Build with Power: The Fight for Economic Justice in Tech

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• His reasoning for founding Resilient Coders
• Is meritocracy in tech a myth?
• The impact of policy: and comparison of opportunity between older and younger generations. 
• The foundation of culture and what can be done for tech to be inclusionary rather than exclusionary.
• Do you really need to go to college to learn how to code?
• Self directed learning, how effective it can be and its dichotomy with having the time.
• The concept of Liberty: and the importance of not just 'having freedom from' but 'having freedom to'
• David's thoughts on the effectiveness of 'Diversity Training' within tech organisations
• The future of coding and Resilient Coders.

 The Book and Audiobook:  What We Build with Power: The Fight for Economic Justice in Tech is out now.

You can also  find out more about David and his projects  via his website: https://delmarsenties.com

Resilient Coders website: http://www.resilientcoders.org

As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a “security guru” by The Economist. He is the author of over one dozen books—including his latest, A Hacker’s Mind—as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter “Crypto-Gram” and his blog “Schneier on Security” are read by over 250,000 people.

He has testified before Congress, is a frequent guest on television and radio, has served on several government committees, and is regularly quoted in the press. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School; a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and AccessNow; and an Advisory Board Member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and VerifiedVoting.org.


I spoke to Him about his latest book A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back

Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• How does hacking reinforce expositing power structures?
• What is the difference between hacking and cheating?
• How 'Societal Hacks Are Often Normalized' and how big financial companies often look for hacks.
• How do the rich and powerful use luxury real estate as a hack?
• When does being 'Too Big To Fail' also become a hack?
• How do companies such as Uber and Wework benefit from Venture Capitalism as a hack?
• Hacking political systems: money & politics.
• Cognitive Hacks and will Artificial Intelligence  be able to hack our minds?

 The Book and Audiobook:  A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend them Back is out now.

You can also  find out more about Bruce and his projects  via his website: https://www.schneier.com/blog/about/






As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]

Eleanor's current research focuses on the conceptualisation of sex and its influence on society in the medieval and early modern period.

She speacialises in sexuality, propaganda, apocalypticism, urbanity, and empire, in the late medieval and early modern periods, with a particular emphasis on Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire. She holds a PhD in History and an MA in Medieval Studies from University College London, and a BA in History from Loyola University Chicago.

I spoke to her about her latest book The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society
 
Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

• How heavily has the medieval period influenced societies ideas of women today?
• How the medievals were influenced by ancient Greece?  and what were the similarities between medieval and Christian text
• The influence of literature, most notably: The Canterbury Tales and Courtly Love
• Why were the medievals so vague when describing woman's beauty?
• The medieval theologians thoughts on sex and how at the time the common belief was that women had an insatiable desire for it.
• Do we still have a long way to go when it comes to breaking down barriers of objectifying women? 

 The Book and Audiobook:  The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society is out now.

You can also  find out more about Eleanor and her projects via her linktree:  https://linktr.ee/EleanorJanega

 Or follow her on twitter @GoingMedieval





As of now, my podcast is biweekly and prior to an episode I’ll let you know what book/audiobook I’ll be listening to before the next show so we can delve into it together!

Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out.

www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

www.twitter.com/SoundsAboutPod

Are you an author that will like to be  on the next episode of the podcast?

Listeners: Did I cover a book you read or listened to? Did I discuss the things which also stuck out to you? Or did I miss it out?..... get in touch, and let me know what your experience was or to give me audiobook recommendations: [email protected]