Sounds About Right: Audiobooks to Help Us Understand the World

Sounds About Right: Audiobooks to Help Us Understand the World

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Sounds About Right: Audiobooks to Help Us Understand the World episodes

  • #38 The Recollections of Sokrates with Frank Marrero

    Frank Marrero has lived different lives in this grace of abundant years. He was in the newspapers and on TV at the age of two, going off of high-dives; he was the only kid he knew who built his own flying machine and survived several 'flights'. He was an original 'parkour' madman; did 'free climbing' in Yosemite; mastered rope-swinging; did cliff diving for tourists; 

    He also owned a hardware store, started a very successful restaurant, lived on a farm, was a school-teacher and forester. He is a proud father of two young adults and is the   author of some 10 books, ranging from pre-Sokratic mysteries to biographies, from curricula for teaching children character education and writing skills to a science text on fasting, et cetera.

    I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his book, Recollections of Sokrates.
     
    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • The unique way in which the book tells the story of Sokrates.
    • The motives behind his execution.
    • Did the prophecy Sokrates had about what would happen after his death, come to pass? 
    • What was a philosopical takeaway from his death?
    • What Frank wanted the reader or listener to takeaway from the book
    • Sokrates' views on love
    • Sokrates' famous quotes and the ones which stick out to both Frank and I.
    • Sokrates' upbringing.


    The Book and Audiobook:  Recollections of Sokrates is out now and can also be purchased from this link: https://www.amazon.com/Recollections-Sokrates-Frank-Marrero/dp/0967326567/ref=sr_1_1?crid=P23IP794463F&keywords=Sokrates+marrero&qid=1660850334&sprefix=sokrate+marrero%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-1

    You can also find out more about Frank on his website http://www.frankmarrero.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]

    21 min
  • #37: Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You, Second Edition Busting Myths about Human Nature (second edition) with Agustín Fuentes

    Prof. Fuentes is an anthropologist whose research focuses on the biosocial, delving into the entanglement of biological systems with the social and cultural lives of humans, our ancestors, and a few of the other animals with whom humanity shares close relations.

    From chasing monkeys in jungles and cities, to exploring the lives of our evolutionary ancestors, to examining human health, behaviour, and diversity across the globe, Professor Fuentes is interested in both the big questions and the small details of what makes humans and our close relations tick.

    I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his book, Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature (second edition)

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • Why is busting myths about human nature something that requires so much effort? and why are they so resilient?
    • Is science the best way to test for knowledge and explanations?
    • Why is the view that humans 'are just the way we are' too simplistic of a view?
    • What is Genetic Determinism and what is the the common belief around it?
    • Diminishing the myths of DNA
    • Where does the perception of racial differences come from?
    • The myth of sickle cell disease and its association of people from West African descent.
    • Even though humans cannot be divided into biological sub categories, how does the perception of race affect biology?
    • How is the belief of aggression being a part of human nature, context dependant and not a trait that is within our genes as many assume?
    • What actions can one take to tackle myths and half truths in the future when they do come across them?





    The Book and Audiobook:  Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature (second edition) is out now.

    You can also find out more about Agustin on his website https://afuentes.com

    or follow him on Twitter @Anthrofuentes




    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]

    29 min
  • #36: Is Remote Warfare Moral? Weighing Issues of Life and Death from 7,000 Miles with Joseph O. Chapa

    Joseph Chapa is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force and holds a PhD (DPhil) in philosophy from the University of Oxford. His areas of expertise include just war theory, military ethics, and especially the ethics of remote and autonomous weapons. His doctoral research investigates an individual rights-based account of just war theory.

    He is a senior pilot with more than 1,400 pilot and instructor pilot hours, many of which were flown in support of major U.S. combat and humanitarian operations. He currently serves as the Department of The Air Force’s first-ever Chief Responsible AI Ethics Officer.

    I had the pleasure of speaking with him about his book, Is Remote Warfare Moral? Weighing Issues of Life and Death from 7,000 Miles

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • The events in the late 90s and early 2000s that led to the introduction of Remote Warfare.
    • What are the usual narratives regarding Remote Warfare?
    • Does there have to be an immediate threat to life for the engagement of combat to be considered war?
    • The morality and psychology of Remote Warfare and the 'Play Station mentality'
    • What is moral injury?
    • What is the moral justification for killing in war  and is the 'self defence' argument strong when we relate this to Remote Warfare? 
    • What will be the future of Remote Warfare?





    The Book and Audiobook:  Is Remote Warfare Moral? Weighing Issues of Life and Death from 7,000 Miles is out now.

    You can also  find out more about Joseph on his website https://www.josephchapa.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]

    37 min
  • #35: TUTANKHAMUN: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma. Lost for Three Thousand Years, Misunderstood for a Century with Joyce Tyldesley

    Joyce Tyldesley is professor of Egyptology in the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology (CAHAE), within the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. She studied the archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean at Liverpool University, then obtained a D.Phil in prehistoric archaeology from Oxford University.

    Joyce has also published a series of books and articles on ancient Egypt: these include three television tie in books and Cleopatra, Last Queen of Egypt, which was a Radio 4 "Book of the Week". 

    In this episode I sat with Joyce and discussed her latest book, TUTANKHAMUN: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma. Lost for Three Thousand Years, Misunderstood for a Century.

    Some of the talking points include:

    • The conflict is between how Tutankhamun is often remembered and how he wanted to be remembered.
    • Why Tutankhamun's Amana background is integral to understanding who he was.
    • The widely shared and misunderstood theories of how he died.
    • The discovery of Tutankhamun, the world at the time and the controversy surrounding around it.
    • Is it right to ever go to another persons land and dig up their tomb?  and do we really learn a lot from doing it?
    • The so-called curse of Tutankhamun's tomb


     The Book and Audiobook: TUTANKHAMUN: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma. Lost for Three Thousand Years, Misunderstood for a Century 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… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.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]


    27 min
  • #34: She’s In CTRL: How women can take back tech – to communicate, investigate, problem-solve, broker deals and protect themselves in a digital world with Anne-Marie Imafidon

    Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE is a prodigy in every sense of the word. Aged 11, she was the youngest girl ever to pass A-level computing, and was just 20 years old when she received her Master’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford.

    She is also  the co-founder of Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative dedicated to inspiring and promoting the next generation of young women in the STEM sectors. Since its inception 10 years ago, it has exposed 60,000 young people across Europe to Anne-Marie’s vision for a more diverse and balanced science and tech community.

    In this episode I sat with Anne-Marie and discussed her book She's In CTRL: How women can take back tech – to communicate, investigate, problem-solve, broker deals and protect themselves in a digital world

    Some of the talking points include:

    • Her childhood and how much her early curiosity inquisitiveness shaped her in being the person she is today
    • Why its crucial for more women to get more involved in tech
    • Patriarchy, power and the importance of acknowledging the Herstory of Tech
    • How  the absence of women in tech and society has limited the development of some technologies and what actions one should take in holding the technology accountable
    • What women should do to find their voice in tech and what being in CTRL means to Anne-Marie.



     The Book and Audiobook:  She's In CTRL is out now.

    You can  find out more about Anne-Marie on her website https://aimafidon.com

    or follow her on Twitter @aimafidon






    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… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.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]



    30 min
  • #33: Understandable Economics: Because Understanding Our Economy Is Easier Than You Think and More Important Than You Know with Howard Yaruss

    Howard Yaruss is an economist, professor, attorney, businessman, and activist who greatly enjoys explaining complex issues in a clear, interesting and easily accessible way.  He graduated from Brown University, studied at the London School of Economics and earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. 

    He has taught a variety of courses on economics and business, and currently teaches at New York University. 

    His  book is titled  Understandable Economics: Because Understanding Our Economy Is Easier Than You Think and More Important Than You Know

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • Why have people lost faith in the economic system?
    • Why and how the current economic system is creating greater inequality 
    • Why Howard made the conscious effort not to focus on terms such as 'capitalism and socialism' in the book.
    • How us believing in money is perhaps the greatest opinion in mankind
    • How  the coverage of national debt has been so misleading
    •  How 'human capital' is the most empowering form of capital
    • The actions people should take to get involved in understanding economics.


     
     The Book and Audiobook:  Understandable Economics: Because Understanding Our Economy Is Easier Than You Think and More Important Than You Know is out now.

    You can  find out more about Howard on his website https://howardyaruss.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… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

    I am now on goodreads!

    www.goodreads.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]

    22 min
  • #32: Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America with Jordan E. Taylor

    Jordan E. Taylor is a historian, writer, editor, and teacher.

    His  book is titled Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • How was news being circulated in Revolutionary America?
    • The known phrase of 'knowledge is power' but how 'power' controlled 'knowledge' at the time.
    • How were people able to judge back then that the news they were receiving was real and accurate?
    • The big consequence of the American Revolution resulting in an increase of trading with nations all over the world and a large increase of newspapers being consumed.
    • the complicated relationship between America and French news at the time.
    • How the Americans were careful of how the Haitian revolution was being reported as they did not want to encourage slave revolts in their own land




    The Book and Audiobook:  Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America is out now.

    You can also  find out more about Jordan on his website https://jordanetaylor.com





    As of now, my podcast is biweekly.

    Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.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]


    27 min
  • #31: The Genetic Age: Our Perilous Quest To Edit Life by Matthew Cobb

    Matthew Cobb is a is professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester.

    His latest book is The Genetic Age: Our Perilous Quest To Edit Life

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • What were his worries of genetic engineering (GE) that led him to writing the book?
    • The business of GE and what the influx of money changed.
    • Why was the year 1980 pivotal for GE?
    • How did GE change cultural agriculture?  
    • What is CRISPR?
    • Why must the dreams and nightmares of GE go hand in hand?


     
     The Book and Audiobook:  The Genetic Age: Our Perilous Quest To Edit Life is out now.

    You can also follow him on twitter @matthewcobb



    As of now, my podcast is biweekly.

    Please don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you’re in the loop whenever a new episode comes out… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.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]


    35 min
  • #30: If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable with Mikko Hyppönen

    Mikko Hyppönen is a global security expert, speaker and author. He works as the Chief Research Officer at WithSecure and as the Principal Research Advisor at F-Secure. He has written on his research for the New York Times, Wired and Scientific American and he appears frequently on international TV. He has lectured at the universities of Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge.

    He was also selected among the 50 most important people on the web by the PC World magazine and was included in the FP Global 100 Thinkers list.

    His latest book is If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable.

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • How has the internet changed the world for the better and for the worst?
    • When did virus writers begin making money from their attacks?
    • The time he did an experiment where he purchased the items being advertised in spam emails.
    • What is a Cyber Crime Unicorn? & what is Hyppönen's Law?
    • Considering that we are living in the technological revolution, why do barely any European Companies feature in the top 20 lists of most visited websites in the world?
    • How Malware poses the biggest single threat to internet Security
    • What human errors can be the cause of vulnerability to ransomware? 
    • Why 'data' is the new Uranium 


     
     The Book and Audiobook:  If It's Smart, It's Vulnerable is out now.

    You can also  find out more about Mikko on his website https://mikko.com


     Or follow him on twitter @Mikko



    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… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

    I am now on goodreads!

    www.goodreads.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]


    31 min
  • #29: The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours with Chantel Prat

    Chantel Prat, PhD  is a Professor at the University of Washington with appointments in the Departments of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Linguistics, and at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, the Center for Neurotechnology, and the Institute for Neuroengineering. A cognitive neuroscientist by training, her interdisciplinary research investigates the biological basis of individual differences in cognition, with an emphasis on understanding the shared neural mechanisms underpinning language and higher-level executive functions.

    I had the pleasure of speaking with her about her book  The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours

    Some of the topics we discussed includes: 

    • How does the functionality of the brain depend on the environment and context it's operated in?
    • Why is it important to look at the brains computation to then understand its function and what are the distinctions between the two?
    • The take-them-yourself tests and quizzes within the book
    • How the brain interprets incomplete information of the world and how our experience of reality is created by our brains ( with mentions of THAT viral dress of 2015)
    • Why is it hard for us to do better, even when we know better?
    • The basal ganglia and its importance


     
     The Book and Audiobook:  The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours is out now.

    You can also  find out more about Chantel on her website https://www.chantelprat.com

     Or follow her on twitter @ChantelPratPhD



    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… and also connect with me on Instagram or email so we can keep the conversation going and share with each other fascinating content. 

    www.instagram.com/SoundsAboutPod

    I am now on goodreads!

    www.goodreads.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]


    39 min

About Sounds About Right: Audiobooks to Help Us Understand the World

From the publisher's feed

The nonfiction bookclub that’s all about learning new things and challenging our perspectives. In each episode I meet with an author and discuss their book with them. 

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