Story Time Podcast

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger shows us that the key to being happier is to stop trying to be "positive" all the time and instead to become better at handling adversity. For decades we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life.

But those days are over. "F*ck positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let's be honest; sometimes things are f*cked up and we have to live with it." For the past few years, Manson--via his wildly popular blog--has been working on correcting our delusional expectations for ourselves and for the world. He now brings his hard-fought wisdom to this groundbreaking book.

Manson makes the argument--backed by both academic research and well-timed poop jokes--that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to better stomach lemons. Human beings are flawed and limited--as he writes, "Not everybody can be extraordinary--there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." 

Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. This, he says, is the real source of empowerment. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties--once we stop running from and avoiding, and start confronting painful truths--we can begin to find the courage and confidence we desperately seek.

"In life, we have a limited amount of f*cks to give. So you must choose your f*cks wisely." Manson brings a much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor. This manifesto is a refreshing slap in the face for all of us so that we can start to lead more contented, grounded lives.

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Troost charmed listeners with his humorous tales of wandering the remote islands of the South Pacific in The sex lives of cannibals and Getting stoned with savages. When the travel bug bit again, he took on the world's most populous and intriguing nation. 

As Troost relates his gonzo adventure -- dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai, eating yak in Tibet, deciphering restaurant menus (offering local favorites such as cattle penis with garlic), and visiting with Chairman Mao (still dead) -- he reveals a vast, complex country on the brink of transformation that will shape the way we all work, live, and think. 

This insightful, hilarious narrative brings China to life as you've never seen it before.

Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925, as Malcolm Little. When Malcolm was a boy, his father was murdered and his home was burned to the ground by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm spent time in prison where he educated himself in the classics, various languages, and world history, particularly the history of Black people. 

On his release Malcolm became a Muslim minister and follower of Elijah Muhammad; he later converted to Islam (Sunni), making a pilgrimage to Mecca and traveling throughout the world espousing unity, human rights, and self-determination. Malcolm quickly became known as a powerful activist for Black freedom in the U.S. He spoke forcefully against racist oppression in all its forms. 

While early on he targeted all whites as the enemy, he later came to feel that "some white people are truly sincere and capable of being brotherly toward a Black man." Perhaps this is when he became too powerful for the "powers that be." One week before his death, Malcolm's house was fire-bombed while he and his family were inside. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm was assassinated. His voice, his message, and his spirit live on. "White, black, brown, red, yellow. It doesn't make any difference what color you are. The only thing power respects is power." - Malcolm X

Since taking over TED in 2001, Chris Anderson has shown how carefully crafted talks can be the key to unlocking empathy, spreading knowledge, and promoting a shared dream. Done right, a talk can electrify a room and transform an audience’s worldview; it can be more powerful than anything in written form.

This “invaluable guide” (Publishers Weekly) explains how the miracle of powerful public speaking is achieved and equips you to give it your best shot. There is no set formula, but there are tools that can empower any speaker. 

Chris Anderson has worked with all the TED speakers who have inspired us the most, and here he shares insights from such favorites as Sir Ken Robinson, Salman Khan, Monica Lewinsky, and more — everything from how to craft your talk’s content to how you can be most effective on stage. This is a must-read for anyone who is ready to create an impact with their ideas.

New York Times Bestseller  “Catnip for all the TED fans out there.”

Tom Rielly (Narrator), Kelly Stoetzel (Narrator)

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son—a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, and committed a shocking crime.  Pete's only statement about it—to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family—was: "I have nothing to say." He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.

In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him. 

Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning would not be complete without Grisham’s signature layers of legal suspense, and he delivers on every page.

Narrated by Michael Beck

From the best-selling author of Why We Get Fat, a groundbreaking, eye-opening exposé that makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making us very sick. 

Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. And sugar is at the root of these, and other, critical society-wide, health-related problems. With his signature command of both science and straight talk, Gary Taubes delves into Americans' history with sugar: its uses as a preservative, as an additive in cigarettes, the contemporary overuse of high-fructose corn syrup. 

He explains what research has shown about our addiction to sweets. He clarifies the arguments against sugar, corrects misconceptions about the relationship between sugar and weight loss; and provides the perspective necessary to make informed decisions about sugar as individuals and as a society.

OUR DIRTY LOVE AFFAIR WITH TRASH

What is America's largest export, most prodigious product, and greatest legacy -- the biggest thing we make? Our trash. Each of us is on track to toss 102 tons of garbage in a lifetime, 7.1 pounds a day, every day. We roll to the curb our collective bodyweight each year -- eighteen times over. Our disposable plastic alone outweighs the entire U.S. Navy -- and it costs us hundreds of billions of dollars.

But there's good news, too: there are families, companies, and whole communities who are finding a way back from waste and profiting in the process. Through a compellingly human, at times absurdly humorous trash travelogue, Garbology reveals how government cooks the books to conceal the severity of our trashy ways, how the consumer economy is hijacked to encourage our costly love affair with waste, and how a new generation of waste-weary men and women are just saying no—and finding that our biggest roadblock to restoring prosperity and our planet just might be our trash cans. 

From the mind of the storyteller who has captured the imagination of readers from around the world and across generations comes this classic work of science fiction. -- First prize in the Skyway Soap slogan contest was an all-expenses-paid trip to the moon. 

The consolation prize was an authentic space suit, and when scientifically minded high school senior Kip Russell won it, he knew for certain he would use it one day to make a sojourn of his own to the stars. But ''one day'' comes sooner than he thinks when he tries the suit on in his backyard -- and finds himself worlds away, a prisoner aboard a space pirate's ship. 

The whole thing seems like a bad dream until he discovers he's not the only prisoner on board. Kip--along with the daughter of a world-renowned scientist and a beautiful creature from another planet--has been kidnapped by a monstrous extraterrestrial, and they are heading straight for what could be Kip's final destination.

Narrator Mark Turetsky

Antifragility is a property of systems in which they increase in capability to thrive as a result of stressors, shocks, volatility, noise, mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures. The concept was developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book, Antifragile, and in technical papers. As Taleb explains in his book, antifragility is fundamentally different from the concepts of resiliency (i.e. the ability to recover from failure) and robustness (that is, the ability to resist failure).

Amazon Best Books of the Month, December 2012: Fragile things break under stress. But, according to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, there's an entire class of other things that don't simply resist stress but actually grow, strengthen, or otherwise gain from unforeseen and otherwise unwelcome stimuli. Taleb sees degrees of antifragility everywhere, from fasting, mythology, and urban planning to economic, technological, cultural, and biological systems. The wealth of radical thinking in this book astounds; the glossary alone offered more thought-provoking ideas than any other nonfiction book I read this year. That said, Antifragile is far from flawless. As comical as Taleb's rough handling of his favorite targets can be--academics, economists, and tourists, to name a few--his argumentative style boasts gaping holes, non-sequiturs aplenty, and at times an almost willfully repugnant tone. Some readers will find Taleb's brashness off-putting; others will embrace it as a charismatic component of the ideas themselves. Either way, no one will finish this book unchanged. --Jason Kirk

Narrator Mel Foster

A thought-provoking and wide-ranging exploration of machine learning and the race to build computer intelligence as flexible as our own.

In the world's top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge from data, and doing anything we want, before we even ask. 

In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos lifts the veil to give us a peek inside the learning machines that power Google, Amazon, and your smartphone. He assembles a blueprint for the future universal learner—the Master Algorithm—and discusses what it will mean for business, science, and society. If data-ism is today's philosophy, this book is its bible.