Nat
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Amsterdam
- A History of the World's Most Liberal City
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In this effortlessly erudite account, Russell Shorto traces the idiosyncratic evolution of Amsterdam, showing how such disparate elements as herring anatomy, naked Anabaptists parading through the streets, and an intimate gathering in a 16th-century wine-tasting room had a profound effect on Dutch - and world - history. Weaving in his own experiences of his adopted home, Shorto provides an ever-surprising, intellectually engaging story of Amsterdam from its golden age to the present.
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Worth Reading - Highly Recommended
- By Whit B on 05-12-14
- Amsterdam
- A History of the World's Most Liberal City
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
Enhanced my trip to Amsterdam
Reviewed: 10-13-23
I listened to this book both before and after my trip to Amsterdam. It would have been great just for all the information in it, but it is so well written too!
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Platonic
- How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
- By: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Narrated by: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between us—for example, why your friends aren’t texting you back (it’s not because they hate you!), and the myth of “friendships happening organically” (making friends, like cultivating any relationship, requires effort!).
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Too much and yet, not enough
- By Kali on 04-05-23
- Platonic
- How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
- By: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Narrated by: Marisa G. Franco PhD
This is not a review
Reviewed: 02-09-23
I want to give numerical ratings for my own future reference, but Audible requires that I write words too.
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9 people found this helpful
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The End of Craving
- Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well
- By: Mark Schatzker
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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For the last fifty years, we have been fighting a losing war on food. We have cut fat, reduced carbs, eliminated sugar, and attempted every conceivable diet only to find that eighty-eight million American adults are prediabetic, more than a hundred million have high blood pressure, and nearly half now qualify as obese. The harder we try to control what we eat, the unhealthier we become. Why?
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Useful new concepts, well presented
- By Nat on 11-10-21
- The End of Craving
- Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well
- By: Mark Schatzker
- Narrated by: Gibson Frazier
Useful new concepts, well presented
Reviewed: 11-10-21
One big point of the book is that the brain is not fooled by vitamin-enriched grains, corn-fed livestock, or artificial sweeteners. Instead, the brain activates panic-like responses when food eaten does not match the sensory information indicates. This "panic-like response" is my paraphrase of findings from study after study in the book, well-explained by examples and analogies from our everyday experiences. The author puts together a central thesis about how modern food's manipulation of micronutrients, flavor, and mouthfeel sends conflicting signals to the brain, ultimately resulting in obesity. The arguments are logical, guided step-by-step in the book. The book is wrapped in an anecdote about Goethe's travels in Italy, and the author's observations about modern Italy's obsession with good food, and exhibits great writing throughout. All of the new concepts in here motivated me to listen to it in a single day!
Shout out to the narrator for being clear, not mispronouncing anything, and for not trying to impress us with some ridiculous Italian accent when reading Italian city and food names. We've all heard narrators who have done that, right?? Anyway, I recommend the book and the narrator.
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14 people found this helpful
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The Power Bible
- By: Brendon Lemon, William Beteet III
- Narrated by: Brendon Lemon, William Beteet III
- Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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To have power over another one must first have power over one’s self. The Power Bible teaches how power operates on both an interpersonal, individual level, and a societal level. Arming the listener with tactics and skills on how to triumph in the contest of life. The Power Bible is an instrument to teach you how to win; to bend, disregard, and strategically break the rules that bind you. Cultivating an awareness for which battles to fight, which ones to pass on, and how to win the moments that matter.
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poorly narrated and condescending
- By Nat on 04-22-21
- The Power Bible
- By: Brendon Lemon, William Beteet III
- Narrated by: Brendon Lemon, William Beteet III
poorly narrated and condescending
Reviewed: 04-22-21
These two authors made quite a positive impression on me when I listened to them in an episode of the James Altucher Show podcast. I immediately purchased this audiobook, only to have to return it after about an hour of audio.
The first problem is the narration. The authors would benefit from some training in mixing up their intonations to better match the text. It just sounds like they are reading paragraph after paragraph, trying to just plow through the material. A big conclusive paragraph shouldn't sound exactly the same as explaining some minutia of the brain.
Secondly, the authors assume the reader has hit rock bottom and has little self esteem. Hey, some of us just want to go from 70% of potential to >95%. We're not starting from a place that we're ashamed of. Please don't talk down to us as if we are.
I also suspect that this book was only lightly edited. Instead of the usual partnership between writer(s) and editor who work together to produce a book of great ideas told well, we get a list of ideas that neither flow nor work together to form a theme.
Perhaps the book gets better after the first hour. I hope so. For now, I'll call the hour a sunk cost and move on.
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4 people found this helpful
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Fauci
- By: Michael Specter
- Narrated by: Michael Specter
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
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Pushkin Industries presents Fauci: the first-ever audio biography of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of the most prominent voices in the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Written and narrated by New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter, Fauci combines Specter’s unparalleled reporting with exclusive new interviews and archival audio of Dr. Fauci; his wife, Christine Grady, RN, PhD; key colleagues; and peers.
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A struggle
- By Chuck K on 10-05-20
- Fauci
- By: Michael Specter
- Narrated by: Michael Specter
Great overview of Fauci’s career
Reviewed: 10-14-20
I knew that Anthony Fauci has been respected for decades, and I finally know why. His work in the eighties was not just incremental, but groundbreaking. This program did an excellent job of explaining Dr. Fauci’s scientific & process breakthroughs.
While the narrator is superb, with obvious decades-developed knowledge on the topic, the narration has many pauses so long that I thought the Audible app had crashed.
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One Giant Leap
- The Untold Story of How We Flew to the Moon
- By: Charles Fishman
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling, "meticulously researched and absorbingly written" (The Washington Post) story of the trailblazers and the ordinary Americans on the front lines of the epic Apollo 11 moon mission. It’s a story filled with surprises - from the item the astronauts almost forgot to take with them (the American flag), to the extraordinary impact Apollo would have back on Earth, and on the way we live today.
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The Apollo Program in Historical Context
- By Nat on 06-19-19
- One Giant Leap
- The Untold Story of How We Flew to the Moon
- By: Charles Fishman
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
The Apollo Program in Historical Context
Reviewed: 06-19-19
One Giant Leap explains the hows and whys of the Apollo program, and the whys are what makes the story coherent and compelling. Fishman starts with the context of what the Soviets were accomplishing in the late 1950s, and how that affected attitudes in the US. Next we get President Kennedy's evolving thoughts on whether the US should even try to compete with the Soviets, eventually deciding that "If we can beat the Soviets to the moon, we should," and finally the well-known declaration about landing a man on the moon before the decade is out.
Next comes the hard part, figuring out how to get to the moon, and developing the technology to get there. Again, Fishman puts the situation in context, noting the state of technology in the late fifties & early sixties. Even integrated circuits were new. Space suits, rockets, the lunar lander, and the 1 cubic foot computer were all fascinating chapters in the book. I loved hearing all these details of the decade-long program where so many pieces had to come together to get the success of Apollo 11.
This is not a biography of astronauts, but rather a biography of the Apollo mission, with historical context to make every point clear and comprehensible. The narration was excellent--clear and enjoyable to listen to. I loved this book and hope you will too.
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16 people found this helpful
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Goodbye, Things
- The New Japanese Minimalism
- By: Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita - translator
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo - he's just a regular guy who was stressed out and constantly comparing himself to others, until one day he decided to change his life by saying goodbye to everything he didn't absolutely need. The effects were remarkable: Sasaki gained true freedom, new focus, and a real sense of gratitude for everything around him.
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A Grounding Perspective
- By Mackenzie on 10-22-17
- Goodbye, Things
- The New Japanese Minimalism
- By: Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita - translator
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
Practical Chapters, Then Familiar Theoretical Ones
Reviewed: 11-26-17
I enjoyed the background on minimalism and the 55 + 15 practical tips for getting rid of possessions, along with the assurances that people will not regret the reduction. This part of the book makes an excellent companion to "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kando.
The book then descends in yet another book about flow, mirror neurons, and islands inhabited by centenarians, complete with Einstein and Gandhi quotes. However, this part isn’t too long, though — this is just a 4.5 hour book after all.
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2 people found this helpful
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The Development of European Civilization
- By: Kenneth R. Bartlett, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Kenneth R. Bartlett
- Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
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In almost every way that matters, historical Europe was the laboratory in which the world you now live in was conceived and tested. And you'll be living with the consequences for the rest of your life. These 48 lectures lead you through the doors of that laboratory and guide you through the development of Europe from the late Middle Ages through the eve of World War II.
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To sum up; Globalism Good - Nationalism Bad
- By Oliver Murray on 02-13-20
10/10 would recommend
Reviewed: 05-03-16
I loved this course! I used it for studying for my AP European History class, and it was insanely helpful.
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9 people found this helpful
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I Will Teach You to Be Rich
- By: Ramit Sethi
- Narrated by: Ramit Sethi
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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At last, for a generation that's materially ambitious yet financially clueless comes I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi's 6-week personal finance program for 20-to-35-year-olds. A completely practical approach delivered with a nonjudgmental style that makes readers want to do what Sethi says, it is based around the four pillars of personal finance - banking, saving, budgeting, and investing - and the wealth-building ideas of personal entrepreneurship.
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Great if u live in the USA, don't buy it u don't
- By leif on 11-17-13
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich
- By: Ramit Sethi
- Narrated by: Ramit Sethi
Excellent personal finance book, if that's new to you
Reviewed: 04-22-16
The book is a personal finance book that guides the reader into saving, spending & investing habits, along with salary negotiation, which will likely make you rich over the long term. The target audience is single 20-somethings who have not yet read a personal finance book. Most material reads like a "best of" compilation of existing personal finance materials out there, though there are specifics (such as websites to visit) and bits of original material that put this book at the top of my list of recommendations for a personal finance book. It's an enjoyable listen too because the author is such a good narrator.
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Life on the Edge
- The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology
- By: Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Life is the most extraordinary phenomenon in the known universe; but how did it come to be? Even in an age of cloning and artificial biology, the remarkable truth remains: Nobody has ever made anything living entirely out of dead material. Life remains the only way to make life. Are we still missing a vital ingredient in its creation?
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More woo than new
- By Gary on 09-09-15
- Life on the Edge
- The Coming of Age of Quantum Biology
- By: Johnjoe McFadden, Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
Brilliant Explanations
Reviewed: 04-04-16
I love it when I find a book that explains new concepts like this one. These books are few and far between. However, Life on the Edge stands out for the quality of its explanations of both the new quantum biological phenomena and the long-known quantum phenomena that I supposedly learned in college.
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2 people found this helpful