
The Genius Myth
A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea
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Narrated by:
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Helen Lewis
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By:
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Helen Lewis
About this listen
From acclaimed Atlantic staff writer and host of BBC’s podcast “The New Gurus” Helen Lewis comes a timely and provocative interrogation of the myth of genius, exploring the surprising inventions, inspirations and distortions by which some lives are elevated to 'greatness'—and others are not
*A Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman and GQ Book for 2025*
You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is prepared to tolerate. In The Genius Myth, Helen Lewis unearths how this one word has shaped (and distorted) our ideas of success and achievement.
Ultimately, argues Lewis, the modern idea of genius—a single preternaturally gifted individual, usually white and male, exempt from social niceties and sometimes even the law—has run its course. Braiding deep research with her signature wit and lightness, Lewis dissects past and present models of genius in the West, and reveals a far deeper and more interesting picture of human creativity than conventional wisdom allows. She uncovers a battalion of overlooked wives and collaborators. She asks whether most inventions are inevitable. She wonders if the Beatles would succeed today. And she confronts the vexing puzzle of Elon Musk, the tech disrupter who fancies himself as an ubermensch.
Smart, funny, and provocative, The Genius Myth will challenge your assumptions about creativity, productivity, and innovation—and forever alter your mental image of the so-called “genius.”
©2025 Helen Lewis (P)2025 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“By degrees unsettling, amusing, and prescient; a much-needed audit of a consuming idea”—Kirkus Review
"A brilliant, timely and compulsively readable book. With her characteristic combination of deep reporting and lightness of touch, Helen Lewis shows how the idea of genius has warped our understanding of human creativity–and why people of vast accomplishment in one domain can prove so destructively clueless in others."—Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks
"A hilarious and thoughtful take-down of the ways we idolize brilliant assholes in science, art and business. Necessary reading."—Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern and Co-host of the Pivot and Prof G Markets podcasts
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Penelope’s Bones
- A New History of Homer's World Through the Women Written Out of It
- By: Emily Hauser
- Narrated by: Emily Hauser
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In Penelope’s Bones, award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser pieces together compelling evidence from archaeological excavations and scientific discoveries to unearth the richly textured lives of women in Bronze Age Greece—the era of Homer’s heroes. Here, for the first time, we come to understand the everyday lives and experiences of the real women who stand behind the legends of Helen, Briseis, Cassandra, Aphrodite, Circe, Athena, Hera, Calypso, Penelope, and more.
By: Emily Hauser
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The Art of Diplomacy
- How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements that Changed the World
- By: Stuart E. Eizenstat, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger - foreword, James A. Baker III
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 20 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Inside the greatest diplomatic negotiations of the past 50 years. In one readable volume, diplomat and negotiator Stuart E. Eizenstat covers every major contemporary international agreement, from the treaty to end the Vietnam War to the Kyoto Protocols and the Iranian Nuclear Accord. Written from the perspective that only a participant in top level negotiations can bring, Eizenstat recounts the events that led up to the negotiation, the drama that took place around the table, and draws lessons from successful and unsuccessful strategies and tactics.
By: Stuart E. Eizenstat, and others
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The Coming Storm
- Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History
- By: Odd Arne Westad
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The vast majority of people alive today have come of age in a world of remarkable stability, presided over by either one or two Superpowers. This is not to say the world has been peaceful; but it has, to a great extent, been predictable. As an increasing number of Great Powers jostle for regional supremacy, as well as competitive advantage in nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, space exploration, and trade, our world has become more fragile, unpredictable—and combustible.
By: Odd Arne Westad
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Lockerbie
- A Father’s Search for Justice
- By: Jim Swire, Peter Biddulph
- Narrated by: Mike Grady, Nano Nagle
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988 was the largest attack on Britain since World War Two. 259 passengers and 11 townsfolk of Lockerbie were murdered. Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of the crime. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2012.
By: Jim Swire, and others
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The Story of ABBA
- Melancholy Undercover
- By: Jan Gradvall
- Narrated by: Ian Hallard
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Through exclusive interviews and over a decade of deep research, renowned music journalist Jan Gradvall explores the secrets to ABBA’s success.
By: Jan Gradvall
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American Scare
- Florida's Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives
- By: Robert W. Fieseler
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In January 1959, Art Copleston was escorted out of his college accounting class by three police officers. In a motel room, blinds drawn, he sat in front of a state senator and the legal counsel for the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the “Johns Committee.” His crime? Being a suspected homosexual. And the government of Florida would use any tactic at their disposal—legal or not—to get Copleston to admit it.
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Keynes Vs. Hayek
- By: Lord Robert Skidelsky, George Selgin, Duncan Weldon, and others
- Narrated by: Paul Mason
- Length: 42 mins
- Original Recording
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What caused the financial mess we're in? And how do we get out of it? Two of the great economic thinkers of the 20th century had sharply contrasting views. John Maynard Keynes believed that government spending could create employment and longer-term growth. His contemporary and rival Friedrich Hayek believed that investments have to be based on real savings rather than increased public spending or artificially low interest rates. Keynes's biographer, Professor Lord Skidelsky, takes on modern-day followers of Hayek in a debate.
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No more a debate than “shana,shana,shana.
- By Junkyard Dog on 08-05-18
By: Lord Robert Skidelsky, and others
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Airpower over the Rhine
- The Luftwaffe, the French Air Force, and the Battle of France
- By: James F. Slaughter III
- Narrated by: Keith Brown
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Airpower over the Rhine is a critical new perspective on the air battle between the French Air Force (FAF) and the Luftwaffe in the skies over France during May and June 1940. Author James F. Slaughter III examines how each country's leadership created the circumstances that enabled the Luftwaffe's victory over the FAF and Germany's ultimate defeat of France.
If you want to continue to believe in the singularities of Great Men and The Genius, avoid this at all costs. If you want to know how so many "geniuses" are thought of and remembered as such, by all means, do not delay in listening to this tightly constructed book.
Brava to the author, Helen Lewis!
Brilliant analysis!
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Author has many opinions, not hesitant to share them
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Good performance, questionable motives.
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