The Optimist's Telescope
Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age
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Narrated by:
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Bina Venkataraman
About this listen
Named a Best Book of 2019 by NPR
“How might we mitigate losses caused by shortsightedness? Bina Venkataraman, a former climate adviser to the Obama administration, brings a storyteller’s eye to this question.... She is also deeply informed about the relevant science.” (The New York Times Book Review)
A trailblazing exploration of how we can plan better for the future: our own, our families’, and our society’s.
Instant gratification is the norm today - in our lives, our culture, our economy, and our politics. Many of us have forgotten (if we ever learned) how to make smart decisions for the long run. Whether it comes to our finances, our health, our communities, or our planet, it’s easy to avoid thinking ahead.
The consequences of this immediacy are stark: Deadly outbreaks spread because leaders failed to act on early warning signs. Companies that fail to invest stagnate and fall behind. Hurricanes and wildfires turn deadly for communities that could have taken more precaution. Today more than ever, all of us need to know how we can make better long-term decisions in our lives, businesses, and society.
Bina Venkataraman sees the way forward. A journalist and former adviser in the Obama White House, she helped communities and businesses prepare for climate change, and she learned firsthand why people don’t think ahead - and what can be done to change that. In The Optimist’s Telescope, she draws from stories she has reported around the world and new research in biology, psychology, and economics to explain how we can make decisions that benefit us over time. With examples from ancient Pompeii to modern-day Fukushima, she dispels the myth that human nature is impossibly reckless and highlights the surprising practices each of us can adopt in our own lives - and the ones we must fight for as a society. The result is a book brimming with the ideas and insights all of us need in order to forge a better future.
©2019 Bina Venkataraman (P)2019 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Bina Venkataraman illuminates how we can make better decisions for ourselves, our communities, and Earth itself. She introduces us to an array of colorful and unexpected characters, from ancient philosophers to tech entrepreneurs, all while distilling the science of foresight into practical advice we can all use. A timely and valuable book.” (Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business)
“A thought-provoking and eminently readable debut…Venkataraman’s thoughtful and clear-eyed assessment of how to teach oneself to make more carefully considered decisions should prove a valuable tool for anyone wishing to think less in the short term and more toward the future.” (Publishers Weekly)
“We live in an age marked by problems of enormous scope and complexity - climate change, income inequality, food security - and yet we are still relying on tools and solutions that have failed us repeatedly in the past. In The Optimist’s Telescope, Bina Venkataraman marshals a wide-ranging collection of astounding and provocative examples of our myopia and offers insightful practices for short-circuiting our short-sightedness to address the huge challenges we face as citizens of Earth.” (Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab)
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A Must-Listen for Millenials
- By Doug - Audible on 03-31-15
By: Paul Roberts
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A Bigger Prize
- How We Can Do Better Than the Competition
- By: Margaret Heffernan
- Narrated by: Margaret Heffernan
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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From the cranberry bogs of Massachusetts to the classrooms of Singapore and Finland, from tiny start-ups to global engineering firms and beloved American organizations like Ocean Spray, Eileen Fisher, Gore, and Boston Scientific, Heffernan discovers ways of living and working that foster creativity, spark innovation, reinforce our social fabric, and feel so much better than winning.
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Margaret Heffernan is brilliant!
- By Eric Willingham on 06-09-16
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Imaginable
- How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything - Even Things That Seem Impossible Today
- By: Jane McGonigal
- Narrated by: Jane McGonigal
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly frequent climate disasters, a new war—events we might have called “unimaginable” or “unthinkable” in the past are now reality. Today it feels more challenging than ever to feel unafraid, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures.
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Fabulous content, INSUFFERABLE narration!
- By Kelly on 05-24-22
By: Jane McGonigal
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It's Better Than It Looks
- By: Gregg Easterbrook
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Most people who pay attention to the news would tell you that 2017 is one of the worst years in recent memory. We're facing a series of deeply troubling, even existential problems: fascism, terrorism, environmental collapse, racial and economic inequality, and more. Yet this narrative misses something important: by almost every meaningful measure, the modern world is better than it ever has been. In the United States, disease, crime, discrimination, and most forms of pollution are in long-term decline, while longevity and education keep rising.
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Too political
- By Anonymous User on 07-12-18
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Abundance
- The Future Is Better Than You Think
- By: Steven Kotler, Peter H. Diamandis
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Space entrepreneur turned innovation pioneer Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler document how progress in artificial intelligence, robotics, digital manufacturing synthetic biology, and other exponentially growing technologies will enable us to make greater gains in the next two decades than we have in the previous 200 years.
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Perhaps multiply his time estimates by 10
- By Rick on 11-06-21
By: Steven Kotler, and others
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The Complacent Class
- The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream
- By: Tyler Cowen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a signature American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change have produced a dynamic economy and a tradition of innovation from Ben Franklin to Steve Jobs. The problem, according to legendary blogger, economist, and best-selling author Tyler Cowen, is that Americans today have broken from this tradition - we're working harder than ever to avoid change.
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MUST READ
- By RJW on 05-06-17
By: Tyler Cowen
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That Used to Be Us
- How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back
- By: Thomas L. Friedman, Michael Mandelbaum
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman, one of our most influential columnists, and Michael Mandelbaum, one of our leading foreign policy thinkers, analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what we need to do now to rediscover America and rise to this moment.
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We have met the enemy and it is us.... Pogo
- By Soudant on 09-16-11
By: Thomas L. Friedman, and others
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Willful Blindness
- Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril
- By: Margaret Heffernan
- Narrated by: Margaret Heffernan
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret Heffernan argues that the biggest threats and dangers we face are the ones we don't see - not because they're secret or invisible, but because we're willfully blind. A distinguished businesswoman and writer, she examines the phenomenon and traces its imprint in our private and working lives, and within governments and organizations, and asks: What makes us prefer ignorance? What are we so afraid of? Why do some people see more than others? And how can we change?
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How Not to Be the Blind Leading the Blind
- By Cynthia on 06-29-13
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Anthro-Vision
- A New Way to See in Business and Life
- By: Gillian Tett
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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While today’s business world is dominated by technology and data analysis, award-winning financial journalist and anthropology PhD Gillian Tett advocates thinking like an anthropologist to better understand consumer behavior, markets, and organizations to address some of society’s most urgent challenges.
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A Woke Joke-My First Returned Book
- By Bob Flob on 06-16-21
By: Gillian Tett
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Adrift
- America in 100 Charts
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Scott Galloway
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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We are only just beginning to reckon with our post-pandemic future. As political extremism intensifies, the great resignation affects businesses everywhere, and supply chain issues crush bottom lines, we’re faced with daunting questions—is our democracy under threat? How will Big Tech change our lives? What does job security look like for me? America is on the brink of massive change—change that will disrupt the workings of our economy and drastically impact the financial backbone of our nation: the middle class.
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Quick & Informative
- By W. Carillion on 10-06-22
By: Scott Galloway
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Third World America
- How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream
- By: Arianna Huffington
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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America's middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation - that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It's the dark flipside of the American Dream - an American Nightmare of our own making.
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Sad... but with a ray of hope
- By Maciej on 10-20-10
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Warnings
- Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes
- By: Richard A. Clarke, R.P. Eddy
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Warnings is the story of the future of national security, threatening technologies, the US economy, and possibly the fate of civilization. In Greek mythology Cassandra foresaw calamities, but was cursed by the gods to be ignored. Modern-day Cassandras clearly predicted the disasters of Katrina, Fukushima, the Great Recession, the rise of ISIS, and many more. Like the mythological Cassandra, they were ignored. There are others right now warning of impending disasters, but how do we know which warnings are likely to be right?
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On prediction, catastrophe and mitigation
- By S. Yates on 02-28-18
By: Richard A. Clarke, and others
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Plutocrats
- The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else
- By: Chrystia Freeland
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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There has always been some gap between rich and poor in this country, but in the last few decades what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Alarmingly, the greatest income gap is not between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, but within the wealthiest 1 percent of our nation-as the merely wealthy are left behind by the rapidly expanding fortunes of the new global super-rich. Forget the 1 percent; Plutocrats proves that it is the wealthiest 0.1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at break-neck speed.
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Good Storytelling but ... analysis is "eh'
- By Susan on 11-04-12
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Narrative Economics
- How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events
- By: Robert J. Shiller
- Narrated by: Susan Osman, Robert J. Shiller - introduction
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Spread through the public in the form of popular stories, ideas can go viral and move markets - whether it's the belief that tech stocks can only go up or that housing prices never fall. Whether true or false, stories like these - transmitted by word of mouth, by the news media, and increasingly by social media - drive the economy by driving our decisions about how and where to invest, how much to spend and save, and more. But despite the obvious importance of such stories, most economists have paid little attention to them. Narrative Economics sets out to change that.
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Such boring narration (returned)
- By William J Brown on 10-08-19
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Climate Shock
- The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet
- By: Gernot Wagner, Martin L. Weitzman
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Wagner and Martin Weitzman explore in lively, clear terms the likely repercussions of a hotter planet, drawing on and expanding from work previously unavailable to general audiences. They show that the longer we wait to act, the more likely an extreme event will happen. A city might go underwater.
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Nuance, balance, risk management.
- By John Christens on 11-23-23
By: Gernot Wagner, and others
What listeners say about The Optimist's Telescope
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Devesh Dahale
- 07-02-21
A great systems and measures book
This book is an excellent resource for leaders who would like to start making decisions using long term thinking and use systems thinking effectively. The book also provides several poignant examples of potential negative effects of hastily chosen measures with myopic thinking. There can be a large chasm between an objective and it’s measures. This well written and well narrated book provides insights into ways by which appropriate foresight and balanced measures can make al the difference. It reminds us of the proverb the measure will drive the behavior- sometimes literally blindly!
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- Robert
- 09-11-19
Thought provoking.
This book was was excellent. I found the information and strategies inspiring and pragmatic. I highly recommend it.
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- Chef Justin
- 09-04-19
Awe inspiring! did not want it to end!
This author needs to write another book asap! Wonderful insight from meetings and conversations with an eclectic group of philosophical people from many backgrounds with impressive resumes, Venkataraman is delightful and passionate!
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- tj
- 03-04-21
Even more relevant.
It's clear some countries and institutions were woefully underprepared for the Covid pandemic. This book will help you look forward and stop near term indulgences. Whether you are an executive or family member you can influence to improve the lives of future people.
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- IAN
- 11-19-19
Great view
I’m very pleased to have read this optimistic look at the world we live in. And the options to repair are viable.
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- Jonah
- 04-03-20
A great analysis of the dangers of short-termism
This book provides a great analysis of the dangers of short term thinking at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. Its particular strength is its accessible style chock full of examples.
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- njad222
- 02-17-20
Everyone should read/listen to this
The ideas presented in this book should be read by everyone - especially politicians, as ways to shape and build a successful and long-lasting society. Fantastic book from Bina!
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- Brent
- 10-06-23
Reasonable considers in long-term thinking
This book is just ok, it definitely gets a bit “preachy” throughout the content. While there are some good examples of evaluating the long-term potential impacts it swings a bit too “woke” at times. I appreciate the perspective but the author doesn’t usually give enough consideration log opposing views in any ideas presented. I think it’s generally a good perspective to listen to but not amazing insights or takeaways.
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