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Books podcasts were talking about in August 2016
August 2016 brought an eclectic mix of memoirs, investigative journalism, and creative writing to the forefront of podcast discussions. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Louis Theroux recommended Janet Reitman's Inside Scientology, praising it as an effective primer on the subject prior to the release of similar works. On The Book Review, Meghan Daum expressed her affection for Bernard Cooper's memoir My Avant-Garde Education, while Jessica Winter shared her recent reading of Helen Phillips's The Beautiful Bureaucrat ahead of a joint reading event. Host Pamela Paul hosted several authors throughout the month, introducing Alan Schwarz to discuss his investigative work in ADHD Nation, Nicholson Baker to talk about Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids, and Raina Telgemeier to discuss her new graphic novel, Ghosts. Telgemeier also reflected on her broader career by discussing her early work on Ann M. Martin's Kristy's Great Idea from the Baby-Sitters Club series. Meanwhile, the a16z Podcast featured a discussion referencing Samuel Arbesman's Overcomplicated, exploring its analogies between physics and biology to examine how society conceptualizes complex technological systems. These conversations collectively highlighted the enduring power of personal narratives, investigative reporting, and imaginative storytelling across multiple formats.
a16z Podcast
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Overcomplicated
Discussed“And you know, and you're using the analogy of physics and biology in the book, and like how is it what what needs to happen for when for people to think that computers are biological, that like hey, it's okay if it has this goofy horn growing out the side of it, evolution will eventually get rid of it.”
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How to Speak Emoji
Discussed“In fact, the first time I ever heard of emoji was when Fred started his Kickstarter called Emoji Dick, and I was like, what the are emojis?”
The Book Review
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ADHD Nation
Discussed“New York Times investigative reporter Alan Schwarz is here to talk about his new book ADHD Nation”
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Ghosts
Discussed“one of the genre's bestselling authors Raina telgam will join me with our children's books at Maria Russo to talk about her new book ghosts”
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Substitute
Discussed“Nicholson Baker whose new book is called substitute going to school with a thousand kids joins us to tell us about life in front of the classroom”
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Kristy's Great Idea
Discussed“technically the first graphic novel that was published with my name on it was the first babysitter club book Christy's great idea in 2006”
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Smile
Discussed“and smile came out in 2010”
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Drama
Discussed“and so drama came after that”
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Sisters
Discussed“well I can definitely say that about your next book which was sisters was one of the great sister stories children's literature”
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There is simply too much to think about
Discussed“I thought I'd continue in the Sal Bellow vein and I went to uh the his collection of non-fiction that was published last year called um there's simply too much to think about”
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The art of rivalry
Discussed“I read one thing for work like you did this week which was um a new book called The Art of rivalry by an art critic named Sebastian smei”
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Great Granny Webster
Discussed“and this is a book called great granny Webster which is a very slender novel based on her own life time spent with her great-grandmother”
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I Contain Multitudes
Discussed“I contain multitudes about microbes and their relationship with a human body”
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Boy erased
Discussed“One of the books is boy erased by Gerard Conley and I really hope I'm pronouncing his first name right”
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One of these things first
Discussed“by Steven gains which is called one of these things first”
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My son wears heels
Discussed“and the third book is called my son wears heels one mom's Journey from Clueless to kickass by Julie Tarney”
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My avant-garde education
Recommended“recently I loved um Bernard Cooper's my evant Guard education which came out last year”
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How to be a person in the world
Discussed“Heather heski also known as ask Polly is here to talk about the book of her advice columns called how to be a person in the world”
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Break in case of emergency
Discussed“Jessica winter is here to talk about her first novel break in case of emergency”
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two - Playscript
Discussed“It started on Sunday with the release of the Harry Potter play which was highly anticipated for months and tons of people pre-ordered it so we found out just how many people bought it it sold more than two million hard cover copies in the first two days on sale”
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Fantastic Beasts
Discussed“I'm also really curious to see what the sales and fan response will be to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which is being published it's a screenplay of course she wrote it this time so unlike the play these are her words”
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Discussed“I'm also really curious to see what the sales and fan response will be to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which is being published it's a screenplay of course she wrote it this time so unlike the play these are her words”
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Wake up America
Discussed“there is wake up America by Eric bowling this is a Fox News Channel personality who is talking about the key American virtues that he maintains are under attack by President Obama and Hillary Clinton”
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Personal days
Discussed“actually because the book is openly and I use the word proudly derivative of um two books by men incidentally um one is personal days by Ed Park and the other is the ask by Sam lip site and there are explicit homages to both of those books in mine”
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The Ask
Discussed“actually because the book is openly and I use the word proudly derivative of um two books by men incidentally um one is personal days by Ed Park and the other is the ask by Sam lip site and there are explicit homages to both of those books in mine”
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Underground airlines
Discussed“oh I also by um maybe not coincidence but a couple of weeks before that I had been reading a Ben winter sort of Al alternative history Thriller underground Airlines also a kind of Riff on the Underground Railroad”
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The beautiful bureaucrat
Recommended“I read the beautiful bureaucrat by Helen Phillips I just read that two days ago actually it actually has some affinities with my book that I didn't realize um I'm doing a reading soon with with Helen and that's why I wanted to read her work”
Conversations with Tyler
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Essential Judaism
Discussed“I looked at a very good book by your husband it's called essential Judaism by George Robinson that's him it's a wonderful book”
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Talking Hands
Discussed“you have another book it's called talking hands so that the sign language which developed in a Bedouin village in Israel correct is that a fair way to describe it”
The Joe Rogan Experience
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Inside Scientology
Recommended“I don't know if you ever read Janet Wrightman's book, Inside Scientology. It came out a year before Larry Wright's book um going clear.”
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The Book of John
Discussed“one of my favorite uh in the New Testament my favorite gospel is the Book of John and the very beginning of the book of John is some of the trick I [ __ ] you'll ever read”
The Rubin Report
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The Atheist Muslim
Discussed“or in the case of my friend Ali rizy he just wrote a book it's called The Atheist Muslim he's a non-believer but believes that there's a a a ethnic attachment to being Muslim”
