Monthly round-up · All months
Books podcasts were talking about in February 2018
During February 2018, several podcasts featured discussions on notable books spanning finance, health, and history. On ChooseFI, the host recommended Scott Trench's book "Set for Life," highlighting its framework for achieving financial independence. Health-focused conversations also emerged, as Rich Roll promoted Joel K. Kahn's "The Plant-Based Solution" on The Rich Roll Podcast. Historical and political biographies drew significant attention on The Rubin Report. Brian Domitrovic discussed Richard Reeves' biography "President Kennedy" and James Piereson's "Camelot and the Cultural Revolution," exploring presidential decision-making and liberal reactions to the Kennedy assassination. Dave Rubin similarly directed listeners in his show notes to C. Bradley Thompson's "John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty" and a collection of revolutionary writings by John Adams. Additionally, on Pod Save America, Jon Lovett mentioned Steve Coll's "Ghost Wars" while discussing the CIA and the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. These conversations collectively engaged audiences with practical strategies for personal finance, dietary health, and deep dives into American political history and foreign policy.
The Book Review
-
Jackie, Janet & Lee
Discussed“aen Claus like J Randy tar barelli author of Jackie Janet and Lee will be here to tell us all”
-
The Graybar Hotel
Discussed“well there's an interesting story that I've been following for several months about a writer a debut author named Curtis Dawkins and I wrote about him last summer when his short Story collection was published and it's titled the gyar hotel”
-
A horse walks into a bar
Discussed“well I'll explain um it's David Grossman's horse walks into a bar which I've been meaning to read for about a year”
-
Washington Square
Discussed“I went to Washington Square which is one of his earlier novels and is by his standards relatively quick and easy to read”
-
Portrait of a Novel
Discussed“but the other thing that I'm reading simultaneously because I loved portrait of a lady so much is Portrait of a novel by Michael Goro which is a book that came out in 2009”
-
Mrs Osmond
Discussed“I'm reading Mrs Osmond by John banville which is Believe It or Not a sequel to portrait of a lady”
-
The Left Hand of Darkness
Discussed“I guess the leftand of Darkness and when was that published 1969”
-
The heart is a shifting sea
Discussed“I reviewed two books on how marriage is changing the heart is a shifting Sea by Elizabeth flock a book about Bombay or Mumbai um following a bunch of different couples over the period of 10 years”
-
Going for a beer
Discussed“yeah I I reviewed Robert cover's Book of Stories it's a sort of greatest hits collection called going for a beer”
-
Scarlet A
Discussed“Jen and I reviewed a book called Scarlet a the ethics law and politics of ordinary abortion by Katie Watson who's a bioethicist at Northwestern”
-
The ones who walk away from Omelas
Recommended“the ones who walk away away from omalos and I've been sitting with that story myself very recently”
-
Sunburn: A Novel
Discussed“Laura Litman will be here to talk about her latest suspense novel sunburn”
-
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Discussed“the easiest way to describe it is Imagine The Postman Always Rings Twice except it's 1995 and the stranger passing through town is a woman instead of a man”
-
Ladder of Years
Discussed“I know that I had always thought that the idea at the heart of an Tyler's lad of years a novel that happened to be published in 1995 was a very dark idea although she played it for great comic and human effect and that was the story of a woman who got so disgusted with her family that she”
-
The Crossover
Discussed“and then when he came up with the idea for the crossover which is his first breakout book he was rejected by 22 Publishers before it finally got published it became a bestseller it won the Newberry medal in 2015”
-
Brown Girl Dreaming
Discussed“You have other authors like jacqulyn Woodson whose Memoir brown girl dreaming was written in free verse”
-
Here in Berlin
Discussed“um I am reading here in Berlin um by Christina Garcia which was actually reviewed um in TBR by Wendy lesser”
-
Open city
Discussed“and it actually reminds me of tesu Cole's open City uh there's a part in the book in open City where Julius the main character goes to Brussels”
-
The Portrait of a Lady
Discussed“well I finished the portrait of a lady which I read pretty quickly given how big it is”
-
The informed air
Discussed“now I've moved on to Muriel spark her book The informed air uh which came out maybe four or five years ago from New Directions and was reissued again uh this year”
-
A good comb
Discussed“it's actually just like collected aphorisms and sayings it's delightful I really like reading aphorisms”
-
Brave
Discussed“I mean was it hard to sort of reimmerse yourselfself in that completely this book”
-
The Tell-Tale Heart
Discussed“the earliest book I remember reading book book was uh or you know story was The Telltale Heart”
-
Love in the Time of Cholera
Discussed“I've reread Love in the Time of Cera every year annually uh since I was 14”
-
In Every Moment We Are Still Alive
Discussed“and this week she reviews a new novel by Tom melquist called in every moment we are still alive on our cover”
-
The Rub of Time
Discussed“I have to give the full title of Martin amos's book because the subtitle is so sort of weirdly unexpected in its way in that it includes John Travolta”
-
Heart berries
Discussed“yeah I did I reviewed a book by and if I'm bungling your name I'm so sorry theres Marie Milo who is a firsttime writer she wrote a book called heart berries”
-
The Weight of Ink
Recommended“that's great the weight of ink and have I'm sure you've had this but I've and the author is Rachel kades”
ChooseFI
-
The Sweet Spot
Discussed“and I have a conversation with my brother that night and we landed on the fact that it was a book series by Bill Pete ... but similarly we actually read this series of books it was like this random series of book called the sweet pickles”
-
Set for Life
Recommended“but his book set for life really defines four or five things that you need to figure out a way to solve and they're achievable and he gives you ideas on how to solve them”
The Rich Roll Podcast
-
The Whole Foods Diet
Discussed“his wonderful book the the whole foods diet he was planning as you know this gigantic national tour”
-
The Plant-Based Solution
Recommended“the book is the plant-based solution everybody pick it up wherever you buy your books”
-
Critical Path
Discussed“bought hundreds of copies of Bucky's book called critical path and we're gonna say he bought a dome”
Freakonomics Radio
-
The Bay Psalm Book
Discussed“I bought the first book ever printed in the United States. What was the first book ever printed in the United States? It's called the Bay Psalms book, printed in 1640.”
The Rubin Report
-
Why England slept
Discussed“and then and then it was published as a book and it sold about 80,000 copies of course Kennedy would publish another growth profile is encouraged”
-
John F. Kennedy: Profile in Courage
Discussed“and then and then it was published as a book and it sold about 80,000 copies of course Kennedy would publish another growth profile is encouraged”
-
The Continuing Relevance of John C. Calhoun
Discussed“Larry and I talked a bit about a girl he dated Margaret quoits who won the Pulitzer Prize in biography and history she wrote a biography a great biography of John Calhoun 1950”
-
President Kennedy
Recommended“Richard Reeves who's his greatest biographer he wrote the great book on Kennedy 1992 President Kennedy”
-
Camelot and the Cultural Revolution
Recommended“nonetheless James Pearson's book Camelot in the Cultural Revolution is the best book ever written but about the Kennedy assassination”
-
Violence, Periodization and Definition of the Cultural Revolution
Recommended“nonetheless James Pearson's book Camelot in the Cultural Revolution is the best book ever written but about the Kennedy assassination and it is about the liberal reaction to the Kennedy assassination”
-
Newtons Principia
Discussed“he's introduced to two books that that change his life The first is Newton's Principia Mathematica and the second is John Locke's essay concerning human understanding”
-
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Discussed“The first is Newton's Principia Mathematica and the second is John Locke's essay concerning human understanding”
-
Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography
Discussed“Benjamin Franklin when he was the same age as Adams decides that he wants to achieve moral perfection and you can read about this in in Franklin's autobiography which and if you think about it I mean this is extraordinary”
-
Nicomachean Ethics
Discussed“Well it's it's never the Bible it is Aristotle Nicomachean ethics Cicero cicero's de o'fee key Seneca and epictetus”
-
Seneca in English
Discussed“Well it's it's never the Bible it is Aristotle Nicomachean ethics Cicero cicero's de o'fee key Seneca and epictetus”
-
Diary and Autobiography of John Adams
Discussed“which is interesting if you if you read his diary his autobiography all of his political writings and more”
-
Tom Paine
Discussed“other than Tom Paine's Common Sense it was the most influential pamphlet written during I think the Revolutionary period”
-
Xenophon̓s Memorabilia of Socrates
Discussed“Adams was always fascinated with this ancient fable called the choice of Hercules which was first told in Xenophon's memorabilia and then was captured on canvas in I think the 16th century by the by the painter anabolic kurachi”
-
The Works Of John Adams, Second President Of The United States: With A Life Of The Author, Notes And Illustrations; Volume 9
Discussed“so the passage that you just read and much of what you reference here that this was all in his biography so he was just writing this to himself”
-
Letters from John Adams to His Constituents
Discussed“he wrote what I think is still to this day the most importance certainly I think the most brilliant Revolutionary tract that was published it was the title is the no Vangelis letters”
-
De Officiis
Discussed“well it's it's never the Bible it is Aristotle Nicomachean ethics Cicero cicero's de o'fee key Seneca and epictetus”
-
Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law
Discussed“he wrote his first major treatise in 1765 was called a dissertation on the Canon in feudal law”
-
Thoughts on government
Discussed“in to that end he drafted a document or a pamphlet called thoughts on government and it's a kind of proto Constitution and it it was in many ways other than Tom Paine's Common Sense it was the most influential pamphlet written during I think the Revolutionary period”
-
John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty
Recommended“we've linked to John Adams and the spirit of Liberty as well as the revolutionary writings of John Adams right down below”
-
The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams
Recommended“we've linked to John Adams and the spirit of Liberty as well as the revolutionary writings of John Adams right down below”
-
Two Treatises of Government
Discussed“Jefferson wrote that in some ways the most elemental books of public right were John Locke's two treatises on government”
Pod Save America
-
Ghost Wars
Recommended“I interviewed a a very very smart journalist named Steve Coll he's written some of the best books about the war in Afghanistan ghost war ghosts wars Directorate asses his latest ones about the CIA's role the military's role all the challenges in the region why we're still there after 17 years”
a16z Podcast
-
In Pursuit: Of Happiness and Good Government
Recommended“And then I I would read Charles Murray's book In Pursuit of Happiness and Good Government.”
The Joe Rogan Experience
-
A New Earth
Discussed“and I listen this guy Eckhart Tolle a power of now”
-
What's with wheat?
Discussed“like there's a documentary called what's with wheat it's really fascinating really”
-
The Wisdom of No Escape
Recommended“well I was just reading there's a great book I'm reading by Pema Chodron called the wisdom of no escape”
-
Musashi: Book One - Earth, Water & Fire - The Novel
Discussed“this was a ring to play on Musashi have you read the book Musashi yeah yeah I read that”
-
The Call of the Wild
Discussed“call the wild White Fang that those books I love those Jack London books when I was young”
