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Books podcasts were talking about in August 2018
In August 2018, literary discussions on podcasts centered heavily on identity, education, and notable fiction works. On The Book Review, host Pamela Paul and guest Kwame Anthony Appiah discussed the book The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity at the conclusion of their interview. Guest Rumaan Alam shared his charm with Patrick Modiano's writing, discussing both So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood and Dora Bruder, while also praising Shirley Hazzard's novel The Transit of Venus as potentially perfect. Additional fiction highlights on the podcast included Emily Eakin introducing Nick Drnaso's graphic novel Sabrina alongside Shirley Hazzard's earlier novel The Evening of the Holiday, and John Williams discussing Carmen Laforet's 1945 novel Nada. Education and knowledge movements also drew attention on political and cultural shows; on The Rubin Report, Katharine Birbalsingh recommended E.D. Hirsch's recent book Why Knowledge Matters, describing him as a foundational figure for the knowledge-based education movement and encouraging viewers to read the text. Across these discussions, participants frequently examined how historical context, personal identity, and structural knowledge shape individual experiences and creative works in modern society.
The Book Review
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The lies that bind
Recommended“the book again is called the lies that bind rethinking identity by quame Anthony apia Anthony thank you so much for being here”
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So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood
Recommended“and I recently read Patrick Modano for the first time I picked up a book called so you don't get lost in the neighborhood and I was so Charmed by it”
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Dora Bruder
Recommended“because actually I found that book and the book Dora Bruder which I'm reading right now to be really remarkable”
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Sabrina
Recommended“um I want to talk about two books one very recent the other um many decades old and the the Contemporary book is Sabrina which is a graphic novel by Nick duraso”
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The evening of the holiday
Recommended“um I just wanted to talk about Shirley Hazard today because I also recently read her first novel Shirley Hazard being the Australian novelist recently deceased who wrote uh the transit of Venus her first novel was called the evening of the holiday”
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The Transit of Venus
Recommended“the transit of Venus is maybe a perfect novel”
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Nada
Recommended“which is called NADA by Carmen lafet it's a novel from 1945 published I realized today when lafet was 23 which made me slightly nauseous”
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Difficult women
Critiqued“and the other book I was going to talk about is a book called difficult women by David plant and it is a pretty atrocious book it's a it's a reissue of a book”
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Small Animals
Discussed“Kim Brooks joins us now from Chicago her book is called small animals Parenthood in the age of fear”
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The mirage factory
Discussed“I am reading the Mirage Factory by Gary Christ”
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Something in the water
Recommended“it's called Something in the Water by Katherine Stedman who according to her biography is an actress and writer based in the UK”
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The Ballad of a Small Player
Discussed“I read a a short is novel of his called ballot of a small player a few years ago because it's partly about gambling which is a pet theme of Mine”
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Crazy Rich Asians
Discussed“one was crazy Rich Asians by Kevin by Kevin Quang”
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Juliet, naked
Discussed“the other was Juliet naked by Nick horn be and there's an interesting contrast”
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The Hunting of the Snark
Discussed“well I am glad to Welcome to the White House someone to whom I can quote the hunting of the snark without being asked what I mean”
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After the Education Wars
Recommended“Andrea Gabor will be here to talk about after the education Wars”
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Beautiful Animals
Recommended“it's called beautiful animals by Lawrence Osborne and he wrote a piece for us recently and it made me realize”
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A backward glance
Recommended“well I just finished reading Edith Wharton's a backward glance her autobiography”
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Fight No More
Discussed“she'll be here to talk about her latest collection fight no more”
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Love in infant monkeys
Discussed“so your last Story collection as you said it's been a while was in 2010 love and infant monkeys that was a a Pulitzer priz finalist”
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Pills and starships
Discussed“I did one called uh pills and starships that that is classified as sort of ya”
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How the dead dream
Discussed“this Trilogy that I wrote that started with a book called How the dead dream so that was more about Extinction”
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A Children's Bible
Discussed“i' I've just finished a novel called a children's Bible That's not out yet”
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Famous Father Girl
Discussed“it's called famous father girl A Memoir of growing up”
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West Side story
Discussed“Westside Story is probably the most popular musical in American history and it's one of the greatest”
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Cherry
Discussed“so there's a novel that's coming out this month that really caught my attention it's coming out from Koff”
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A life of my own
Discussed“Alex tell us again the title of Claire's book it's called a life of My Own by Clare Tomlin”
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The tangled tree
Discussed“I reviewed something that could conceive which I call it sort of like a biography of an idea it's a book by David Quan and it's called the Tangled tree”
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Love, Nina
Recommended“there's a beautiful book written by uh Mary Kay Wilmer is nanny called love Nina I love one my favorite books”
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Factory man
Discussed“well gosh it back to factory man which was about the aftermath of globalization in a small Southside Virginia Community”
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Welcome to Lagos
Discussed“my colleague lovia gari joins us now to talk about a book that she reviewed this week welcome to logos by chibundu Uno”
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No Longer Human
Discussed“and um I'm about halfway through the second book I'm reading by an author named Osamu da da a z AI he was a mid-century writer who actually I think committed suicide when he was in his late 40s and I the two novels that I'm reading I think are essentially the majority of his production as a writer the”
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The setting sun
Discussed“and now I'm reading a book called The Setting Sun which is very different”
The Rubin Report
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Why Knowledge Matters
Recommended“so the grandfather select the hold knowledge movement is is Edie Hirsch and he's an American his most recent book is why knowledge matters which I would encourage all of your viewers to read”
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The Conservative Mind
Discussed“Russell Kirk's book called the mindset of a conservative something like the conservative mind I think is what it was called”
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The Passing of the Great Race
Discussed“you know there's nothing new you're like and and you know the this this very funny book called the passing of the great race by Madison grant that was on every coffee table and the late nineteenth and early 1920s you know was was forecasting doom for the white race you know when he was he was a fascinating figure”
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The Concept of the Political
Discussed“and then to me Dave it all it all culminates in the works of cross MIT from the from the late 1930s and is in his amazing book called the concept of the political”
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MIT Libraries Collection of Geological Papers Read Before the Colorado Scientific Society in Denver
Recommended“and then to me Dave it all it all culminates in the works of cross MIT from the from the late 1930s and is in his amazing book called the concept of the political and if you'll give me just one quick second to explain this because because you as a liberal I need to read this book”
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Living with the Monks
Discussed“alright so let's shift to your new book living with the monks I want to get the the subtitle totally right here because I love it what turning off my phone taught me about happiness gratitude and focus”
The Joe Rogan Experience
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The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World
Discussed“I've been reading his book the art of living and dying”
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The Art of Living Foundation
Discussed“I've been reading his book the art shows book the art of living and dying”
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Dying
Discussed“I've been reading his book the art shows book the art of living and dying”
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The Truth about Uri Geller
Discussed“and it was while I was in Colorado that I picked up a book by James the amazing Randi and that book said the truth about your together in fact the book was changed the name was changes later to the truth about you the truth of Uri Geller from the magic of Uri Geller”
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Telepathy
Discussed“he even wrote the foreword to a book called telepathy so yeah yeah”
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Wild
Discussed“and one of the writers in our workshop is a writer named Cheryl Strayed who had written a book called wild which was a hugely successful book it was chosen as an Oprah book and it will be on bookstore shelves for the rest of history”
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Stonehenge Decoded
Discussed“there's a book published in this in the 1970s by a guy named David Dawkins it's not Richard Dawkins but it's another one of these Hawking's”
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How to Make an American Quilt
Discussed“for women there are us you know every season there's a new joy Luck Club a new how to make an American quilt a new traveling Sisterhood of the Yamaha hands or whatever just all these different model in which women can come together and talk about their lives”
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Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Discussed“for women there are us you know every season there's a new joy Luck Club a new how to make an American quilt a new traveling Sisterhood of the Yamaha hands or whatever just all these different model in which women can come together and talk about their lives”
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Dead Poets Society
Discussed“and if you're a man you've got either Fight Club or you have the Dead Poets Society and that is really it”
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Choke
Discussed“same thing in choke there's going to be that moment”
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Heartburn
Recommended“so well Nora Ephron in her books she was so good at doing that heartburn heartburn is fantastically funny but by the end you're just weeping the book is so sad”
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True Story
Discussed“I like Bill Maher I'd loved I read his book that he read about I wrote about calm and I bet you even know he had one it was it was really funny no no no the other novel it screwed Troost I think we had a true story story yeah That's a great book”
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Lenny Bruce
Discussed“it's an eighth grade book it's in that great book ladies and gentlemen Lenny Bruce book it's a great read”
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Get in the Van
Recommended“oh I would tell you to read blood meridian by Cormac McCarthy oh just tell you read a real writer get in the van my tour journals from Black Flag is just a people like that book”
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The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon
Discussed“so I just skipped over that part and I would never address it but then you know he gave me the strength in a lot of ways to be able to say hey man you got it he wrote in my book so I have his book and he wrote to me he goes John always write the truth and”
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The Science of Self-Realization
Discussed“and then after giving me this book he gave me this book called the science of self-realization and I read it and I was like dude this yoga master AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada”
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You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again
Discussed“she wrote a book called you'll never do lunch in this town again in the 80s she had the cro-mags coming playing a movie at the Ritz”
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Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher
Discussed“gwen olsen wrote a book called confessions of an Rx drug pusher hmm and I think it was her niece died of a drug interaction that they knew about”
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Me, Myself, and Why
Discussed“my wife Jennifer will let - as a science writer wrote a book called me myself and why searching for the science of self”
Behind the Bastards
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Gorilla
Discussed“The Children of Monsters book quotes a biography of Castro called Gorilla Prince, uh which is both a solid name for a rap album, uh and which I'll also quote uh because you know it's great.”
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The Prisoner in His Palace
Discussed“So, the story of how I'm quoting from Will Bonworper's uh the prisoner in his palace. Quote, "As punishment, he'd torched Uday's prized collection of Rolls-Royces, Bentley's, BMW's, Porsches, and Ferraris, which had been stored under guard in a garage in the Republican palace."”
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Children of Monsters
Recommended“There's a number of sources for this podcast which I'll I'll go through as we read them, but I do want to upfront plug a book called Children of Monsters by Jay Nordinger. Uh it's a great book.”
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In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz
Discussed“Now, a major source for this episode was a book called In the Footsteps of Colonel Curts by Michella Wong, a journalist who lived and worked in the Congo in the early 1990s.”
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The Assassination of Lumumba
Discussed“I'm going to read a quote from an important book, The Assassination of Lumumba by Ludo Dit. At one point, he reviews Belgian newspaper coverage of the murder, which is mostly focused on shifting the blame from Belgium to the Congolese.”
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The Science of Success
Discussed“Charles Ko was even forced to acknowledge this sort of in his 2007 self-help book, The Science of Success. Excuse me. It was more of like a business book, but you know, you get the idea.”
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The Libertarian Reader
Discussed“So in 1978 he contributed an article to the Libertarian Reader. To give you an idea of the intellectual tenor of this publication an ad on the second page is titled let's hear it for the first amendment while we still can.”
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Deranged
Discussed“My research for this was mainly I read a book called Deranged by Harold Shear. Have you Have you given that one a read? Uh, I've not given it, although it has been recommended to me several times.”
Modern Wisdom
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Science of the Magical
Discussed“and when you think about sleek and this is something that Matt discusses at length and with great clarity in his book sleeps very strange”
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3 Magic Dreams
Discussed“and when you think about sleek and this is something that Matt discusses at length and with great clarity in his book sleeps very strange”
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My Six Minute Diary
Recommended“I've had to use the six minute diary is the only way I've ever being able to journal with a three minute commitment in the morning in a three minute commitment at night”
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The work of Byron Katie
Recommended“I do something called the work by Byron Katie which is it because be massively helpful I keep trying to lend Chris the book but he just doesn't want it”
The Rich Roll Podcast
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Bhagavad Gita as It Is [Hindi Language Pocket Edition]
Discussed“so this is back in in in the 60s and back way and he came to New York in the seventies so bhagavad-gita as it is srimad-bhagavatam all this”
Pod Save America
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The World as It Is
Discussed“it's the final installment of Ben's series of conversations this month exploring the deep state now exploring the issues and theme central to his memoir the worlds it is”
The Jordan Harbinger Show
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The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide
Recommended“there's a very good book called the psychedelic explorers manual”
The Tim Ferriss Show
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Body by Science
Recommended“You can look at a book called Body by Science for for all the details and why that is the case.”
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Seeking Wisdom
Recommended“A few of them just off the bat for people who are curious, uh Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl uh Poor Charlie's Almanack by Charlie Munger Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin”
ChooseFI
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To Sell Is Human
Discussed“and now I'm reading to sell as human which actually Dominic cortuccio had sent me it was one of his one of his books and he sent me a copy of it”
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The Gift Of Failure
Recommended“and she said she was inspired by this book called The Gift of failure how parents learn to let go so their children can succeed that's incredible”
Freakonomics Radio
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What Is Life Worth?
Recommended“Thanks to Kenneth Feinberg for speaking with us today. If you want to learn more about his settlement work, he's written two books, What Is Life Worth? And Who Gets What?”
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Who gets what?
Recommended“Thanks to Kenneth Feinberg for speaking with us today. If you want to learn more about his settlement work, he's written two books, What Is Life Worth? And Who Gets What?”
This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
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Fortunate Son
Discussed“that's what the book that you're reading is this book it's called fortunate son by Louis polar”
