Audiobook Reviews in Five Minutes

This episode is also available on the Access Ideas podcast.

What makes for a happy life, a fulfilling life? A good life? The authors of The Good Life promise the answer may be closer than you realize!

Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz are the director and associate director of The Grant Study, also known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies ever done, beginning in 1938 and continuing up to the present. The study initially followed the lives of two groups of men: one group of socially disadvantaged men (inner-city Boston boys from working-class families), and another group of privileged men (graduates of Harvard College). The study aimed to understand the factors that contribute to a successful and fulfilling life, and eventually expanded to include the spouses and children of these men.

My hope is that by amplifying the findings of this extraordinary study, we can reframe popular ideas about happiness, health, and success! And if you’re not quite ready to commit to listening to this 11 hour audiobook, consider listening to these two recent interviews:

Ten Percent Happier #549. Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness | Dr. Robert Waldinger

Making Sense with Sam Harris episode #308 The Long Game (with Robert Waldinger)

Goodreads review of The Good Life

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Audio production by The Podcast Distillery Co.

Episode music: Caprese by Blue Dot Sessions

“This is one of the most important books that will be published in 2021. The Covid vaccine will soon free humanity from a biological pandemic, and this book, if widely read, could free humanity from an equally deadly scourge—high conflict.” — Jonathan Haidt, Social psychologist, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business, and author CThe Coddling of the American Mind

Amanda Ripley is an investigative journalist and a New York Times bestselling author. She’s spent her career trying to make sense of complicated human mysteries, from what happens to our brains in a disaster to how some countries manage to educate virtually all their kids to think for themselves. Her first book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why, was published in 15 countries and turned into a PBS documentary. Her next book, The Smartest Kids in the World—and How They Got That Way, was a New York Times bestseller. Amanda’s most recent book is High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, published by Simon & Schuster in April 2021.

In her books and magazine writing, Amanda combines storytelling with data to help illuminate hard problems—and solutions. To do this, she usually follows people who have been through some kind of a transformation—including the survivors of hurricanes and plane crashes, American teenagers who have gone to high school in other countries and people who were bewitched by toxic conflicts and managed to break free. (from https://www.amandaripley.com/about-amanda)

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55713052-high-conflict

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· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jannastam

Audio production by Graham Stephenson

Episode music: Caprese by Blue Dot Sessions

This episode was first released in May 2021

One of my top audiobook listens for 2021! Think Again is a 21st Century reboot of Enlightenment ideas, celebrating skepticism and science. Adam Grant’s balance of storytelling and statistics is fascinating, but what makes this listen fun is how Grant challenges us to explore our own tendencies and guides us in how to practice rethinking our beliefs.

How often do you think again? Take the quiz: https://www.adamgrant.net/quizzes/think-again-quiz/

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Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and TED speaker who helps people find meaning and motivation at work. Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years. As an organizational psychologist, he is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, and live more generous and creative lives. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40.

​He is the author of 4 New York Times bestselling books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 35 languages: Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His books have been named among the year’s best by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal and praised by J.J. Abrams, Richard Branson, Bill and Melinda Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Kahneman, and Malala Yousafzai. (bio taken from https://www.adamgrant.net/about/biography/)

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56789923-think-again

Audio production by Graham Stephenson

Episode music: Caprese by Blue Dot Sessions

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This episode was first released in February 2021

“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever...”

Ultimately, stories have emotional power over us, and great stories stay with us for a lifetime. Haig’s charming style made this listen impossible to put down. And, although it covers some heavy subject matter, The Midnight Library is an easy listen beautifully narrated by British actress Carey Mulligan, who brings Nora’s character to life in so many different contexts.

Matt Haig is an author for children and adults. His memoir, Reasons to Stay Alive, was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children’s book, A Boy Called Christmas, was a runaway hit and is translated in over 40 languages. It is being made into a film starring Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent and The Guardian called it an ‘instant classic’. His novels for adults include the award-winning How To Stop Time, The Radleys, The Humans and the number one bestseller The Midnight Library, which also won the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54744876-the-midnight-library

Audio production by Graham Stephenson

Episode music: Caprese by Blue Dot Sessions

This extended episode is also available as an article on medium.com and shares insights taken from some of the audiobooks about listening I've reviewed on my podcast.

Want to add lasting value at work and in personal relationships? In our attention economy, being a good listener helps you stand out for the right reasons. If we want to build rapport, trust, and collaborative productivity after months of virtual isolation, now seems an ideal time to elevate our listening skills with colleagues, friends, family, and even strangers.

We have everything to gain, including deeper connections, more supportive relationships, better career prospects... and we might even be surprised by what we learn about ourselves.

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If you're interested in learning more about listening skills, check out these articles:

• What Great Listeners Actually Do by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman (Harvard Business Review)
• Talk Less. Listen More. Here's How. Lessons in the art of listening, from a C.I.A. agent, a focus group moderator and more By Kate Murphy (New York Times)

Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Anchor, Breaker, Google, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, and Spotify

Audio production by Graham Stephenson

Episode music: Caprese by Blue Dot Sessions