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9 Comments

Podcasts that discuss/ summarise books?

I really enjoy and benefit from podcasts. I think it's the combination of audio and the conversational format. I also find I digest and synthesise the content quite effectively and not get distracted, as I stack listening with a low cognitive load task like driving, walking the dog, cleaning etc.

But I feel guilty that I'm not reading books! (I read fiction before bed). I just really struggle with it. My mind wonders, I get distracted, I don't overly enjoy it, find it hard to build the habit into my day.

Has anyone similar to me found a hack for this? Perhaps a high quality podcast that summarises and discusses books?

I've tried both audible and blinkist, but they don't quite have the same conversational format as podcasts.

Thanks!

    1. 1

      Thanks for the suggestion

  1. 1

    Hi John.

    My podcast Founders does exactly what you are asking for.

    I read biographies of entrepreneurs and talk about the key insights.

    This link will open the podcast in your favorite podcast player: https://pod.link/founders

  2. 1

    Hey! Shameless plug: I just launched my substack newsletter where I summarize books. Not a podcast, but I distill the key ideas down into ~30 minutes.

    bookletter.substack.com

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    Try the New Books Network. https://newbooksnetwork.com/ You can drill down by topic as well.

    1. 1

      Thanks for the recommendation

  4. 1

    No need to feel guilty, do what works for you.

    I'd suggest finding a book you want to read and searching for the author, they tend to do lots of podcast episodes as the modern day book tour. I use Overcast.fm

    Very subjective but just a few of my favourites,

    • Invest Like the Best
    • The Knowledge Project
    • Acquired
    • Conversations with Tyler

    Pods that tend to have recent book authors

    • Art of manliness (terrible name but good)
    • Modern Wisdom
    • Hidden forces
    • Econtalk
    • News books in Science, Technology and Society
    • North Star podcast

    Would be interested to hear more about your thoughts on the Blinkist shortcasts

    1. 1

      Thanks for the thought put into the reply and the recommendations. I also listen to all 4 of your favourites, but only know of 1 of the 6 in the second list, so I'll check the others out.

      Blinkist is a good product, and my brother is a regular user. My issue with it, like audiobooks, is it's not in the conversational format and my mind starts to tune out to the single tone narration. Something about the conversational format with good switched on hosts that keeps me tuned into the content.

      Thanks again for the recommendations,.

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