I was recently asked what sorts of things I read.
I do ‘read’, but honestly I listen more than read! I drive a lot, so I listen to a lot of audio books and a lot of podcasts. I listen to both fiction and non-fiction. I was just looking at my Audible library. There are over 250 books in there!
Here are some of my favorites.
Podcasts
Love podcasts. They are generally free and many are outstanding sources of information and new ideas. If you are interested in learning about how the world and the economy works, here is a great set of podcasts to get addicted to.
Planet Money is the best podcast ever produced. It has over 900 episodes and started with two NPR reporters trying to explain the 2008 economic crash. It has continued since then and is a source of extremely interesting stories covering a huge range of topics related to money, economics, and behavior. If you only take one thing from this posting, this is what you should take. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/
The Indicator from Planet Money is a daily series of short stories about the economic forces that drive the world. Usually about 10 minutes each, they are packed full of interesting metrics presented in a lively and interesting format. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510325/the-indicator-from-planet-money
99% Invisible is an interesting series of stories. Many are about architecture, infrastructure, and technology. This eclectic mix of content is nearly always interesting. https://99percentinvisible.org/
Fiction
A lot of the fiction I have been listening too turns out to be associated with my favorite narrator, R.C. Bray. I think he is the best audio book reader in the business, and end up enjoying all of his performances.
Bobiverse: This is an amazing three book series. It has a very interesting take on AI and some unexpected twists about common ideas. It is funny, thought provoking, and rates as one of my favorite stories ever!
https://www.audible.com/series/Bobiverse-Audiobooks/B01M1RDL6W
Expeditionary Force: Perhaps my favorite series in the space battle genre. Features a great cast of characters including ‘Skippy’. Highly recommend it. Great performance by R.C. Bray.
https://www.audible.com/series/Expeditionary-Force-Audiobooks/B01N9CUGHG
Galaxy’s Edge: Another interesting space battle series, also read by R.C. Bray.
https://www.audible.com/series/Galaxys-Edge-Series-Audiobooks/B079YXK1GL
The Forever: Outstanding store by Craig Robertson about the end of the earth and mans search for a new world. Three parts to this, then it is continued into another series of books called Galaxy on Fire. Right at the top of my list of favorites.
https://www.audible.com/series/The-Forever-Series-Audiobooks/B07FF2NWRP
https://www.audible.com/series/Galaxy-on-Fire-Audiobooks/B07S2DXJ8L
Non Fiction
Freakonomics: Honestly, this book should be required reading for every high school student. Not only does it contain interesting stories, it also shows you interesting ways to think about the world. It exposes interesting ways to measure and quantify, challenges common beliefs, and makes you wonder if common sense makes any sense at all! There are two books and you should read both!
Freakonomics: https://www.audible.com/pd/Freakonomics-Audiobook/B002V5GOHA
Super Freakonomics: https://www.audible.com/pd/SuperFreakonomics-Audiobook/B002V1J8EU
The Instant Economist: Timothy Taylor takes you on a tour of various topics in the world of economics. It is very well written in a conversational style and takes on some hard to understand topics in a way that makes sense.
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Instant-Economist-Audiobook/B00722LSL4