OT: Audiobooks / podcasts

And anything from Mike Duncan. The History of Rome or Revolutions. I've really enjoyed Revolutions. Really interesting how we see the same patterns over and over. Somehow an educated liberal class gets agitated and some become leaders. Poor, exploited folk get agitated too and do most of the real fighting/demonstrating. Splits happen within. I didn't actually know a ton about The French Revolution before listening. I'd really like to read a book on it now. 1848 was also incredibly interesting and complicated.

I like Dan Carlin, but he does make quite a few little historical errors.

Dan Carlin WW1 series is the best podcast ever

Audible has great discounts for new customers. Whats your favorite genre?

Here are books ive loved:

Legal: any John Grisham

Conspiracy theory/drama: dan brown inferno.

High science fiction: Branden Sanderson (many of his books are 20+ hour commitment). Maybe start with the mistborn trilogy. 

Ready player one if you are into 80s nostaligia.

I am pilgrim is a great novel about the hunt for a terrorist.

Under the dome by Stephen King pretty entertaining.

Serial season 3 has been excellent so far IMO.   

Radiolab is so over hyped. They treat the audience like morons. Robert Krulwich is constantly like "OMG what!? The sky is blue? You don't say!"

I haven't watched much Daily Show with Noah since he's been on. Maybe I should give it another shot. He may have found his footing. I didn't find it too funny, but any time I've heard an interview with him it's been great. Really interesting to listen to. That sounds like a great audiobook.

I listened to Into Thin Air during the summer of 1999 when I was driving to start school in Ann Arbor.  For me, that is still the most riveting audiobook to which I have ever listened.

I like reading Krakauer's books but Into Thin Air was amazing as an audiobook.

I wanted more after S-Town, at the end it’s like “What the fuck?”

Joe Rogan, definitively. The Fountainhead if you're in high school.

When I first signed up for Audible I choose Atlas Shrugged because it was 55hrs and I’d never read Ayn Rand.  The story was ok, but the writing was cheesy at times and the philosophy was flawed.

I’d heard Dan Carlin was great and downloaded a random episode.  It felt like a motivational seminar where they spend half the time telling you how great the stuff they are going to tell you is going to be.  I quit after an hour.

Famous historian Will Durant has a series of books that cover the history of the world.  They were written in the [30’s through 50’s] but are jam packed with info. I found myself drifting off not because I was bored but because I was thinking of the material.  First book is 50+ hours.   Second is ~40.  

The Great Courses has one called “Building Great Sentences.”   Fantastic book on writing.  I was an ECB writing tutor and English major and I never fully got what writing was about until I listened to this book 20 some years later.  Highly highly recommend.

If you're big on Ghost Wars and Directorate S, you should check out Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. 

I endorse this comment. Your local library has a ton of audiobooks that you can rent for free with your smartphone. 

Overdrive is great for getting free audio books. One downside is that it's still a library service so sometimes certain books are "checked out" and you may have to several weeks to get a very popular book. Another is that you only have a few weeks to finish them before it goes back, so if the book is super long it may be difficult. But yes overall it's a better service because it's free.