Book and podcast recommendations MSM

The book provides an extensive and in-depth insight in the development of China after the Mao-era, linking policy-, political- and societal elements to China’s economic development and it’s rise to superpower status. The book provides an intriguing insight in the inner workings of the ‘machinery’ that is driving the development process and addressing the question of China’s future superpower status.

I have a special affinity for this bald Californian in his 50’s who teaches Marketing and Strategy (at NYU Stern).  Great sense of humour (a bit crude at times) but full of useful, timely and relevant information that will be useful to any student of business or anyone interested in meaningful life advice.  This is one podcast that I never miss.

Against the background of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, Michela Wrong dives deep into the nature of the Rwandan RPF regime under President Paul Kagame and reveals its secrets, its involvement in the Genocide, its foreign assassinations of dissenters and the role of the international community. This is a very well researched, insightful book on current African affairs and an excellent example of the importance of investigative journalism.

School history books often focus on the country of the school. European history books glorify European history, making it descend from the Egyptians via the Greeks. But economically, Europe was a backwater until the 14th century if not later. Who were the powerhouses of the Eurasian economies? Frankopan explains history is not all that is taught in school.

This is a great, educational podcast where Tim Ferriss has a different guest every episode, and talks about basically everything: psychology, marketing, investing, physics, etc. So far, over 600 episodes are available on Spotify, and with most of them being around 2 hours long, this will hopefully give you plenty of new insights :). 

Yale Professor Dr. Larie Santos set up a Coursera course called ‘’the Science of Wellbeing’’ and created this podcast as an addition to this course. She has studied the science of happiness and gives you concrete tips and tricks on how to be happier, and answers questions like ‘’do higher grades really make me happier?’’ and ‘’does making more money make me happier?’’. The answers to these questions might surprise you. The course is also worth checking out, you can take it for free on Coursera!

This is a bit more of a fun podcast, where Dax Shepard and Monica Padman welcome a different guest each episode. This can be the rich & famous (think of Scarlett Johansson, Barack Obama and Tom Hanks), but also scientists who tell you more about their field of study (Gloria Mark on attention spans, Saul Kassin on false confessions and Siddhartha Mukherjee on evolution and biology). On top of that, they also have ‘fun’ episodes where listeners share stories about for example their biggest Zoom blunders.

Room for thought and inspiration on owning each morning. Routine is key to balance (inner) health in a world shaped by increasing pressure from outside

This is a brief rehash of the basic set of ideas: 1) Incentives are the cornerstones of modern life, 2) Knowing what to measure and how to measure it can make a complicated world less complicated, 3) Conventional wisdom is often wrong, 4) Correlation does not equal causation.

This book will give anyone courage to unleash your creativity in your day-to-day life. An easy, fun and heartwarming read.

Touches upon topics such as why you should pursue purpose over passion, embracing negative thinking, seeing the wisdom in daily routine, and becoming aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life.

I read this quite a while ago and despite the age of the book, remembered its relevance and thought-provoking importance. Fairclough provides you a readable publication with linguistic tools and clear examples to critically engage with language and to see how language is used to position power and ideology. As language surrounds us 24/7, this is a useful read for anyone.

I've always been a fan of Dolly’s music but never thought much about her background. The music is great and well-placed, and Dolly is delightful, kind, and authentic. The podcast goes into her background, how she got to where she is, and all the roadblocks along the way. Touched upon politics and social issues. Really a good listen!