“Mourning a place is even more difficult than mourning a person,” writes Victoria Belim in The Rooster House. Her book is part-memoir, part-detective story as she returns to her birth country of Ukraine in 2014 to uncover the mystery of her missing great-uncle; but it is also a hymn to the beauty of Ukraine and a paean to her lost land. For as seasons pass and Victoria learns more about her family, she also becomes one with the land her grandmother tends and reconnects with the unbreakable spiri...
Aug 11, 2023•44 min
Leading psychiatrist Dr Pooja Lakshmin knows first-hand how toxic the wellness industry can be. In search of radical answers to her own personal experience of burnout and depression, she bought into the cult of wellness and faux “self-care” and found an industry rigged against women’s real interests. Now she joins us with an alternative framework for achieving true wellbeing. Using case studies, clinical research and actionable strategies, Dr Pooja is a leading a personal and social revolution t...
Aug 08, 2023•56 min
Revisiting one of our favourite episodes of last year, the Booker Prize winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo shares his idiosyncratic take on the human condition. George Saunders’ first new collection of stories in ten years is a powerful reminder of why he is widely considered to be the greatest short story writer in the English language. In Liberation Day, we meet the disillusioned employees of a Hell themed underground theme park, the artistic patrons of a dystopian near-future America, and...
Aug 04, 2023•37 min
How did the suburb of Palo Alto become the epicentre of a global tech revolution, changing not just American capitalism but the world? Malcolm Harris was raised in Palo Alto, the heartland of Silicon Valley, home of Stanford University, and the birthplace of the digital age. We live in the world created by The Palo Alto System - a set of 19th century ideas for innovation that have subtly shaped the way that business is still done in the Valley today. Malcolm's new book Palo Alto offers a critica...
Aug 02, 2023•49 min
Our guest on this episode is Amy Shah, a physician who trained at Cornell, Columbia and Harvard. She specialises in nutrition and the mind-body connection that leads to hunger and cravings. Her new book on that subject is called I'm So Effing Hungry. She joined Hannah MacInnes earlier this year to tell us all about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 28, 2023•1 hr
How do our minds build our worlds? One of the most important living thinkers in cognitive science and philosophy joined us with a grand new vision to explain our lived experience. Hugely renowned in the cognitive sciences for the Extended Mind hypothesis, which explained the way in which tools seem to become part of ‘us’ many years before smartphones, laptops, and the internet made all of us feel one with our machines, philosopher Andy Clark is the leading researcher of Predictive Brain theory –...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 5 min
How can you make 'work' work for you? Christina Wallace is a millenial, an entrepreneur, a professor at Harvard Business School, and an expert in building a career that is both true to your values and interests and compatible with our age of constant disruption. It's the subject of her new book The Portfolio Life and of a livestreamed conversation we hosted with Christina in the spring, hosted by her friend and fellow entrepreneur DJ diDonna. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...
Jul 21, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet gay, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira lake and he has no idea who killed him. Fusing fury with comedy, mordant wit and disturbing truths, Shehan Karunatilaka’s wildly energic tour de force The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida has catapulted its author in the first order of world literature. He joins us to share the stories behind this extraordinary testi...
Jul 18, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Do you think you'd be happier if you won the lottery? Do you spend your days scrolling, thinking everyone else is living life better than you? Have you ever got a long-awaited promotion and thought 'Oh. Is that it?' Emma Gannon had everything she'd longed for: a string of successful books to her name, a thriving portfolio career, speaking engagements around the world. She was also burned out and confused at why she felt unhappy, yet still striving for more. After taking a deep look at her own jo...
Jul 14, 2023•1 hr 2 min
How To Academy is back at Wilderness Festival this August, where we will be hosting the journalist and author of Empireland Sathnam Sanghera on his new history of the British Empire aimed at younger readers: Stolen History. In anticipation we wanted to share our event from last year's Wilderness, this time with the scientist and author of groundbreaking books including The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr
Viorica Marian joins us to explore how crucial multilingualism is to human flourishing. Her new book, The Power of Language, distils her research to share how language shapes our self-conception, our decisions, and the society we create. From the politics that underlie whether we categorise a language as a “language” or a “dialect”, to the ways language has shaped our identities or been employed to discriminate, to how maths and poetry too can be understood as languages, this episode illuminates...
Jul 07, 2023•52 min
What can we learn about the decline of the west from the fall of the Roman Empire? Was decline inevitable for Rome and is it inevitable for the US too? Historian Peter Heather is the co-author of Why Empires Fall, a new book exploring the parallels between the 5th century and the 21st. He joined Luke Naylor Perrott to explore what new lessons we can learn from ancient history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 04, 2023•54 min
Lorraine Candy is the go-to voice for a generation of women seeking information and guidance. Now the bestselling author of Mum, What’s Wrong With You? and co-host of chart-topping podcast Postcards from Midlife joins How To Academy for a witty, compelling, honest and reassuring guide to living a magnificent midlife. Drawing together advice from experts and her own personal experiences, Lorraine will help you feel less alone and embrace this liberating and transformational new stage of life. Lea...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Scott Shapiro is a professor at Yale who teaches the philosophy of law. He is also a hacker, and the author of a new history of hacking, cybersecurity and cyberwar called Fancy Bear Goes Phishing. In it, he sets out to answer three questions: why is the internet so insecure? how do hackers exploit its vulnerabilities? And what can we do about it? If you've ever wondered whether hackers are all savants with black hoodies who can break into the pentagon from their basements, Scott is here to disab...
Jun 27, 2023•48 min
Since he was fired by Trump for refusing to bend the knee, the former FBI director James Comey has become one of the most insightful and authoritative defenders of American democracy and the institutions of American justice. James has just released a new novel inspired his experience prosecuting the mafia in new york: Central Park West. It's a wild ride, sizzling with crime, corruption, and conspiracy. He joined us in London at the Conduit for a conversation with the club's founder, Paul van Zyl...
Jun 23, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Our guest on this episode, Gretchen Rubin, writes bestselling books about the routes we can take to find happiness and fulfilment; in the process she's become part of the zeitgeist, even appearing as an answer on Jeopardy!. Her latest book is Life in Five Senses; a guide to using getting out of our heads so we can appreciate all that the world around us has to offer. She joined us in conversation with Hannah MacInnes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 2 min
How did the Mughal empire – which then generated just under half the world’s wealth – come to be replaced by the first global corporate power - the East India Company? And how does the legacy of British imperialism continue to shape life and culture in Britain today? Bringing together Empireland author and Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera and bestselling award-winning historian William Dalrymple, this episode of the How To Academy Podcast will tell a story that is barely taught in schools or men...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Our guest on this episode Richard Ford is one of the masters of American literary fiction. Frequently compared to Updike, Faulkner and Hemingway; he's the author of The Sportswriter, Let Me Be Frank With You, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Independence Day - all of which chart the life of his imperfect everyman Frank Bascombe. Ford's new novel Be Mine is the last of the Frank Bascombe books and finds his protagonist in his later years embarking on a trip to Mt Rushmore with his terminally ill so...
Jun 13, 2023•48 min
Have you ever been told you're too sensitive? What if we told you that being sensitive wasn't a weakness, but a superpower? Our guest on this episode Andre Sólo is a researcher, and editor-in-chief of the website Highly Sensitive Refuge. He is the co-author of a number of scientific papers on the subject and of a new book: Sensitive: The Power of a Thoughtful Mind in an Overwhelming World, which makes the case for the advantages of a sensitive soul and shares his insights for how to thrive as a ...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Susie Alegre is a leading human rights barrister and a pioneer of digital human rights in the age of AI and big tech. In her book Freedom to Think, she explores the basis upon which we have a right to our own ideas and opinions - and how we can protect that right in an age of digital surveillance and ever more advanced forms of propaganda. She spoke to us about the history of thought control, connecting the dots between Socrates, Galileo, witch trials and the contemporary world. Learn more about...
Jun 06, 2023•30 min
Sarah Knight made her name as the author of the sensational anti-self help book The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**K and has sold more than 3 million copies of that book and others in the series. Her latest is called Grow the F**K Up - how to be an adult and get treated like one. We hosted her in conversation with Hannah MacInnes. Expect bad language and good advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min
As a member of the 1960s science fiction New Wave, M. John Harrison worked with authors like Michael Moorcock and JG Ballard to he helped turn generic entertainment into serious and even avante garde literature. His latest book, Wish I Was Here, subverts and breaks apart the conventions of life writing with the same restless unbridled spirit that powered his award-winning novels Climbers, Light, Nova Swing and most recently, The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again. He sat down with us to explore th...
May 29, 2023•44 min
Alastair Campbell was Tony Blair's communications chief and is now one of the UK's most sought after political commentators; The Rest is Politics, his podcast with Rory Stewart, is essential listening for anyone who wants a fresh perspective on what's going on in Westminster. Alastair's new book is But What Can I Do?, a guide to how all of us can get involved in fixing politics. He joined us live on stage in conversation with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby to tell us more. Learn more about...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 25 min
Thomas Hertog was Stephen Hawking's PhD student and went on to become a leading cosmologist in his own right. He and Hawking developed a radical new theory concerning the origins of time itself: answering the biggest question imaginable - why does our universe have the laws of physics that it does? This would prove to be Hawking's final scientific theory and at Hawking's request Thomas wrote a book on the subject: On The Origin of Time. In this episode of the podcast, Thomas sits down with us to...
May 19, 2023•39 min
These days, trying to stay sane in a completely chaotic world makes life incredibly difficult, especially if you're struggling with your mental health. While searching for inner peace and equanimity amidst global chaos, Ruby realises that, ultimately, the most challenging gauntlet we all must face is ourselves. Joined by psychotherapist and author Julia Samuel, Ruby returns to How To Academy for an honest and raw journey into the depths of her psyche, and a stark exploration of what trauma can d...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 11 min
What makes a fulfilling life, and how can we live one? Life coach Fiona Buckland explores the overwhelming world we live in and the stressors and temptations that pull us away from understanding ourselves. She reveals how we can return to ourselves to create not just a life well-lived, but a life suffused with meaning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 12, 2023•50 min
What if human intelligence is more of a liability than a gift? According to the animal cognition expert and author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal Justin Gregg, there's an evolutionary reason why human intelligence isn't more prevalent in the animal kingdom. Simply put, non-human animals don't need it to be successful. In conversation with comedian and science communicator Robin Ince, Justin highlights features seemingly unique to humans and compares them to our animal brethren. The picture he pa...
May 10, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Over the past 150 years, we have entered a new ‘age of eating’ where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances: Ultra-Processed Foods. In this episode award-winning broadcaster, practicing NHS doctor and leading academic Dr Chris van Tulleken joins Robin Ince to reveal the disastrous effects of Ultra-Processed Food on our health - the subject of his new bestseller, Ultra Processed People. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 05, 2023•1 hr 21 min
Thriller writer Mick Herron is the heir to John Le Carre - the author of the wildly acclaimed Slough House espionage novels. The TV adaptation named after the first in the series, Slow Horses, is one of the best shows around - no mean feat in our golden age of TV drama. It stars Gary Oldman as Herron's Falstaffian protagonist Jackson Lamb. The latest Slough House novel, Bad Actors, has just come out in paperback. Mick sat down with Hannah MacInnes live on stage a couple of weeks back to tell us ...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Why did the ideal medieval woman have a pot belly and small feet? Which days of the week was sex permitted? Why did the transgender sex workers of London steal men's clothes? Eleanor Janega has the answers. She teaches medieval and early modern history at the London School of Economics. She's also the creator of the blog Going Medieval and the author of The Once and Future Sex, a new book exploring the ideals of womanhood in the medieval period. She tells Luke Naylor Perrott more in a NSFW podca...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min
