How To Academy Podcast

Emma Southon is a podcaster and ancient historian. Her new book A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women does exactly what it says on the tin: sidestepping the sidesteps of the long list of battles, consuls and generals that normally passes for the grand narrative of Rome to focus on the lives of women - including Vestal Virgins, sex workers, empresses, poets, and saints. She turns our preconceptions about the Roman world on its head to reveal a new story of the ancient world where ordinary individual lives take centre stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For years Dr Rahul Jandial, a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, has transformed the lives of his neurosurgery patients by putting them through ‘brain rehab’, his specially developed boot camp for restoring brain function. In this eye-opening interview with Hannah MacInnes, he uses his expertise to show how healthy people can rewire their brains to work in a higher gear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you get behind the wheel of a car, throw or catch a ball, change jobs, or move to a new country, you are making a series of predictions about what will happen next in your life and in the world. But what do we really mean when we talk about “the Future”? Is it something that is fixed or open? Can we genuinely know something about the world in twenty-five, fifty, or a hundred years? Are all predictions of the future equally likely to be right or wrong, and how can we make our predictions more accurate? Professor David Christian investigates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The writer Helen Macdonald is best known for the award winning memoir H is For Hawk and other distinguished works exploring our relationship to the natural world; their new novel Prophet is something very different but no less compelling - a speculative novel of ideas that will appeal to fans of literary science fiction and action thrillers as well as fans of Helen's earlier work. Written in collaboration with the Irish-American musician and writer Sin Blaché, the novel tells the story of a biochemical weapon that creates physical manifestations of nostalgic memories - with consequences that are equal parts surrealist, horrifying, and politically explosive. We caught up with both authors last week and took the plunge into this thrilling new work of imaginative fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Cameron is the author, poet, and screenwriter whose book The Artist's Way is one of the most influential creativity manuals ever written. Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of many books including most famously, Eat, Pray, Love - a memoir she says would not have been written without the guidance offered by The Artist Way. At the start of the pandemic, we brought Julia and Elizabeth together virtually to celebrate the power and value of the human imagination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alan Philps is the former foreign editor of the Daily Telegraph and an expert on Russian politics. He's the author of a new book called The Red Hotel, which tells the story of Moscow's Metropol Hotel and the journalists and translators who stayed there in WWII. The book reveals both the scope and sophistication of Stalin's propaganda machine and the heroism of the translators who fought to expose the truth about life in the Soviet Union. We sat down with Alan earlier this year to find out more, and to ask for his thoughts on the relevance this history has for Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marie Kondo became a global superstar when she introduced the world to the life-changing magic of tidying up. Now Marie joins us to share the art of kurashi – or “way of life.” She elevates her focus from the physical act of tidying to include a more holistic and personal approach to transforming our homes into spaces of calm. As a mother of three young children, Marie not only reveals a personal glimpse of her own way of living and an enhanced approach to the pursuit of joy, but also how we can find that joy for ourselves too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“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 spirit of Ukraine and its people. In this episode, Victoria speaks to Esme Bright about this period of self-discovery and shares her love for Ukraine’s rich history of art, craft and cooking. Their conversation touches on the nature of memory, the value of craftsmanship, how food can unite and the resilience of art in times of war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 that provides effective solutions to our society’s mental health crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 brainwashed political protesters for hire. Mixing satirical fantasies with razor-sharp observations of human nature, Saunders’ new stories walk a fine line between comedy and pathos, realism and playfulness. He joins us on the podcast for a journey inside his creative process and dazzling imagination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 critical history of the town and its hugely influential residents. Featuring robber barons, eugenics, murder, missiles, mining, and an infamous President, this is a startling look at the making of the contemporary world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 – the nearest thing we have to a unified science of the mind. With profound consequences for how we make sense of our selves and of society, this theory will forever reframe your understanding of the world we live in and the worlds we create. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 testimony to one of the darkest times in modern history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 journey, and interviewing many other successful people on her podcast Ctrl, Alt, Delete, she has realised that our overly celebrated and traditional version of success is making us lonely, unfulfilled and dispirited. Now she has worked out a way to do things differently. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 the unimaginable power of the languages we speak. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 disabuse you of that notion, and reveal that the truth is a whole lot more interesting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. He talked to Paul about his new calling as a novelist following a long career in the pursuit of justice, and shared his insights into the state of america today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 mentioned in museums but is critically important to who we are as a nation in the 21st century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 son. In this conversation with Esme Bright, Ford reflects on the responsibility of the writer, the politics of language and the prospect of happiness in an imperfect world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 sensitive person. He joined the writer and broadcaster Julia Wheeler to tell us more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 the nature of self, the desire for escape, and why we are living in an age of fantasy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 reveal how it all began... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 do to someone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 paints will forever change how you look at life on earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 podcast that's funny, provocative, and depressingly relevant to the present. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthropologist Alexa Hagerty spent years working with forensic teams and victims’ families to investigate crimes against humanity in Latin America. In this harrowing and deeply personal conversation with Luke Naylor-Perrott, she explores what science can tell us about atrocities and resistance, grief and care, ritual and justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik is a master literary stylist, acclaimed as one of wisest and most insightful figures in American journalism. But was he already too advanced in years to master other skills - including those that require as much of the body as they do of the mind? He studied with a boxer, a dancer, a driving instructor, a fine artist and more in pursuit of the secrets of mastery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith hosts conversations with leaders in government, business, and culture that explore the world’s most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society. In this episode, Strive Masiyiwa, a pioneer of Africa’s telecoms industry and influential global tech tycoon, discusses his work to ensure that all 1.3 billion+ Africans get access to digital infrastructure, close the digital skills gap, and invest in the continent’s young entrepreneurs to find innovative solutions for healthcare and food insecurity. Follow or subscribe to Tools and Weapons at https://news.microsoft.com/tools-and-weapons-podcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Octogenerian neurologist Ricard Restak is living proof that a declining memory is not an inevitable fact of ageing. A professor at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr Restak has dedicated his life to the science of brain health, and joins the podcast with evidence-based tools and techniques drawn from a lifetime of research and practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Journalist Luke Turner spent his childhood idolising Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers. Now, as an adult, he explores the human lives behind the machines. Who goes to TankFest - and who plays the SS? Are we more obsessed with war machines than living human beings of flesh and blood? How did tank commanders grieve for their crews? What would it have been like to kill someone with a bayonet? Why did Quentin Crisp say Blitz era London like "a paved double bed"? Why was the war a time of queer liberation - only to be followed by a period of horrifying persecution afterwards? How did WWII military medicine lead to gender transitioning surgery? Find out the answers and more in an account of the War like none you've heard before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Curtis Sittenfeld has made a name for herself as one of America’s most exciting writers and her novels Prep, American Wife and Rodham have been hailed as modern classics. Her latest novel, Romantic Comedy, follows a scriptwriter who has given up on romance with Sittenfeld's trademark warmth and intelligence. In this episode, she speaks to Esme Bright about the pitfalls and pleasures of romantic comedies, celebrity obsession in the US, why everyone wants to be the main character on TikTok, and what separates cheese from romance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julian Baggini is a philosopher who disavows jargon in favour of a clear and accessible approach to the tenets of philosophical enquiry. He joins us with a a guide to the habits and practices of philosophical thought that can make a difference to our daily lives. Why is a good driver like a good thinker? Should we really 'question everything' as free thinkers? How can we live a good life for ourselves and those around us? Is winning an argument more important than being right? Find out from one of the most eloquent and level-headed voices in British philosophy today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inflammation has traditionally been thought of as the body's response to injury and foreign microbes. But as the threats we face have evolved, what if it were now the root cause of modern disease? New science has revealed low-level, smouldering inflammation, simmering quietly and undetected, behind everything from heart disease and cancer to mysterious autoimmune conditions. A doctor at the forefront of this field, Shilpa Ravella joins How To Academy to explain what we know of this elusive phenomenon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you love your partner but want to rekindle that ‘in love’ feeling? Do you go on plenty of dates but can’t seem to click with the right person? Do you keep having the same conflicts with your partner? The bestselling author of Healing is the New High Vex King and his wife Kaushal have the answers. Drawing on their own relationship, they joined us in London to share practical guidance for learning to love authentically and unconditionally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As one of Australia's most influential behavioural scientists, Amantha Imber's advice is in-demand everywhere from Disney to Google. She's an expert in helping people do their best work without burning out, ensuring that the third of our waking lives we spend in the office is both impactful and meaningful. She joins the podcast to share her insights into the way you think about and use your time: the subject of her new bestselling book, Time Wise. From dealing with imposter syndrome to knowing when and how to say 'no', her hacks and tricks are unmissable for anyone who wrestles with the challenges of a modern working life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peter Frankopan’s ground-breaking history, The Silk Roads, brought a dazzling new perspective to the story of humankind; its sequel, The New Silk Roads, mapped China’s emerging global empire. He joined us to share the story of how the climate has shaped the rise and fall of civilisations across time with actor and presenter Sir Tony Robinson. Discover how harvests built empires, drought fanned the flames of war and storms and floods buried civilisations... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In conversation with former Editorial Director of BBC News, Kamal Ahmed, world-renowned economist Mariana Mazzucato and her collaborator Rosie Collington expertly debunk the myth that consultancies always add value to the economy. Presenting a wealth of original research, they argue for investment and collective intelligence within all organizations and communities, and for a new system in which public and private sectors work innovatively for the common good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We feel, therefore we are. Conscious sensations ground our sense of self. They are crucial to our idea of ourselves as psychic beings: present, existent, and mattering. But what does this magical dimension of experience amount to? What’s it for, and why has it evolved? Humphrey's solution implies that phenomenal consciousness, far from being primitive, is a relatively late and sophisticated evolutionary development. The implications, for the existence of sentience in nonhuman animals, are startling and provocative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices