JAN 2017
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
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From
“the most delightful MD ever” (Buzzfeed),
IF OUR BODIES COULD TALK by James Hamblin
is, according to the publisher, “an enlightening
book about how bodies work—and how to keep them
working in a world full of myths and misinformation.”
In 2014, James Hamblin launched a series of videos
for The Atlantic called “If Our Bodies Could
Talk.” With it, the doctor-turned-journalist
established himself as a seriously entertaining authority
in the field of health. Now, in illuminating and genuinely
funny prose, Hamblin explores the human stories behind
health questions that never seem to go away—and
which tend to be mischaracterized and oversimplified
by marketing and news media. He covers topics such
as sleep, aging, diet, and much more. Hamblin is a
senior editor at The Atlantic, and has published widely
in magazines and online. The subtitle of the audiobook,
which he also narrates, is “A Guide
to Operating and Maintaining a Human Body.”
Since everyone reading this has one of those, the
audience is vast. Subjects include everything imaginable,
with science answers to questions involving cell phones,
vitamins, probiotics, aging (like what happens in
your skin), genetics, biology, CPR, psychology, metabolic
syndrome, HFCS, coffee, milk, meat, sports drinks,
snake oil salesmen (pseudo-science), sleeping, drugs,
sex, hormones, technology, and tidbits from history
(or recent examples) to keep the answers interesting.
Culture figures into all this, and the author has
an ear for when a topic needs some jazz notes for
proper timing and stress. It’s popular science
with the angle of answering questions from readers,
presented with an amiable tone sensitive to the topic.
It is appropriate to note that Hamblin presents various
sides in arguments about some controversial topics,
but applies skepticism where validity requires, and
doesn’t fall for fallacies of logic in order
to arrive at consensus. What will happen to the internet
and the science reporting on it? This is anyone’s
guess. Perhaps a rebellion against the “McNews”
in which pseudo-science is reduced to being equally
popular as real science due to the strategy of saying
“some scientists believe?” (This is sometimes
the mantra of the History Channel, presenting their
“findings” as if there is a debate among
legit scientists when there is not. Everyone being
in favor of equality, that sounds good, when in fact
that’s not how science works, and no one’s
opinion counts in real science: it’s only what
you can prove.) So this is perhaps the best thing
about the book: walking the line of reason and discovery.
Not referring to “authority” or doing
the opposite, either—believing that everyone’s
opinion is of equal value. Maybe one day “factoids”
of truth (coined by Bradbury) will be automatically
vetted and assigned a “believability”
rating by an artificial intelligence like those who
now already tract us. In the meantime, listening to
an audiobook as balanced as this one can only have
a positive effect on one’s mind and body.
Jonathan
Lowe: “Could you relate how listening
to books might have a calming effect to those experiencing
stress while stuck in traffic or at the airport?”
James
Hamblin: “I’d be speculating
about calming effects of audiobooks – speaking
strictly scientifically, I imagine the effects vary
from person to person and book to book. But I can
guarantee with 100% certainty that listening to my
book will impart a positively transcendent bliss that
will render any aspirations to calmness irrelevant.
At least, I hope so!”
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In
WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION by Cathy O’Neil
you’ll learn some surprising things about the
algorithms that now rule our society, as an expansion
of the subject matter revealed in such books as The
Filter Bubble, Utopia is Creepy, and
Future Crimes. This book is unique in that
it focuses on how statistics are utilized by mass
marketers, politicians, and media giants to extract
as much advantage as they can in order to, as they
say on Shark Tank, “eviscerate the competition.”
For example, credit scores are utilized in hiring
practices in 40 states, and so if you made the “mistake”
of being laid off and then applied for a loan in which
you missed a payment, you may not be hired over someone
who wasn’t laid off (for whatever reason.) If
you clicked on an ad for a college loan you may be
swamped with calls from loan sharks looking to collect
high interest rates…get one of those, and algorithms
will spot this too. It will appear on records you
have no access to, although future employers or loan
officers might. If you don’t know the proper
ways to word a resume, it might never get viewed since
algorithms pre-screen the first round, in search of
certain keywords relevant to job openings. You name,
race, sex, and even the typeface used can affect your
odds before a human ever sees your application or
resume. Shoppers who log in to online stores may not
get the same deals as those who don’t log in.
(Why offer deals to repeat customers?) Google, Amazon,
Facebook…they all track you, and know when and
where to hit you with ads based on your personal buying
patterns, beliefs, and social status. These “WMDs”
are like bombs targeting you in their laser sights.
They know who you are, and where you live. Zip codes
are also utilized, and can keep poor people from getting
out of poverty by victimizing them with high interest
rates or preventing them from obtaining a job. All
this ends up costing more in government assistance,
and, once taken, locks some into a death spiral of
debt and discrimination. What can you do? Start by
listening to this audiobook, which is long listed
for a National Book Award, and is ably narrated by
the author. |
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Not
a happy title for the New Year, but appropriate if you
have children. ASSASSINATION GENERATION: Lieutenant
Colonel Dave Grossman is an internationally
recognized scholar, author, soldier, and speaker who
is one of the world’s foremost experts in the
field of human aggression and the roots of violence
and violent crime. He is a West Point psychology professor,
a professor of military science, and an Army Ranger
who has combined his experiences to become the founder
of a new field of scientific endeavor, which has been
termed "killology." In his audiobook he reveals
new science showing that violent games such as Grand
Theft Auto 5 (which sold more than $1 Billion in 3 Days—more
than then entire music industry) deadens sensitivity
to violence, causes depression, and leads some kids
later joining gangs or getting involved in school shootings
(esp. if exposed as pre-teens by parents or siblings
who buy them the over-18 games.) He says that the difference
between civilian gaming and military war games is discipline
and accountability. Andrew J. Bacevich,
a professor emeritus of history and international relations
at Boston University, served for twenty-three years
as an officer in the US Army. He is the author of Washington
Rules, The Limits of Power, and The New American Militarism,
among other books. His writing has appeared in Foreign
Affairs, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, the Nation,
the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall
Street Journal. His premise is that jingoism is viral,
with everyone waving (and hiding behind) flags in the
"good-old-boy" school of “shoot first,
ask questions later.”
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His book AMERICA’S WAR reveals
that military contractors have lobbyists in Washington
intent on keeping their grip on the American budget
(we currently spend more on military arms than the next
top 20 countries combined.) He also reveals that vets
get the shaft of these massive deficit transactions,
and Pentagon brass is worried Trump may upset their
golden apple cart. What will happen next? No one knows
for sure, but reading on the go via listening beats
McNews and the same pop songs playing endlessly. |
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A
few worthy fiction titles that I haven't had time
to complete yet are SWING TIME by
Zadie Smith, read by Pippa Bennett-Warner; SEDUCED
by Randy Wayne White, read by Renee Raudman;
PARIS FOR ONE by Jojo Moyes, read
by a full cast; and ODESSA SEA by
Clive Cussler and his son Dirk, read by Scott Brick.
I should also mention the interesting non-fiction
titles FUTURE HUMANS by Scott Solomon,
read by Donald Corren; and AND A BOTTLE OF
RUM: A HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD IN TEN COCKTAILS by
Wayne Curtis, read by Mike Chamberlain. I have completed
those, and was intrigued and entertained by both.
The last also contains a PDF with drink recipes. Always
good for the "holidaze." If you want to
review or read from a fav book on Youtube go to Good-Reads.blog
and submit, for literacy's sake!
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