Audiobook Podcast Feeds

Anthony Kiedis - Scar Tissue
In his searingly honest memoir "Scar Tissue," Anthony Kiedis, the charismatic frontman of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, chronicles his remarkable and often turbulent life, from his unconventional childhood to rock stardom and his enduring battles with addiction.

Moving to Los Angeles aged eleven to live with his father, Blackie – a purveyor of drugs to the Hollywood elite – Kiedis was plunged into a world far removed from his Midwest upbringing. He recounts his early acting career, dropping out of UCLA, immersing himself in the LA underground music scene, and ultimately finding his purpose when forming the Red Hot Chili Peppers with school friends, including his soulmate Hillel Slovak.

"Scar Tissue" transcends the typical rock biography, offering a compelling and vivid account of dedication and debauchery, success and excess. Kiedis writes candidly about the devastating impact of Slovak's overdose death and his own relentless, lifelong struggle with drug addiction, providing a raw look at the price of fame and a story of recklessness and redemption unique to the world of rock.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Be Useful
In "Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life," Arnold Schwarzenegger distills the principles behind his extraordinary journey—from world champion bodybuilder to highest-paid movie star and Governor of California—into a practical toolkit for anyone seeking a more fulfilling and purposeful existence.

Guided by the simple yet powerful advice from his father to "be useful," Schwarzenegger outlines seven rules forged through decades of relentless reinvention and achievement. Written in his uniquely earnest and blunt voice, the book takes readers on an inspirational tour, demonstrating how tools like clear vision, big thinking, hard work, resilient problem-solving, and a commitment to giving back can be applied to achieve personal goals.

Through compelling personal stories—including famous successes and life-threatening failures, some shared for the first time—Schwarzenegger illustrates how to use these tools to overcome self-pity, connect with purpose, and build the life you envision. He argues that while no one will rescue you, you possess all the tools you need to succeed and make a meaningful contribution.

Bruce Campbell - Hail to the Chin
Picking up where his first memoir "If Chins Could Kill" left off, "Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor" sees Bruce Campbell return with more raucous, sardonic, and gut-wrenchingly honest tales from his life as a "B" movie king in an "A" movie world.

Covering the roughly 15 years since his first book, Campbell shares hilarious and insightful stories from both his professional and personal life. He recounts adventures ranging from starring in the hit series *Burn Notice* and the STARZ show *Ash vs Evil Dead*, to making Sci-Fi channel movies in Bulgaria, playing Ronald Reagan, moving to rural Oregon to distill lavender, and navigating the convention circuit.

Bursting with pictures and Campbell's signature self-deprecating humour, "Hail to the Chin" offers further insights into the often unglamorous, yet always entertaining, world of a working actor, continuing the story of his "maturing years" in show business.

Darren Hardy - The Compound Effect
"The Compound Effect" by Darren Hardy is based on the principle that your destiny is shaped by small, everyday decisions. This book argues against the idea of quick fixes or secret formulas for success, instead emphasizing that significant achievements stem from the consistent application of small, smart choices compounded over time.

Hardy distills the fundamental principles used by superachievers in business, relationships, and life. He provides a step-by-step operating system designed to help you multiply your success by understanding and harnessing the power of the compound effect.

The book offers strategies on how to eradicate bad habits, install key disciplines for major breakthroughs, find lasting motivation, build momentum, and ultimately take control of your life to create the success you desire. It's presented as a practical guide back to the basics, focusing on consistency, discipline, and the profound impact of incremental actions.

Flea - Acid for the Children
In "Acid for the Children," Flea, the iconic bassist and co-founder of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, delivers a raw, poetic, and revealing memoir focusing on his tumultuous formative years before the band's inception.

Spanning his childhood from Melbourne, Australia, through the suburbs of New York City, to the wild streets of Los Angeles in the 1970s and 80s, Flea recounts his journey with candid vulnerability. He shares stories of escaping a difficult home life, finding refuge and family within communities of artists, musicians, and fellow outcasts on the fringe, and navigating the thrills and dangers of partying and petty crime.

Through hilarious anecdotes, flights of fantasy, and jazz-inflected prose, the book chronicles the experiences that forged Flea as a person and musician. It's a love letter to the power of music as a channel for frustration, loneliness, and love, and an evocative coming-of-age story culminating in the life-changing moment he and his friends conceived the idea for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Ivan Cleary - Not Everything Counts but Everything Matters
In "Not Everything Counts but Everything Matters," visionary NRL coach Ivan Cleary reflects on his journey and leadership philosophy that guided the Penrith Panthers to an unprecedented era of success, culminating in historic back-to-back-to-back premierships in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Drawing from decades of experience as both a player and coach, Cleary shares candid insights into building a champion team and culture. He explores the crucial elements of his approach, including persistence, the significance of community and connection, confronting challenges head-on, and understanding the fine balance implied by the title: recognising that while not every single detail might seem crucial on its own, the culmination of everything contributes to the final outcome.

Cleary delves into the unique dynamics of working with a diverse team, the specific challenges of leadership in elite sport, and the experience of coaching his son, Nathan. Offering valuable lessons on achieving success against the odds, this book provides a powerful look into the mind of one of the NRL's most successful modern coaches and reveals the architecture behind creating sustained greatness.

Johann Hari - Lost Connections
In "Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions," Johann Hari challenges the conventional understanding of depression and anxiety, arguing that they are not primarily caused by a chemical imbalance in our brains. Drawing on his own experiences with depression and extensive research across the globe, Hari posits that these conditions largely stem from a disconnection from fundamental human needs.

The book explores nine main causes of depression and anxiety, most of which are rooted in the way we live today. These include disconnection from meaningful work, other people, meaningful values, childhood trauma, status and respect, the natural world, and a hopeful or secure future. Hari also examines the roles of genes and brain changes, suggesting their influence is often intertwined with these environmental and social factors.

"Lost Connections" then shifts to uncovering pioneering solutions that focus on re-establishing these lost connections. Through compelling storytelling and interviews with social scientists and individuals, Hari presents alternative approaches that offer real hope beyond pharmaceutical interventions, advocating for a more holistic understanding of mental health that addresses societal and individual needs for belonging, purpose, and security.

Jonathan Haidt - The Anxious Generation
In "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness," social psychologist Jonathan Haidt investigates the sharp decline in youth mental health that became evident in the early 2010s. He argues that this crisis, marked by soaring rates of depression, anxiety, and self-harm among adolescents, coincides with a fundamental shift in the nature of childhood.

Haidt details how the "play-based childhood," crucial for developing competence and resilience through independent exploration and real-world social interaction, began to diminish in the 1980s. This decline was then accelerated and largely eradicated by the arrival of the "phone-based childhood" in the early 2010s, as smartphones and social media became ubiquitous in the lives of young people.

The book explores over a dozen mechanisms through which this "great rewiring" has disrupted children's social and neurological development. These include sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. Haidt provides distinct analyses for how these changes have impacted girls and boys differently, leading to widespread mental distress. He issues a clear call to action, diagnosing the societal challenges that perpetuate this crisis and proposing practical steps for parents, schools, tech companies, and governments to foster a healthier and freer childhood.

Malcolm Gladwell - Blink
In "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking," Malcolm Gladwell explores the fascinating world of snap judgments and first impressions. The book delves into the idea that the decisions we make in an instant—in the "blink of an eye"—can be as good as, or even better than, those made after careful and lengthy deliberation.

Gladwell introduces the concept of "thin-slicing," our unconscious ability to find patterns and meaning in very narrow slices of experience. Through a series of compelling anecdotes and case studies, from art experts who can spot a fake at a glance to psychologists who can predict the success of a marriage based on a few minutes of observation, "Blink" examines why some people are brilliant decision-makers while others consistently err.

The book also explores the pitfalls of rapid cognition, such as how our instincts can be swayed by unconscious biases and stereotypes. Gladwell investigates how our brains truly work in various everyday situations and reveals that great decision-makers are often those who have perfected the art of filtering the few factors that truly matter from an overwhelming number of variables. "Blink" ultimately challenges readers to rethink their understanding of how we think and to appreciate the power of the world within our minds.

Neil Gaiman - American Gods
"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman tells the story of Shadow Moon, a man released from prison only to find his world shattered by the news of his wife Laura's death in a mysterious car accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to lose, Shadow accepts a job offer from the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday, a charismatic con man who seems to know more about Shadow than is possible.

Their journey takes them on a strange and perilous road trip across the vast, often surreal landscape of America. Shadow is introduced to a bizarre cast of characters and discovers that a war is brewing beneath the surface of everyday life. This is a conflict between the Old Gods – ancient deities brought to America by immigrants from across the globe, whose powers are waning as belief in them fades – and the New Gods, manifestations of modern society's obsessions with media, technology, celebrity, and money.

As Shadow becomes increasingly entangled in Wednesday's schemes and the escalating divine conflict, he uncovers secrets about his own past, the nature of belief, and the very soul of America, which is the ultimate prize in this epic struggle.

Stephen King - It
In the town of Derry, Maine, seven children known as the Losers' Club confront an ancient, shape-shifting evil that preys on the local children, most often appearing as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. They believe they've defeated the creature, but twenty-eight years later, a new wave of murders begins.

Now adults, with their childhood horrors largely forgotten, they are called back to Derry to honour the blood oath they made: to return and fight the malevolent entity, known only as It, if It ever reappeared. As their repressed memories resurface, they must once again band together to battle the nightmare lurking in Derry's sewers and confront the ultimate terror from their past.

Stephen King - The Stand
When a deadly, weaponised influenza virus, known as "Captain Trips," is accidentally released from a secret US Department of Defence facility, it triggers a catastrophic global pandemic. Within weeks, 99.4% of the world's population is wiped out, leading to the collapse of society and an end to civilisation as we know it.

The few remaining survivors are scattered and traumatised. Many begin to experience shared dreams, drawing them towards two opposing figures: Mother Abagail Freemantle, a benevolent 108-year-old woman who becomes a spiritual leader for those seeking to rebuild a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the "Dark Man," a charismatic and demonic figure who gathers his own followers in Las Vegas, establishing a brutal, fascist dictatorship.

As these two factions emerge from the ruins of the old world, the stage is set for an epic confrontation between good and evil. The survivors must choose their path and ultimately make their stand to determine the future of humanity.

Yuval Noah Harari - Homo Deus
In "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow," Yuval Noah Harari shifts his focus from humanity's past to its future, exploring the ambitious new goals that may shape the 21st century. Having largely managed to overcome famine, plague, and war, Harari posits that humankind will next strive for immortality, bliss, and god-like powers of creation, aiming to upgrade Homo sapiens into Homo deus.

The book delves into the projects, dreams, and potential nightmares that this pursuit entails, from creating artificial life to the ethical and societal implications of such advancements. Harari questions what will happen to human purpose and society when technologies like artificial intelligence and genetic engineering become more sophisticated, potentially rendering many humans superfluous or creating new, profound inequalities.

"Homo Deus" examines the potential shift in global power as natural selection is increasingly replaced by intelligent design. It provocatively asks fundamental questions about where humanity is heading, how we will protect the fragile world from our own destructive capabilities, and what new destinies we might set for ourselves in this quest for divinity.

Yuval Noah Harari - Nexus
In his book "Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI," Yuval Noah Harari explores how the flow of information has shaped human civilisation, from ancient times to the present-day era of artificial intelligence.

The book delves into the complex relationship between information and truth, power and mythology, and bureaucracy. Harari examines how various societies and political systems throughout history have utilised information to achieve their objectives, both for beneficial and detrimental purposes.

"Nexus" addresses the critical choices humanity faces today, particularly with the rise of non-human intelligence and the proliferation of misinformation, which threaten our existence. It considers why humans, despite accumulating immense power through discoveries and inventions, now find themselves in an existential crisis marked by potential ecological collapse and the dangers of AI. The book ultimately seeks a path forward, exploring a middle ground that aims to rediscover our shared humanity in the face of these profound challenges.

Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari offers a sweeping narrative of human history, from the emergence of Homo sapiens and our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the profound Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions.

The book explores how Homo sapiens came to dominate the Earth, largely due to our unique ability to believe in collective myths or fictions, such as gods, money, nations, and human rights. This capacity for large-scale, flexible cooperation allowed humans to build cities, empires, and global networks.

Harari challenges readers to reconsider established narratives, integrating insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology, and economics. "Sapiens" examines how historical currents have shaped human societies, the surrounding animal and plant life, and even our individual personalities and happiness. It also provocatively looks towards the future, questioning where our acquired abilities to design the world and ourselves might lead.