TEDTalks : A guided tour of the Ghost Map - Steven Johnson (2006) from TEDTalks (audio)

Author Steven Johnson takes us on a 10-minute tour of The Ghost Map, his book about a cholera outbreak in 1854 London and the impact it had on science, cities and modern society.

Download the podcast here. Listen to the stream here.

Eli Kintisch: Hack the Planet from Forum Network | Book Tour Podcast Podcast

Eli Kintisch and Bethanne Patrick discuss Kintisch's new book, Hack the Planet: Science's Best Hope - or Worst Nightmare - for Averting Climate Catastrophe.

Listen to the podcast here.

Does humanitarian aid prolong wars? from The Guardian World News by Andrew Anthony

Exactly what took place in Ethiopia 25 years ago will probably never be established beyond doubt. After all, it was a war zone mired in chaos, desperation and human misery. It may be, as Geldof insists, that the vast majority of aid his charity raised reached its intended recipients and that none was used, contrary to the BBC report, to buy military hardware.

But according to a new book by the Dutch writer Linda Polman, such positive outcomes are the exception in the field of humanitarian aid. In War Games: the Story of Aid and War in Modern Times, Polman argues that humanitarianism has become a massive industry that, along with the global media, forms an unholy alliance with warmongers.

You can read the full Guardian, The Observer article here.

Sam Lipsyte: The Ask from KQED: The Writers' Block Podcast

Sam Lipsyte reads two hilarious passages from THE ASK about recently unemployed, middle-aged Milo Burke and all of his anxieties.

Download the podcast here. There's also this NY Times piece on The Ask:

Sam Lipsyte’s third novel, “The Ask,” is a dark and jaded beast — the sort of book that, if it were an animal, would be a lumbering, hairy, crypto­zoological ape-man with a near-crippling case of elephantiasis. Literary satire has become a rare form in America over the past three decades. When it does make an appearance, it almost passes for a nostalgic gesture despite its typically cutting-edge content. As a result, Lipsyte is one of a handful of living American satirists (and when I say “handful” I mean a very tiny hand, with three fingers at most, including the thumb) who can tell a traditional story while remaining foul-mouthed and dirty enough to occupy the literary vanguard. This stuff wouldn’t play well at, say, meetings of the D.A.R. — too bad in a way, because it might not hurt them to hear it. Lipsyte is not only a smooth sentence-maker, he’s also a gifted critic of power.

See also: Home Land: A Novel, Venus Drive: Stories, The Subject Steve: A Novel

Richard Clarke On The Growing 'Cyberwar' Threat from NPR Podcast Fresh Air

Story: Richard Clarke, the former anti-terrorism czar, has now turned his attention to a new national security threat: cyberwar. In a new book, Clarke details what a full-scale cyberattack could look like, how the United States is particularly vulnerable, and what measures can be taken to ensure our networks remain safe.

Read the full Fresh Air transcript here, and listen to the podcast. See also: Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror, Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters

Reality Hunger: A Manifesto

Honestly, when I heard of the text a few weeks ago on the NY Times Books podcast, I thought it was interesting, and I was eager to read it. But damn, did Colbert blitz Shields like a hungry Viking. Jesus. LOL. Shields just isn’t much of a conversationalist. It’s his stutter or demeanor or something. He just couldn’t get a word in. I’m less intrigued, but still interested. I mean, it sounds overly ambitious—as most manifestos will… <<read more>>

Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran

As most well budgeted marketing campaigns go, the Daily Show was a stop for Saberi─on the way to Good Morning America, NPR, etc.─, where she had a few minutes to plug her book. The quick sell of it is that she was arrested by intelligence agents in Iran, and this is her story.

Being in the Philippines, I couldn't get a copy of the book for my Kindle. The TOC, however, looks good, and is even tempting enough to get me to buy a copy. We'll see. I'm particularly interested in Part II: Angels in Evin.

There is a good sampling of it off Amazon.com, and the book reads well. Being an American in the Philippines, I could relate to Saberi's writing of the taxi cabs and telling people that I was born in the country, 'cause I was traveling on non-U.S. passport... <<read more>> 

Thomas Goetz - The Decision Tree from IT Conversations - Tech Nation Podcast

Dr. Moira Gunn and David Ewing Duncan talk personalized medicine with Wired magazine Executive Editor, Thomas Goetz.

Download the podcast here. See also: The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, Landmark: The Inside Story of America's New Health Care Law and What It Means for Us All (Publicaffairs Reports), Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure

"Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives: Stories" by Brad Watson from WUAL Alabama Public Radio - Don Noble Book Reviews

Watson has released "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives," which contains the title piece, a novella of 72 pages, and 11 other stories. Sometimes there are influences, of the best pedigree, discernable in Watson's fiction. In "Aliens," we see the influence of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," perhaps.

Download the podcast here. See also: Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel, Cat's Cradle: A Novel, Breakfast of Champions: A Novel

"Lisa Miller on her New Book, 'Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife'" from The Takeaway

From "The Lovely Bones" to "What Dreams May Come: A Novel," our popular conception of heaven is becoming increasingly beautiful and irreligious. We talk to Lisa Miller, Religion Editor at Newsweek Magazine and author of the new book "Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife." She joins us with a look at changing conceptions of heaven through the years. And she tells us that this is a personal story as well.

In the podcast, Miller says, "Belief in hell is tanking; it's tanking worse than the economy tanked last year." Download the podcast here.