How To Academy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

David Mitchell - Dishonesty is the Second Best Policy (Summer Repeat) Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

Lying is probably as old as human language itself – an inevitable consequence of humanity’s greatest superpower. And comedian, Observer columnist and Peep Show star David Mitchell lies quite often (mostly about whether he is free to come to social events). But even he never expected to live in the post-truth age.

In conversation with broadcaster and journalist Hannah MacInnes, he joins us to rail against the times with the characteristic wit, warmth, originality and insight we’ve come to expect.

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Glennon Doyle - How to Find Yourself (Summer Repeat) Aug 26, 2022

Show notes

There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, and overwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this?

Glennon Doyle joined the How To Academy to show us that another way is possible.

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Richard Dawkins - The Meaning of Life (Summer Repeat) Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

The creator of the word ‘meme’ and of the hugely influential ‘selfish gene’ model of evolution, he is the epitome of the truly public intellectual – a scientist whose ideas have proven extraordinarily influential both within his own discipline and far, far beyond.

In this week’s episode of the How To Academy Podcast, Richard shares his reflections on perhaps the most important and puzzling topic in all of human existence: the meaning of life.

Credit for Richard Dawkins’ Portrait to Frederic Aranda @fredericaranda

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Layla Saad - How to Fight White Supremacy (Summer Repeat) Aug 19, 2022

Show notes

Hannah MacInnes meets author, influencer and activist Layla Saad, whose Instagram challenge #MeAndWhiteSupremacy encouraged people to own up and share their racist behaviours.

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Derren Brown - How To Be a Little Happier (Summer Repeat) Aug 15, 2022

Show notes

Since he introduced us to his singular and inimitable brand of psychology, stagecraft and magic in 2000, Derren Brown has played Russian Roulette on live television, convinced middle-managers to commit armed robbery in the street, led the nation in a séance and exposed psychic and faith-healing charlatans. He joined How To Academy to teach a lesson none of us can afford to miss: what we can do to be a little happier and less anxious in a difficult world.

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Patrick Radden Keefe - True Stories of Killers, Grifters, and Crooks Aug 12, 2022

Show notes

The New Yorker’s Patrick Radden Keefe is America’s most celebrated living reporter. He documented the hunt for the drug lord Chapo Guzman and the tragic personal history of the Harvard educated neurobiologist turned mass shooter Amy Bishop. He wrote a definitive, revelatory account of the Troubles in Say Nothing; investigated the strange convergence of espionage and hair metal in his blockbuster podcast Winds of Change; and most famously – exposed the role of the Sackler family in the US opioid crisis.

He joined the podcast with more stories of secrets and lies.

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Philip Ball - How to Make Sense of Inhuman Minds Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

Acclaimed science writer Philip Ball joins us to explore the rich diversity of thinking minds – from human to other mammals, insects, computers and plants. In conversation with filmmaker David Malone, he illuminates how many different ways there are to think and engage with the world.

Science has begun to have something to say about the properties of mind. And the more we learn about the minds of other creatures, from octopuses to chimpanzees, to imagine the potential minds of computers and alien intelligences, the more we can begin to see our own.

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Alice Sherwood - How to Fight Back Against Counterfeit Culture Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

We live in an age when the pursuit of authenticity – from living our 'best life' to eating artisan food – matters more and more to us, but where the forces of inauthenticity seem to be taking over. Policy expert and author Alice Sherwood joins us to argue that, although our counterfeit culture is shaped by the most powerful forces of evolution, economics, and technology, we can still come together to reclaim reality.

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Daniel Pink - The Power of Regret Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

Daniel Pink, the New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive and one of the world’s leading thinkers on business, creativity and human behaviour, says it’s time to forget everything we think we know about regrets. He believes that regret is our most misunderstood emotion – and can in fact be the pathway to our best life. It’s a subject he investigates in-depth in his new book The Power of Regret: and he joined Hubertus Kuelps, Pictet’s Head of Communications and Branding, to share his ideas.

This episode of the How To Academy Podcast is part of the Found in Conversation series we co-produce each month with the team at Pictet. Find Found in Conversation on Apple or Spotify.

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Daniel Pick - a New History of Thought Control Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

In 1953, a group of prisoners of war who had fought against the communist invasion of South Korea were released. They chose - apparently freely - to move to Mao's China. Among those refusing repatriation were twenty-one American GIs. Their decision sparked alarm in the West: why didn't they want to come home? What was going on?

Soon, people were saying that the POWs' had been 'brainwashed'. Was this something new or a phenomenon that has been around for centuries? Today, brainwashing is almost taken for granted - built into our psychological and political language, rooted in the way we think about minds and societies. Historian of science Daniel Pick joins the podcast to reveal how we got to this point, and why.

Find out more about the Hidden Persuaders research group at Birkbeck here.

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