Books and Podcasts

I read mostly non-fiction books these days. On this page you will find my favorite podcasts and books. These are amazing!!!!!!!! Most of these books I have "read" in the audio version while running or driving (check out Audible.com):

• Podcasts
• Science Books
• Business and Economics Books
• Military and Adventure Books
• Sports Books

Podcasts

If you like these podcasts, please consider donating a few dollars to the cause. I did.

Radiolab- superb podcast about all things in life, scientifically oriented, but in layman terms. My favorite! For sure #1 podcast in the world! 99% of episodes are safe and useful for kids.

Freakonomics - outstanding podcast from authors of the Freakonomics book about the "hidden side of everything". High quality content.

Endurance Planet - inspirational podcast for endurance sports athletes - all about triathlon and marathon training and races. Half of the episodes are not kids safe. I skip most of the diet related episodes.

TED.com and "NPR: TED radio hour" - this is a website that hosts videos with many smart and inspiring ideas from hundreds of scientists, researchers, leaders and other innovators. Very cool. This is also excellent podcast to listen together with kids.

Science Books

• "The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence" and
  "The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology" and
  "How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed" by Ray Kurzweil. Read in this order. I am not going to spoil it for you, but prepare to be amazed and your world to be set upside down, unless you already agree with Ray (which I do).
• "Questions of Value" lectures by professor Patrick Grim - one of the best lectures I have ever listened to. Covers ethics, life, death, love, hate, suffering, lobotomy, psychoanalysis, behavioral therapies and anything in between. Could also be available on CDs from your local library.
• "The rational optimist" by Matt Ridley - the book is about evolution of ideas (as opposed to evolution of species). The book explains how humans are able to evolve by socializing and how we should be very optimistic about our future. Great read - quite educational and inspirational.
• "Psychology of Human Behavior" lectures by Professor David W. Martin - a very excellent set of audio lectures (18 hours total) on many aspects of human psychology.
• "Predictably Irrational" and "The upside of Irrationality" by Dan Ariely - great insight into the human motivation and behavior and the way we make choices. Absolutely loved it! Audio version is available (for your runs or long home renovation projects :-).
• "Origins of Life" - lectures by  Professor Robert Hazen on the latest scientific theories on the theories how life on Earth has begun. I was completely fascinated by the course. Very well done, engaging and informative. In my blog post I described some parts of this course. 
• "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "The pleasure of finding things out" by Richard Feynman (American Nobel Prize physicist). Amazing book about the life stories of this amazing man who Feynman is, his work on Mahnattan Project, his approach to life, work, science. The book is funny, educational, and inspirational at the same time. 
• "Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution" by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith. Never get tired listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson :-).
• "The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance" by Josh Waitzkin. Written by the former Chess Champion and later Tai Chi Chuan champion. Such a joy to read! 
• "The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives" by Leonard Mlodinow. Thought provoking.

Business and Economics Books

• "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton M. Christensen - quite revolutionary book for its time and even today. This book explains a lot of things happening with products on the market, including software products. I absolutely bought into this idea. Sequels to this book from the same author are good too, but not quite as strong or fresh as the original book in a series.
• "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance. Boy, I had no idea... This made me respect Tesla and SpaceX so much more. Elon Musk rocks.
• "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon" by Brad Stone. Great story about Bezos and Amazon. Every business leader must read this book.
• "The Virgin Way: Everything I Know about Leadership" by Richard Branson. Great book about leadership and business by one of the bet entrepreneurs in human history.
• "Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist" by Jason Mendelson and Brad Feld. I did not know half of what they discussed in this book and will have to read it again if and when I create my own company.
• "Freakonomics" and "SuperFreakonomics" and "Think Like a Freak" - non-traditional economist view on the world and life (these guys also have podcast and a movie).
• "The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves" by Matt Ridley. Why humans species will survive and why doomsayers are wrong.

Military and Adventure Books

• "Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10" and "Service: A Navy SEAL at War" by Marcus Lutrell - written by surviving SEAL who was in the operation Red Wing in Afghanistan. The book is amazing - it is about SEALs and their way of life, their heroism and bravery. These folks are amazing not only because of their skills and fitness, but more because of their character, valor and commitment to their country. Very touching book. I will be thinking of these SEALs when I run marathons and ironmans and how easy it is for me to do those things compared to what these men do for all of us.
• "The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen" by Brandon Webb - this books is similar to the one above and is also very well written and very inspirational. It is great to know that there are still people of this kind in the world full of mediocrity and wimps.
• "Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown" by Eric Blehm. Title says it all - amazing story about one of the best human who ever lived.
• "Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior" by Rorke Denver. Fantastic book about NAVY Seals. You may also want to watch the movie "The Act of Valor" that is partly based on this book and acted out by true SEALs.
• "The Life and Legend of Chris Kyle: American Sniper, Navy SEAL" by Michael Mooney. If you think your life and job are hard or unfair - read this. If you think your life and job are the best in the world - read this too, because it will make you appreciate it even more.
• "The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan" by Eric Blehm. I do not even want to compare my job to what these guys do for living and how they impact the world.
• "Inside Delta Force: The Story of America’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit" by Eric Haney. Amazing and inspiring book about people who sacrifice their lives for the rest of us. If you listen to this while running, you can go 100 miles without stopping because you will want to keep listening.
• "The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander" by Pete Blaber. Will read this more than once for sure.
• "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing. If you grew up in US you most likely read this at school, but since I grew up in Russia this was a revelation to me. The expedition to the South Pole failed to reach its goal, but it showed the world that humans have indestructible body and spirit. A-m-a-z-i-n-g.
• “Beyond the Horizon” - by Colin Angus, the Canadian adventurer who completed the journey around Earth in less than two years using his muscle power alone. No motors, no sails – only the power of his arms and legs. He traveled total distance of 43,000 km from Vancouver by bike to Alaska, rowed thru the Bering Sea, biked and trekked all across Siberia via Moscow to Portugal, rowed across Atlantic to Costa Rica and biked back to Vancouver. Colin also has few other epic adventures and books. His other books I loved are "Lost in Mongolia" and "Amazon Extreme". Awesome stuff!
• "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer - amazing story of several teams trying to climb Mt. Everest and the account of their fatal mistakes. I knew Everest was no walk in the park, but I had no idea...
• "Deep Survival: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death" by Laurence Gonzales - educational book about survival strategies. This book may have saved my life one summer when I was on the river rafting trip with boyscouts and decided to do something that was very risky. Thank goodness I have just finished the book a couple of days before this happened or I may not have been writing this now...

Sports Books

• Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide by Hal Higdon - this is one of the best marathon coaches in the world and he has free training plans and published amazing book "MARATHON - The Ultimate Training Guide " (see his website for details). I used Hal's training plan for my marathon and it worked great.
• "The Triathlete's Training Bible" - a must read book for any triathlete. I use it to build my training.
• "The Runner's Body" - a very excellent book about training, running injuries and prevention, running form and overall body systems and how they work for runners. This book answered many questions I had as a beginning runner and made me train smarter. 
• "Beyond training" - by Ben Greenfield. Covers training, recovery, nutrition, lifestyle, mental issues in great deal of detail on 470 pages in small font. Quite amazing that one author could cover all of this in one book. Lots of smart and practical advice for athletes.
• "The Duel" by Hal Higdon - very cool story about the duel between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley at the 1982 Boston Marathon. Absolutely and positively exciting reading.
• "Once a Runner" - some people call this the best novel ever written about running and I tend to agree. I have not read them all :-), but this one is pretty darn good.
• "I am here to win" by Chris McCormack, Ironman Champion 2010 - amazing story of his life, triathlon training, many Ironman championships and his two wins in Kona. Excellent reading. Audio version available.
• "A Life Without Limits" by Crissie Wellington, 4 times Ironman World Champion.Totally loved the book.
• "Iron War" - the story of the 1989 IronMan race between Mark Allen and Dave Scott. Very well written, however not entirely true to history as Mark and Dave have publicly stated their un-approval of the facts in this book. Nevertheless a great read.
• "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" - the title says it all. This book has contributed to the barefoot running movement and is such a fun read. Audio version is available. It is very sad that Cbalo Blanka - the main guy in this novel has died in 2012 during one of his trail runs from heart failure... :-(
• "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" by Lance Armstrong - inspiring story of his cancer recovery, world class bike racing, high human spirits and his superhuman riding ability. Audio version of the book is available. It is 2013 now and we all learned about the drug issues that Lance has finally confessed to, but I still like the book as it is a good read, even though the Lance himself is no longer a role model. Too bad...
• "First: What It Takes to Win" by Rich Froning, multiple times CrossFit World Champion about his life and journey to the top of the podium in the hardest sport known to men. 
• "Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself" by Rich Roll. Even if only 1/3 of the stories in this book are real, this would still make for an amazing and inspirational read about endurance and human body.