128 episodes

A Need To Read mixes book highlights and personal journals with interviews with authors and other really smart and interesting people, to bring you, what is statistically, one of the best book podcasts on the internet.

To support the podcast please consider; sharing it with a friend, engaging with sponsors, or simply coming back for more each week.

Contact: hello@aneedtoread.co.uk
www.instagram.com/aneed2read

A Need To Read Ed Cunningham

    • Arts
    • 4.7 • 12 Ratings

A Need To Read mixes book highlights and personal journals with interviews with authors and other really smart and interesting people, to bring you, what is statistically, one of the best book podcasts on the internet.

To support the podcast please consider; sharing it with a friend, engaging with sponsors, or simply coming back for more each week.

Contact: hello@aneedtoread.co.uk
www.instagram.com/aneed2read

    The world of Fungi with Merlin Sheldrake

    The world of Fungi with Merlin Sheldrake

    Merlin Sheldrake is a biologist, writer, and speaker with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama.
     
    His book Entangled life was a Sunday Times Bestseller.
     
    www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread
     
    A-need-to-read is the code for an additional 10% off your first purchase with Urban Farm It, who do homegrown mushroom kits: https://urban-farm-it.com/

    • 44 min
    Novels to read in 2023

    Novels to read in 2023

    In this episode, I chat about some fiction books that you might like to read this year. 
     
    Books discussed
     
    When We Cease To Understand The World by Benjamin Labtut
    Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo
    A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
    Someone To Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksburg
    First Person Singular by Hariku Murakami
    If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura
    The Virgin Suicides & Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 
    A Little Life by Hanya Yangihara
    Siddartha & Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
    100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
     
    All of the links will take you to Bookshop.org, a website where when you buy books, you support small bookstores, and I also get 10% of the sale. Which is quite nice, init. 
     
    Support for the podcast
     
    If you want to help me produce podcasts directly, which would be VERY KIND, head to www.buymeacoffee.com/aneedtoread 
     
    You will have heard me bang on about how transformational therapy can be, that's why I am proud that Betterhelp sponsors A Need To Read. Meaning you get 10% off your first month if you wanted to chat with a therapist, just head to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread
     
    If you have any feedback, requests, or well-wishes, send me an email at hello@aneedtoread.co.uk

    • 21 min
    #187 Dan Osman

    #187 Dan Osman

    Dan Osman is a Health and Wellbeing Educator, who has worked in the health and fitness industry for 17 years. 
     
    We discuss; problems with social media, People’s relationships with diets, exercise, and themselves, Self-awareness, How to use values to guide you, confusing avoidance with enlightenment, body-image issues across genders,  society’s contribution to body image issues, self-objectification, and have a general moan about empty mental health advocacy.
    Support for the podcast
     
    I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
     
    - Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
     
    - Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
     
    - The show is sponsored by BetterHelp, so you can get matched with a therapist within 48 hours and get 10% off your first month by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 
     
    - You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk
     

    • 58 min
    Saving the planet without the b******t, with Assaad Razzouk

    Saving the planet without the b******t, with Assaad Razzouk

    Support for the podcast
     
    I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
     
    - Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
     
    - Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
     
    - The show is sponsored by BetterHelp, so you can get matched with a therapist within 48 hours and get 10% off your first month by heading to www.betterhelp.com/aneedtoread 
     
    - You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk
     

    • 36 min
    Nutrition, Politics and Philosophy, with Alan Flanagan

    Nutrition, Politics and Philosophy, with Alan Flanagan

    Dr. Alan Flanagan, PhD, holds an MSc and PhD in nutrition from the University of Surrey, and is a former practicing Lawyer (Barrister) from Dublin, Ireland. In this podcast we discuss; nutrition, the protein problem for plant-based diets, what we’re seeing in British politics, philosophy, and Alan’s favourite books.
     
     

    • 1 hr 6 min
    What’s a Hothouse Earth? with Prof. Bill McGuire

    What’s a Hothouse Earth? with Prof. Bill McGuire

    Bill McGuire is a Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London, and a writer, who is regularly published in The Guardian, The Times, and The Observer. He is the author of many books, notably the newest, Hothouse Earth - an inhabitants guide, which is a look towards the future of our planet. 
     
     
    In this podcast we discuss:
    The impact of rising sea levels on the earth's crust, volcanos, coastal cities, and marine life
    Humanity’s downward spiral due to the climate crisis  
    Capitalism and climate change
    And at the end, I chat about how I'm trying not to be sad all the time about what the future is looking likely to hold. 
     
    Support for the podcast
     
    I'm an independent podcaster, which is a fancy way of saying no one pays me a regular wage. And, to level with you, that is terrifying- all of the time. So, if you like what I do and want me to keep doing it please support the show in one of the following ways.
     
    - Share the podcast with a friend, or review the podcast. 
     
    - Make a one-off donation with BuyMeACoffee
     
    I work with a couple of great companies who have discounts arranged for A Need To Read listeners, they're listed below. The discounts (BH) + freebies (AG) will already be applied when you click the link. 
     
    - Go to Therapy and get 10% off your first month with BetterHelp, who sponsor the show
     
    - Get your nutrition covered with the all-in-one AG1 shake from Athletic Greens, who also sponsor the show. 
     
    - You can also give me feedback/comments/validation by emailing me: hello (at) aneedtoread.co.uk
     

    • 47 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
12 Ratings

12 Ratings

anastasiaconto ,

10/10

Ed’s podcast is one of my favorites. He’s hilarious, interesting to listen to, and highlights just how important it is to read.

Sarasilverstein ,

Stop scrolling & listen!

As a self titled busy bee I find no greater joy in life than slowing down and listening to Ed on his podcast. We’ve all been lectured about how reading is important but I didn’t understand the gravity of that statement until I stumbled across this podcast. Ed is hilarious, insightful and easy to relate to. Do yourself a favour and educate yourself while being entertained by this lad. You won’t regret it.

katdow ,

Amazing!

This podcast is by far one the best! I haven’t been reading much but when I found Ed, I started reading again and love listening to what he has to say about the books he reads. I would recommend this to any of my podcast loving, “I don’t have time to read” friends. It sure sparks an interest in books that I had when I was younger! You’re amazing Ed!

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