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The Genius Dialogues
7 hrs and 9 mins
MacArthur Genius Grant winners share their stories and ideas with Peabody award-winning host, Bob Garfield.
Episode 1: What natural ingredients are your birth control pill or your antidepressant made of? And what happens when Mother Nature can't keep up with the demand? Enter chemist Phil Baran, the Sultan of Synthesis.
Episode 2: The creator and host of Radiolab - one of the most popular and innovative shows today - thought he'd grow up to be a music composer. He utterly failed…or, at least, he thought he did.
Episode 3: Luis von Ahn hates to waste time. After building ReCaptcha, which he sold to Google, he moved on to build the wildly popular language-learning app, Duolingo.
Episode 4: What is the dance equivalent of poetry's iambic pentameter? Listen to Elizabeth Streb explore the sweet science of action with her performers, who dodge steel i-beams and smash into plexiglass walls.
Episode 5: She joined picket lines as a child and now writes for the New Yorker, investigating injustices you didn't know existed. Millennial Sarah Stillman is keeping the 4th estate alive and well.
Episode 6: If you were a world famous magician, what might drive you to publicly debunk some of your fellow performers as charlatans and frauds? Hear the Amazing James Randi discuss his work and his arch nemesis, Uri Geller.
Episode 7: Will Allen has been a pro basketball player, the manager of a restaurant chain, and an excellent paper-goods salesmen. Today, he believes many of our nation's woes begin with food issues. Allen is working towards change, one square foot of downtown Milwaukee farmland at a time.
Episode 8: Some might call her a humanitarian MacGyver: Amy B. Smith has invented better ways for farmers worldwide to sift flour, shuck corn, and cook with cleaner fuels.
Episode 9: A Cuban-American sculptor and artist, Pardo uses lamps as his sketchpad to play along the boundaries of the very definition of art.
Episode 10: Manu Prakash sees beauty and inspiration in a bug's eyes, a Boston T stop, and even a parasite lodged in his own foot. He's developing pencil-like microscopes to share that wonder with the world.
Episode 11: Carl Haber developed particle collider technology to uncover the origins of the universe, along the way figuring out how to revive decaying audio recordings.
Episode 12: A beat newspaper reporter at heart, Simon has managed to spin societal crises into critically revered TV series, time and time again.
MacArthur Genius Grant winners share their stories and ideas with Peabody award-winning host, Bob Garfield.
Episode 1: What natural ingredients are your birth control pill or your antidepressant made of? And what happens when Mother Nature can't keep up with the demand? Enter chemist Phil Baran, the Sultan of Synthesis.
Episode 2: The creator and host of Radiolab - one of the most popular and innovative shows today - thought he'd grow up to be a music composer. He utterly failed…or, at least, he thought he did.
Episode 3: Luis von Ahn hates to waste time. After building ReCaptcha, which he sold to Google, he moved on to build the wildly popular language-learning app, Duolingo.
Episode 4: What is the dance equivalent of poetry's iambic pentameter? Listen to Elizabeth Streb explore the sweet science of action with her performers, who dodge steel i-beams and smash into plexiglass walls.
Episode 5: She joined picket lines as a child and now writes for the New Yorker, investigating injustices you didn't know existed. Millennial Sarah Stillman is keeping the 4th estate alive and well.
Episode 6: If you were a world famous magician, what might drive you to publicly debunk some of your fellow performers as charlatans and frauds? Hear the Amazing James Randi discuss his work and his arch nemesis, Uri Geller.
Episode 7: Will Allen has been a pro basketball player, the manager of a restaurant chain, and an excellent paper-goods salesmen. Today, he believes many of our nation's woes begin with food issues. Allen is working towards change, one square foot of downtown Milwaukee farmland at a time.
Episode 8: Some might call her a humanitarian MacGyver: Amy B. Smith has invented better ways for farmers worldwide to sift flour, shuck corn, and cook with cleaner fuels.
Episode 9: A Cuban-American sculptor and artist, Pardo uses lamps as his sketchpad to play along the boundaries of the very definition of art.
Episode 10: Manu Prakash sees beauty and inspiration in a bug's eyes, a Boston T stop, and even a parasite lodged in his own foot. He's developing pencil-like microscopes to share that wonder with the world.
Episode 11: Carl Haber developed particle collider technology to uncover the origins of the universe, along the way figuring out how to revive decaying audio recordings.
Episode 12: A beat newspaper reporter at heart, Simon has managed to spin societal crises into critically revered TV series, time and time again.
- GenresAudiobookNonfiction
7 pages, Audible Audio
Published July 14, 2017
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 31, 2020
This book told the stories of recipients of the MacArthur Genius Grant. These are some of the top scientist and artists in the world and I was hoping they would dive deep into their work. Instead, the book focused primarily on the award winner’s personal stories, following many of them from childhood.
I found this book was just a bit too superficial for me. I wish they had focused more on their work, not their back story.
I found this book was just a bit too superficial for me. I wish they had focused more on their work, not their back story.
November 13, 2019
This was a series of podcasts stringed together. It worked really well.
It contains quite a vast set of subject matters that earned these people "Genius" awards.
Some subjects are extremely interesting, others not so much.
Most of the people getting interviewed are simply pursuing their passion and doing amazing things in the process.
Nice filler to take a quick break between books.
It contains quite a vast set of subject matters that earned these people "Genius" awards.
Some subjects are extremely interesting, others not so much.
Most of the people getting interviewed are simply pursuing their passion and doing amazing things in the process.
Nice filler to take a quick break between books.
June 19, 2018
Incredily insightful.
January 10, 2021
I liked the host's curious approach and the diversity of the people being interviewed.
October 15, 2017
Audio. So interesting and entertaining. Even the interviews of folks I didn't think I would connect with were fascinating.
The discussion about, and samples of, the first sound and voice recordings were so damn interesting. And to hear Alexander Graham Bell stop in the middle of recording "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and say "...well, fuck!" was surprising. I had heard that recording before, but seems the history books left that part out.
Need to kill a few hours, or even an hour at a time? You cannot go wrong with this.
The discussion about, and samples of, the first sound and voice recordings were so damn interesting. And to hear Alexander Graham Bell stop in the middle of recording "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and say "...well, fuck!" was surprising. I had heard that recording before, but seems the history books left that part out.
Need to kill a few hours, or even an hour at a time? You cannot go wrong with this.
December 12, 2017
Thoroughly entertaining while also educating me on a variety of subjects AND the way the genius mind works. Every podcast was endlessly interesting. I could listen to this again. And, I will.
February 23, 2020
I loved these human interest stories of some of the best minds on the planet. These were quick stories you could listen to in a half hour. Variety of topics about the MacArthur Genius Grant winners. I loved Bob Garfield's interview style
July 14, 2021
These are fascinating and thoroughly entertaining, my fave being the interview with the physicist who used his powerful lab equipment to listen to old and otherwise lost recordings stretching all the way back to Alexander Graham Bell.
September 22, 2018
Fascinating and funny conversations with some people doing amazing things! Loved hearing their passion and learning their quirks, and was reminded about the importance of asking questions.
February 15, 2019
Pretty good. Interesting interview subjects.
February 4, 2020
Interviews with winners of MacArthur Fellows Program award. Scientists, artists, reporters...
May 25, 2020
Just loved it.
December 30, 2020
Some inspiring people, not so comfortable with the interviewer's style.
January 16, 2021
12 interviews with genies from different disciplines. Some were fun, some were interesting, others provided me a basic knowledge, since I have not known a single one of those people. I enjoyed those episodes the most:
Episode 3: Luis von Ahn hates to waste time. After building ReCaptcha, which he sold to Google, he moved on to build the wildly popular language-learning app, Duolingo.
Episode 5: She joined picket lines as a child and now writes for the New Yorker, investigating injustices you didn't know existed. Millennial Sarah Stillman is keeping the 4th estate alive and well.
Episode 7: Will Allen has been a pro basketball player, the manager of a restaurant chain, and an excellent paper-goods salesmen. Today, he believes many of our nation's woes begin with food issues. Allen is working towards change, one square foot of downtown Milwaukee farmland at a time.
Episode 3: Luis von Ahn hates to waste time. After building ReCaptcha, which he sold to Google, he moved on to build the wildly popular language-learning app, Duolingo.
Episode 5: She joined picket lines as a child and now writes for the New Yorker, investigating injustices you didn't know existed. Millennial Sarah Stillman is keeping the 4th estate alive and well.
Episode 7: Will Allen has been a pro basketball player, the manager of a restaurant chain, and an excellent paper-goods salesmen. Today, he believes many of our nation's woes begin with food issues. Allen is working towards change, one square foot of downtown Milwaukee farmland at a time.
October 30, 2020
Audiobook
April 28, 2024
i have to admit, i found most of the episodes in the podcast interesting, even if i thought the title was a bit pretentious.
the "Audible Original" podcasts that i listen to so far have been of really good quality, i hope this will not change.
the "Audible Original" podcasts that i listen to so far have been of really good quality, i hope this will not change.
April 23, 2018
Really interesting and a wide spread of topics. I was hooked in the first episode. They are the perfect length to listen to on the way to work or doing a small project and introduce people and systems I've never heard of.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews