Brain Trust

93 Top Scientists Reveal Lab-Tested Secrets to Surfing, Dating, Dieting, Gambling, Growing Man-Eating Plants, and More!

By: Garth Sundem

Narrated by: Garth Sundem

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Blind them...with science!

How much better would your life be if you had an army of Nobel Laureates, MacArthur "geniuses", and National Medal of Science winners whispering tips in your ear about your body language, or how to resist that impulse purchase you’ll regret tomorrow, or when to sell your car - or even helping you trick your spouse into doing the dishes?

With this mighty little audio tome, you can have the next best thing - because Brain Trust is packed with bite-sized scientific wisdom on our everyday challenges, hand-delivered to you direct from the galaxy’s biggest brains. Based entirely on interviews with an incredible lineup of luminaries from the fields of neuroscience, economics, anthropology, music, mathematics, and more, Brain Trust is full of cutting-edge science that’ll help you see the real world better - and smarter.

Discover:

• what advanced math can teach you about getting all your chores done today
• how creating a "future self" can help you shop smarter at the grocery store
• what prairie voles can teach us about love
• how the science of happiness can help you trick lawyers into doing charity work
• the components of gullibility, and how they can help you scam-proof yourself
• the secrets to building your very own army of cyborg beetles
• how memetic information can help you exploit altruism for good…or evil
• why eating for eight hours can help you lose weight
• the behavioral economics behind selling your junk for big bucks on eBay
• how to get more pleasure for less price

…and much, much more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2012 Garth Sundem (P)2012 Random House

Science, Facts, and Fun, Oh My! A Must Read

Where does Brain Trust rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

At the top. I don't usually like books when the author is also the narrator, but Garth Sundem does a great job.
He sounds like he is having a blast, and his enthusiasm is contagious.

What did you like best about this story?

There is an immense amount of valuable information. That is I found both practical and useful.

Which character – as performed by Garth Sundem – was your favorite?

This question does not apply to this book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Did I cry? That would be a big NO. Did I laugh? That would be a big YES!

Any additional comments?

I would highly recommend this book. It was both entertaining and educational.

Super fun and informational

Listening to Brain Trust felt like I was hanging out with one of my nerdy, but knowledgable, best friends. I highly recommend it.

Not for me

Of the 93 items listed, I only found about 15 helpful to me. I would say this a book for someone under 40. People over 40 may find many of these items boring or a bit childish.

92 funny secrets, and one silly one.

I found this interesting and funny. Little wizard ways to improve your life in a myriad ways, and well told.

Find out how to hack your life, but bring a notebook, for here the secrets come fast and hard.

Interesting, not life changing

I enjoyed this book, it held my attention and provided an interesting look into some amazing research. However, interesting is the only word I have for it. I feel like it could have been more. Garth Sundem attempts to explain how the research could affect our daily lives, but the conclusions are so short and so simplified it's almost easy to miss them.

I could have used a lot more "So...what?" in this book. How should this research affect my approach to life.

Still, enjoyable book, interesting concepts, far from a waste of time.

Interesting but on an inconsistent basis

Any additional comments?

This is a great book for the curious mind. I was bored through certain sections, such as "how to win at scrabble" and excerpts relating to diagrams should have been edited in an audiobook. However I did learn some pretty interesting things. One recommendation I would make to the listener. Book mark the sections that you find relavent to you so that you can refer back to them. I am going to have to relisten because there are a lot of facts that I have already forgotten. Narration was good tho.

PDF?

Where does Brain Trust rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a fantastic audiobook that gives a ton of great and interesting advice for understanding and conquering the world around you. The only thing holding this book back from a 5-star review is the attached PDF mentioned in the book, which does not appear here. Dang.

Sort of scattered

A couple of gems but mostly passing fancies. Unless you have perfect recall you will not find most of the topics useful. However, it is a good exercise in "outside looking at human behavior on the inside."

Good if useless trivia is your thing

The whole book is what do you think about ____________. followed by expert X says that it is exactly what you would expect. This is the first author that did an excellent job reading his own book! I would recommend he spend more time reading books for audio than actually writing them. His ablity to read in an interesting manner, like there was at some point going to be something useful to come is what got me to listen to the entire book.

Brain Trust is Fun Trust!

Would you listen to Brain Trust again? Why?

This fun audio book must be listened to more than once. There's so much to "take-in" that you'll find it odd, but interesting; fun, but serious. The information and delivery is fascinating; and from one story (chapter) to the next, you'll hear things that make you go, "mhmmmm.... I need to see that research in writing!!" --which is cool, because there's a companion pdf that you'll get with the purchased download.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Garth Sundem's performance throughout the book is pleasant. The information alone with keep you captivated because the research goes from bizarre to bizarre, promising to make you think and re-think.

Have you listened to any of Garth Sundem’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first time I've heard Garth Sundem.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. But, just know, you'll want to listen to it again (chapter by chapter).

Any additional comments?

If you would find a government's ability to turn flying beetles into cyborgs for military operations tantalizing, then this is definitely a mind-tickler you will love.