• 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
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (243 ratings)

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Brain Trust  By  cover art

Brain Trust

By: Garth Sundem
Narrated by: Garth Sundem
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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

What listeners say about Brain Trust

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    66
  • 4 Stars
    77
  • 3 Stars
    64
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
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    60
  • 4 Stars
    63
  • 3 Stars
    57
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    59
  • 4 Stars
    57
  • 3 Stars
    64
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    11

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Awful

It's really, really bad. The author narrates the book himself, and he comes across as a "what's up dude" college freshman more than he does an adult of any kind, much less an author of any reputation.

The content itself should include some kind of critical approach as it is all scientific research that is not necessarily confirmed as accepted fact. Instead he unquestioningly presents a snapshot of all the most popular psychology/science/behavior books popular over the last few years as if all of it is as certain as the sun coming up tomorrow. Add to that his sophomoric manners, and the book is completely unbearable.

This is one of maybe two audio books I've ever purchased that I couldn't bear to finish - it's that bad.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fun, interestion, not bad

I liked it but then I like this kind of book. It's a little Malcolm Gladwell mixed with the science facts you might see on the evening news. About half of it won't apply to most of us but interesting none the less.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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."

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Tedious

As I believe some other reviewers have mentioned, if you read this sort of book often, you won't find much new material here.

Maybe I'm too close to the industry, but I was struck by two things:
1) I felt like I was reading a book proposal.
2) Authors, DON'T read your own text unless you are acknowledged as an excellent reader of your work. (David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, etc.)

Summation: An aging frat boy's guide to science. At times this book makes People magazine look literary . . . Dude . . .

A waste of time and credits unfortunately.

On a positive note, if you're interested in this sort of book, Thinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahnemen was BEYOND brilliant. One of the best books I've read in years.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Sorry this was a boring read for me

Would you try another book from Garth Sundem and/or Garth Sundem?

no

Would you ever listen to anything by Garth Sundem again?

no unless the book was given to me

What does Garth Sundem bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I listened a little longer than I would have if I read the book.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

regret that I bought it

Any additional comments?

I think a person has to be into this type of book to find it interesting. (I was influenced by the raves that audible posted and bought it after hearing a small sample) The writing itself appeared to be well done. The reading was also well done but the subject matter was the problem for me. It may be a fascinating read for someone else but for me it was a snooze.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Dissapointing

I purchased this book after being intrigued by the free preview. Unfortunately, there are several things about this audio-book I don't like.

Though I understand why authors sometimes like to narrate their own books, in this case I found it bothersome. The author should have left the narration to the professionals. His diction and pacing are fine, I'm just not a big fan of his voice and I don't think the quality of the recording is great.

The content of the book is good and interesting at times, but I find it is often all over the place, a jumble of information that would be difficult to put to any practical use.

Often, the author refers to a pdf... not sure where this pdf is.

Overall, I think I probably would have really enjoyed this as a book; but as an audiobook it is disappointing.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Brain Loss!

What did you love best about Brain Trust?

OK, I really did like Brain Trust yet I have a problem with the fast moving recording and each section running together. This is one book that could use a narrator that is not the author. I enjoyed the humor and silliness the author has offered but he is hard to follow. I wish the whole had defined sections that were clearly beginning and then ending.

Interesting factoids and perspective. My suggestion is to get the paper version. I think this is a much more visual book.

Any additional comments?

Whew! Glad it is over. Happy reading.

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1 person found this helpful