Witty Nonfiction

This program is read by the author. A candid, intensely funny memoir of ambition, gender, and a grueling decade inside Amazon.com, from the author of Nothing Good Can Come from This. "A unique and brilliant book." —Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks What would you sacrifice for...

A Short History of Human Stupidity is a lovingly researched, gleefully irreverent celebration of humanity at its most confident—and most wrong. This is the story of how civilisation was built not just on genius and insight, but on bad ideas pursued with alarming enthusiasm and excellent posture. From scientists who explained the universe with diagrams that meant absolutely nothing, to doctors who prescribed treatments that made patients immediately regret seeking help, to engineers who stared at a drawing and said, “Yes, gravity will probably be fine,” this book chronicles our ...

Ancient history was written mostly by men. Beatrice Bellweather has questions. For centuries, the women of antiquity have been buried beneath broken scrolls, biased sources, damaged statues, imperial propaganda, and the extremely confident opinions of men who seemed personally offended by women with power. In Women Antiquity Tried to Erase, Beatrice Bellweather turns her sharp wit toward the queens, poets, priestesses, scholars, rebels, commanders, and rulers whose stories were twisted, minimized, scandalized, or chiseled out of history. Meet Enheduanna, the first named author history keeps...

A Short History of Overconfidence is a witty, sharply observed tour through humanity’s most reliable skill: being absolutely certain just moments before being completely wrong. From prehistoric humans who approached danger with enthusiasm and rocks, to emperors, engineers, scientists, generals, tech innovators, and everyday people who said “this should be simple” far too soon, this book traces how confidence—not caution—has driven human history forward, sideways, and occasionally straight into disaster. Blending solid historical research with dry humour, the book explores why ...

A sparkling celebration of the wit and wisdom of Linda Smith - a 'national treasure' of Radio 4 and BBC TV. Linda Smith was the brilliant mainstay of Radio 4's The News Quiz, Just a Minute, and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue for many years. She was just establishing her career on TV through...