Book & Podcast Reviews

Knowledge worth sharing

In the spirit of curious exploration, these reviews highlight books and podcasts that have helped me expand my knowledge across various disciplines. Some challenge assumptions, expand perspectives and some are deeper explorations on famous figures through biographies.

Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

Risk & Reward

I listen regularly to Ben Carlson on the Animal Spirits podcast, and he’s also been making the rounds on several other investing shows recently following the release of his new book.

When it comes to podcast hosts whose work I follow consistently, I almost feel an obligation to check out any books they release and support them.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

The Makings of a Permabear

I came across Jeremy Grantham for the first time recently on an episode of the Excess Returns podcast. Having enjoyed the interview and realising that his book The Making of a Permabear had already come across my radar on Audible recommendations several times I decided to give it a go.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

The Coffee Can Investor

On a recent episode of The Compound and Friends, they interviewed Neeraj Khemlani and Matt Ankrum on the topic of identifying 100 bagger stocks. Whilst I wasn’t familiar with either guest beforehand, it made for a fascinating discussion and ultimately led me to pick up The Coffee Can Investor: A Stock Picker’s Journey to Build Generational Wealth.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

The Infinity Machine

I was already familiar with Demis Hassabis prior to reading The Infinity Machine, largely through documentaries and podcast appearances. It’s clear from any interview with him that he operates at an incredibly high level of intelligence so I was interested to learn more.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

What To Make Of A Life

I was slightly surprised when listening to a recent The Tim Ferriss Show episode featuring Jim Collins to hear about his new book What to Make of a Life. My association with Collins has always been through books like Good to Great and Great by Choice, which are firmly rooted in the world of business.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

The Philosopher In The Valley

After my recent review of The Contrarian, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir and the Rise of the Surveillance State. I went into it wondering whether it would follow a similar vein on political leaning bias in its portrayal or present a more balanced view.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

Pathfinders

It’s getting a bit difficult to break out of the Audible algorithm at the moment. Even though I’ve been branching out across different categories, whenever I come across new books through podcasts the recommendations still tend to pull me back towards investing.

I decided to give Pathfinders by JL Collins a go.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

Embracing Hope

Periodically I re read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, yet until recently I’d never ventured into any of his other books. I’m not entirely sure why, given the value I seem to take from Man’s Search every time I revisit it. Regardless, I’m glad I broke the pattern when I picked up Embracing Hope during a recent visit to the local bookstore.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

Born To Be Wired

I have to confess I had little to no knowledge of John Malone before diving into Born to Be Wired. The book came up during a recent episode of We Study Billionaires, which explored Malone’s approach to deal making and valuation structuring.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

Warren Buffett: Inside The Ultimate Money Mind

I became familiar with Robert Hagstrom a good few years ago now, taking a particular liking to his books The Warren Buffett Way and Investing: The Last Liberal Art. Recently, through the The 100 Year Thinkers podcast, I’ve become reacquainted with him so to speak, as part of the monthly show he participates in with Bogumil Baranowski and Matt Ziegler.

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Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock Book & Podcast Reviews Ben Leacock

Simple But Not Easy

On a recent episode of Talking Billions, Bogumil interviewed Richard Oldfield, who referenced his book Simple But Not Easy a couple of times during the conversation. I enjoyed the episode and, by association, tend to hold Bogumil’s guests in reasonably high regard

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