Children’s world is by default a trippy one and books are rich fodder for the uninhibited mind. In “The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading”, Sam Leith, the literary editor of The Spectator takes us through the memory lane of authors who have defined the genre of children's books. The nature of childhood itself has changed over centuries and the books, too, were a reflection of those eras.

In this podcast Sam, himself a father of two kids, has read a gazillion children’s books as part of his research for his tome. And upon each rereading, he finds new gems that were undiscovered when he had first read them as a kid. His work was also rated by The Economist as among the top five non-fiction books of 2024.

Get Sam Leith's book here: https://tinyurl.com/SamLeith

Picture credit: The Booker Prizes

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Alison Taylor is a clinical professor at NYU Stern School of Business. Her book, “Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World” is a result of decades of research and experience where she has consulted many multinational companies. She argues that maximising shareholder value can no longer be the sole purpose of an organisation’s existence. The new generation employed at various outfits have started demanding explanations if the bosses stray from their path. Doing the right thing is hard, admits Prof Taylor but those who take the path of the straight and narrow will serve well in the long run.

Picture credit: https://www.alisontaylor.co/

Buy Prof Taylor's book on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/AlisonTaylor

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There are around 3trn trees on Earth, 400 for every living person. And yet arguably the arboreal world is not talked about in as much detail as the animal kingdom. Dr Daniel Lewis, a historian at the Huntington Library takes a crack at the subject. His latest book, “Twelve Trees: And What They Tell Us About Our Past, Present and Future” chronicles stories of twelve trees and their history dating back to centuries.

Picture credit: https://huntington.org/staff/daniel-lewis

Get Daniel Lewis' book on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/TwelveTreesDanielLewis

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