Audiobooks narrated by Helen Lewis

The Genius Myth: The Dangerous Allure of Rebels, Monsters and Rule-Breakers

"Brought to you by Penguin. *A Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman and GQ Book for 2025 * The tortured poet. The rebellious scientist. The monstrous artist. The tech disruptor. You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is prepared to tolerate. Taking us from the Renaissance Florence of Leonardo da Vinci to the Floridian rocket launches of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Helen Lewis unravels a word that we all use — without really questioning what it means. Along the way, she uncovers the secret of the Beatles’ success, asks how biographers should solve the Austen Problem, and reveals why Stephen Hawking thought IQ tests were for losers (before taking one herself). And she asks if the modern idea of genius — a class of special people — is distorting our view of the world. © Helen Lewis 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Helen Lewis (Author), Helen Lewis (Narrator)

Audiobook

The News Quiz 2021: The Complete Series 104, 105 and 106: The Topical BBC Radio 4 Panel Show

"Twenty-four episodes of the popular topical comedy show, chaired by Andy Zaltzman With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since 1977. Recorded in front of a virtual audience, these three series see Andy Zaltzman presiding over a motley crew of comedians and journalists as they trawl through news stories big and small to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence. Among the eager news-wranglers are Zoe Lyons, Nish Kumar, Helen Lewis, Athena Kugenblu, Lucy Porter, Paul Sinha, Daliso Chaponda, Mark Steel, Alice Fraser, Ayesha Hazarika and Kiri Pritchard-McLean. Beginning with a 'Best of 2020' episode, looking back on the 'highlights' of that particular annus horribilis, the panel go on to scrutinise subjects including lockdowns, the US Capitol riots, Joe Biden's inauguration, euphemistic food names, Handforth Parish Council's infamous Zoom meeting, climate change, vaccination, foreign holidays (and traffic lights) and Boris Johnson's stealth wedding. There's also a preview of some 'future news', the debut appearance of the Scapegoater Vx57, the Machine of Ultimate Blame, and the inaugural FALSE or VERY FALSE round - plus, Andy Zaltzman finally becomes the first News Quiz host to present the programme from the BBC Test Match Special commentary box at Lords. © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

BBC Radio (Author), Andy Zaltzman, Helen Lewis, Lucy Porter, Mark Steel, Nish Kumar, Paul Sinha, Various, Zoe Lyons (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Spark: 11 ideas to change the world

"Journalist and author Helen Lewis meets groundbreaking thinkers to test out their big ideas From politics to economics, from tech to the study of how we live, things are changing fast. Old certainties are crumbling, and we need new solutions to shake up the status quo and shape the future. In The Spark, Helen Lewis meets 11 radical thinkers who are bidding to change our world, and puts their ideas under the spotlight to find out what they have to offer compared to the failures of the past. Part 1 sees her interviewing American economist Emily Oster, who discusses how data-based parenting could have a life-changing impact on pregnancy and child-rearing; social entrepreneur Hilary Cottam, who believes that human connection should be at the heart of the welfare state; Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who explains why 'zombie ideas' are holding us back; and social pyschologist Roy Baumeister, who talks about our inbuilt negativity bias and how to defeat it. In Part 2, CEO and writer Margaret Heffernan argues that preparedness is the best way to deal with uncertainty; artificial intelligence pioneer Stuart Russell explains how we can keep AI under human control; former Frome mayor Peter Macfadyen takes us through his new model for community-based politics; and behavioural scientist Pragya Agarwal discusses our unintentional biases - how they affect our decision making, and ways of overcoming them. And in Part 3, Helen's guests include economists Paul Collier and John Kay, who call for an end to destructive individualism in favour of mutuality and co-operation; educationalist Kiran Gill, whose organisation The Difference strives to improve the life chances of excluded schoolchildren; and barrister Chris Daw, advocate of a radical plan to abolish prisons and rethink our whole approach to punishment and rehabilitation. Cogent, credible and compelling, these thought-provoking proposals will give you a whole new perspective on the problems our society faces and how we could solve them. Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. ? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd Presented by Helen Lewis With: Emily Oster, Hilary Cottam, Paul Krugman, Roy Baumeister, Margaret Heffernan, Stuart Russell, Peter Macfadyen, Pragya Agarwal, Paul Collier and John Kay, Kiran Gill, Chris Daw Produced by Eliane Glaser, Phil Tinline, Emma Wallace and Sarah Shebbeare"

Helen Lewis (Author), Helen Lewis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights (The Sunday Times Bestseller)

"Brought to you by Penguin. Well-behaved women don’t make history: difficult women do. Helen Lewis argues that feminism’s success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It’s time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. In this book, you’ll meet the working-class suffragettes who advocated bombings and arson; the princess who discovered why so many women were having bad sex; the pioneer of the refuge movement who became a men’s rights activist; the ‘striker in a sari’ who terrified Margaret Thatcher; the wronged Victorian wife who definitely wasn’t sleeping with the prime minister; and the lesbian politician who outraged the country. Taking the story up to the present with the twenty-first-century campaign for abortion services, Helen Lewis reveals the unvarnished – and unfinished – history of women’s rights. Drawing on archival research and interviews, Difficult Women is a funny, fearless and sometimes shocking narrative history, which shows why the feminist movement has succeeded – and what it should do next. The battle is difficult, and we must be difficult too. © Helen Lewis 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

Helen Lewis (Author), Helen Lewis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Helen Lewis