Michael Lewis interviews "Inner Game of Tennis" author

Michael Lewis is one of my favorite authors; his books include The Big Short, Liars Poker, and several other excellent titles.

Michael Lewis

His podcast, though Against the Rules, has emerged from the large pack of podcasts now in existence and now is one of the best I know of.

This season he's focusing on the "rise of coaches" and these are so far even better than his first (excellent) season on "referees."

The episode "The Coach in Your Head" is an interview with Timothy Gallwey, the author of this book:

I bought a copy of this book shortly after it came out and appreciated it for what it was (tennis instruction as I was playing in those days), but what I didn't know was that Gallwey was inundated with requests from corporate executives and others to "do what you did for the tennis players."

The coaching stories discussed in this episode of the podcast are fascinating, from corporate executives

To firefighters:

To his daughter, Dixie, trying to improve her hitting so college softball coaches would notice her:

Probably not Dixie but I couldn't find a picture of her

Anyway, fascinating stuff ... five stars!

New nonfiction: Two books, one audio

I've been reading some excellent nonfiction lately. For starts:

The author grew up around China Lake, the military installation that grew up after the Second World War. Her story of the culture and background of the installation and of her family was compelling, as was her story of discovering herself as an English professor! Four stars.

Next up: I'm not finished with this one yet, but its chapters are about one lunch break long:

This is the science writer who's a friend of Radiolab, where I first heard the discussion of CRISPR. I expected to find this book fascinating, and so far it's meeting my expectations.

For example, Zimmer's chapter on the discovery of the disease PKU was focused on Pearl S. Buck, whose daughter had the genetic flaw that causes this. Good stuff!

Finally one of my favorite authors, Michael Lewis ... now out with an audio-only look at weather forecasting and its human element:

Why do people die despite hearing a tornado siren? That's just one of the questions that's addressed in this excellent 2-hour Audible audiobook. (Free with your Audible subscription ...)

Enjoy!