1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:13,053 Speaker 1: from News Talks at Me and. 3 00:00:13,053 --> 00:00:16,013 Speaker 2: Our book reviewer Katherine Rains has got her hands on 4 00:00:16,053 --> 00:00:17,413 Speaker 2: a copy. She's with us this morning. 5 00:00:17,453 --> 00:00:19,213 Speaker 3: Good morning, good morning. 6 00:00:19,333 --> 00:00:21,333 Speaker 2: Yeah, what did you think of Nash Falls? Tell us 7 00:00:21,333 --> 00:00:21,613 Speaker 2: about it? 8 00:00:22,493 --> 00:00:25,533 Speaker 3: So it's talks all about this guy called Walden Nash. 9 00:00:25,573 --> 00:00:28,013 Speaker 3: He's a real mild man and man, and he has 10 00:00:28,133 --> 00:00:32,253 Speaker 3: this high level executive role at a place called Symbaric Investments, 11 00:00:32,653 --> 00:00:34,693 Speaker 3: and he's really unaccustomed to violence. That's not part of 12 00:00:34,733 --> 00:00:37,173 Speaker 3: his life. He's really living a comfortable life with this 13 00:00:37,253 --> 00:00:40,373 Speaker 3: great job, his family, his wealthy life is good. He's 14 00:00:40,373 --> 00:00:42,773 Speaker 3: got a lovely wife and daughter, and he seems to 15 00:00:42,773 --> 00:00:45,213 Speaker 3: be this very conscientious and caring man, and he works 16 00:00:45,253 --> 00:00:47,453 Speaker 3: long hours and he travels a lot, and family is 17 00:00:47,533 --> 00:00:49,933 Speaker 3: really important to him. But of course this is a 18 00:00:50,013 --> 00:00:52,853 Speaker 3: David Baldoucchi nove. Also things are about to change. And 19 00:00:52,933 --> 00:00:56,413 Speaker 3: first his estrange father dies and this brings this massive 20 00:00:56,533 --> 00:00:59,253 Speaker 3: flood of emotions and feelings about their relationship and the 21 00:00:59,493 --> 00:01:01,693 Speaker 3: great of time and the fact that they didn't make 22 00:01:01,813 --> 00:01:04,813 Speaker 3: up with their relationship. But then after the funeral, he's 23 00:01:04,853 --> 00:01:07,373 Speaker 3: approached by the FBI who want him to work with 24 00:01:07,453 --> 00:01:10,613 Speaker 3: him to bring down his employer, and he finds himself 25 00:01:10,653 --> 00:01:13,373 Speaker 3: as part of this COVID investigation into the workings of 26 00:01:13,413 --> 00:01:16,533 Speaker 3: his company and the divisions, and everything in his normal 27 00:01:16,573 --> 00:01:19,653 Speaker 3: world starts to be really out of control, particularly when 28 00:01:19,653 --> 00:01:21,653 Speaker 3: the person at the center of the scheme, it is 29 00:01:21,973 --> 00:01:25,613 Speaker 3: investment company, is somehow informed of the leak and the 30 00:01:25,733 --> 00:01:28,933 Speaker 3: undercover working with the FBI, and so what began is 31 00:01:29,013 --> 00:01:31,453 Speaker 3: kind of a simple surveillance in helping out the FBI 32 00:01:31,573 --> 00:01:35,813 Speaker 3: turns into survival mode, and things happen in his personal 33 00:01:35,853 --> 00:01:38,973 Speaker 3: life and it's devastating, and then things are revealed about 34 00:01:39,013 --> 00:01:43,053 Speaker 3: him online, and life as he knew it just disappears, 35 00:01:43,093 --> 00:01:44,733 Speaker 3: and he has to do things and train to do 36 00:01:44,813 --> 00:01:47,493 Speaker 3: things that he had never considered before. And it's a 37 00:01:47,533 --> 00:01:50,813 Speaker 3: really character driven novel. You see Nash struggling with his 38 00:01:51,013 --> 00:01:55,333 Speaker 3: conscience and about revenge and violence and that personal identity 39 00:01:55,373 --> 00:01:58,413 Speaker 3: of his and the book's full of suspense and intrigue 40 00:01:58,413 --> 00:02:01,773 Speaker 3: that paractually is so good at and that initial mystery 41 00:02:01,773 --> 00:02:05,093 Speaker 3: that unravels into this complex web of betrayals and grudges 42 00:02:05,133 --> 00:02:08,173 Speaker 3: and conspiracies that happen at the highest level of powers. 43 00:02:08,733 --> 00:02:10,773 Speaker 3: But out. She's a real expert in leading you with 44 00:02:10,813 --> 00:02:13,053 Speaker 3: clues and reveals and of course the odd read hearing, 45 00:02:13,173 --> 00:02:15,253 Speaker 3: and just when you think you've got it all figured out, 46 00:02:16,053 --> 00:02:18,533 Speaker 3: something else happens that changes the direction of the story. 47 00:02:18,573 --> 00:02:21,173 Speaker 3: And he keeps you hooked, that's for sure. 48 00:02:21,253 --> 00:02:23,613 Speaker 2: Oh so good, Okay, cool. So that's Nash Falls by 49 00:02:23,693 --> 00:02:27,493 Speaker 2: David Baldacie. Next up, A Short History of Nearly Everything 50 00:02:27,613 --> 00:02:30,173 Speaker 2: two point zero by Bill Bryce and another friend of 51 00:02:30,173 --> 00:02:30,573 Speaker 2: the show. 52 00:02:31,453 --> 00:02:34,333 Speaker 3: Yes, and he's a best selling American British author, and 53 00:02:34,373 --> 00:02:37,373 Speaker 3: he's known for his really accessible non fiction books, and 54 00:02:37,413 --> 00:02:40,693 Speaker 3: he's written about everything about travel, science and language. He 55 00:02:41,133 --> 00:02:43,213 Speaker 3: I think in nineteen ninety five he wrote Notes from 56 00:02:43,213 --> 00:02:46,253 Speaker 3: a Small Island, which was all about Britain and the people, 57 00:02:46,813 --> 00:02:49,293 Speaker 3: and that really raised his profile. And then twenty years 58 00:02:49,293 --> 00:02:51,973 Speaker 3: ago now he wrote the Short History of Nearly Everything, 59 00:02:52,573 --> 00:02:55,813 Speaker 3: and he decided actually that it was really due for 60 00:02:56,573 --> 00:02:59,493 Speaker 3: an update. You know. He says himself that the whole 61 00:02:59,533 --> 00:03:01,533 Speaker 3: problem with the book is it's about science and trying 62 00:03:01,533 --> 00:03:04,813 Speaker 3: to understand science and everything that's happened since the Big 63 00:03:04,813 --> 00:03:07,453 Speaker 3: Bang and civilization was over twenty years ago, and there's 64 00:03:07,573 --> 00:03:10,613 Speaker 3: so much that's changed, and I was really amazed at 65 00:03:10,613 --> 00:03:14,253 Speaker 3: how much that's changed. And there's everything in there, the planet, 66 00:03:14,333 --> 00:03:16,653 Speaker 3: the solar system, the universe, and a history of how 67 00:03:16,693 --> 00:03:18,693 Speaker 3: we've come to know as much as we know about 68 00:03:18,733 --> 00:03:21,693 Speaker 3: what we do. And it's a book that focuses on science, 69 00:03:21,693 --> 00:03:25,413 Speaker 3: but Bryson makes it really entertaining and readable. And one 70 00:03:25,413 --> 00:03:27,933 Speaker 3: of the first chapters actually covers off how many moons 71 00:03:27,933 --> 00:03:29,693 Speaker 3: have been added in the last twenty years, and it 72 00:03:29,693 --> 00:03:32,013 Speaker 3: turns out that one hundred new moons have been discovered. 73 00:03:32,213 --> 00:03:34,533 Speaker 3: Some of them are just big rocks, but they orbit 74 00:03:34,573 --> 00:03:36,813 Speaker 3: a planet, so therefore it's a definition of a moon. 75 00:03:37,133 --> 00:03:40,333 Speaker 3: And then he moves on to topics like sub atomic 76 00:03:40,373 --> 00:03:44,893 Speaker 3: particles and continental drift, at atomic structure, and the extension 77 00:03:44,933 --> 00:03:47,293 Speaker 3: of the dinosaur, and lots of other things. But he 78 00:03:47,333 --> 00:03:50,973 Speaker 3: also talks about the human side of it, like JBS Haldine, 79 00:03:50,973 --> 00:03:54,973 Speaker 3: who was responsible for discovering the genes for color blindness, 80 00:03:55,053 --> 00:03:58,213 Speaker 3: and an English moths expert, a guy called lenn Alice 81 00:03:58,253 --> 00:04:01,053 Speaker 3: from the British National History Museums. Here certainly finds people 82 00:04:01,093 --> 00:04:03,813 Speaker 3: that we don't know a lot about, and that human 83 00:04:03,893 --> 00:04:07,613 Speaker 3: interest on those scientists really keeps you entertained. And the 84 00:04:07,613 --> 00:04:10,373 Speaker 3: book is completely entertaining, and you'll really learn something about 85 00:04:10,413 --> 00:04:12,813 Speaker 3: science that you didn't know. And if you've read the 86 00:04:12,813 --> 00:04:14,773 Speaker 3: first one, you really need to read the second one 87 00:04:14,853 --> 00:04:17,533 Speaker 3: so you can see how much the world's changed, and yeah, 88 00:04:17,573 --> 00:04:19,813 Speaker 3: how much you know? How much we more we know? 89 00:04:20,213 --> 00:04:21,453 Speaker 3: And twenty two years. 90 00:04:21,533 --> 00:04:27,413 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I absolutely loved the original Short history 91 00:04:27,413 --> 00:04:29,813 Speaker 2: of nearly everything. I even remember like lines from it 92 00:04:30,253 --> 00:04:32,493 Speaker 2: and the different characters that Bill Bryson was describing. I 93 00:04:32,493 --> 00:04:35,413 Speaker 2: think there was the first time I came across is 94 00:04:35,453 --> 00:04:38,853 Speaker 2: it Thomas Midgley, who is the guy who designed Yes, 95 00:04:38,893 --> 00:04:44,773 Speaker 2: both CFC's and leaded petrol am I right, course they 96 00:04:44,933 --> 00:04:49,413 Speaker 2: samwiged to humankind in the modern era. This poor inventor 97 00:04:49,493 --> 00:04:51,653 Speaker 2: was responsible for both of them. He didn't know obviously 98 00:04:51,653 --> 00:04:54,133 Speaker 2: inventing them intending to cause harm, but they both was 99 00:04:54,173 --> 00:04:57,173 Speaker 2: He ended up doing that. But he has a wonderful 100 00:04:57,213 --> 00:05:02,173 Speaker 2: way of just telling stories around science and around history 101 00:05:02,213 --> 00:05:05,053 Speaker 2: that really kind of just engage you, right, even if 102 00:05:05,053 --> 00:05:06,693 Speaker 2: you don't think you're into history, you don't think you're 103 00:05:06,693 --> 00:05:08,373 Speaker 2: into science, he's got a real way of kind of 104 00:05:08,413 --> 00:05:09,853 Speaker 2: capturing you with those stories. 105 00:05:10,693 --> 00:05:13,093 Speaker 3: He certainly does, and that narrative way that he tells 106 00:05:13,093 --> 00:05:15,733 Speaker 3: that you find yourself, you know, I mean, I don't 107 00:05:15,773 --> 00:05:18,093 Speaker 3: know a lot about sub atomic particles, but I know 108 00:05:18,173 --> 00:05:21,173 Speaker 3: more now, and yeah, it's just it's it's an intriguing 109 00:05:21,213 --> 00:05:23,173 Speaker 3: way that he writes it, and yeah, really interesting. 110 00:05:23,173 --> 00:05:25,773 Speaker 2: I think he's probably also one of the few writers 111 00:05:25,853 --> 00:05:28,533 Speaker 2: whom I could quote, like a few modern writers whom 112 00:05:28,533 --> 00:05:30,733 Speaker 2: I could quote. Was that the first line of the 113 00:05:30,813 --> 00:05:37,293 Speaker 2: Lost Continent is I came from des Moines. Somebody had too. Yeah, 114 00:05:37,333 --> 00:05:40,373 Speaker 2: it's just such a good lie. Yeah, immediately you caught anyway, 115 00:05:40,413 --> 00:05:42,453 Speaker 2: It's just to be totally clear, is a short history 116 00:05:42,453 --> 00:05:46,053 Speaker 2: of nearly everything too? Is that a sequel to the 117 00:05:46,093 --> 00:05:49,573 Speaker 2: first one? Or is it more? As things have been updated, 118 00:05:49,573 --> 00:05:51,493 Speaker 2: he's kind of revamped the book a little bit. 119 00:05:52,613 --> 00:05:57,173 Speaker 3: Oh it feels really updated. How I've seen him, heard 120 00:05:57,253 --> 00:05:59,453 Speaker 3: him talk about things, and he said, you know, he 121 00:05:59,613 --> 00:06:01,573 Speaker 3: started to sit down and read it and realized, like 122 00:06:01,613 --> 00:06:04,173 Speaker 3: in the first you know, chapter or so, that so 123 00:06:04,373 --> 00:06:07,053 Speaker 3: much had changed. So he talks about some of the things, 124 00:06:07,093 --> 00:06:09,253 Speaker 3: but yeah, you know, he really talks about how much 125 00:06:09,293 --> 00:06:11,533 Speaker 3: it's changed and you know, what's happened, and he had 126 00:06:11,613 --> 00:06:13,813 Speaker 3: some kind of other people and more characters into it, 127 00:06:13,853 --> 00:06:16,053 Speaker 3: so you don't I don't feel like I'm reading a 128 00:06:16,093 --> 00:06:18,213 Speaker 3: repeat of what happened in the first one. Yeah, I 129 00:06:18,213 --> 00:06:19,573 Speaker 3: feel like I'm reading quite a new book. 130 00:06:19,733 --> 00:06:21,613 Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, okay, that's really good. He I think we 131 00:06:21,613 --> 00:06:24,973 Speaker 2: had him on when he released his Guide to the Body, 132 00:06:25,253 --> 00:06:27,133 Speaker 2: and he and I ended up speaking for about nine 133 00:06:27,133 --> 00:06:30,693 Speaker 2: minutes about breast milk as you do. So anyway, that 134 00:06:30,813 --> 00:06:33,253 Speaker 2: sounds amazing, sounds really good. This both of those books 135 00:06:33,293 --> 00:06:35,093 Speaker 2: are a bit of mail. We've had Nash falls already, 136 00:06:35,093 --> 00:06:37,373 Speaker 2: but a short history of nearly everything two boy know 137 00:06:37,413 --> 00:06:39,533 Speaker 2: it sounds spectacular as well. Thank you, Catherine. 138 00:06:40,133 --> 00:06:43,213 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live 139 00:06:43,333 --> 00:06:46,133 Speaker 1: to news Talks i'd Be from nine am Saturday, or 140 00:06:46,213 --> 00:06:48,093 Speaker 1: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.