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Battle of the texts: which books changed the world?

About this episode

So many books are published each year; few stand the test of time. Today we devote our whole show to asking which works have shaped the way we behave and how we think. Picks include “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen, “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth and “Lord of the Rings” by JRR Tolkien.


Full list of books mentioned in the show:

The Bible

The Koran

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen 

“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

“On the Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin

“Il Saggiatore” by Galileo Galilei

“Two New Sciences” by Galileo Galilei

“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty

“Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman

The novels of Philip Pullman

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

“The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

“A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth 

“Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien 

“A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf


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Battle of the texts: which books changed the world?

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