
The Antidote
Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
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Narrated by:
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Oliver Burkeman
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By:
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Oliver Burkeman
About this listen
The Antidote is a series of journeys among people who share a single, surprising way of thinking about life. What they have in common is a hunch about human psychology: that it’s our constant effort to eliminate the negative that causes us to feel so anxious, insecure, and unhappy. And that there is an alternative "negative path" to happiness and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid. It is a subversive, galvanizing message, which turns out to have a long and distinguished philosophical lineage ranging from ancient Roman Stoic philosophers to Buddhists. Oliver Burkeman talks to life coaches paid to make their clients’ lives a living hell, and to maverick security experts such as Bruce Schneier, who contends that the changes we’ve made to airport and aircraft security since the 9/11 attacks have actually made us less safe. And then there are the "backwards" business gurus, who suggest not having any goals at all and not planning for a company’s future.
Burkeman’s new audiobook is a witty, fascinating, and counterintuitive listen that turns decades of self-help advice on its head and forces us to rethink completely our attitudes toward failure, uncertainty, and death.
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Why is everyone so angry nowadays, and what is it doing to the world? In the developed world we live in a blessed epoch, a time and a place where life has never been better. Infant mortality has been all but abolished, we have greater personal choice than ever before, we have access to technology that would have been seen as the stuff of science fiction little more than a decade ago. We are safer and wealthier than at any time in human history. So why are we so damn angry about everything?
By: Oliver Burkeman
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You Are Now Less Dumb
- How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
- By: David McRaney
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality - except we’re not. But that's okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of 15 more ways we fool ourselves every day. This smart and highly entertaining audiobook will be wowing listeners for years to come.
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Not a lot of guidance
- By A. Yoshida on 02-08-14
By: David McRaney
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The Antidote
- A Novel
- By: Karen Russell
- Narrated by: Elena Rey, Sophie Amoss, Mark Bramhall, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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From Pulitzer finalist, MacArthur Fellowship recipient, and bestselling author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove Karen Russell comes a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought, but beneath its own violent histories.
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So disappointed
- By Sarah T on 04-02-25
By: Karen Russell
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Fully Alive
- Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times
- By: Elizabeth Oldfield
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Oldfield
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In a world experiencing turbulent change, we need people who are resilient, kind, open, generous, and brave. How do we become those people?
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A refreshingly authentic book!
- By PJ on 09-18-24
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Food: A Cultural Culinary History
- By: Ken Albala, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Ken Albala
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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Eating is an indispensable human activity. As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history, from prehistoric times to the present. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: "Gastronomy governs the whole life of man."
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One of my top 3 favorite courses!
- By Jessica on 12-28-13
By: Ken Albala, and others
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A Guide to the Good Life
- The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
- By: William B. Irvine
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life.
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A very readable introduction, needs more meat
- By David on 05-20-16
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Happier
- Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment
- By: Tal Ben-Shahar
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Abridged
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Can we really learn to be happy? Yes, we can. Each semester, nearly 1,400 students sign up for Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar's life-changing class, "How to Get Happy". Currently it's the hottest course at Harvard, taken by 20 percent of its graduates. In Happier, Professor Ben-Shahar brings the ideas of the Ivory Tower to Main Street, distilling the lessons and exercises from his course into a slim volume of practical wisdom.
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Great Book
- By John on 09-29-07
By: Tal Ben-Shahar
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The Finnish Guide to Happiness
- By: Melanie Dower
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
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If you ask a Finn, they will likely be as baffled as you are. That’s why Melanie Dower, an expat who has been living in Finland for the past decade, has taken up the charge. Her vantage as an outsider entrenched in Finnish culture uniquely positions her to identify the keys to Finnish happiness that elude the rest of the world and that Finns take for granted. From sauna to strong social safety nets, Finnish life is made up of a constellation of habits and structures that leave its residents relaxed, healthy, and fulfilled.
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INSPIRING BOOK. (Listening after Hurricane Helene)
- By Duchess on 10-21-24
By: Melanie Dower
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A Meditator's Guide to Buddhism
- The Path of Awareness, Compassion, and Wisdom
- By: Cortland Dahl
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Buddhism is rooted in the simple idea that you can train your mind to suffer less and flourish more. In this experiential guide, Cortland Dahl will take you on a journey through the core principles and meditation practices of the Buddhist tradition. The journey begins with teachings on the Four Noble Truths, practical observations that will help you understand the causes of unhappiness, and how you can access inner calm and deep insight through meditation.
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a great companion to healthy minds app
- By Anonymous User on 03-28-25
By: Cortland Dahl
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Stick with It
- A Scientifically Proven Process for Changing Your Life - for Good
- By: Sean D. Young
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Whether it's absent-minded mistakes at work, a weakness for junk food, a smartphone addiction, or a lack of exercise, everyone has some bad habit or behavior that they'd like to change. But wanting to change and actually doing it - and sticking with it - are two very different things. Dr. Sean Young, an authoritative new voice in the field of behavioral science, knows a great deal about our habits - how we make them and how we can break them.
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Superficial and Boring
- By Michelle on 06-22-17
By: Sean D. Young
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All That Remains
- A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes
- By: Sue Black
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Dame Sue Black is an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist. She has lived her life eye to eye with the Grim Reaper, and she writes vividly about it in this book, which is part primer on the basics of identifying human remains, part frank memoir of a woman whose first paying job as a schoolgirl was to apprentice in a butcher shop, and part no-nonsense but deeply humane introduction to the reality of death in our lives. It is a treat for CSI junkies, murder mystery and thriller fans, and anyone seeking a clear-eyed guide to a subject that touches us all.
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I wanted a science book about forensics. I got a mostly-memoir instead.
- By A Customer on 11-29-19
By: Sue Black
What listeners say about The Antidote
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- J. Bumgardner
- 03-13-13
Truly, an amazing book!
Would you listen to The Antidote again? Why?
I have three times already. Its basic premise is that the cult of positive thinking is not only wrong-minded, but is antithetical to a balanced and satisfied life. The narrator was also amazing!
If you could give The Antidote a new subtitle, what would it be?
Feeling positive about yourself, without all the positive self-talk and affirmations
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4 people found this helpful
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- Art Teacher HH
- 03-15-15
Yes! Finally! Someone feels like I do!
What did you love best about The Antidote?
I love that it was written. So tired of the "just be positive" attitude. It just makes you more depressed. Mr. Burkeman did a great job showing many examples of how the "positive attitude" can do the opposite of its intentions. This was so validating to hear and made me happy!
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Antidote?
Just feeling validated in my shared belief that just by thinking positive, you will reach happiness. I love how he talks about being realistic.
Which scene was your favorite?
Painting the picture of the negative effects on positive thinking by using G.W. Bush as an example.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I loved the in depth look at the history of meditation coming to America. How it started, how it shifted over time. I enjoy the way he has looked back into the history of psychology "movements" and considered what worked and what didn't. I've been "working on myself" for over 20 years now and that part of the book alone was very interesting. I've tried so many different methods. I like that he pointed out that Buddhism is neutral and the goal is not to be "happy," but simply acceptance.
Any additional comments?
If you have been frustrated with so many self help books about being positive, and you have tried to change to no avail, this is your book to read.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Darcy
- 01-04-15
Enlightening and entertaining
I wondered if this might be an exercise in positive thinking mockery and nothing more, but it's really far from that. Lessons learned from the mistakes of the positive thinking camp are shared, sometimes sardonically, but the real meat of this book is in the detailed examples of the various ways in which people achieve happiness by not focusing on that as the goal.
I love it when an author presents their own work and Oliver Burkeman's reading here is a perfect example of why. He delivers The Antidote in tones both heartfelt and wry, as only someone who's been there and lived that can.
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- Carolyn
- 05-31-18
This is the good stuff
Most self help books leave me with a sense of quiet despair that I can’t live up to their expectations. This one, which is probably the last one I’ll ever read, leaves me with a new understanding and a path to acceptance and content. I loved it.
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- Ruth Scott
- 10-07-18
an uncommonly good book
a refreshing break from the ordinary. the author is witty and makes his point in less than 30 chapters. book held my interest as few do.
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- KellysHero718
- 10-18-16
Listen Twice Then Decide
Having completed two listens, my review now is less scathing than it would have been following the first. It is well written, and the research seems adequate, I'll give him that. At times it is interesting. But the differences between positive thinking and negative thinking, as Burkeman describes them, are largely semantic, and fraught with contradictions. He is, it seems to me, needlessly dismissive and unkind to advocates of positive thinking, promoting his own thoughts as wisdom dripping with profundity while smearing the thoughts of others as mere homilies. Maybe I will update my review after a third listen.
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- Dennis Juleff
- 10-08-17
powerfully simple & clearly stated...
I'm a big fan of the Stoics & this book is a decent extension of those idea(ls) - with quite practical day-to-day applications. I never write reviews but felt I should given the many shifts in thinking this simple book gave me - that other similarly aimed books didn't...
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- Dustan
- 04-14-16
Negative Capability
The problem is not the problem. How we frame the problem in our minds is either the antidote r the actual problem.
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- SuperBabe
- 08-17-16
Excellent
Not at all what I was expecting. Pleasantly surprised! An insightful & interesting way of looking at things. The reader did a great job, too.
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- Sean Cassidy
- 12-31-16
Very Logical Straightforward Commentary
Not intuitive at first but when you think about it makes total sense - very enlightening for me
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