The Best Biographies To Listen To
Behind The Mask by Tyson Fury
A Manchester lad from Irish Traveller stock, born three months premature and weighing just one pound at birth, Tyson Fury became one of the most unlikely heavyweight champions in history. This dream come true turned to nightmare, however, as alcohol and cocaine abuse took hold and the ‘Gipsy King’ was stripped of his titles. After pointing his car at a wall and coming close to ending everything, he hit the comeback trail. As you probably heard, Fury became heavyweight champion again in February. This is the place to hear the remarkable story of exactly how he got back there.
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A Bit Of A Stretch by Chris Atkins
Like most people, documentary-maker Chris Atkins didn’t spend much time thinking about prisons. Then, after becoming embroiled in a dodgy scheme to fund his latest film, he was sent down for five years. His home became HMP Wandsworth, one of the oldest, largest and most dysfunctional prisons in Europe. Horrifying, moving and darkly funny, this is the unvarnished depiction of what he found. With a cast of characters ranging from wily drug dealers to corrupt screws and senior officials bent on endless (and fruitless) reform, this is the reality behind the locked gates. Full of incredible stories, A Bit of a Stretch reveals the true scale of our prison crisis – and reminds listeners that any lockdown they’re currently experiencing isn’t anything like real life behind bars.
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Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
Poverty, prejudice and physical abuse defined the childhood of David Goggins. The result was a depressed, obese young man living payslip to payslip as an exterminator. Then, at 24, he saw a TV ad for the US Navy Seals. He dropped almost 50kg in three months and signed up. Since then, Goggins has become the first man ever to complete elite training as a Seal, an Army Ranger and an Air Force Tactical Air Controller. He’s also broken the world record for most pull-ups in 24 hours. In this autobiography, he introduces listeners to the 40% Rule – that’s how much of our potential he reckons most of us actually use. Want to reach 100%? As well as telling Goggins’s remarkable life story, Can’t Hurt Me explains how you can push past pain and demolish fear.
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Educated by Tara Westover
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her to Harvard and then to Cambridge University. That’s when she began to wonder if she’d travelled too far, and if there was still a way home.
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Gotta Get Theroux This by Louis Theroux
In 1994, fledgling journalist Louis Theroux was given a one-off gig on Michael Moore’s TV Nation, presenting a segment on apocalyptic religious sects. Gawky, socially awkward and totally unqualified, he panicked, but his enthusiasm carried the day. His autobiography takes the listener on a joyous journey through his unexpectedly successful career. Nervously accepting the BBC’s offer of his own series, he went on to create an award-winning documentary style that has taken him deep into communities as diverse as racist US militias, South African gangs, secretive pro wrestlers, and extreme drinkers in London. As ever with Theroux, the book is shot through with wry observation, larger-than-life characters and self-deprecating humour.
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Me by Elton John
When Reginald Dwight changed his name to Elton John, a shy suburban boy with Buddy Holly glasses put himself on a path to becoming a 70s rock icon. From those quiet beginnings, Elton burst onto the music scene with sequins, silver hot pants, crazy glasses and the rest. Me is his first official autobiography. It’s a joyous, moving account that reveals candid details about his life – including his friendships with the likes of Freddie Mercury, George Michael and John Lennon – and his drug addiction. He also writes honestly and amusingly about finding love and becoming a father.
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My Friend Anna: The True Story of the Fake Heiress Who Conned Me and Half of New York City by Rachel DeLoache Williams
With dizzying deceit and elaborate con-artistry, Anna Delvey hoodwinked NYC’s Soho hipster scene for four glorious years. After meeting through mutual friends, the ‘Russian heiress’ became inseparable from Rachel DeLoache Williams, who has now told this incredible story, which begins with a spell of astonishing excess. It’s only after Anna’s debit card was declined during a five-star Moroccan holiday that Rachel began to suspect her increasingly mysterious mate was not all she seemed. Listen in to find out just how far falsified bank documents, bad cheques and carefully edited online photos can take you.
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Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster
In 2016, comedian and podcaster James Acaster woke up heartbroken and alone in New York. His relationship over, a day of disastrous meetings lead him to wonder if comedy was still what he wanted to be doing. He turned to music for solace. Making a commitment to only listen to music released that year, Acaster wades through 500 albums and concludes that – sonically at least – 2016 was a vintage year. In between the meditations on the healing power of music, listen out for Acaster befouling himself in an LA steakhouse, stealing a cookie from Clint Eastwood and giving drunk, unsolicited pep talks to urinating strangers.
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Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
In 1962, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his dad and founded the business that would become Nike. That first year, Knight took $8,000 as he sold trainers from the boot of his car. Today, Nike’s annual sales are the far side of $30bn. Here, Knight tells the story of how he deliberately took an unconventional path to building a brand that changed everything. You’ll also find out more than has ever previously been revealed about the man behind the swoosh.
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Toast on Toast by Steven Toast
You might have seen Steven Toast (Matt Berry) struggling to hold together an acting career through three series of Channel 4’s outstanding Toast of London sitcom. These televised travails haven’t stopped Toast putting together this part memoir, part ‘how to act’ manual, which draws on a career that’s taken him from school plays to Rada and It’s A Right Royal Knockout. The great man’s also included some hard-won nuggets of wisdom that reveal the dangers of typecasting, the ruthless struggles for top billing, and failsafe methods for dealing with awkward work experiencers in a recording studio.
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