Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray 2- quart baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Make flax egg, mix and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, baking powder and salt. Mix well to combine.
Add oat milk, syrup, flax egg, and vanilla. Mix well to combine. Gently stir in berries.
Pour mixture into prepared baking pan and bake 20-25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes prior to serving. If desired serve in a bowl and top individual servings with oat milk.
A Way with Words – A fun radio show and podcast about language examined through family, history, and culture.
The Adventure Podcast – An ongoing series of long-form conversations with pioneers of exploration and discovery, filmmaker Matt Pycroft speaks to the most knowledgeable, accomplished and respected voices in the field. From mountaineers to Arctic scientists, tree climbers and polar explorers, Terra Incognita is a unique podcast that allows you to get up close with those who live extraordinary lives.
After Hours – Harvard professors discuss news at the crossroads of business and culture.
The BikeRadar Podcast – The BikeRadar Podcast is brought to you by the team here at BikeRadar, in collaboration with our colleagues from MBUK and Cycling Plus magazines. Want the latest news, tech, interviews and insight from the world of cycling? We’ve got you covered.
The Daily – This is how the news should sound. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, hosted by Michael Barbaro and powered by New York Times journalism.
Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee – I want to empower you to become the architect of your own health. Because when you feel better, you live more. Since its launch in January 2018, my ‘Feel Better, Live More’ podcast has grown rapidly to become the Number 1 health podcast in the UK & Europe.
Food for Thought – On a mission to simplify wellness, Rhiannon’s Food For Thought podcast will equip you with all the evidence-based advice you need to live and breathe a healthy lifestyle. She is joined by special guests, all of whom can be considered experts in the world of wellbeing, so that together we can learn fact from fiction and empower the healthiest versions of ourselves with trusted, expert advice.
Food for Thought: Living Sustainably – Food for Thought™ podcast is in its 15th year!! Addressing all aspects of living healthfully and compassionately.
The Food Medic – The Food Medic podcast hosted by medical doctor, personal trainer, blogger, and author, Dr. Hazel Wallace. In this podcast you will hear from leading experts in their field who share evidence based advice on how we can live healthier lives and cut through the confusing information that we find online.
Growth Mindset Podcast – A growth mindset is the belief that you can do anything if you work for it. Your host Sam Harris finds remarkable individuals doing extraordinary things and breaks the processes down to show how anyone can achieve anything.
In Our Time – Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas
The Minimalist Podcast – Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus discuss living a meaningful life with less.
NPR News Now – The latest news in five minutes. Updated hourly.
Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger – Have you ever wondered if there’s a natural way to lower your high blood pressure, guard against Alzheimer’s, lose weight, and feel better? Well as it turns out there is. Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM, founder of NutritionFacts.org, and author of the instant New York Times bestseller “How Not to Die” celebrates evidence-based nutrition to add years to our life and life to our years.
Outspoken Cyclist – One of the longest running and most popular bicycling podcasts in the industry.
The Overstory – That’s the word ecologists use to describe the canopy of a forest. There’s a riot of life above us, but usually we’re so focused on what’s right in front that we forget to look up. Season One took us from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the wilds of Patagonia. Season Two will continue to explore the world with changemakers and storytellers who offer different perspectives of the natural world.
The Paceline Cycling Podcast – The Paceline Podcast is devoted to all things cycling. We discuss riding, great bikes, new equipment, pro and amateur racing, and the bike industry.
The Plant Based Podcast – The Plant Based Podcast, in association with Cobra, is about anything that can be traced back to PLANTS!
Plant-Powered People Podcast – Life is always easier and more exciting when you have friends to share in your journey, and the path to plant-based living is no exception! On the Plant-Powered People Podcast, you’ll hear from folks who’ve embraced plant-based living while they share their experiences overcoming obstacles in the most graceful (and sometimes not-so-graceful) ways. Join hosts Michelle Cehn (founder of World of Vegan) and Toni Okamoto (founder of Plant Based on a Budget) every other week as they tackle challenges like being the only vegan in the family, what it’s like to be plant-based while working at a non-veg restaurant job, and more!
Practicing Human – The podcast where everyday we are getting a little better at life.
Publishers Weekly PW LitCast – Conversations between Publishers Weekly editors and authors of new fiction and nonfiction books.
Quick Charge – the electric vehicle movement within the wider transition into green energy
Short Wave – New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, every weekday. It’s science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join host Maddie Sofia for science on a different wavelength.
Simplify – Have you ever looked at your habits, your happiness, your relationships, or your work and thought, “There’s got to be a better way to do this?” We talk with authors, productivity wizards, sex geniuses, and happiness experts to help you take control of today.
The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast – The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast has been broadcasting since 2006. In podcast terms that’s positively prehistoric. The show is an audio podcast featuring cycling media personalities, manufacturers, journalists observers, and others. We love bikes, and talk about trending topics in a roundtable format as if we were in a coffeehouse or bar. This isn’t news, it’s opinion, commentary, sarcasm, humour and, occasionally, insight.
The Sprocket Podcast – From basements & offices to a 1967 Airstream trailer, and to the virtual online rooms in which they currently record, The Sprocket Podcast has brought well-rounded discussions on important topics to the fray, while never taking themselves too seriously. Put another way, they serve up snark and heart in equal portions, with a core of sincerity.
TED Radio Hour – Exploring the biggest questions of our time with the help of the world’s greatest thinkers. Host Manoush Zomorodi inspires us to learn more about the world, our communities, and most importantly, ourselves.
TED Talks Daily – Every weekday, TED Talks Daily brings you the latest talks in audio. Join host and journalist Elise Hu for thought-provoking ideas on every subject imaginable — from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, and everything in between — given by the world’s leading thinkers and creators. With TED Talks Daily, find some space in your day to change your perspectives, ignite your curiosity, and learn something new.
Up First – NPR’s Up First is the news you need to start your day. The three biggest stories of the day, with reporting and analysis from NPR News — in 10 minutes. Available weekdays by 6 a.m. ET, with hosts Rachel Martin, Noel King and Steve Inskeep. Now available on Saturdays by 8 a.m. ET, with hosts Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Scott Simon.
The War on Cars – The War on Cars is a new podcast about the epic, hundred years’ war between The Car and The City. We deliver news and commentary on the latest developments in the worldwide fight to undo a century’s worth of damage wrought by the automobile. We produce a new show every other week.
Life Examined – KCRW’s Life Examined is a one-hour weekly show exploring science, philosophy, faith — and finding meaning in the modern world. The show is hosted by Jonathan Bastian. Please tune in Saturdays at 9 a.m., or find it as a podcast.
The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and our Health—and a Vision for Change by Annie Leonard
Pages
Rating
Genre
352
5 / 5
Non-fiction, environment
Wow! I wish I would have read this years ago! I learned so much about all our crap! I’m already on the road to simplify and minimize, but this really got me thinking about what more I can do.
350.org – Climate change non-profit fighting the use of fossil fuels.
waterfootprint.org – The Water Footprint Network is a platform for collaboration between companies, organizations and individuals to solve the world’s water crises by advancing fair and smart water use.
eartheconomics.org – We all rely on services provided by nature, often without realizing it or in ways we don’t fully recognize. Earth Economics identifies and quantifies those benefits to ensure they are included in the decision-making process at all levels, so communities can mitigate risk, increase resilience, and protect their natural capital wealth.
Paradigms are so pervasive and invisible that they can be easily mistaken for truth. When this happens, we limit our creativity in finding solutions to the problems we face, since our thinking is cramped and predefined by society’s dominant framework.
There are the downshifters, those who voluntarily live simply, unplugging from commercial culture, working, and buying less.
…downshifting, enough-ism, or voluntary simplicity–involves embracing a shift towards working and spending less.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam M. Grant
Book Synopsis: Why do we refresh our wardrobes every year, renovate our kitchens every decade, but never update our beliefs and our views? Why do we laugh at people using computers that are ten years old, but yet still cling to opinions we formed ten years ago?
This book sounds equal parts minimalist and environmentalism. Right up my alley and I’m excited to read it when it publishes on February 2. Also, it’s from the author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates
Book Synopsis: Bill Gates shares what he’s learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions.
I may be in the minority here as I know that he created a monopoly with Windows but I like Bill Gates. I think he and his wife are truly giving back a lot of their wealth and time to try to make things better for people all over the world. In this book, I hope to gain some insight into how he thinks we can beat this thing. It releases, February 16, 2021.
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert
Book synopsis: In Under a White Sky, Elizabeth Kolbert takes a hard look at the new world we are creating. Along the way, she meets biologists who are trying to preserve the world’s rarest fish, which lives in a single tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave; engineers who are turning carbon emissions to stone in Iceland; Australian researchers who are trying to develop a super coral that can survive on a hotter globe; and physicists who are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere to cool the earth.
Publishing February 9, Elizabeth Kolbert wrote The Sixth Extinction. Even though, I’m not sure I loved that book, it is wildly popular and I heard her speak on Bill Gates podcast, so I want to give this new book a chance.
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz
Book Synopsis: In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.
Another book coming out on February 2, this one looks to be a lighter read, but still with an important message. I like lost city stories like Atlantis (I know fictional) and I’m looking forward to see how Annalee helps these cities of the past come alive and tell us the story of why they disappeared.
A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet
Book synopsis: Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their days in a stupor of liquor, drugs, and sex, the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleaders—including Eve, who narrates the story—decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside.
This one came out last year but still sounds very interesting to me. It’s the only thing on this list that is fiction, but it is a powerful story. The Sierra Club calls this one out as a Must-Read. That’s a strong endorsement.
I had around 730 books on my to-read shelf on Goodreads. Even if I read 50 books a year that’s over 14 years before I get through that list. I have been on Goodreads since 2007, that’s also 14 years. and I have read 726 books. I’ve been adding books for 14 years, but I don’t think I’ve ever done an audit of all the 700+ books on my to-read and I can’t remember why I added some that have been there for over 13 years.
So in the last few years, I have gotten better at writing notes in Goodreads as to why I added certain books, then when I come back later I can see if that reason is still enough to keep the book on my list given that I will probably have added even more books. But again, I hadn’t reviewed the list.
Now that we are up-to-speed, I’ve started to review them over the last few weeks. It’s hard. I’m afraid to take anything off my list because I assume that I had a good reason to add them in the past. Why do I think that past me is smarter than present me? So, I have to be brutal in the culling.
How I’m going about it. When I come to a book on the list…
If I don’t immediately know that I love the book and can’t wait to read it
I look to see if there are any notes on the book from myself or better yet a recommendation
If no recommendation then I look to see if anyone I follow has done a review
Lastly, I read the book description
If after reading the description I’m still on the fence then I look at some of the reviews
Reading the reviews is hard because everyone is so different. Many people don’t just randomly pick a book and start reading. They have an interest in the topic a reason for picking up the book in the first place, so you have to take that into account. Plus, those that write reviews are invested in the book enough to create a review.
I usually review every book, more for myself than for other readers to see if they should read the book or not, I look at it as a history or journal of what I’m reading. But we can assume that not everyone is like me and that those writing a review have strong feelings one way or the other. So you tend to get people that hated it or loved it not too much in between.
I’m still making my way through all 730ish books on my to-read, but so far I’ve already taken off 100. It’s going to take a while and I can’t be in a rush or somethings will be dropped because I’m in too much of a hurry to complete the task. I could also keep things I shouldn’t because I’m rushing.
I’m thinking this is something I should really do yearly as well. Since many times my interest ebb and flow. I may lose interest in a topic and don’t want to invest the time in a book that is on a subject that no longer interests me.
I had high hopes for 2020 as far as reading went. But 2020 had other plans for all of us. My wife and I welcomed a new baby girl into our lives and the world gave us a global pandemic. You would think I would have more time on my hands with a global pandemic, but preparing and having a third little girl did divert my time slightly. While I planned to read many more books in 2020 I only made it through 36 books this year. Less than the 55 I was able to read in 2019.
Although I read less I think I did better with reading diversity. In 2019 I read only 23% female authors’ books, while in 2020 I managed 40%, still less than half, and something I can still improve upon, but better. 89% of the books I read were non-fiction. I believe fiction is important to read, but my favorite genre is definitely non-fiction, I really feel like reading those books is time well spent. Back to diversity; I also look at the nationality of the writers I read. In 2020, I read 77% from United States writers. I did manage to read 3 Canadians, but that’s still the North American continent.
As far as how I liked the books, my average score was 4, the lowest was 2, and the highest was 5. I’ll make sure to link to all the 5-star books below. My favorite binding or way of reading was Kindle (48.6%). This makes sense when you see how many books I read about minimalism this year and last. Next was audiobooks, 31.4%. I’m sure I would have read even more audiobooks in 2020 if my commute would have lasted past March.
I read 6,524 pages digital and real this year. I listened to 6,170 minutes (102.8 hours, 4.3 days) of audiobooks. I enjoyed listening to books on walks while riding an indoor bike and sometimes laying on the ground waiting for a child of mine to fall asleep.
Topics or why I read the books I did this year. 9 books were related to minimalism, 5 were general education, 4 on the environment and cycling (4 each). This is a big one. I saved $310.09 by using the library in 2020.
One thing that was different this year is that each book got a blog post, something I have not been very good at doing in the past. I hope to get better at this.
This year changed a lot of things. A major one of those things was the Black Lives Matter movement. It brought to the forefront hundreds of years of oppression. I’m no expert on this movement and as a privileged, white, heterosexual, male, I can’t begin to understand the struggle of African-Americans in this country. Having said that, not trying is failing. Reading a book doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make a huge difference. I’m trying to learn and see things from another person’s eyes.
Ibram’s book does that. I encourage you to listen to this 6 minute NPR story about this book:
Emily is a member of a family in the antebellum Southern aristocracy; after the Civil War, the family has fallen on hard times.
A very short story that you can read online here. A bit of history and a somewhat sad story. Very well-written and an enjoyable read. Only 4 stars as I wish it was longer. Looks like the whole movie is available on youtube:
Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George
Pages
Rating
Genre
304
3 / 5
Non-fiction, Economics, Travel
Rose George writes a very extensive (verbose) description of the shipping industry as it is today. In order to accomplish this she actually gets on a ship and sails with the crew of a cargo ship through their normal route, including pirate infested waters. I read the book more for the economics of shipping. I wanted to understand how we got to this place where it is insanely cheap to ship via cargo ships and cargo containers. She covers this and so much more.
The extra is where she loses me. At times she dives into the history of shipping, then she passes to the legality of it, then the a short biography of the current captain of the ship she is on, then the shipping company Maersk, then it reads as a travel book, then she covers a short history of harbor towns. You can see what I am getting at here. It’s just too much. She managed to pack in 3 or 4 book subjects into one book. While the title speaks to me, the economy of shipping, there is so much more in this book. For this reason, it gets only 3 stars.
