Listen free for 30 days
-
We Learn Nothing
- Essays
- Narrated by: Tim Kreider
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Essays
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £18.29
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Good Pop, Bad Pop
- By: Jarvis Cocker
- Narrated by: Jarvis Cocker
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th-century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process—writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
-
-
I could have listened to this forever.
- By Rebecca Morgan on 11-06-22
-
I Wrote This Book Because I Love You
- Essays
- By: Tim Kreider
- Narrated by: Tim Kreider
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times essayist and author of We Learn Nothing, Tim Kreider trains his virtuoso writing and singular power of observation on his (often befuddling) relationships with women - romantic, platonic, and the murky in-between. He talks about his difficulty finding lasting love, and seeks to understand his commitment issues by tracking down the John Hopkins psychologist who tested him for a groundbreaking study on attachment when he was a toddler. He talks about his valued female friendships, one of which landed him on a circus train bound for Mexico.
-
-
A life well lived
- By M. E-S on 19-06-18
-
Love's Executioner
- By: Irvin D. Yalom
- Narrated by: C.M. Carlson
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The collection of 10 absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humor at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile his all-too-human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist.
-
-
Wonderful book - one quibble about recording
- By Anonymous User on 04-07-19
-
The Art of Learning
- An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance
- By: Josh Waitzkin
- Narrated by: Josh Waitzkin
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Art of Learning takes listeners through Waitzkin's unique journey to excellence. He explains in clear detail how a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning is what separates success from failure. Waitzkin believes that achievement, even at the championship level, is a function of a lifestyle that fuels a creative, resilient growth process.
-
-
I didn't ask for an autobiography
- By Amazon Customer on 07-12-15
-
Stoner
- A Novel
- By: John Williams, John McGahern - introduction
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Waterstone's book of the year. Colum McCann once called Stoner one of the great forgotten novels of the past century, but it seems it is forgotten no longer - in 2013, translations of Stoner began appearing on best-seller lists across Europe. William Stoner enters the University of Missouri at 19 to study agriculture. A seminar on English literature changes his life, and he never returns to work on his father's farm. Stoner becomes a teacher. He marries the wrong woman.
-
-
Probably one of the finest books I have listened to - why isn't this book better known?!
- By ADRIAN M WATTS on 21-03-17
-
Quiet
- The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
- By: Susan Cain
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our lives are driven by a fact most of us can't name and don't understand: whether we're an introvert or an extrovert. This defines who our friends and lovers are, which careers we choose and whether we blush when we're embarrassed. At least a third of us are on the introverted side. Some of the world's most talented people are introverts. Without them, we wouldn't have the Apple computer, the theory of relativity and Van Gogh's sunflowers.
-
-
Life-changing
- By Trina on 13-04-13
-
Good Pop, Bad Pop
- By: Jarvis Cocker
- Narrated by: Jarvis Cocker
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th-century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process—writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.
-
-
I could have listened to this forever.
- By Rebecca Morgan on 11-06-22
-
I Wrote This Book Because I Love You
- Essays
- By: Tim Kreider
- Narrated by: Tim Kreider
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times essayist and author of We Learn Nothing, Tim Kreider trains his virtuoso writing and singular power of observation on his (often befuddling) relationships with women - romantic, platonic, and the murky in-between. He talks about his difficulty finding lasting love, and seeks to understand his commitment issues by tracking down the John Hopkins psychologist who tested him for a groundbreaking study on attachment when he was a toddler. He talks about his valued female friendships, one of which landed him on a circus train bound for Mexico.
-
-
A life well lived
- By M. E-S on 19-06-18
-
Love's Executioner
- By: Irvin D. Yalom
- Narrated by: C.M. Carlson
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The collection of 10 absorbing tales by master psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom uncovers the mysteries, frustrations, pathos, and humor at the heart of the therapeutic encounter. In recounting his patients' dilemmas, Yalom not only gives us a rare and enthralling glimpse into their personal desires and motivations but also tells us his own story as he struggles to reconcile his all-too-human responses with his sensibility as a psychiatrist.
-
-
Wonderful book - one quibble about recording
- By Anonymous User on 04-07-19
-
The Art of Learning
- An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance
- By: Josh Waitzkin
- Narrated by: Josh Waitzkin
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Art of Learning takes listeners through Waitzkin's unique journey to excellence. He explains in clear detail how a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning is what separates success from failure. Waitzkin believes that achievement, even at the championship level, is a function of a lifestyle that fuels a creative, resilient growth process.
-
-
I didn't ask for an autobiography
- By Amazon Customer on 07-12-15
-
Stoner
- A Novel
- By: John Williams, John McGahern - introduction
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Waterstone's book of the year. Colum McCann once called Stoner one of the great forgotten novels of the past century, but it seems it is forgotten no longer - in 2013, translations of Stoner began appearing on best-seller lists across Europe. William Stoner enters the University of Missouri at 19 to study agriculture. A seminar on English literature changes his life, and he never returns to work on his father's farm. Stoner becomes a teacher. He marries the wrong woman.
-
-
Probably one of the finest books I have listened to - why isn't this book better known?!
- By ADRIAN M WATTS on 21-03-17
-
Quiet
- The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
- By: Susan Cain
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our lives are driven by a fact most of us can't name and don't understand: whether we're an introvert or an extrovert. This defines who our friends and lovers are, which careers we choose and whether we blush when we're embarrassed. At least a third of us are on the introverted side. Some of the world's most talented people are introverts. Without them, we wouldn't have the Apple computer, the theory of relativity and Van Gogh's sunflowers.
-
-
Life-changing
- By Trina on 13-04-13
-
The Artist's Way
- A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
- By: Julia Cameron
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its first publication, The Artist's Way has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert, Tim Ferriss, Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose.
-
-
Life changing
- By JJ on 04-05-22
-
The Choice
- Embrace the Possible
- By: Edith Eger
- Narrated by: Edith Eger, Tovah Feldshuh
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1944, 16-year-old Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. There she endured unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele. Over the coming months, Edith's bravery helped her sister to survive and led to her bunkmates rescuing her during a death march. When their camp was finally liberated, Edith was pulled from a pile of bodies, barely alive. In The Choice, Dr Edith Eger shares her experience of the Holocaust and the remarkable stories of those she has helped since.
-
-
Nothing short of extraordinary-10stars...100stars!
- By Kathy on 27-09-17
-
The Obstacle Is the Way
- The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
- By: Ryan Holiday
- Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are stuck, stymied, frustrated. But it needn't be this way. There is a formula for success that's been followed by the icons of history - from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs - a formula that let them turn obstacles into opportunities. Faced with impossible situations, they found the astounding triumphs we all seek.
-
-
Fantastic read
- By Matthew Henry on 16-11-16
-
Four Thousand Weeks
- Embrace Your Limits. Change Your Life.
- By: Oliver Burkeman
- Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody needs telling that there isn't enough time. We're obsessed by our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Yet we rarely make the conscious connection that these problems only trouble us in the first place, thanks to the ultimate time-management problem: the challenge of how best to use our 4,000 weeks. Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of this problem.
-
-
Hard work
- By JC on 14-11-21
-
Tools of Titans
- The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
- By: Tim Ferriss
- Narrated by: Ray Porter, Kaleo Griffith, Tim Ferriss, and others
- Length: 22 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The latest groundbreaking tome from Tim Ferriss, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek. For the last two years, I've interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview.
-
-
Life hacks from insecure over-achievers
- By papapownall on 15-06-20
-
Principles
- Life and Work
- By: Ray Dalio
- Narrated by: Ray Dalio, Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ray Dalio, one of the world's most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he's developed, refined, and used over the past 40 years to create unique results in both life and business - and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.
-
-
I personally didn't find it educational enough.
- By Vlad on 20-10-17
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
-
Great listen
- By Luke Barton on 20-08-11
-
101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think
- By: Brianna Wiest
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: This idea changed my life.
-
-
This just one long list.
- By mr b w hutchison on 29-08-21
-
Think Again
- The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
- By: Adam Grant
- Narrated by: Adam Grant
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In recent months, the pandemic has forced us all to reevaluate our assumptions about health and safety and multiple acts of police brutality have challenged most of us to reconsider our responsibility for fighting racism. Yet in our daily lives, too many of us still favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt.
-
-
This did not make me think again
- By Amanda P on 31-07-21
-
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order
- Why Nations Succeed or Fail
- By: Ray Dalio
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Ray Dalio
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the international best seller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes - but similar to those that have happened many times before.
-
-
A New Appreciation for Macro Politics & Economics
- By Joshua on 13-12-21
-
The Immortality Key
- The Secret History of the Religion with No Name
- By: Brian C. Muraresku, Graham Hancock - foreword
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock, Brian C. Muraresku
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A groundbreaking dive into the role psychedelics have played in the origins of Western civilization, and the real-life quest for the Holy Grail that could shake the Church to its foundations.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Anonymous User on 13-12-20
-
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
- By: Gail Honeyman
- Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive - but not how to live. Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world....
-
-
Amazing. Touching. Complete
- By Katherine on 12-07-17
Summary
In We Learn Nothing, satirical cartoonist Tim Kreider turns his funny, brutally honest eye to the dark truths of the human condition, asking big questions about human-sized problems: What if you survive a brush with death and it doesn't change you? Why do we fall in love with people we don't even like? How do you react when someone you've known for years unexpectedly changes genders?
With a perfect combination of humor and pathos, these essays leave us with newfound wisdom and a unique prism through which to examine our own chaotic journeys through life. These are the conversations you have only with best friends or total strangers, late at night over drinks, near closing time.
More from the same
What listeners say about We Learn Nothing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- c
- 05-04-15
Could not stop listening.
Would you consider the audio edition of We Learn Nothing to be better than the print version?
Yes
What was one of the most memorable moments of We Learn Nothing?
Too many to remember one
What does Tim Kreider bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
The right intonation
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
A cried a few times
Any additional comments?
Can't wait for another of his audiobooks!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Unclepigg
- 30-07-15
Thought provoking
Didn't really know east to expect from this book. It took a while for me to get into it, but then I started to enjoy the stories. Very funny, clever vocabulary, and very thought provoking.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mike
- 09-04-15
A genuine treat
An honest account of the things life can throw at us. Learnt about this through the Tim Ferriss Podcast and glad I gave it a go.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superb and insightful
Unsurpassed insight into the human condition communicated with wit and humility. A 'must listen' audiobook.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R. Worth
- 26-05-15
Thought provoking and funny
An engrossing and engaging look back by the author at his life. I meant to listen to a little a day over a month but got sucked in and blasted through in a very few days. If you like to think, ponder or dissect what life is all about then this is for you.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- FredoGumbo
- 12-07-22
3.5 stars
Good but not great. I enjoyed the writing more than I enjoyed the essays. Very well-written but a mixed bag of good, ok and boring essays.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Thomasson
- 20-11-21
LOVED IT!🤘😀
A brilliant collection of stories and anecdotes. well compiled and read. very entertaining! I really enjoyed it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Himanshu Sachdeva
- 31-10-18
Naked masterpiece depicting human nature
This book is like the morning after you wake up in a hangover (of not being drink but being your naked self as a human). You see in the mirror and there you are vulnerable, guilty and sort of laughing at yourself. Narration by Tim makes it what is - The masterpiece.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jack Lawrence
- 07-12-17
Favourite book, read wonderfully by the author
This is my favourite book, so obviously some degree of bias here.
If you don't know what this is, it's a collection of stories about the author's life, all conveying a message or a lesson he took from it.
They're really fantastic, varying in length from 12 to over 40 minutes, so great for listening in bouts.
The author himself reads the stories, in the way they were meant to be read. Do yourself a favour and get this, you won't regret it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Belea Simion
- 20-07-17
reflections that make me feel less weird
loved listening to it on my commute. it's filed with light reflections about unusual people and choices
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dennis Stevenson
- 05-04-15
A fantastic listen!
The authors profound insights into himself and his experiences reached me on a very personal level. I laughed hysterically and even shed some tears thinking of my own experience. Thank you Tim Ferris for this recommendation.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- jason russo
- 06-06-15
Very good
A very good collection of essays. I found them funny, thought-provoking, sad at times, but enjoyable. Kreider does a good job narrating as well.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Warren Taryle
- 08-05-15
Shouldn't have been written but glad it was
Some good stories some not so good. All in all though worth reading. The author too often assumes his own thoughts and motivations are the same as everyone else's he therefore applies motives to groups of people he clearly doesn't understand. This gets annoying and gives him an elitist air about him. All that said I am still happy that I listened to the book and would enjoy hanging out with him at the oyster bar he seems to like so well.
27 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Carlson Chofor Chimangha
- 07-12-15
Exceptionally Beuatiful.
Tim's book is mind-blowing. The fact that he succeeds to narrate it in such a tone of voice that brings out all the intense emotions he regular convers in his writing is even further awesome. As one critic accurately put it, the stories Tim tells are some of the kind you only have with a best friend or a complete stranger, in a quiet bar, around closing time!!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- joshua k sabraw
- 06-04-15
Heartfelt work of genius
Tim does a great job describing many ethereal and ubiquitous aspects of modern life, down to survivalist vs the lazy and love in all forms.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- My name here
- 02-11-15
amazing book
loved it. his story telling ability perfectly captures things we all think... he just has a way of shining light on them
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Meghann McGrath
- 05-06-15
Amazing
This book is great. You know it's good when an author gets into your head and changes the way you think. I recommend this book to anybody who wants to squeeze the juice out of life.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- GG
- 26-04-15
Some hits & some misses
The sample essay published on Tim Ferriss' podcast was wonderful, and the collection has a few other excellent moments. Quite a few of the other essays, however, fell flat for me. I'd give it maybe a 2:! hit:miss ratio. Enough good essays that it's totally worth a listen, but enough boring ones that I would be remiss if I didn't mention them.
The book is well written, and the author's narration of his own work is excellent.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- A. Yoshida
- 20-10-16
Amusing collection of essays
It is an amusing collection of essays that makes you ponder... a lovesick person wouldn't know the difference between a bold romantic gesture and stalking; it's the recipient who distinguishes that difference - when the recipient falls for the gesture or slaps the person with a restraining order. Some stories are not as relatable unless you've had friends who are drug addicts, love the rush of crazy relationships, or have insane murderous relatives. It's a "read and ruminate" kind of book.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- K.Leigh
- 27-07-16
LOVE
I haven't read something like this in a long time - something that made me laugh out loud (often before the tears had dried from the previous essay or thought), while also making me really think about the big things in life (friendship, biology, gender, empathy).
This is a collection of essays. It's almost like being in the author's mind as he recounts and reflects on different moments in his life. It is not that he is offering up advice based on these moments, but rather revealing his own (often flawed) responses, thought processes and flat out confusion. It's intensely raw, and I found myself looking at my own life events, wondering how I would react to the same situations. He invites that way of thinking with his self-deprecation and easy writing style. I am delighted that I came across this gem, and it will most certainly be a repeat listen book for me.
2 people found this helpful