Lazy Man and Money

  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
    • What I’m Doing Now
  • Consumer Protection
    • Is Le-vel Thrive a Scam?
    • Is Jusuru a Scam?
    • Is Beachbody’s Shakeology a Scam?
    • Is “It Works” a Scam?
    • Is Neora (Nerium) a Scam?
    • Youngevity Scam?
    • Are DoTERRA Essential Oils a Scam?
    • Is Plexus a Scam?
    • Is Jeunesse a Scam?
    • Is Kangen Water a Scam?
    • ViSalus Scam Exposed!
    • Is AdvoCare a Scam?
  • Contact
  • Archive

Are The Great Courses Really Great?

August 1, 2017 by Kosmo 6 Comments

I’ve always been a person who tried to continue learning about new things.  Over the years, those, this ended up being a piecemeal effort.  When I read books, it was mostly novels.  When I read non-fiction, it was often news articles.

Recently, I’ve been taking advantage of a lot of Audible deals.  (Editor’s Note: Kosmo admits to his e-content hoarding addiction, but it’s a good thing.) I’d get a couple months free, when a new deal to get a few months and half price, and then later, rinse, repeat.  During this time, I realized that I could use audio books to easily consume some non fiction books.  I set a goal of 50-75 hours of academic listening per year.

I could have used Ted Talks or even podcasts to achieve this, but I decided that I wanted a fairly deep dive into topics.  While poking around on Audible, I found the Great Courses series.    For the cost of one Audible credit ($14.95), I can get 12-25 hour lectures on a variety of topics.

Naturally, I started with the Big Bang, in the Big History course.  It’s a 24+ hour course that covers time from the Big Bang until modern day.  Obviously, this is at a very high level and is looking more at overarching trends than at the details.

With history out of the way, I turned to Genetics and spent 12 hours listening to discussions of things like short tandem repeats.  I’ve always had an interest in genetics and read articles on the subject, but I was surprised at how many concepts I was unaware of.

Currently, I’m in the middle of Economic History of the World Since 1400.  I’m just about at the point where the printing press has been invented.  They voyage to the present day should be interesting.

I’m not the only one who is learning from these lectures.  I have two kids, age nine and seven.  My nine year old, in particular, tends to listen to the audio books I’m playing in the car.  In the past several months, we’ve had discussions about the expansion of the universe, Gregor Mendel’s research on pea plants, Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the attempt of Europeans to find sea routes to Asia.  One of these days, I’m going to work with her on some Punnett squares.

Where will our next book take us? I don’t know. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, it’s about the journey, right?

Editor’s Note: This article is very positive about The Great Courses. Neither me nor Kosmo (to the best of my knowledge) have received any compensation from the company. I have a few of the Audible books from The Great Courses myself, but I haven’t listened to them yet.

Email (and share) This

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Related

Filed Under: Learning Tagged With: Great Courses

SIGN UP NOW FOR MONEY TIPS AND A CHANCE TO WIN $25 MONTHLY

Comments

  1. Alan Gornik says

    August 2, 2017 at 10:53 am

    I get them from the library and rip them. I have listened to 277 of the courses!

    Reply
    • Lazy Man says

      August 2, 2017 at 10:55 am

      That’s a lot of study time!

  2. Alan Gornik says

    August 2, 2017 at 11:03 am

    All done while driving or in the shower so no time actually used :)

    Reply
  3. Vogel says

    August 2, 2017 at 12:25 pm

    I haven’t checked out the Great Courses series yet but am totally addicted to BBCs In Our Time podcasts. Heady academic deep dives into topics in history, philosophy, culture, etc. Great stuff!
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/downloads

    The History of Rome is also one of my favorites. A total of 192 15-minute episodes.
    https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474?mt=2

    Reply
  4. Kosmo says

    August 16, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    @ Alan – wow, that’s impressive. The multi-tasking aspect is a great benefit. It’s such a great way to kill time while mowing the lawn or shoveling now.

    @ Vogel – I’ll have to check those out.

    Since I wrote this, there was a deal on Amazon where you could get a year of Audible (with 12 credits) for $100. Basically half off. I immediately jumped at the chance and have cashed in 5 of the credits already. I was able to lower the cost even more during a recent 2-for-1 sale. The selection of 2 for 1 books is always very limited, but I found a novel that I wanted (Shadow Prey by John Sandford) as well as a Great Courses audio book (The Economics of Uncertainty). I’m currently listening to the history of the Civil War.

    Reply
    • Alan Gornik says

      August 16, 2017 at 12:23 pm

      Check you local library to see if they offer a service called Hoopla. Offers a lot of audio content that you can stream or download for free.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

As Seen In…

Join and Follow

RSS Feed
RSS Feed

Follow Me on Pinterest

Search The Site

Recent Comments

  • Lazy Man on Passive Income Update: December 2020
  • Lazy Man on Passive Income Update: December 2020
  • Lazy Man on What’s My Pension Worth?
  • Louis on What’s My Pension Worth?
  • Financial Samurai on Passive Income Update: December 2020

About

Learn more about Lazy Man and Money, how the site developed over the years, and more at the About page.

Recent Posts

  • Passive Income Update: December 2020
  • How To Teach Kids About the Stock Market?
  • 2021 Goals and Resolutions
  • The Extreme Lazy Man Diet
  • Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2021

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Please note that we may have a financial relationship with the companies mentioned on this site. We frequently review products or services that we have been given access to for free. However, we do not accept compensation in any form in exchange for positive reviews, and the reviews found on this site represent the opinions of the author.


© Copyright 2006-2021 · Perfect Plan Publishing, Inc. · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Advertising · A Narrow Bridge Media Design

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.