
The Genius Myth
A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pre-order for $19.80
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Helen Lewis
-
By:
-
Helen Lewis
About this listen
From acclaimed Atlantic staff writer and host of BBC’s podcast “The New Gurus” Helen Lewis comes a timely and provocative interrogation of the myth of genius, exploring the surprising inventions, inspirations and distortions by which some lives are elevated to 'greatness'—and others are not
ABOUT THE BOOK
*A Guardian, Financial Times, New Statesman and GQ Book for 2025*
You can tell what a society values by who it labels as a genius. You can also tell who it excludes, who it enables, and what it is prepared to tolerate. In The Genius Myth, Helen Lewis unearths how this one word has shaped (and distorted) our ideas of success and achievement.
Ultimately, argues Lewis, the modern idea of genius—a single preternaturally gifted individual, usually white and male, exempt from social niceties and sometimes even the law—has run its course. Braiding deep research with her signature wit and lightness, Lewis dissects past and present models of genius in the West, and reveals a far deeper and more interesting picture of human creativity than conventional wisdom allows. She uncovers a battalion of overlooked wives and collaborators. She asks whether most inventions are inevitable. She wonders if the Beatles would succeed today. And she confronts the vexing puzzle of Elon Musk, the tech disrupter who fancies himself as an ubermensch.
Smart, funny, and provocative, The Genius Myth will challenge your assumptions about creativity, productivity, and innovation—and forever alter your mental image of the so-called “genius.”
©2025 Helen Lewis (P)2025 Penguin AudioPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
Say Hello to the Bad Guys
- How Professional Wrestling's New World Order Changed America
- By: Marc Raimondi
- Narrated by: Marc Raimondi
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1996, professional wrestling was one of the most watched sports on cable television, with more than 5 million people tuning in every week. And in the late 1990s, pro-wrestling was the hottest thing in American pop culture, with companies making millions in action figures, video games, and simple black t-shirts emblazoned with three little letters: NWO. The NWO, or New World Order, became a business like no other, and was responsible for the explosive ratings and rabid fanbase.
By: Marc Raimondi
-
American Scare
- Florida's Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives
- By: Robert W. Fieseler
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 1959, Art Copleston was escorted out of his college accounting class by three police officers. In a motel room, blinds drawn, he sat in front of a state senator and the legal counsel for the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the “Johns Committee.” His crime? Being a suspected homosexual. And the government of Florida would use any tactic at their disposal—legal or not—to get Copleston to admit it.
-
The American Revolution
- An Intimate History
- By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. Historian Geoffrey C. Ward ably steers us through the international forces at play, telling the story not from the top down but from the bottom up—and through the eyes of not only our “Founding Fathers” but also those of ordinary soldiers, as well as underrepresented populations, asking who exactly was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
By: Geoffrey C. Ward, and others
-
Buckley
- The Life and the Revolution That Changed America
- By: Sam Tanenhaus
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 31 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Majestic in its sweep, rich in ideas and argument, and packed with news and revelations, Buckley vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases—founding editor of National Review, the 20th century’s most influential political journal; syndicated columnist and TV debater; ally of Joseph McCarthy and Barry Goldwater; mentor to Ronald Reagan; wisecracking candidate for mayor of New York; and bestselling novelist and memoirist.
By: Sam Tanenhaus
-
Black Lamb and Gray Falcon
- By: Rebecca West
- Length: 39 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life.
By: Rebecca West
-
India
- 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent
- By: Audrey Truschke
- Narrated by: Audrey Truschke
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much of world history is Indian history. Home today to one in four people, the subcontinent has long been densely populated and deeply connected to Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas through migration and trade. In this magisterial history, Audrey Truschke tells the fascinating story of the region historically known as India--which includes today's India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Afghanistan—and the people who have lived there.
By: Audrey Truschke
-
Say Hello to the Bad Guys
- How Professional Wrestling's New World Order Changed America
- By: Marc Raimondi
- Narrated by: Marc Raimondi
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1996, professional wrestling was one of the most watched sports on cable television, with more than 5 million people tuning in every week. And in the late 1990s, pro-wrestling was the hottest thing in American pop culture, with companies making millions in action figures, video games, and simple black t-shirts emblazoned with three little letters: NWO. The NWO, or New World Order, became a business like no other, and was responsible for the explosive ratings and rabid fanbase.
By: Marc Raimondi
-
American Scare
- Florida's Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives
- By: Robert W. Fieseler
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In January 1959, Art Copleston was escorted out of his college accounting class by three police officers. In a motel room, blinds drawn, he sat in front of a state senator and the legal counsel for the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the “Johns Committee.” His crime? Being a suspected homosexual. And the government of Florida would use any tactic at their disposal—legal or not—to get Copleston to admit it.
-
The American Revolution
- An Intimate History
- By: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns
- Length: 20 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. Historian Geoffrey C. Ward ably steers us through the international forces at play, telling the story not from the top down but from the bottom up—and through the eyes of not only our “Founding Fathers” but also those of ordinary soldiers, as well as underrepresented populations, asking who exactly was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
By: Geoffrey C. Ward, and others
-
Buckley
- The Life and the Revolution That Changed America
- By: Sam Tanenhaus
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 31 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Majestic in its sweep, rich in ideas and argument, and packed with news and revelations, Buckley vividly captures its subject in all his facets and phases—founding editor of National Review, the 20th century’s most influential political journal; syndicated columnist and TV debater; ally of Joseph McCarthy and Barry Goldwater; mentor to Ronald Reagan; wisecracking candidate for mayor of New York; and bestselling novelist and memoirist.
By: Sam Tanenhaus
-
Black Lamb and Gray Falcon
- By: Rebecca West
- Length: 39 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life.
By: Rebecca West
-
India
- 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent
- By: Audrey Truschke
- Narrated by: Audrey Truschke
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Much of world history is Indian history. Home today to one in four people, the subcontinent has long been densely populated and deeply connected to Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas through migration and trade. In this magisterial history, Audrey Truschke tells the fascinating story of the region historically known as India--which includes today's India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and parts of Afghanistan—and the people who have lived there.
By: Audrey Truschke
-
Killing Pablo
- The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Zac Aleman
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar escaped his lavish, custom built prison in Colombia, the fallout drove the nation to the brink of chaos. In Killing Pablo, acclaimed journalist Mark Bowden tells the story of the US military’s fifteen-month mission to find him. Drawing on unprecedented access to the soldiers, field agents, and officials involved in the chase, as well as hundreds of pages of top-secret documents and transcripts of Escobar’s intercepted phone conversations, Bowden creates a narrative that reads as if it were torn from the pages of a Tom Clancy thriller.
By: Mark Bowden
-
Zbig
- The Life and Times of Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet
- By: Edward Luce
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 23 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An intimate and masterful biography of Zbigniew Brzezinski—President Carter’s national security advisor and one of America’s leading geopolitical thinkers—from one of the finest columnists and political writers at work today.
-
-
The writing was impeccable
- By Nathan King on 05-22-25
By: Edward Luce
-
Race Against Terror
- Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War
- By: Jake Tapper
- Narrated by: Jake Tapper
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
June 2011: a man fleeing the Arab Spring on a refugee boat surrenders himself to Italian authorities. He claims that, as a terrorist, he is responsible for the deaths of American soldiers. This unexpected surrender sets off an unlikely chain of events and one of the most significant, but little-known, cases in American history.
By: Jake Tapper
-
Access
- Inside the Abortion Underground and the Sixty-Year Battle for Reproductive Freedom
- By: Rebecca Grant
- Narrated by: Keyonni James
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this definitive, eye-opening history, award-winning author Rebecca Grant charts the reproductive freedom movement from the days before Roe through the seismic impact of Dobbs. The stories in Access span four continents, tracing strategies across generations and borders. Grant centers those activists who have been engaged in direct action to help people get the abortions they need.
By: Rebecca Grant
-
Marketcrafters
- The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy
- By: Chris Hughes
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Economist and writer Chris Hughes takes us on a journey through the modern history of American capitalism, relating the captivating stories of the most effective marketcrafters and the ones who bungled the job. He reveals how both Republicans and Democrats have consistently attempted to organize markets for social and political reasons, like avoiding gasoline shortages, reducing inflation, fostering the American aviation and semiconductor industries, fighting climate change, and supporting financial innovation.
By: Chris Hughes
-
The Invisible Spy
- Churchill's Rockefeller Center Spy Ring and America’s First Secret Agent of World War II
- By: Thomas Maier
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a tough but smart Italian American kid, Ernest Cuneo played Ivy League football at Columbia University and was in the old Brooklyn Dodgers NFL franchise before becoming a city hall lawyer and “Brain Trust'' aide to President Roosevelt. He was on the payroll of national radio columnist Walter Winchell and mingled with the famous and powerful. But his status as a spy remained a secret, hiding in plain sight. During this time, Cuneo began a close friendship with British spy Ian Fleming and helped inspire Fleming's James Bond novels.
-
-
N excellent isten. sorry to see it end
- By "Old" but Good Reader on 04-10-25
By: Thomas Maier