About this episode

Brian O’Leary joins Andrew Flattery to discuss the concept of dad books and share their favorite picks in this genre.

Brian O’Leary is back on the pod to talk about the dad book. This is the airport nonfiction, narrative history, and adventure bio, etc. The Wall Street Journal just declared this ‘category’ a dying breed. As Dads with books, Brian and I draft our favorite picks. We talk Charles Manson and the CIA, why a German U-boat off the East Coast makes Shadow Divers impossible to put down, and the case for James Michener (bestseller nobody under fifty remembers). And a lot more. Brian’s Substack and podcast (the O’Leary Review): https://olearyreview.com Gentleman Speculator is from Andrew Flattery at Flattery Wealth Management . TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 Nixon on his old man 00:01:00 What a dad book is, and why the Journal called it dying 00:11:00 Books you can actually find at the airport 00:12:00 Chaos, Charles Manson and the CIA 00:18:00 The book your own father gave you, Endurance 00:24:00 Sports, and The Boys in the Boat 00:27:00 The First All-Star Game and the 1932 plot on FDR 00:33:00 Biography, The Wright Brothers 00:39:00 Hidden gems, and the forgotten James Michener 00:46:00 The anti-recommendation, Bernard Cornwell 00:53:00 The GOATs, Shadow Divers and The Sportswriter 00:57:00 What…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Flattery

Guest: Brian O’Leary

Topics covered

• dad books
• narrative history
• adventure biographies
• Charles Manson
• CIA
• James Michener
• airport nonfiction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Wall Street Journal

Books & works: Shadow Divers, Endurance, The Boys in the Boat, The Wright Brothers, James Michener, Bernard Cornwell, The Sportswriter

Places: East Coast

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