The Hungry Minds Podcast

Noah Charney
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Books
  • Biweekly

Welcome to the official podcast for Hungry Minds Publishing hosted by best-selling author and host Noah Charney. Hungry Minds is the independent publisher behind the viral, bestselling encyclopedia, The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization, The Last Book: The Diary of the Last Earthling and the third of its flagship series The Black Book: The Ultimate Guide to Alternative Inventions. Subscribe to the podcast to hear the latest news and announcements from the Hungry Minds team, experts and influencers. Welcome to the world of Hungry Minds. @hungryminds.publishing

Episodes

  1. Oct 16

    How to Explain Humanity to Aliens

    This time, it’s an inside job: Noah Charney, author of The Black Book, talks with Jonah Howell, the writer behind The Last Book (who is also hard at work on the forthcoming Atlas of Archetypes). Noah opens with a look at the peculiar creative machine that is Hungry Minds: an international team where text and illustrations grow together, a joke can force a rewrite 100 pages back, and roughly three times more material gets made than ever reaches the page. It’s an inefficient way to make a book, and that’s exactly why the books feel the way they do. Plus, why the Kickstarter-first model lets the team ask readers, “Do you want this strange, beautiful, oversized thing to exist?” Then Jonah takes us inside The Last Book: how it grew from a single name, Noah Kaplan (yes, our host shares it), and one strange brief: an encyclopedia of humanity written for aliens by Earth’s last survivor. They talk about meetings where six people debate every word against every illustration (“Sudoku with infinite digits”), why the narrator can only remember what one stranded caricature artist could, and the surprising personal story behind the hero’s amnesia. They trace the book’s literary DNA through Beckett, Krasznahorkai, and a Soviet sci-fi story about a lonely alien. Finally, they compare the two books: where The Black Book rebuilds the futures history voted against, The Last Book asks what to do with all of history once it’s over. Chapters:00:00 Welcome to the Hungry Minds Podcast00:46 Meet Jonah Howell, lead writer of The Last Book02:04 Why Hungry Minds books are made like films03:43 The Kickstarter-first model05:31 From New Orleans to Manhattan05:57 Rilke, a PhD, and the Rilke Trail at Duino07:32 Behind the scenes: “Sudoku with infinite digits”09:33 Sketches, drafts, and the value of human-made art11:26 The premise of The Last Book: a diary for aliens13:36 What makes the cut when you’re the last human15:18 The real story behind the hero’s amnesia16:09 Jonah’s path as a writer and translator16:46 What makes us human? Throwing darts at a curtain19:11 Influences: Harold Bloom, Beckett, Krasznahorkai, Tertz21:52 Feeling like an alien on your own planet23:05 The Last Book vs. The Black Book: the art of compression25:48 Dead-end futures vs. the end of history27:33 Wrap-upLinks:Noah Charney Jonah HowellHungry MindsThe Last BookThe Black BookThe Book

    How to Explain Humanity to Aliens

  2. Sep 19

    From Dr. Stone to The Black Book

    This time Noah Charney sits down with a guest who couldn't be a better fit: Aaron Dismuke, the voice behind Dr. Stone’s English lead. It’s a natural crossover. Rebuilding civilization through sheer human ingenuity is the core engine of both The Book and Dr. Stone. But the connection runs even deeper: Aaron was actually hooked on The Book long before this interview, after his partner (and fellow Dr. Stone voice actor!) gifted him a copy.   What starts with anime quickly morphs into a wide-ranging, surprisingly deep conversation. Together, they chart a path through the hilarious translation quirks of adapting anime for Western audiences, how technology functions as magic, and whether humanity could ever build a truly universal language. They unpack the tug-of-war between cold logic and emotion, explain why living flesh actually outlasts solid steel, and reveal Aaron’s personal “Roman Empire” (spoiler: it’s literally his very own podcast about ancient Carthage). Links: Noah Charney: https://www.instagram.com/slovenology/Aaron Dismuke: https://www.instagram.com/alethiometric/Hungry Minds: https://hungryminds.com/The Book: https://hungryminds.com/products/the-bookThe Black Book: https://hungryminds.com/products/the-black-book

    From Dr. Stone to The Black Book

  3. Sep 5

    Weapons Beyond The Odyssey : Death Rays, Greek Fire & the Lost Arsenal of the Ancient World

    Inspired by The Odyssey, Noah sets off on a voyage through some of the ancient world’s strangest and most sophisticated inventions. We tend to picture antiquity as technologically simple: swords, sandals, ships and the occasional catapult. The reality was considerably weirder.In this solo episode, discover:  The Claw of Archimedes, a giant mechanical grappling device apparently capable of lifting and destabilizing Roman warships.Archimedes’ Death Ray, the legendary mirror weapon supposedly used to set enemy ships on fire—and the modern experiments that tried to find out whether it could actually work.The Antikythera Mechanism, a 2,000-year-old system of intricate bronze gears often described as the world’s first analogue computer.Heron of Alexandria’s inventions, including a primitive steam turbine, automatic temple doors and a coin-operated holy-water vending machine.Talos, a legendary giant bronze robot who guarded Crete and later inspired the Colossus of Rhodes.Greek Fire, Byzantium’s terrifying flamethrower-like naval weapon, whose closely guarded formula eventually vanished.And the larger mystery behind them all: how can sophisticated technology be invented—and then simply disappear?Some of these machines definitely existed. Some are known only from ancient descriptions. Others occupy the wonderfully murky territory between history and legend. Together they reveal an ancient world filled with engineers, experimenters and dreamers asking essentially the same question that drives Hungry Minds: I wonder what happens if we try this?--Dr Noah CharneyIf you'd like to follow my updates and activities you're welcome to sign up at https://noahcharney.substack.com/Please note that Noah usually checks and writes emails just once a week, on Fridays. Thanks for your patience!

    Weapons Beyond The Odyssey : Death Rays, Greek Fire & the Lost Arsenal of the Ancient World

  4. Aug 15

    Bali, The Black Book and The Atlas of Archetypes

    Learn more about Hungry Minds’ books and magical artifacts by visiting the website www.hungryminds.com

    Bali, The Black Book and The Atlas of Archetypes

  5. Aug 4

    The Birth of The Book

    www.hungryminds.com

    The Birth of The Book

  6. Jul 31

    Welcome to the Hungry Minds Podcast

    www.hungryminds.com

    Welcome to the Hungry Minds Podcast
  • 6 Episodes

About

Welcome to the official podcast for Hungry Minds Publishing hosted by best-selling author and host Noah Charney. Hungry Minds is the independent publisher behind the viral, bestselling encyclopedia, The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization, The Last Book: The Diary of the Last Earthling and the third of its flagship series The Black Book: The Ultimate Guide to Alternative Inventions. Subscribe to the podcast to hear the latest news and announcements from the Hungry Minds team, experts and influencers. Welcome to the world of Hungry Minds. @hungryminds.publishing

Information

  • Creator
    Noah Charney
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Hungry Minds Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Hungry Minds Podcast

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