Legal
Cookie policy
What we store on your device, who else can read it, and how to change your mind.
Last updated: 2026
What cookies are
Cookies are small files a website asks your browser to store. Similar technologies do much the same job under different names — local storage, pixels, tracking tags and beacons — and this policy covers all of them. Where we say “cookie” below, read it as “cookie or anything that behaves like one”.
Your choice comes first
Nothing beyond strictly necessary storage is set on this site until you have chosen. The banner on your first visit offers Accept all and Reject all with equal prominence, one click each, plus a preferences panel if you would rather pick category by category. Rejecting is exactly as easy as accepting, and carries no penalty — the site works the same either way.
You can change your decision whenever you like using the control, which also sits in the footer of every page. We record your choice for six months, then ask again.
Videos and podcast players
This site embeds recordings from YouTube and Audioboom. Both normally set cookies the moment a page loads, whether or not anyone watches or listens.
They do not do that here. Every embed on this site is a still image with a play button until you
press it. Nothing is requested from YouTube or Audioboom until you choose to play
something, so you can read any page on this site, including the ones with recordings on
them, without those companies receiving anything. When you do press play, the player loads and
that company's own cookies and privacy policy apply from that point. YouTube is loaded through
youtube-nocookie.com, its reduced-tracking domain.
That is why the embeds appear without asking you to accept cookies first: there is nothing to consent to until you press play, and pressing play is the consent.
The categories
Strictly necessary — always on
Required for the site to function or to remember a choice you have made. These cannot be switched off, and under the ePrivacy rules they do not require consent.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
ca-consent | This site (local storage, not a cookie) | Remembers your cookie choice so we stop asking | 6 months |
| [SECURITY / CDN COOKIE] | [HOSTING PROVIDER] | Load balancing, bot protection and abuse prevention | Session |
Analytics — off until you allow it
Statistics about which pages and episodes people actually use, so we make more of what works. We ask Google Analytics to anonymize IP addresses and we do not use it to identify individuals.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga, _ga_<ID> | Google Analytics 4 | Distinguishes one visitor from another and keeps a session together | Up to 2 years |
_hjSessionUser_<ID> | Hotjar | Recognizes a returning visitor across sessions | 12 months |
_hjSession_<ID> | Hotjar | Holds the current session's data | 30 minutes |
Hotjar can record how a page is used — scrolling, clicks, mouse movement. It is configured to suppress keystrokes in form fields, so what you type is not captured.
Marketing — off until you allow it
Lets us measure whether our advertising works and show relevant advertising to people who have visited. These cookies are read by the advertising companies named below, on their own platforms, and are the reason you might see an advertisement for a book you looked at here.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_fbp | Meta Pixel | Identifies a browser to Meta for advertising measurement and audiences | 3 months |
_gcl_au | Google Ads | Links an advertisement click to an action taken on this site | 3 months |
IDE, test_cookie | Google / DoubleClick | Ad delivery and measurement | Up to 13 months |
li_sugr, bcookie, lidc, UserMatchHistory, AnalyticsSyncHistory | LinkedIn Insight Tag | Identifies a browser to LinkedIn for conversion tracking and audiences | Session to 6 months |
Who else can read these
The analytics and marketing cookies belong to the companies that set them, and the data goes to those companies, not only to us. Each has its own privacy policy, which governs what they do with it:
These companies are based in, or transfer data to, the United States. How that transfer is handled is explained in our privacy policy.
Controlling cookies yourself
Beyond the controls on this site, every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, and most offer a setting that rejects third-party cookies outright. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may stop parts of this site working; blocking the rest will not.
For advertising specifically, you can also opt out at Your Online Choices (Europe) or the DAA WebChoices tool (United States).
Changes to this policy
If we add or remove a tag, we will update the tables above and, where the change is significant, ask for your consent again. The date at the top tells you when this was last revised.
Questions
Email [PRIVACY CONTACT EMAIL].