53 avsnitt • Längd: 55 min • Månadsvis
The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds
The podcast If Books Could Kill is created by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
Peter and Michael discuss the book that launched the phenomenon of New Atheism and asked the question: What if we hated Muslims, but in a secular way?
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
What should workers do when they get laid off? In 1998 a bleak, asinine bestseller told them to find another whey.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
New York’s favorite criminal is in the news, so here is our episode about his ridiculous life.
To hear all of our bonus episodes, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Is fact-checking a legitimate enterprise? Is America's most famous fact-checker nothing more than a dweeb? Michael and Peter discuss.
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
A memoir about parenting very badly and then getting weirdly defensive when anyone asks you about it.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Is social media to blame for the teen mental health crisis? It's complicated!
Thanks to Emily Weinstein, Amy Orben, Andrew Przybylski, Dean Burnett, Michael Mullarkey and Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz for help researching and fact-checking this episode!
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
To celebrate ("celebrate") Donald Trump choosing JD Vance as his running mate we are re-releasing our "Hillbilly Elegy" episode. Enjoy!
Peter and Michael discuss "The Origins of Woke," a glimpse into the dark aspirations of the Republican Party and the mind of a very unusual man.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Peter and Michael discuss the media coverage of the protests at Columbia — from the crazed, bloodthirsty ravings of right-wing media to the more muted, respectful bloodthirst of centrist media.
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Peter and Michael discuss Michael Lewis’s bestselling book about the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, a young prodigy whose only flaw was that he dreamed too big.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
2 Better 2 Angels
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
We're finally discussing a good book! Naomi Klein's "Doppelgänger" chronicles the long, steady descent of another Naomi — Wolf (buddy oof) — from feminist icon to crank conspiracist.
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
In 2013, Sheryl Sandberg became an icon for women who wanted to move from middle management at a tech company into upper management at a tech company. Today, Peter and Michael examine the contents of her bestselling book, survey the wreckage of corporate feminism and ask whether women will finally find liberation in the Metaverse.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
This week we're tackling Steven Pinker's 900 page dissection of the reasons why violence, torture and war have declined over the last 10,000 years. Was it an indeterminate mixture of politics, economics, technology and serendipity? Or did some European guys write some books that said murder was bad?
Special thanks to Philip Dwyer, Eleanor Janega, David M. Perry and Doug Thompson for help researching and fact-checking this episode!
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Before Donald Trump became America's most prominent politician and birth certificate inspector, he spent his days making everyone in New York City slightly uncomfortable. Michael and Peter discuss "The Art of the Deal," Trump’s 1987 bestseller chronicling his exploits as a celebrity slumlord.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
"There are two kinds of political scientists: The types who deal with noisy data and post on Twitter with a bunch of caveats. And then there are the types who write books about identity politics."
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
You stare, mouth agape, at the bookstore display. It’s a self-help book, but with curse words in the title?! This must be a revolutionary new framework, not simply the same dull, reactionary ideas repackaged as hip and new.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
In 1996, a frustrated screenwriter got a fellowship in Italy. Twenty years later, Beyoncé released "Lemonade."
Content warning: This episode includes a mention of suicide.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Retailers have been sounding the alarm about a shoplifting epidemic driven by organized criminal syndicates. In a shocking twist, it turns out that their story is mostly made up. Join us as Peter tries to figure out where this panic originated and as Mike finally comes clean about his criminal past.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
This week we're tackling "San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities," a book that dares to ask: What if everything that experts think about homelessness is wrong, and everything that one crank on Twitter thinks about homelessness is right?
Thanks to Ned Resnikoff for helping us with the research for this episode!
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Have you ever wanted to escape the grind and follow your dreams? This week we're discussing "The 4-Hour Workweek," which reveals that all you need is a plan, a willingness to take risks and a modestly sized fraud operation built on Third World labor.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
But her e-mails! Michael explains the non-scandal that captivated the mainstream media in 2016 while Peter attempts to sow the podcast with anti-Hillary sentiment.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Oops all grievance.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
For this month's bonus episode we dissected Harry Frankfurt's gloriously brief bestseller and applied the concept to our favorite op-ed page.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Who poses the greatest threat to democracy? Is it the movement that openly identifies with the symbols, goals and policies of fascist governments? Or is it the median bureaucrat at the Department of Health and Human Services?
In 2008, a National Review nepo-baby attempted to answer this vexing question.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
In our "Rules" and "Game" episodes we didn't get a chance to dissect the phenomenon of online dating (i.e. describe our worst dates and read cringe profiles out loud to each other), so that is what we are doing on today's bonus episode.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Lots of subscribers asked us to release last month's bonus episode in full so here it is! Share it with the conservatives, the boomers and the Satanists in your life.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
In 1995 a bestselling book proposed a simple dating strategy for women: Lose weight, wear bright colors and become a completely different person for the rest of your life.
Thanks to Moira Donegan for helping us with this episode!
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
This week we're discussing "Atomic Habits," a book about how to use science (and also some stuff that’s definitely not science) to train yourself to be a more functional person.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Much has been said about globalization, but perhaps no one has said it worse than Thomas Friedman.
Content Note: Discussions of xenophobic and racist content, especially toward the end of the episode.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
The Nudgening.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
In 2021, scrappy young investors from across the world joined forces to buy GameStop stock, aiming to take down greedy hedge funds. What came next was tragedy, injustice, and a conspiratorial internet cult so stupid we had to do an episode about it.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
In 2008, an economist and a law professor proposed a radical new approach to politics: Telling people not to do bad stuff.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
What’s your love language? Is it gifts? Words of affirmation? Or is it podcasts about books with extremely weird, reactionary gender dynamics?
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Is it bootstraps? It's bootstraps.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
In 1997, Robert Kiyosaki revealed the secret to lifelong success: Deliver grifty seminars and hire child slaves.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Get in loser, we're going to Oberlin.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
In 2016, J.D. Vance informally launched his political career with "Hillbilly Elegy," a memoir that blames the relative poverty of Appalachian and Rust Belt populations on their own culture. Despite its reactionary premise, mainstream and liberal press outlets were so enamored by the book that they accidentally made Vance a senator.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
TRIGGER WARNING: if you're a SNOWFLAKE college professor afraid of how your students are expressing themselves, you might need a SAFE SPACE, because Michael and Peter are discussing "The Coddling of The American Mind," a book about campus culture that's light on facts and heavy on cherry-picked anecdotes.
CORRECTION: The Socrates quote mentioned at the end of this episode is apocryphal. We thank the listeners who pointed this out for refusing to coddle our American minds.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
The nation's most prestigious newspaper insists on asking a very stupid question. So for this month's bonus episode, we decided to answer it.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
As we mentioned at the top of the episode, we're donating this month's support to three of our trans journo-friends! They've been unbelievably patient with Mike as he's navigated the science and politics of this issue over the last year. Here's where to find and support their work:
"If your thesis doesn't hold up to obvious criticisms, there's a chance that your thesis sucks."
Thanks to Paul Musgrave and Alex Cruikshanks for helping us fact-check this episode!
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Links!
Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History and the Last Man" changed political discourse forever. Peter and Michael peel back his muddled history and fluffy rhetoric, revealing several more layers of muddled history and fluffy rhetoric.
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
Sources:
In December 2019, the coronavirus pandemic began in Wuhan, China. In May 2021, America experienced one of the most cursed weeks of punditry we've ever seen.
This is a condensed version of the full episode. To hear the rest go to patreon.com/IfBooksPod. See you next week!
In 1992 a yoga instructor with a distance-learning PhD had the courage to ask: "Are women not getting help around the house because they're using the wrong modal verb?"
Support us on Patreon
Where to find us:
Sources:
Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret" sold millions of copies based on a simple premise: All of science is fake and the only reason anything ever happens is because people manifest it by communicating with the universe.
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
How a Stanford lepidopterist convinced the world to fear the breeding habits of the poor. Again.
Support us on Patreon
Where to find us:
Sources:
Our first premium episode is a deep dive into the blog of the infamously (and dubiously) "canceled" Bari Weiss.
To hear the full episode, subscribe on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
More free episodes are on their way!
Neil Strauss's "The Game" aimed to teach any man how to hook up with beautiful women. All he needed was a little bit of sociopathy, a lot of misogyny and a fanny pack full of props.
Support us on Patreon
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
David Brooks became liberals' famous conservative by telling them what they wanted to hear. But ... why did they want to hear something that was lazy and wrong?
Support us on Patreon
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
In "Outliers," Malcolm Gladwell posited that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in something. Mike and Peter prove him wrong by mastering his dumb book over the span of about 50 minutes.
Support us on Patreon
Links:
In 2005, two men named Steven and Stephen published the quintessential airport book. In 2022, two men named Mike and Peter started a whole podcast just to make fun of it.
Thanks to Ted Joyce and Ames Grawert for helping with the research for this episode!
Support us on Patreon
Where to find us:
Sources:
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.