Behind the Bastards
Book Recommendations

Behind the Bastards

There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of th...

Episodes 1,988
Books 1,560
The Grave Diggers Collection #1 - 3: Includes: The Grave Diggers - The Suicide King - Grave Mistakes (The Grave Diggers Collection 1-3) Cover

Chris Fritschi

The Grave Diggers Collection #1 - 3

Includes

It was mentioned in passing as a second book written by Phyllis Schlafly during the same period as 'A Choice Not an Echo'.

"

I wrote A Choice Not an Echo. I self-published it. I went to the Republican Convention, wrote a second book, The Grave Diggers.

— Episode: Part Two: Phyllis Schlafly: The Mother o...

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Episode: Part Two: Phyllis Schlafly: The Mother of all Cult...

It was mentioned in passing as a second book written by Phyllis Schlafly during the same period as 'A Choice Not an Echo'.

"

I wrote A Choice Not an Echo. I self-published it. I went to the Republican Convention, wrote a second book, The Grave Diggers.

Episode: Part Two: Phyllis Schlafly: The Mother of all Cult...

It was mentioned as one of the books Schlafly wrote in 1964, alongside 'A Choice, Not an Echo', during a year she describes as the most productive of her life.

"

I wrote A Choice Not an Echo. I self-published it. I went to the Republican Convention, wrote a second book, The Grave Diggers.

The Lives of Man: A Guide to the Human States: Before Life, In the World, and After Death Cover

Imam 'Abdallah Ibn Alawi al-Haddad

The Lives of Man

A Guide to the Human States

The book was mentioned as a biography commissioned by Dr. Brinkley, which contained his recollections of the events that took place. It was mentioned during the discussion of his first goat testicle implant on farmer Bill Stitzworth.

"

So he realized that he was an unusually talented surgeon and an unusually brilliant thinker due to the incredible success of his goat testicle and ovaries, and he was able to get the results of his go...

— Episode: Part One: The Goat Testicle Implanting D...

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Episode: Part One: The Goat Testicle Implanting Doctor Who...

The book was mentioned as a biography commissioned by Dr. Brinkley, which contained his recollections of the events that took place. It was mentioned during the discussion of his first goat testicle implant on farmer Bill Stitzworth.

"

So he realized that he was an unusually talented surgeon and an unusually brilliant thinker due to the incredible success of his goat testicle and ovaries, and he was able to get the results of his goat testicle and ovary implants.

Episode: Part One: The Goat Testicle Implanting Doctor Who...

This book, commissioned by Dr. Brinkley himself, was used to provide a biased account of his perspective, including the story of how he was convinced to implant goat testicles into a farmer.

"

So he realized that he was an unusually talented surgeon and an unusually brilliant thinker due to the incredible success of his goat testicle and ovaries, and he was able to get the results of his goat testicle and ovary implants.

The doctor half closed his eyes and considered, and then he shook his head slowly. The code of ethics his father had drilled into him forever forbade him from any conducts, especially with relation to healing, except the utterly honest and straightforward.

Dinotopia: Journey To Chandara (Calla Editions) Cover

James Gurney

Dinotopia

Journey To Chandara (Calla Editions)

It was mentioned as a series of books written by a friend of Thomas Kinkade's who, unlike Thomas, cared about the stories he wrote. They were described as labors of love and fondly remembered.

"

He actually cares a lot about stuff.

— Episode: Part Two: Thomas Kinkade: the Evil-est P...

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Episode: Part Two: Thomas Kinkade: the Evil-est Painter

It was mentioned as a series of books written by a friend of Thomas Kinkade's who, unlike Thomas, cared about the stories he wrote. They were described as labors of love and fondly remembered.

"

He actually cares a lot about stuff.

It's clearly the work of someone who cares deeply about telling a dinosaur story.

It's having fun. Really? Having a good time with it.

Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame Cover

Mara Wilson

Where Am I Now?

True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame

The podcast host expressed excitement for Mara Wilson's memoir, which was mentioned as being available for purchase at various book retailers.

"

I am also thrilled about your memoir. Where Am I Now? Which people can buy wherever books are sold or you can buy it wherever books are sold.

— Episode: Part Two: The Inventor of Those 'Trouble...

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Episode: Part Two: The Inventor of Those 'Troubled Teen' Wi...

The podcast host expressed excitement for Mara Wilson's memoir, which was mentioned as being available for purchase at various book retailers.

"

I am also thrilled about your memoir. Where Am I Now? Which people can buy wherever books are sold or you can buy it wherever books are sold.

Frank Herbert's Dune Saga 3-Book Deluxe Hardcover Boxed Set: Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune Cover

Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert's Dune Saga 3-Book Deluxe Hardcover Boxed Set

Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune

The book was mentioned in the context of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, as a more artistic version of the same story, with less orcs.

"

So you need more red because the red makes everything.

— Episode: Part One: Tech Bros Have Built A Cult Ar...

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Episode: Part One: Tech Bros Have Built A Cult Around AI

The book was mentioned in the context of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, as a more artistic version of the same story, with less orcs.

"

So you need more red because the red makes everything.

Yeah. Red makes it go faster.

And obviously the thing that the Warhammer people are are inspired by is like the book Larian Jihad and Dune, which is the the more artful version of that story with less orcs, which makes it inferior in my mind. But I do love Dune.

The Birds of America Cover

John James Audubon

The Birds of America

It was a four-volume book with 490 species of birds, each drawn life-size. It established Audubon's fame among bird enthusiasts and was his magnum opus.

"

His great work which is what he calls it would be to decisively identify name and sketch every single bird species in the parts of North America controlled by the US government.

— Episode: The Audubon Guy Was A Monster

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Episode: The Audubon Guy Was A Monster

It was a four-volume book with 490 species of birds, each drawn life-size. It established Audubon's fame among bird enthusiasts and was his magnum opus.

"

His great work which is what he calls it would be to decisively identify name and sketch every single bird species in the parts of North America controlled by the US government.

There would be engraved images of 490 species each drawing the actual size of life of the bird itself.

Most experts agree that even today he has not been surpassed in depicting birds in this manner.

It: A Novel Cover

Stephen King

It

A Novel

It was discussed as a potentially inappropriate read for a child, but was approved of by Robert's parents due to his enjoyment of reading it at a young age.

"

I feel like I read Stephen King's It when I was probably too young.

— Episode: Part Two: AI Is Coming for Your Children

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Episode: Part Two: AI Is Coming for Your Children

It was discussed as a potentially inappropriate read for a child, but was approved of by Robert's parents due to his enjoyment of reading it at a young age.

"

I feel like I read Stephen King's It when I was probably too young.

That's a fucked up book for a kid.

It's not ideal.

Pride and Prejudice Cover

Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

It was mentioned that Jane Austen is a contemporary of Beau Brummel, and that she never directly references him in her writings. However, some scholars believe that Beau Brummel was the inspiration for, or a reaction to, several of the male characters in her novels, including Mr. Darcy.

"

If you want the most, the biggest touchstone culturally for this era is Jane Austin. Jane Austin is a contemporary of Bo. She's born, I think, two and a half years before him. But they live in London...

— Episode: Part One: Beau Brummell: The First Celeb...

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Episode: Part One: Beau Brummell: The First Celebrity and I...

It was mentioned that Jane Austen is a contemporary of Beau Brummel, and that she never directly references him in her writings. However, some scholars believe that Beau Brummel was the inspiration for, or a reaction to, several of the male characters in her novels, including Mr. Darcy.

"

If you want the most, the biggest touchstone culturally for this era is Jane Austin. Jane Austin is a contemporary of Bo. She's born, I think, two and a half years before him. But they live in London basically during the same time. And she never references him directly.

I read a very detailed article by some some scholars with the Jane Austin fan club who I trust to know their shit, who argue like she didn't reference him directly. But most of the male characters in her novels were either based on him or reactions to him.

So that's that's an argument that people make. Right. I'm not a Jane Austin scholar, but these Jane Austin scholars make that argument.

Right. So Bo grows up idolizing Tom Sheridan and specifically idolizing the fact that he earns a lot of respect because he's funny and kind of a dick. He's going to learn from Tom that like that's sort of how you make a place in yourself in societies. You learn how to put people down in a way that's so funny. They don't really get angry at you.

Novels were another major place where this kind of culture spread. Jane Austen is a big part of this.

Sapiens [Tenth Anniversary Edition]: A Brief History of Humankind Cover

Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens [Tenth Anniversary Edition]

A Brief History of Humankind

The book is a sweeping history of humanity, and one of the authors of the New York Times article is known for writing it.

"

And just to give your listener some context, one of the three authors on this New York Times article is famous for writing this book, Sapiens.

— Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 78

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Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 78

The book is a sweeping history of humanity, and one of the authors of the New York Times article is known for writing it.

"

And just to give your listener some context, one of the three authors on this New York Times article is famous for writing this book, Sapiens.

The Second Sex Cover

Simone de Beauvoir

The Second Sex

The book was mentioned when discussing how the feminist argument that women are weaker than men had become a neo-Nazi stance, and that the book speaks about how women are a social process, not a biological one.

"

God, I hate French. It's a truly terrible language.

— Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 97

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Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 97

The book was mentioned when discussing how the feminist argument that women are weaker than men had become a neo-Nazi stance, and that the book speaks about how women are a social process, not a biological one.

"

God, I hate French. It's a truly terrible language.

You actually read The Second Sex and The Second Sex is talking about, literally her famous line is no one is born a woman, a woman is made, right? Because it's a social process, not a biological one.

The Open Society and Its Enemies (Routledge Classics) Cover

Karl Popper

The Open Society and Its Enemies (Routledge Classics)

The book is a critique of totalitarianism and focuses on the ideas of Plato and Marx. Soros said the book struck him with the force of revelation and helped to form his own ideology of open society.

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I have lived through Nazi persecution and Soviet occupation, Soros later said. Popper's book is Karl Popper. Open Society and its enemies struck me with the force of revelation.

— Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 85

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Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 85

The book is a critique of totalitarianism and focuses on the ideas of Plato and Marx. Soros said the book struck him with the force of revelation and helped to form his own ideology of open society.

"

I have lived through Nazi persecution and Soviet occupation, Soros later said. Popper's book is Karl Popper. Open Society and its enemies struck me with the force of revelation.

It showed that fascism and communism have a lot in common, that they both stand in opposition to a different principle of social organization. The principle of open society.

Open Society and its Enemies struck me with the force of revelation.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine Cover

Michael Lewis

The Big Short

Inside the Doomsday Machine

It was mentioned that the author of 'The Big Short' had been following Sam Bankman-Fried for six months, suggesting that he might write a book about him.

"

So I suspect at some point it's got that's going to be fun. We're all going to be in for a real treat when that book hits.

— Episode: How Sam Bankman-Fried Conned the Crypto...

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Episode: How Sam Bankman-Fried Conned the Crypto World

It was mentioned that the author of 'The Big Short' had been following Sam Bankman-Fried for six months, suggesting that he might write a book about him.

"

So I suspect at some point it's got that's going to be fun. We're all going to be in for a real treat when that book hits.

The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong Cover

Laurence J. Peter

The Peter Principle

Why Things Always Go Wrong

It was discussed as a satirical look at how hierarchies promote employees to their level of incompetence, with workplace examples given. It was described as a phenomenon in large corporations.

"

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

— Episode: Part Two: How The Dilbert Guy Lost His M...

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Episode: Part Two: How The Dilbert Guy Lost His Mind

It was discussed as a satirical look at how hierarchies promote employees to their level of incompetence, with workplace examples given. It was described as a phenomenon in large corporations.

"

In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.

Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Cover

Steven D. Levitt

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]

A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

The Freakonomics books are bad, regressive, and contain bad statistics. The podcast host mentioned them in relation to the concept of effective altruism, in a negative context. He specifically brought up the book's attempt to prove that money doesn't influence elections, an argument the podcast host felt was nonsensical.

"

Can I tell one Freakonomics story?

— Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 60

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Episode: It Could Happen Here Weekly 60

The Freakonomics books are bad, regressive, and contain bad statistics. The podcast host mentioned them in relation to the concept of effective altruism, in a negative context. He specifically brought up the book's attempt to prove that money doesn't influence elections, an argument the podcast host felt was nonsensical.

"

Can I tell one Freakonomics story?

Yeah, okay. So one of my professors at UChicago was a political science guy, or I guess he's public policy.

And there's a thing that Freakonomics guy wrote where he was trying to prove that money doesn't actually influence like doesn't actually influence elections.

You know what? My professor wrote a paper about that, which is that, you know, again, this is a perfect example of how dumb this guy is.

And so he did this whole thing where he was - he had this great - he had this great metric called like - oh, God.

It was called like the dairy cow coefficient, which is like measuring like how someone should vote versus like how many dairy cows -

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.