The Avoidable War
Kevin Rudd
Mentioned 1 week ago
What Xi Jinping Wants
Book Recommendations
The Ezra Klein Show
Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the logic of markets infiltrated too many aspects of our lives? What is the future of the Republican Party? What do psychedelics teach us about consciousne...
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The Party's Interests Come First
Joseph Torigian
Mentioned 1 week ago
What Xi Jinping Wants
The Souls of China
Ian Johnson
Mentioned 1 week ago
What Xi Jinping Wants
The Beginning Comes After the End
Rebecca Solnit
Mentioned 1 week ago
The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate
Here Comes the Sun
Bill McKibben
Mentioned 1 week ago
The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate
The Glorians
Terry Tempest Williams
Mentioned 1 week ago
The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate
The Carbon Wave
Leah C. Stokes
Mentioned 1 week ago
The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate
Brought to You By
Amy Westervelt
Mentioned 1 week ago
The Very Good and Very Bad News on Climate
The Holocaust and the Nakba
Bashir Bashir
Mentioned 2 weeks ago
A Radical Vision for Israelis and Palestinians
States of Denial
Stanley Cohen
Mentioned 2 weeks ago
A Radical Vision for Israelis and Palestinians
Tomorrow Is Yesterday
Hussein Agha
Mentioned 2 weeks ago
A Radical Vision for Israelis and Palestinians
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Becky Chambers
Mentioned 2 weeks ago
A Radical Vision for Israelis and Palestinians
Most Recommended
The Phantom Tollbooth
A beloved children's novel that follows a bored boy's fantastical journey through a land of wordplay and numbers, teaching the value of curiosity.
"
The Phantom Tollbooth.
— Episode: Should We Dim the Sun? Will We Even Have...
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Episode: Should We Dim the Sun? Will We Even Have a Choice?
A beloved children's novel that follows a bored boy's fantastical journey through a land of wordplay and numbers, teaching the value of curiosity.
"
The Phantom Tollbooth.
The Last Whole Earth Catalog
Access To Tools
It was described as a seminal 1960s publication that served as a "Bible" for a generation and was likened to Google in paperback form.
"
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called the Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the Bibles of my generation. It was sort of like Google in paperback form 35 years before Google cam...
— Episode: Stewart Brand, Silicon Valley’s Favorite...
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Episode: Stewart Brand, Silicon Valley’s Favorite Prophet,...
It was described as a seminal 1960s publication that served as a "Bible" for a generation and was likened to Google in paperback form.
"
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called the Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the Bibles of my generation. It was sort of like Google in paperback form 35 years before Google came along.
It was pretty big. Actually, bookstores complained about it because it's about as big as a laptop now. Basically, folio-sized.
The Language Instinct
How the Mind Creates Language
It was recommended as the clearest book about what language really is and why understanding a language goes beyond superficial word prediction. It was cited to illustrate the difference between language comprehension and AI pattern matching.
"
I will start with Steve Pinker's The Language Instinct for two reasons. One is it's the clearest book about what language is really about, and in the context of the conversation we're...
— Episode: A Skeptical Take on the A.I. Revolution
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Episode: A Skeptical Take on the A.I. Revolution
It was recommended as the clearest book about what language really is and why understanding a language goes beyond superficial word prediction. It was cited to illustrate the difference between language comprehension and AI pattern matching.
"
I will start with Steve Pinker's The Language Instinct for two reasons. One is it's the clearest book about what language is really about, and in the context of the conversation we're having, I think part of the problem is that people don't understand the difference between superficially predicting a sequence of words and really comprehending language.
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping (Third Edition)
Ezra Klein highlighted that it explains how emotional health is always implicated in physical health and pain treatment.
"
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky and it explains how emotional health is always implicated in physical health and it's always implicated in pain emotional health and men...
— Episode: This Book Changed My Relationship to Pai...
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Episode: This Book Changed My Relationship to Pain
Ezra Klein highlighted that it explains how emotional health is always implicated in physical health and pain treatment.
"
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky and it explains how emotional health is always implicated in physical health and it's always implicated in pain emotional health and mental health matters when it comes to treating pain if you're not treating emotional health and mental health you're missing a significant part of the pain problem
Your Brain Is a Time Machine
The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
The host praised the book's title and explained that it explores both subjective and objective aspects of time. It was noted that the book presents research on how time perception changes in unusual conditions.
"
His book, Your Brain Is a Time Machine, what a great name. It gets at these two levels of time, the time that we experience and the time that exists as best we understand it outside o...
— Episode: Time Is Way Weirder Than You Think
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Episode: Time Is Way Weirder Than You Think
The host praised the book's title and explained that it explores both subjective and objective aspects of time. It was noted that the book presents research on how time perception changes in unusual conditions.
"
His book, Your Brain Is a Time Machine, what a great name. It gets at these two levels of time, the time that we experience and the time that exists as best we understand it outside of our experience.
I was struck by some research in your book or some experiments, more to the point where people would volunteer for one reason or another to be functionally in a cave or a dark room for quite a long time. And then months or a year later they would come out and they would think much less time had passed than actually what had.
The Extinction of Experience
Being Human in a Disembodied World
Rosen's recent book explored how modern culture has lost the depth of firsthand experiences.
"
a recent book just published at the end of last year by Christine Rosen called The Extinction of Experience ...
— Episode: The Breaking of the Constitutional Order
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Episode: The Breaking of the Constitutional Order
Rosen's recent book explored how modern culture has lost the depth of firsthand experiences.
"
a recent book just published at the end of last year by Christine Rosen called The Extinction of Experience ...
The Lost
A Search for Six of Six Million
The book was mentioned as one of the three titles the guest suggested to listeners.
"
Daniel Mendelsohn's Lost.
— Episode: It's the Corruption, Stupid
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Episode: It's the Corruption, Stupid
The book was mentioned as one of the three titles the guest suggested to listeners.
"
Daniel Mendelsohn's Lost.
Subtract
The Untapped Science of Less
The host noted that the book urged readers to rethink the habit of adding and consider how subtraction can sometimes be the better solution.
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And so what this book challenges you to think about is to realize the evolutionary things driving you to believe that addition is always the answer, and to instead consider the ways in which S...
— Episode: A Republican Pollster on Trump’s Undimme...
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Episode: A Republican Pollster on Trump’s Undimmed Appeal
The host noted that the book urged readers to rethink the habit of adding and consider how subtraction can sometimes be the better solution.
"
And so what this book challenges you to think about is to realize the evolutionary things driving you to believe that addition is always the answer, and to instead consider the ways in which Subtraction can actually sometimes solve your problem.
How to Write One Song
Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back
Ezra Klein praised the book as a delightful and practical guide to creativity, calling it his favorite selfhelp book in a long time.
"
Recently, and pretty randomly, I picked up Jeff Tweedy's book, How to Write One Song... I really didn't expect it to be such a delight. I loved it.
— Episode: Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy Wants You to Be Bad...
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Episode: Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy Wants You to Be Bad at Somethi...
Ezra Klein praised the book as a delightful and practical guide to creativity, calling it his favorite selfhelp book in a long time.
"
Recently, and pretty randomly, I picked up Jeff Tweedy's book, How to Write One Song... I really didn't expect it to be such a delight. I loved it.
But I will say it is my favorite selfhelp book I've read in a long time.
He's got this insistence that it can and should just be part of a balanced life, just part of a balanced day... I loved it.
Extraterrestrial
The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
Loeb's controversial work argues that an interstellar object observed in 2017 may be evidence of alien technology, prompting debate within the scientific community.
"
by a Harvard astrophysicist named Avi Loeb in which he makes the rather controversial argument ... Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
— Episode: Should We Dim the Sun? Will We Even Have...
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Episode: Should We Dim the Sun? Will We Even Have a Choice?
Loeb's controversial work argues that an interstellar object observed in 2017 may be evidence of alien technology, prompting debate within the scientific community.
"
by a Harvard astrophysicist named Avi Loeb in which he makes the rather controversial argument ... Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
Private Government
How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It) (The University Center for Human Values Series)
Anderson examined how workplaces function as private governments that shape democratic life, arguing that employment relations heavily influence civil liberties and free speech beyond electoral politics.
"
Second would be Private Government by Elizabeth Anderson. I think that's a really useful, accessible book about how we consider democracy in all of our lives except for the workplace.
— Episode: There’s Been a Massive Change in Where A...
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Episode: There’s Been a Massive Change in Where American Po...
Anderson examined how workplaces function as private governments that shape democratic life, arguing that employment relations heavily influence civil liberties and free speech beyond electoral politics.
"
Second would be Private Government by Elizabeth Anderson. I think that's a really useful, accessible book about how we consider democracy in all of our lives except for the workplace.
Ages of American Capitalism
A History of the United States
The book was highlighted as an inspiring history that combines institutional, legal, cultural, and economic perspectives on American capitalism.
"
And then a book that came out after I wrote my book but one by an author who I quote in the book at the very beginning when I define capitalists is Jonathan Levy and he published a book I think it was...
— Episode: A Guide to the ‘Legal Fictions’ That Cre...
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Episode: A Guide to the ‘Legal Fictions’ That Create Wealth...
The book was highlighted as an inspiring history that combines institutional, legal, cultural, and economic perspectives on American capitalism.
"
And then a book that came out after I wrote my book but one by an author who I quote in the book at the very beginning when I define capitalists is Jonathan Levy and he published a book I think it was last year Ages of American Capitalism where he goes through this history of American capitalism and combines institutional legal and cultural and economic history in a way that I found enormously inspiring.
![[MARS TRILOGY] RED MARS, GREEN MARS [and] BLUE MARS Cover](https://media.podcastbookpicks.com/books/15498.jpg)
[MARS TRILOGY] RED MARS, GREEN MARS [and] BLUE MARS
Jesse highlighted the scifi series as a way to imagine future technological and societal coevolution.
"
And I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy to sort of take a break from all this heavy stuff. One that I'll call out is Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, a great example of how humanity might...
— Episode: Is Decarbonization Dead?
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Episode: Is Decarbonization Dead?
Jesse highlighted the scifi series as a way to imagine future technological and societal coevolution.
"
And I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy to sort of take a break from all this heavy stuff. One that I'll call out is Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, a great example of how humanity might muddle through the next couple hundred years.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Ted Chiang said the book gave him a sense of religious ecstasy through its meditation on nature's wonders.
"
I can't really point to a conventional religious text as an atheist, but I guess I would say Annie Dillard's book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. That is a book about feeling the wonders of...
— Episode: Best Of: Why Sci-Fi Legend Ted Chiang Fe...
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Episode: Best Of: Why Sci-Fi Legend Ted Chiang Fears Capita...
Ted Chiang said the book gave him a sense of religious ecstasy through its meditation on nature's wonders.
"
I can't really point to a conventional religious text as an atheist, but I guess I would say Annie Dillard's book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. That is a book about feeling the wonders of nature and experiencing those as a way of being close to the divine.
The UFO Experience
Evidence Behind Close Encounters, Project Blue Book, and the Search for Answers (MUFON)
Leslie Kane recommended Hynek's book as a seminal historical account of UFO research, noting his transition from skeptic to a more open perspective. She called it one of the most important historical books on the subject.
"
One of them is a book called The UFO Experience, A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek.
— Episode: What the Heck Is Going on With These U.F...
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Episode: What the Heck Is Going on With These U.F.O. Storie...
Leslie Kane recommended Hynek's book as a seminal historical account of UFO research, noting his transition from skeptic to a more open perspective. She called it one of the most important historical books on the subject.
"
One of them is a book called The UFO Experience, A Scientific Inquiry by J. Allen Hynek.
Native Son (Perennial Classics)
Jay recalled reading the novel in high school, describing its plot about a Black protagonist who murders a woman and emphasizing its impact on him.
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We read the book Native Son. Now, if you've never read Native Son, the main character in Native Son murders a woman and then puts her in a furnace.
— Episode: The Argument: Who Can Write About What?
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Episode: The Argument: Who Can Write About What?
Jay recalled reading the novel in high school, describing its plot about a Black protagonist who murders a woman and emphasizing its impact on him.
"
We read the book Native Son. Now, if you've never read Native Son, the main character in Native Son murders a woman and then puts her in a furnace.
Private Truths, Public Lies
The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification
The book was mentioned as a work that explains how regimes create uncertainty to hide collective dissent and prevent collective action.
"
it's a book by a guy called Timur Kuran, who's a somewhat conservative libertarian professor in Duke, called Private Truths, Public Lies.
— Episode: The Week the World Admitted the Truth Ab...
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Episode: The Week the World Admitted the Truth About Americ...
The book was mentioned as a work that explains how regimes create uncertainty to hide collective dissent and prevent collective action.
"
it's a book by a guy called Timur Kuran, who's a somewhat conservative libertarian professor in Duke, called Private Truths, Public Lies.
Why Civil Resistance Works
The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict (Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare)
Favreau highlighted it as a hopeful guide on nonviolent protest, noting its threeandahalfpercent rule for successful movements.
"
I've gone from reading about what life is like in authoritarian countries kind of books, right? I feel like we've already passed that. Now I'm trying to be more hopeful and trying to figure out books...
— Episode: Jon Favreau on Where the Democrats Went...
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Episode: Jon Favreau on Where the Democrats Went Right
Favreau highlighted it as a hopeful guide on nonviolent protest, noting its threeandahalfpercent rule for successful movements.
"
I've gone from reading about what life is like in authoritarian countries kind of books, right? I feel like we've already passed that. Now I'm trying to be more hopeful and trying to figure out books about, like, nonviolent protest and resistance and Civil Resistance, What Everyone Needs to Know by Erica Chenoweth.
The Stoic Challenge
A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient
Irvine proposes a weekslong program to build emotional resilience and reduce reactivity.
"
The first book makes you stronger if you do The Stoic Challenge over a couple months; you get stronger and you're not as reactive to negative things.
— Episode: ‘Our Kids Are the Least Flourishing Gene...
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Episode: ‘Our Kids Are the Least Flourishing Generation We...
Irvine proposes a weekslong program to build emotional resilience and reduce reactivity.
"
The first book makes you stronger if you do The Stoic Challenge over a couple months; you get stronger and you're not as reactive to negative things.
The Theory of the Leisure Class (Oxford World's Classics)
Ezra mentioned the classic work on conspicuous consumption, noting it remains a readable account of status signaling through luxury goods.
"
Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class.
— Episode: We Build Civilizations on Status. But We...
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Episode: We Build Civilizations on Status. But We Barely Un...
Ezra mentioned the classic work on conspicuous consumption, noting it remains a readable account of status signaling through luxury goods.
"
Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class.
Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.