The Ezra Klein Show
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...

Episodes 550
Books 1,781
The Other Divide Cover

Yanna Krupnikov

The Other Divide

The hosts noted that Kruptikov coauthored this scholarly work on political polarization and disengagement, describing it as the book that literally wrote the subject they were discussing.

"

Yana Kruptikov, welcome to the show. ... she's the author of The Other Divide, Polarization and Disengagement in American Politics.

— Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left...

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Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

The hosts noted that Kruptikov coauthored this scholarly work on political polarization and disengagement, describing it as the book that literally wrote the subject they were discussing.

"

Yana Kruptikov, welcome to the show. ... she's the author of The Other Divide, Polarization and Disengagement in American Politics.

When I wrote my book on political polarization, which came out in 2020, I was very influenced by a bunch of studies on the media that made to me this very interesting point...

Post-Broadcast Democracy: How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology) Cover

Markus Prior

Post-Broadcast Democracy

How Media Choice Increases Inequality in Political Involvement and Polarizes Elections (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology)

Klein highlighted Pryor's work as a fundamental text that traces how increased media choices affect political engagement.

"

One of the fundamental books here is Marcus Pryor's PostBroadcast Democracy, which kind of tracks this idea that once we get more choices, we're not really choosing to follow politics.

— Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left...

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Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

Klein highlighted Pryor's work as a fundamental text that traces how increased media choices affect political engagement.

"

One of the fundamental books here is Marcus Pryor's PostBroadcast Democracy, which kind of tracks this idea that once we get more choices, we're not really choosing to follow politics.

Hooked (Never After Series) Cover

Emily McIntire

Hooked (Never After Series)

The conversation referenced Pryor's "Hooked" as a key study on how political interest is formed early and tends to stay stable over a lifetime.

"

There's a great book by Marcus Pryor called Hooked. And Marcus basically argues that, well, your level of interest and engagement in politics, is socialized early on in life. And it actually pretty mu...

— Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

The conversation referenced Pryor's "Hooked" as a key study on how political interest is formed early and tends to stay stable over a lifetime.

"

There's a great book by Marcus Pryor called Hooked. And Marcus basically argues that, well, your level of interest and engagement in politics, is socialized early on in life. And it actually pretty much stays steady over the course of a lifetime.

What Goes Without Saying: Navigating Political Discussion in America Cover

Taylor N. Carlson

What Goes Without Saying

Navigating Political Discussion in America

Klein recommended this book as a fascinating look at how people communicate--or fail to communicate--about politics.

"

The first book I would recommend is a book called What Goes Without Saying by Taylor Carlson and Jamie Settle, which is about how people talk to each other or actually don't talk to e...

— Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

Klein recommended this book as a fascinating look at how people communicate--or fail to communicate--about politics.

"

The first book I would recommend is a book called What Goes Without Saying by Taylor Carlson and Jamie Settle, which is about how people talk to each other or actually don't talk to each other about politics.

Through the Grapevine: Socially Transmitted Information and Distorted Democracy (Chicago Studies in American Politics) Cover

Taylor N. Carlson

Through the Grapevine

Socially Transmitted Information and Distorted Democracy (Chicago Studies in American Politics)

Klein described this forthcoming work as examining the errors that arise when we rely on others for political news.

"

It's a book called Through the Grapevine, which is a book about what happens when we count on other people to tell us about political news, how people get it wrong, and what ends up h...

— Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

Klein described this forthcoming work as examining the errors that arise when we rely on others for political news.

"

It's a book called Through the Grapevine, which is a book about what happens when we count on other people to tell us about political news, how people get it wrong, and what ends up happening if that's who we are dependent on.

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come Cover

Jessica Pan

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come

Klein noted this humorous memoir as a funny yet insightful look at navigating the world as an introvert.

"

And it is a book called Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan, which is an incredibly funny book, but it also gets at this idea of looking at the world from the eyes of...

— Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

Klein noted this humorous memoir as a funny yet insightful look at navigating the world as an introvert.

"

And it is a book called Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan, which is an incredibly funny book, but it also gets at this idea of looking at the world from the eyes of somebody who is completely different than you.

Secularism and Religion in Jewish-Israeli Politics (Israeli History, Politics and Society) Cover

Yaacov Yadgar

Secularism and Religion in Jewish-Israeli Politics (Israeli History, Politics and Society)

The host noted that Amit Segal had a forthcoming English edition of his book, and later the guest announced its release in September.

"

He's got a book coming out in English in September called The Story of Israeli Politics.

— Episode: The View From the Israeli Right

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Episode: The View From the Israeli Right

The host noted that Amit Segal had a forthcoming English edition of his book, and later the guest announced its release in September.

"

He's got a book coming out in English in September called The Story of Israeli Politics.

Of course, my book, it's going out in English in September, The Story of Israeli Politics.

The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power Cover

Robert A. Caro

The Years of Lyndon Johnson

The Path to Power

The guest said he had just finished reading the latest volume of Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson, praising its vivid anecdotes.

"

I just read the last volume of The Biography of Lyndon Johnson by Caro.

— Episode: The View From the Israeli Right

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The View From the Israeli Right

The guest said he had just finished reading the latest volume of Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson, praising its vivid anecdotes.

"

I just read the last volume of The Biography of Lyndon Johnson by Caro.

The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics (Princeton Studies in American Politics) Cover

Daniel Schlozman

The Hollow Parties

The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics (Princeton Studies in American Politics)

The hosts said the book traced how both major parties have been hollowed out over decades, turning oncepowerful gatekeeping institutions into vessels for candidate ideologies.

"

It's a story that the political scientists Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld tell in their new book, The Hollow Parties, the many pasts and disordered present of American party polit...

— Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long...

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Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long Before Tru...

The hosts said the book traced how both major parties have been hollowed out over decades, turning oncepowerful gatekeeping institutions into vessels for candidate ideologies.

"

It's a story that the political scientists Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld tell in their new book, The Hollow Parties, the many pasts and disordered present of American party politics.

They argued that this change has been perilous for our democracy.

The Two Faces of American Freedom by Aziz Rana (2010-09-15) Cover

The Two Faces of American Freedom by Aziz Rana (2010-09-15)

Ezra Klein noted that the book offers a synthesis of how America's commitment to equality and freedom also produced violent exclusion and genocide throughout its history.

"

He has a giant new book out about Americans' views of the Constitution, but he in 2010 wrote a very substantial and brilliant book called The Two Faces of American Freedom that is a good synthesis of...

— Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long Before Tru...

Ezra Klein noted that the book offers a synthesis of how America's commitment to equality and freedom also produced violent exclusion and genocide throughout its history.

"

He has a giant new book out about Americans' views of the Constitution, but he in 2010 wrote a very substantial and brilliant book called The Two Faces of American Freedom that is a good synthesis of a master theme in American history.

Rainbows End: A Novel With One Foot In The Future Cover

Vernor Vinge

Rainbows End

A Novel With One Foot In The Future

Sam Rosenfeld described the book as showing how IrishAmerican political machines directed benefits to core constituencies rather than the broader public.

"

Wonderful book by Stephen Eerie, Rainbows and Irish Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840 to 1985.

— Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long Before Tru...

Sam Rosenfeld described the book as showing how IrishAmerican political machines directed benefits to core constituencies rather than the broader public.

"

Wonderful book by Stephen Eerie, Rainbows and Irish Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840 to 1985.

What Rainbows End offers is a claim of what the machine actually did, which is to direct its benefits not sprinkled around to everybody, but to core Irish constituencies that Irish Americans rewarded their coethnics.

How Democracies Die Cover

Steven Levitsky

How Democracies Die

The hosts cited the book to illustrate the point that party gatekeeping once helped protect democracy from demagogues like Trump.

"

The point that Levitsky and Ziblatt make in How Democracies Die, which is like a big book a couple of years ago, leads to the idea that parties once acted as a gatekeeper against dema...

— Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long Before Tru...

The hosts cited the book to illustrate the point that party gatekeeping once helped protect democracy from demagogues like Trump.

"

The point that Levitsky and Ziblatt make in How Democracies Die, which is like a big book a couple of years ago, leads to the idea that parties once acted as a gatekeeper against demagogues.

Up from Liberalism Cover

William F Buckley Jr

Up from Liberalism

Ezra Klein mentioned Buckley's book as a historical defense of liberalism within conservatism.

"

William F. Buckley wrote a book called Up from Liberalism.

— Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long...

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Episode: The Republican Party’s Decay Began Long Before Tru...

Ezra Klein mentioned Buckley's book as a historical defense of liberalism within conservatism.

"

William F. Buckley wrote a book called Up from Liberalism.

Objectivity Cover

Lorraine Daston

Objectivity

It was presented as a deep yet counterintuitive history showing that objectivity is historically contingent and intertwined with shifting ideas of subjectivity and technology. The speakers praised its ambitious scholarship.

"

Objectivity by Peter Galison and Lorraine Daston.

— Episode: Your Mind Is Being Fracked

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Your Mind Is Being Fracked

It was presented as a deep yet counterintuitive history showing that objectivity is historically contingent and intertwined with shifting ideas of subjectivity and technology. The speakers praised its ambitious scholarship.

"

Objectivity by Peter Galison and Lorraine Daston.

That book is a history of something that seems impossible to historicize. Objectivity doesn't have a history. Objectivity is just being objective. That's like transhistorical.

They do an extraordinary and counterintuitive job of showing how radically historical our conceptualization of Objectivity itself is, and how entangled it is with shifting ideas of subjectivity, for instance, or the way that it plays off of the emergence of mechanical technologies for making inscriptions.

Taking Care of Youth and the Generations (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics) Cover

Bernard Stiegler

Taking Care of Youth and the Generations (Meridian

Crossing Aesthetics)

It was introduced as a beautiful and difficult recent book that centers its analysis on attention, framing it within broader philosophical concerns about youth and generational care.

"

The recently deceased French philosopher Bernard Stiegler, in a beautiful and difficult book called Taking Care of the Youth and the Generations, centers that book on attention.

— Episode: Your Mind Is Being Fracked

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Your Mind Is Being Fracked

It was introduced as a beautiful and difficult recent book that centers its analysis on attention, framing it within broader philosophical concerns about youth and generational care.

"

The recently deceased French philosopher Bernard Stiegler, in a beautiful and difficult book called Taking Care of the Youth and the Generations, centers that book on attention.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness Cover

Jonathan Haidt

The Anxious Generation

How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

The speaker noted that Haidt's book argues smartphones and social media have triggered a mentalhealth crisis among children, sparking a heated debate over its findings.

"

John Haidt writes this book, The Anxious Generation. Part of the book's thesis is that smartphones and social media have kicked off a mental health crisis in our children.

— Episode: Your Mind Is Being Fracked

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: Your Mind Is Being Fracked

The speaker noted that Haidt's book argues smartphones and social media have triggered a mentalhealth crisis among children, sparking a heated debate over its findings.

"

John Haidt writes this book, The Anxious Generation. Part of the book's thesis is that smartphones and social media have kicked off a mental health crisis in our children.

Intelligence and Spirit Cover

Reza Negarestani

Intelligence and Spirit

The guest described it as a dense philosophical work that explores the relationship between intelligence and spirituality.

"

Okay, so Reza Negarestani wrote a book called Intelligence and Spirit. It's a pretty dense philosophical book about Intelligence and Spirituality that I think is real...

— Episode: ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collectiv...

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Episode: ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collective Intellig...

The guest described it as a dense philosophical work that explores the relationship between intelligence and spirituality.

"

Okay, so Reza Negarestani wrote a book called Intelligence and Spirit. It's a pretty dense philosophical book about Intelligence and Spirituality that I think is really great.

⿻ 數位 Plurality: The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy Cover

E Glen Weyl

⿻ 數位 Plurality

The Future of Collaborative Technology and Democracy

The book was presented as a collaborative, openauthored work about the future of collaborative technology and democracy.

"

And then there's a book called Plurality that was led by Glenn Vile and Audrey Tang and a wide community of contributors. I also contributed a small part to this book. It's about the future of collabo...

— Episode: ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collectiv...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collective Intellig...

The book was presented as a collaborative, openauthored work about the future of collaborative technology and democracy.

"

And then there's a book called Plurality that was led by Glenn Vile and Audrey Tang and a wide community of contributors. I also contributed a small part to this book. It's about the future of collaborative technology and democracy.

Holly Herndon & Mathew Dryhurst All Media is Training Data /anglais Cover

Holly Herndon

Holly Herndon & Mathew Dryhurst All Media is Training Data /anglais

The guest explained that the forthcoming book is a collection of essays and interviews documenting their tenyear approach to AI training data.

"

This is a book that's a series of commissioned essays and interviews between me and Matt about our approach to AI data over the past 10 years. The title is All Media is Training Data.

— Episode: ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collectiv...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collective Intellig...

The guest explained that the forthcoming book is a collection of essays and interviews documenting their tenyear approach to AI training data.

"

This is a book that's a series of commissioned essays and interviews between me and Matt about our approach to AI data over the past 10 years. The title is All Media is Training Data.

The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised Cover

James Pethokoukis

The Conservative Futurist

How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised

The host noted that Jim Bethacoukis was the author of the recent book The Conservative Futurist, which discusses how to create the scifi world promised by futurists.

"

He's the author of the technologyfocused substack, Faster Please, and of the recent book, The Conservative Futurist.

— Episode: A Conservative Futurist and a Supply-Sid...

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Episode: A Conservative Futurist and a Supply-Side Liberal...

The host noted that Jim Bethacoukis was the author of the recent book The Conservative Futurist, which discusses how to create the scifi world promised by futurists.

"

He's the author of the technologyfocused substack, Faster Please, and of the recent book, The Conservative Futurist.

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