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.
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Where to find us: TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
Sources:The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (Blog Post)Where A is Ordinary: The Evolution of American College and University Grading, 1940-2009We’ve Been Handing Out Participation Trophies for 100 Years
Positive Disintegration‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!’ Review: A Blunt Philosophy
Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
Плейлист
If Books Could Kill
Last episode we met two Princeton political scientists who are bad at virology. Today we learn that they are also bad at political science.Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other p...
Two political scientists look back at a deadly pandemic and ask, "could we have done even less?"Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maint...
By popular demand we are releasing last month's Patreon bonus episode on the main feed! We chart the transformation of the lab leak from an unfounded theory promoted by right-wing cranks to an un...
Peter and Michael discuss The Let Them Theory, a self-help guide to seeking bliss through unmitigated complacency.Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's ot...
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Are you a single lady struggling to find love with a man? Don't fret! A twice-divorced game show host who thinks conversation is for women is here to help.Where to find us: Peter's newslette...
Who's to blame for the crisis of American masculinity? On the right, politicians tell men that they being oppressed by feminists and must reassert their manhood by supporting an authoritarian reg...
Peter and Michael dissect Jen Sincero's "You are a Badass," a book that answers the question: What if "The Secret" was written in the painful, try-hard style of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*...
In 2004, historian Thomas Frank proposed a theory about the rightward drift of the white working class. Was he a prescient king whose work presaged the rise of Trump — or a bumbling fool with a broken...
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: Peter's other podcast, 5-4M...
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: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintena...
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:/...
A memoir about parenting very badly and then getting weirdly defensive when anyone asks you about it.Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSource...
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 fo...
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: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike&ap...
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...
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: Peter's othe...
2 Better 2 AngelsSupport us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Jeffrey Epstein’s Science...
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...
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...
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 politic...
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 discus...
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
"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." Whe...
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
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 rep...
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:/...
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 trie...