If Books Could Kill

Peter and Michael discuss "Bullshit Jobs" by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber. The result: two professional podcasters debating which jobs are real and which jobs are fake.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant37% of British workers think their jobs are...

It turns out that the key to wealth is buying the right kind of watch, marrying the right kind of wife and being the right kind of white.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Uneasy StreetA Century of Wealth In AmericaFamily, Education, and Sources of Wealth among the Richest Americans, 1982–2012Wealth...

The boys catalog the definitive worst takes of the year, from the pundits who misunderstood our political moment to a guy who wants to have sex with a computer.To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

The boys continue their discussion of Walter Isaacson's "Elon Musk." This is the part where Elon loses his mind. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:From self-proclaimed ‘socialist’ to Team Trump and DeSantis: Elon Musk’s curious politics revealed The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s...

A biography that dares to ask: Is a lifetime of worker abuse and narcissism worth it to experience robot butlers?Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:What Elon Musk Gets Wrong about South AfricaElon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather Elon Musk claims he was once one of the best Quake...

How do you tell the entire history of humanity in a single book? Whatever you do, do not open a browser window. Thanks to Dorsa Amir, Duncan Stibbard Hawkes and David Perry for help researching and fact-checking this episode!Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:A Response to Yuval HarariYuval Noah...

Live like Dale Carnegie, neg like Calvin Coolidge.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Self-help Messiah: Dale Carnegie and Success in Modern AmericaThe Positive ThinkersAge of industrial violence 1910-1915 : the activities and findings of the United States commission on industrial relationsRepresentation...

Peter and Michael discuss a book that's light on facts and long on sentences.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Book Review: ‘Summer of Our Discontent,’ by Thomas Chatterton WilliamsPolice shootings database 2015-2024From the archive, 22 March 1991: President Bush sickened by Rodney King caseBarack...

How one comedian's offhand advice launched a decent TV episode, a mediocre book and a terrible movie.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Susan Faludi's "Backlash"For Women Who Count on Men to Be JerksBridget Jones’s LegacySingle Women in Popular CultureA Decade of Advice for Women and Men in the...

Did you know that in the split-second it took you to read the title of this episode, your subconscious already figured out that it was going to be extremely good?Peter and Michael talk about Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink," a book that is mostly cute scientific anecdotes but also indirectly resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted on fraudulent science.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur...