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If Books Could Kill

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Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds

#31

The 4-Hour Workweek

Have you ever wanted to escape the grind and follow your dreams? This week we're discussing "The 4-Hour Workweek," which reveals that all you need is a plan, a willingness to take risks and a modestly sized fraud operation built on Third World labor. <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>:<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://jacobin.com/2018/03/four-hour-workweek-tim-ferriss-work'>The Fraud and the Four-Hour Workweek</a> ---<a href='https://www.newyorker.com/culture/office-space/revisiting-the-4-hour-workweek'>Revisiting "The 4-Hour Workweek"</a> ---<a href='https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/books/07book.html'>New! Improved! Shape Up Your Life!</a> ---<a href='https://www.gq.com/story/tim-ferriss-interview-quarantine-psychedelics'>From Productivity to Psychedelics: Tim Ferriss Has Changed His Mind About Success</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

21 Sep 2023

56 MINS

56:25

21 Sep 2023

#30

The Clinton E-Mail Scandal [TEASER]

But her e-mails! Michael explains the non-scandal that captivated the mainstream media in 2016 while Peter attempts to sow the podcast with anti-Hillary sentiment. <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon</a>:<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> ... Read more

14 Sep 2023

28 MINS

28:02

14 Sep 2023

#29

God And Man At Yale

Oops all grievance.<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>:<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://books.google.com/books/about/No_Ivory_Tower.html?id=-jyFNAAACAAJ'>No Ivory Tower : Mccarthyism And The Universities</a> ---<a href='https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691181547/the-fire-is-upon-us'>The Fire Is Upon Us</a> ---<a href='https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Conservative-Intellectual-Movement-in-America-Since-1945/George-H-Nash/9781933859125'>The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945</a> ---<a href='https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/passion-of-william-f-buckley-academic-freedom-conspiratorial-conservatism-and-the-rise-of-the-postwar-right/2A5EC6C8AEA69A3A5ACB679FF9BC5568'>The Passion of William F. Buckley: Academic Freedom, Conspiratorial Conservatism, and the Rise of the Postwar Right</a> ---<a href='https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674059092'>Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?</a> ---<a href='https://global.oup.com/academic/product/compromised-campus-9780195053821'>Compromised Campus: The Collaboration of Universities with the Intelligence Community, 1945-1955</a> ---<a href='https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/03/31/buckley-john-birch-society-00087893'>Debunking a Longstanding Myth About William F. Buckley</a> ---<a href='https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/william-f-buckley-jr-right-wing-college-movement'>How William F. Buckley Jr.’s Right-Wing College Crusade Paved the Way for Ron DeSantis</a> ---<a href='https://www.jstor.org/stable/20710374'>The Right v. Higher Education: Change and Continuity</a> ---<a href='https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Buckleys_a_Family_Examined.html?id=ewt3AAAAMAAJ'>The Buckleys: A Family Examined</a> ---<a href='https://www.jstor.org/stable/40252731?origin=crossref'>The Academic Elite Goes to Washington, and to War</a> ---<a href='https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=fourquarters'>What About “God and Man”?</a> ---<a href='https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1951/11/the-attack-on-yale/306724/'>The Attack on Yale</a> ---<a href='https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+academy+on+the+firing+line%3A+William+F.+Buckley%2C+Jr.%27s+God+and+Man...-a0370031193'>The academy on the firing line: William F. Buckley, Jr.'s God and Man at Yale and the modern conservative critique of higher education</a> ---<a href='https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/09/22/conservatives-charge-that-universities-are-hotbeds-of-liberalism-theyre-wrong/'>Conservatives charge that universities are hotbeds of liberalism. They’re wrong.</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

07 Sep 2023

1 HR 11 MINS

1:11:17

07 Sep 2023

#28

'On Bullsh*t' and the Pundit Industrial Complex [TEASER]

For this month's bonus episode we dissected Harry Frankfurt's gloriously brief bestseller and applied the concept to our favorite op-ed page. <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon</a>:<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> ... Read more

10 Aug 2023

16 MINS

16:17

10 Aug 2023

#27

Liberal Fascism

Who poses the greatest threat to democracy? Is it the movement that openly identifies with the symbols, goals and policies of fascist governments? Or is it the median bureaucrat at the Department of Health and Human Services? In 2008, a National Review nepo-baby attempted to answer this vexing question.<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://archive.is/ZK6D'>History News Network: A Symposium on Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism</a> ---<a href='https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Nature_of_Fascism.html?id=544bouZiztIC'>The Nature of Fascism</a> ---<a href='https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586030/how-fascism-works-by-jason-stanley/'>How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them</a> ---<a href='https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/128540/the-anatomy-of-fascism-by-robert-o-paxton/'>The Anatomy of Fascism</a> ---<a href='https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691617886/mussolini-and-fascism'>Mussolini and Fascism: The View From America</a> ---<a href='https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1017/s0022381612000904?journalCode=jop'>The Return of Old-Fashioned Racism to White Americans’ Partisan Preferences in the Early Obama Era</a> ---<a href='https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691174198/identity-crisis'>Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America</a> ---<a href='https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/30351/0000753.pdf'>What Hillary Rodham Clinton Really Said About Children’s Rights and Child Policy</a> ---<a href='https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780929587820/The-Ku-Klux-Klan-in-the-City-1915-1930'>The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930</a> ---<a href='https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2009/04/campus-takeover-symbolized-era-change'>A campus takeover that symbolized an era of change</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

27 Jul 2023

1 HR 04 MINS

1:04:33

27 Jul 2023

#26

Are The Straights OK [TEASER]

In our "Rules" and "Game" episodes we didn't get a chance to dissect the phenomenon of online dating (i.e. describe our worst dates and read cringe profiles out loud to each other), so that is what we are doing on today's bonus episode. <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon</a>:<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> ... Read more

13 Jul 2023

24 MINS

24:10

13 Jul 2023

#25

BONUS: Conservatives vs. Pride Month

Lots of subscribers asked us to release last month's bonus episode in full so here it is! Share it with the conservatives, the boomers and the Satanists in your life.<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

06 Jul 2023

1 HR 05 MINS

1:05:16

06 Jul 2023

#24

The Rules

In 1995 a bestselling book proposed a simple dating strategy for women: Lose weight, wear bright colors and become a completely different person for the rest of your life.Thanks to <a href='https://moiradonegan.substack.com/'>Moira Donegan</a> for helping us with this episode! <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/1626/front-porch-back-seat'>From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America</a> ---<a href='https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/style/the-rules-book.html'>Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s essay, “Stuff Your ‘Rules’”</a> ---<a href='https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00497878.2000.9979317?journalCode=gwst20'>The More Things Change: The Rules And Late Eighteenth‐Century Conduct Books For Women</a> ---<a href='https://www.jstor.org/stable/3789817'>Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts: Shyness and Heterosexuality from the Roles of the Fifties to "The Rules" of the Nineties</a> ---<a href='https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-020-09743-3'>From Mountain Peak to Total Woman: An Evolutionary History of Pre-feminist Dating Advice</a> ---<a href='https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520298699/the-mating-game#:~:text=Through%20interviews%20with%20heterosexual%20and,with%20competing%20messages%20about%20gender%2C'>The Mating Game: How Gender Still Shapes How We Date by Ellen Lamont</a> ---<a href='https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/23/garden/so-many-rules-so-little-time.html'>So Many Rules, So Little Time</a> ---<a href='https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0959353503013002007?journalCode=fapa'>Abiding by The Rules: Instructing Women in Relationships</a> ---<a href='https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19558447/'>What leads to romantic attraction: similarity, reciprocity, security, or beauty? Evidence from a speed-dating study</a> ---<a href='http://www.elainehatfield.com/uploads/3/4/5/2/34523593/38._hatfield_walster_piliavin__schmidt_1973.pdf'>"Playing Hard To Get": Understanding An Elusive Phenomenon</a> ---<a href='https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/019251398019004005?journalCode=jfia'>Egalitarian Daters, Traditionalist Dates</a> ---<a href='https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aap9815'>Aspirational pursuit of mates in online dating markets</a> ---<a href='https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1908630116'>Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting</a> ---<a href='https://web.archive.org/web/20081109093956/http:/www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985233-1,00.html'>Playing Hard To Get</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

29 Jun 2023

1 HR 09 MINS

1:09:07

29 Jun 2023

#23

Atomic Habits

This week we're discussing "Atomic Habits," a book about how to use science (and also some stuff that’s definitely not science) to train yourself to be a more functional person.<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a> Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://hbr.org/2015/10/how-1-performance-improvements-led-to-olympic-gold'>How 1% Performance Improvements Led to Olympic Gold</a> ---<a href='https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/from-paupers-to-kings-the-lottery-funded-revolution-93603'>From paupers to kings: The lottery-funded revolution</a> ---<a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4826769/'>Habit Formation</a> ---<a href='https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article/23/7/1085/5998113'>Implementation Intentions to Reduce Smoking: A Systematic Review of the Literature</a> ---<a href='https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871620302854'>Effectiveness of the use of implementation intentions on reduction of substance use: A meta-analysis</a> ---<a href='https://s18798.pcdn.co/motivationlab/wp-content/uploads/sites/6235/2019/02/gollwitzer-et-al-2009-when-intentions-go-public.pdf'>When Intentions Go Public</a> ---<a href='https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/documents/Luby,%20Agboatwalla,%20Painter-%20Handwashing%20in%20Pakistan-%202004.pdf'>Effect of Intensive Handwashing Promotion on Childhood Diarrhea in High-Risk</a> <a href='https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/documents/Luby,%20Agboatwalla,%20Painter-%20Handwashing%20in%20Pakistan-%202004.pdf'>Communities in Pakistan</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

15 Jun 2023

1 HR 01 MINS

1:01:09

15 Jun 2023

#22

The World is Flat

Much has been said about globalization, but perhaps no one has said it worse than Thomas Friedman.Content Note: Discussions of xenophobic and racist content, especially toward the end of the episode.<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a>Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/14/why-the-world-isnt-flat/'>Why The World Isn't Flat</a> ---<a href='https://hbr.org/2014/11/the-world-is-still-not-flat'>The World Is Still Not Flat</a> ---<a href='https://www.dhl.com/content/dam/dhl/global/delivered/documents/pdf/dhl-global-connectedness-index-2022-complete-report.pdf'>DHL Global Connectedness Index 2022</a> ---<a href='https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229602922_The_Fallacies_of_Flatness_Thomas_Friedman's_The_World_Is_Flat'>The Fallacies of Flatness</a> ---<a href='https://ceinquiry.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/thomas-friedman-sociopath-quotes/'>The Sociopathy of Thomas Friedman: A Compendium</a> ---<a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwFaSpca_3Q'>Thomas Friedman sums up the Iraq War (YouTube)</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

01 Jun 2023

1 HR 07 MINS

1:07:41

01 Jun 2023

#21

"Nudge" Part 2: Mr. Nudge Goes to Washington

The Nudgening.<a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>Support us on Patreon</a>: <a href='https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod'>https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod</a>Where to find us: ---<a href='https://twitter.com/IfBooksPod'>Twitter</a> ---<a href='https://www.fivefourpod.com/'>Peter's other podcast, 5-4</a> ---<a href='https://www.maintenancephase.com/'>Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase</a> Sources: ---<a href='https://psyarxiv.com/jn7kf'>David Gal's "Behavioral Winter"</a> ---<a href='https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046264'>The i-frame and the s-frame: How focusing on individual-level solutions has led behavioral public policy astray</a> ---<a href='https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/opinion/sunday/behavioral-economics.html'>Why Is Behavioral Economics So Popular?</a> ---<a href='https://www.bi.team/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Applying-Behavioral-Insights-to-Intimate-Partner-Violence-ENG-3.pdf'>Applying Behavioral Insights To Intimate Partner Violence</a> ---<a href='https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15265161.2011.634485'>What Counts as a Nudge?</a> ---<a href='https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/upshot/the-power-of-nudges-for-good-and-bad.html'>The Power of Nudges, for Good and Bad</a> ---<a href='https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1253&context=faculty_scholarship'>Allowing Patients to Waive the Right to Sue for Medical Malpractice: A Response to Thaler and Sunstein</a> ---<a href='https://harpers.org/archive/2014/12/obamas-obama/'>Obama’s Obama</a> ---<a href='https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC100547'>Behavioural Insights Applied to Policy - Country Overviews 2016</a> ---<a href='https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7124175/'>The opioid crisis and nudge theory</a> ---<a href='https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13164-015-0248-1'>On the Supposed Evidence for Libertarian Paternalism</a> ---<a href='https://www.csus.edu/indiv/h/howellj/econ145_f2009/handouts/bettinger_eer.pdf'>The effect of charter schools on charter students and public schools</a> ---<a href='https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/science/earth/policy-and-politics-collide-as-obama-enters-campaign-mode.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1'>Re-election Strategy Is Tied to a Shift on Smog</a> ---<a href='https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/11/why-is-the-white-house-delaying-so-many-safety-and-environmental-rules/'>Is the White House delaying too many health and safety rules?</a> ---<a href='http://sensiblesafeguards.org/assets/documents/down-the-regulatory-rabbit-hole.pdf'>Down the Regulatory Rabbit Hole</a> ---<a href='https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/ct-xpm-2012-03-19-ct-oped-0319-regs-20120319-story.html'>Why regulations are good — again</a> ---<a href='https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cass-sunstein-obama-ambivalent-regulator-czar_n_874530'>Cass Sunstein: The Obama Administration's Ambivalent Regulator</a> Thanks to <a href='https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2'>Mindseye</a> for our theme song! ... Read more

19 May 2023

1 HR 01 MINS

1:01:04

19 May 2023

Podurama

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