Books featured on the podcast "If Books Could Kill" hosted by Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri. "The airport books that captured our hearts and ruined our minds."
If Books Could Kill Public
Created and curated by Phil in SF
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4 stars
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 23. 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.
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The Rules by Ellen Fein, Sherrie Schneider
You are a creature unlike any other (Rule #1)--that's why you need . . . The Rules. A simple set …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 24. 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.
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Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
Since the rise and fall of the Nazis in the midtwentieth century, fascism has been seen as an extreme right-wing …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 27. Who poses the greatest threat to democracy? Is it the movement that openly identifies with the symbols, goals & policies of fascist governments? Or is it the median bureaucrat at the Department of Health & Human Services?
In 2008, a National Review nepo-baby attempted to answer this vex
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God And Man At Yale by William F. Buckley, Jr.
Details how a once conservative college headed left theologically and politically.
Phil in SF says: Ep. 29. Oops all grievance.
www.buzzsprout.com/2040953/episodes/13544735-god-and-man-at-yale
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The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
4 stars
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (2007) is a self-help book by Timothy Ferriss, …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 31. 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.
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San Fransicko by Michael Shellenberger
Progressives claimed they knew how to solve homelessness, inequality, and crime. But in cities they control, progressives made those problems …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 32. This week we're tackling "San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities," a book that dares to ask: What if everything that experts think about homelessness is wrong, and everything that one crank on Twitter thinks about homelessness is right?
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The 48 laws of power by Robert Greene
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power in to forty-eight …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 34. In 1996, a frustrated screenwriter got a fellowship in Italy. Twenty years later, Beyoncé released "Lemonade."
www.buzzsprout.com/2040953/episodes/13887364-the-48-laws-of-power
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The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson
4 stars
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 35. 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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The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounk
One of our leading public intellectuals traces the origin of a set of ideas about identity and social justice that …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 37. 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.
www.buzzsprout.com/2040953/episodes/14143351-the-identity-trap
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Trump: The Art of the Deal by Tony Schwartz, Donald J. Trump
Here is America's most glamorous young tycoon: the face on the covers of Fortune, Business Week, and the New York …
Phil in SF says: Ep 39. 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 discuss "The Art of the Deal," Trump’s 1987 bestseller chronicling his exploits as a celebrity slumlord.
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The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker
From Goodreads: Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year The author of …
Phil in SF says: Ep 40. We're tackling Steven Pinker's 900 page dissection of the reasons why violence, torture & war have declined over the last 10,000 years. Was it an indeterminate mixture of politics, economics, technology & serendipity? Or did some European guys write some books that said murder was bad.
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In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 41. 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. Peter and Michael examine the contents of her bestselling book, survey the wreckage of corporate feminism and ask whether women will finally find libe
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Going Infinite by Michael Lewis
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 44. 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.
www.buzzsprout.com/2040953/episodes/14994036-going-infinite-michael-lewis-takes-on-sam-bankman-fried
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The Origins of Woke by Richard Hanania
Richard Hanania has emerged as one of the most talked-about writers in the nation, and in this book, he puts …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 46. 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.
www.buzzsprout.com/2040953/episodes/15396653-richard-hanania-s-the-origins-of-woke
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The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates …
Phil in SF says: Ep. 48. Is social media to blame for the teen mental health crisis? It's complicated!
www.buzzsprout.com/2040953/episodes/15546366-the-anxious-generation
