Episodes
-
To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod -
You stare, mouth agape, at the bookstore display. Itâs 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.
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:Sources:
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (Blog Post)Where A is Ordinary: The Evolution of American College and University Grading, 1940-2009Weâve Been Handing Out Participation Trophies for 100 Years
Positive DisintegrationâThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!â Review: A Blunt PhilosophyThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
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:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:Sources:
Rebecca Solnitâs âA Paradise Built in HellâKelly Link's "White Cat, Black Dog"The Half-Century in Bullshit: On Peter Bogdanovichâs âPaper Moonâ and Robert Greeneâs âThe 48 Laws of PowerâA Book of Anecdotes, 1957
The Little Brown Book Of AnecdotesFear Nothing: Self-Fashioning and Social Mobility in 50 Centâs The 50th LawThe fear of conflict leads people to systematically avoid potentially valuable zero-sum situationsThe Immigration DilemmaYou Can Win But I Can't LoseIf you rise, I fall: Equality is prevented by the misperception that it harms advantaged groupsZero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of U.S. Political DividesA Genesis of Conflict: The Zero-Sum MindsetForbes Winslowâs Physic and PhysiciansThe role of masculinity in men's help-seeking for depression: A systematic review The Strange, Sad Story of Joe Orton, His Lover, and 72 Stolen Library Books A Failure Of InitiativeNew Orleans reaches settlements for police shootings after Hurricane KatrinaPost-Katrina, White Vigilantes Shot African-Americans With ImpunityThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
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 tries to figure out where this panic originated and as Mike finally comes clean about his criminal past.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod -
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?
Thanks to Ned Resnikoff for helping us with the research for this episode!Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:
Inflection Points in Community-level Homeless RatesHow Housing Costs Drive Levels of HomelessnessThe 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report To CongressThe California Statewide Study of People Experiencing HomelessnessSan Francisco Homelessness Benchmarking ReportHomelessness is a Housing ProblemA randomized trial of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless persons with high use of publicly funded servicesSan Francisco Department of Public Health Update Report on Mental Health ReformCivil Commitment in the United StatesThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
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.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:
The Fraud and the Four-Hour WorkweekRevisiting "The 4-Hour Workweek"New! Improved! Shape Up Your Life!From Productivity to Psychedelics: Tim Ferriss Has Changed His Mind About SuccessThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
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.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod -
Oops all grievance.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:
No Ivory Tower : Mccarthyism And The UniversitiesThe Fire Is Upon UsThe Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945The Passion of William F. Buckley: Academic Freedom, Conspiratorial Conservatism, and the Rise of the Postwar RightWhy Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?Compromised Campus: The Collaboration of Universities with the Intelligence Community, 1945-1955Debunking a Longstanding Myth About William F. BuckleyHow William F. Buckley Jr.âs Right-Wing College Crusade Paved the Way for Ron DeSantisThe Right v. Higher Education: Change and ContinuityThe Buckleys: A Family ExaminedThe Academic Elite Goes to Washington, and to WarWhat About âGod and Manâ?The Attack on YaleThe academy on the firing line: William F. Buckley, Jr.'s God and Man at Yale and the modern conservative critique of higher educationConservatives charge that universities are hotbeds of liberalism. Theyâre wrong.Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
For this month's bonus episode we dissected Harry Frankfurt's gloriously brief bestseller and applied the concept to our favorite op-ed page.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod -
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.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:
History News Network: A Symposium on Jonah Goldbergâs Liberal FascismThe Nature of FascismHow Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and ThemThe Anatomy of FascismMussolini and Fascism: The View From AmericaThe Return of Old-Fashioned Racism to White Americansâ Partisan Preferences in the Early Obama EraIdentity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of AmericaWhat Hillary Rodham Clinton Really Said About Childrenâs Rights and Child PolicyThe Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930A campus takeover that symbolized an era of changeThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
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.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod -
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.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
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 Moira Donegan for helping us with this episode!
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:
From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America Taffy Brodesser-Aknerâs essay, âStuff Your âRulesââ The More Things Change: The Rules And Late EighteenthâCentury Conduct Books For Women Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts: Shyness and Heterosexuality from the Roles of the Fifties to "The Rules" of the Nineties From Mountain Peak to Total Woman: An Evolutionary History of Pre-feminist Dating Advice The Mating Game: How Gender Still Shapes How We Date by Ellen Lamont So Many Rules, So Little Time Abiding by The Rules: Instructing Women in Relationships What leads to romantic attraction: similarity, reciprocity, security, or beauty? Evidence from a speed-dating study "Playing Hard To Get": Understanding An Elusive Phenomenon Egalitarian Daters, Traditionalist Dates Aspirational pursuit of mates in online dating markets Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting Playing Hard To GetThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
This week we're discussing "Atomic Habits," a book about how to use science (and also some stuff thatâs definitely not science) to train yourself to be a more functional person.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPodWhere to find us:
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:
How 1% Performance Improvements Led to Olympic GoldFrom paupers to kings: The lottery-funded revolution Habit FormationImplementation Intentions to Reduce Smoking: A Systematic Review of the LiteratureEffectiveness of the use of implementation intentions on reduction of substance use: A meta-analysisWhen Intentions Go PublicEffect of Intensive Handwashing Promotion on Childhood Diarrhea in High-Risk Communities in PakistanThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
Much has been said about globalization, but perhaps no one has said it worse than Thomas Friedman.
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
Content Note: Discussions of xenophobic and racist content, especially toward the end of the episode.
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:Sources:
Why The World Isn't FlatThe World Is Still Not FlatDHL Global Connectedness Index 2022The Fallacies of FlatnessThe Sociopathy of Thomas Friedman: A CompendiumThomas Friedman sums up the Iraq War (YouTube)Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
The Nudgening.
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:Sources:
David Gal's "Behavioral Winter"The i-frame and the s-frame: How focusing on individual-level solutions has led behavioral public policy astrayWhy Is Behavioral Economics So Popular?Applying Behavioral Insights To Intimate Partner ViolenceWhat Counts as a Nudge?The Power of Nudges, for Good and BadAllowing Patients to Waive the Right to Sue for Medical Malpractice: A Response to Thaler and SunsteinObamaâs ObamaBehavioural Insights Applied to Policy - Country Overviews 2016The opioid crisis and nudge theoryOn the Supposed Evidence for Libertarian PaternalismThe effect of charter schools on charter students and public schoolsRe-election Strategy Is Tied to a Shift on SmogIs the White House delaying too many health and safety rules?Down the Regulatory Rabbit HoleWhy regulations are good â againCass Sunstein: The Obama Administration's Ambivalent RegulatorThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
In 2021, scrappy young investors from across the world joined forces to buy GameStop stock, aiming to take down greedy hedge funds. What came next was tragedy, injustice, and a conspiratorial internet cult so stupid we had to do an episode about it.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod -
In 2008, an economist and a law professor proposed a radical new approach to politics: Telling people not to do bad stuff.
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:Sources:
Mike's Maintenance Phase episode on the godfather of the "cafeteria nudge"Nudge: Concept, Effectiveness, and EthicsFrom mechanism to virtue: Evaluating Nudge theoryThe effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domainsWhy the Most Important Idea in Behavioral Decision-Making Is a FallacyBehavioral WinterWhy Is Behavioral Economics So Popular?The Origins of Anti-Litter CampaignsDo Normative Appeals Affect Tax Compliance? Evidence from a Controlled Experiment in MinnesotaOpt-out legislations: the mysterious viability of the falseOpt-out policies capacity to increase organ donors is limitedAssessing Global Organ Donation Policies: Opt-In vs Opt-OutWhat Counts as a Nudge?Preventing Secondary Pregnancy In Adolescents: A Model ProgramThe Effect of Monetary Incentives and Peer Support Groups on Repeat Adolescent Pregnancies A Randomized Trial of the Dollar-a-Day ProgramThe i-frame and the s-frame: How focusing on individual-level solutions has led behavioral public policy astrayCan behavioural economics make us healthier?On the Supposed Evidence for Libertarian PaternalismThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
Whatâs your love language? Is it gifts? Words of affirmation? Or is it podcasts about books with extremely weird, reactionary gender dynamics?
TwitterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase
Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
Where to find us:Sources:
Can Gary Chapman Save Your Marriage?The Sixth Love Language Does Not ExistHow âThe Five Love Languagesâ Gets Misinterpreted The 5 Love Languages Donât Matter as Much as You ThinkThe Creator Of The 5 Love Languages Is A Homophobe And This Is Why We Can't Have Nice ThingsFamed Author Gary Chapman Talks Love, Marriage, Sex Evangelicals IncorporatedThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!
-
Is it bootstraps? It's bootstraps.
To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod - Show more
![Pundit Portraits: Kathleen Parker and Chris Cillizza [TEASER]](https://is5-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts122/v4/90/03/f9/9003f935-fcba-0e97-25b7-b4c9a1ad980d/mza_16253941530797286843.jpg/80x80bb.jpg)