If Books Could Kill

By: Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri
  • Summary

  • The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds
    © 2024 If Books Could Kill
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Episodes
  • Sam Harris's "The End of Faith"
    Nov 4 2024

    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, 5-4
    • Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase

    Sources:

    • Views of Violence
    • Carnival Booth: An Algorithm for Defeating the Computer-Assisted Passenger Screening System
    • The same motive for anti-US 'terrorism' is cited over and over
    • Does intuitive mindset influence belief in God?
    • Terrorism science: 5 insights into jihad in Europe
    • Analytic cognitive style predicts religious and paranormal belief
    • What Is "Islamophobia"?
    • Essays In Defense of Profiling
    • To Profile or Not to Profile
    • Chapter 2 The Making of Jihadist Social Actors in Europe in
    • Who are the new jihadis?
    • Disbelief - Prometheus Books
    • God and the Ivory Tower
    • Religion’s evolutionary landscape: Counterintuition, commitment, compassion, communion
    • The Evolution of Religion: How Cognitive By-Products, Adaptive Learning Heuristics, Ritual Displays, and Group Competition Generate
    • Talking to the Enemy

    Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Who Moved My Cheese?
    Oct 10 2024

    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, 5-4
    • Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase

    Sources:

    • Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America
    • Downsizing in America
    • Temp: How American Work, American Business, and the American Dream Became Temporary
    • The Disposable American
    • Spencer Johnson, ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ Author, Dies at 78
    • What was the New Economy?
    • Boss, Employees Share Large Cheese Platter
    • Tarpon's big cheese has aides reading
    • Why doesn’t downsizing deliver?
    • On the Battlefields of Business, Millions of Casualties
    • Shareholder Value and Workforce Downsizing, 1981-2006
    • Long-Term Earnings Losses Due to Job Separation During the 1982 Recession
    • Does Employee Downsizing Really Work?
    • Layoffs, Top Executive Pay, and Firm Performance
    • Emerging Conceptions of Work, Management and the Labor Market
    • A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Why Organizations Downsize
    • Organizational Downsizing: Constraining, Cloning, Learning
    • The Decline and Fall of the Conglomerate Firm in the 1980s

    Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 9 mins
  • UNLOCKED: Eric Adams
    Sep 26 2024

    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

    Show more Show less
    59 mins

What listeners say about If Books Could Kill

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    5 out of 5 stars

Funny and insightful

They critique some of my favorite books and some of my least favorite too. Well-reseached discussion with a side of humor.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing podcast

Michael doing an excellent follow-up to his work on You're Wrong About. Warm, friendly, evidence-centric criticism.

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Michael shines here doing what he's best at!

This is great content for those looking for a fact based breakdown of this social phenomenon. It even includes a Pierce Brosnan mention!

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Dazzling Book Reviews

Always informative… always fun!! I enjoy listening to and from work. Michael Hobbs, I love you!! You too, Peter!!

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Great stuff

It doesn't hurt to take a critical look at the books that hold value in our society. Sociology is a really complicated subject and boiling it down to a few statistics in a book doesn't always work, even when it's neatly packaged. The show is funny in addition to educational which is my favorite kind of podcast.

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wow

Love all these podcasts. I know this isn't a podcast regarding reproductive rights but it would have been for Michael to mention that indigenous women are still having forced sterilization as well as other women in the present day here in the US. It isn't a past issue for us or the rest of the world sadly. I love how you guys can make me laugh so hard while learning about the most depressing shit. great work keep it up.

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Well.

I thoroughly enjoy this podcast. I paid for Patreon. Then episodes stopped showing up. I would continue listening and I would restart Patreon, but not if the episodes just stop?!

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.

This is the same superficial tripe they are railing about . Tearing apart a 25 year old book . Pseudo intellectual drivel . Don’t waste your time

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Karen vibe

I like the arguments they bring up on the matter of data analytics as well as the way they fact check the authors. But I can't get personal opinions they demonstrate. It is almost like the authors personally offended them. They give me the impression of a two neck bearded, purple headed Karen's, yelling to see the manager.

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