If Books Could Kill is a podcast hosted by Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri, in which they critique bestselling nonfiction books of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Books featured on the podcast have included Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama. First airing on November 2, 2022, the podcast has received largely positive reviews from critics.
Summary If Books Could Kill is hosted by Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri. Hobbes is a journalist known for hosting You're Wrong About with Sarah Marshall (until 2021) and Maintenance Phase with Aubrey Gordon. Shamshiri is known for his hosting of the podcast 5-4, along with Rhiannon Hamam and Michael Liroff.
The show targets "airport books", popular nonfiction books often marketed as pop science or smart thinking that might be found in airport bookshops, which Hobbes describes as "the superspreader events of American stupidity". Each episode is dedicated to the discussion of a single book, along with the book's wider cultural influence. The hosts focus on flawed arguments, poor uses of data, factual errors, and the drawing of unsound conclusions or overgeneralizations. They often take a comic tone and will poke fun at the books and their authors.
Episodes No. Book featured Book author Release date1FreakonomicsSteven D. Levitt and Stephen J. DubnerNovember 2, 20222OutliersMalcolm GladwellNovember 10, 20223Bobos in ParadiseDavid BrooksNovember 17, 20224The GameNeil StraussDecember 1, 20225The Population BombPaul R. Ehrlich and Anne Howland EhrlichDecember 15, 20226The SecretRhonda ByrneJanuary 12, 20237Men Are From Mars, Women Are From VenusJohn GrayJanuary 26, 20238The End of History and the Last ManFrancis FukuyamaFebruary 9, 20239The Clash of CivilizationsSamuel P. HuntingtonFebruary 28, 202310The Coddling of the American MindGreg Lukianoff and Jonathan HaidtMarch 9, 202311Hillbilly ElegyJD VanceMarch 23, 202312Rich Dad Poor DadRobert KiyosakiApril 6, 202313The 5 Love LanguagesGary ChapmanApril 20, 202314 Nudge Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. SunsteinMay 4, 202315May 19, 202316The World Is FlatThomas FriedmanJune 1, 202317Atomic HabitsJames ClearJune 15, 202318The RulesEllen Fein and Sherrie SchneiderJune 29, 202319Liberal FascismJonah GoldbergJuly 27, 202320God and Man at YaleWilliam F. BuckleySeptember 7, 202321The 4-Hour WorkweekTim FerrissSeptember 21, 202322San FransickoMichael ShellenbergerOctober 19, 202323The 48 Laws of PowerRobert GreeneNovember 2, 202324The Subtle Art of Not Giving a FuckMark MansonNovember 21, 202325The Identity TrapYascha MounkDecember 14, 202326Trump: The Art of the DealDonald J. Trump and Tony SchwartzJanuary 11, 202427The Better Angels of Our Nature (part 1)Steven PinkerFebruary 22, 202428Lean InSheryl Sandberg and Nell ScovellMarch 14, 202429The Better Angels of Our Nature (part 2)Steven PinkerApril 11, 202430Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New TycoonMichael LewisMay 2, 202431The Origins of WokeRichard HananiaJuly 11, 202432The Anxious GenerationJonathan HaidtAugust 8, 202433Battle Hymn of the Tiger MotherAmy ChuaSeptember 24, 202434Who Moved My Cheese?Spencer JohnsonOctober 10, 202435The End of FaithSam HarrisNovember 4, 202436What's the Matter with Kansas?Thomas FrankDecember 6, 202437You Are a BadassJen SinceroJanuary 23, 202538Of Boys and MenRichard ReevesMarch 6, 202539Act Like a Lady, Think Like a ManSteve HarveyMarch 28, 202540Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America NeedsJosh HawleyMarch 31, 202541The Let Them TheoryMel RobbinsApril 23, 202542 In Covid's Wake Stephen Macedo and Frances LeeJune 17, 202543June 19, 202544BlinkMalcolm GladwellJuly 17, 202545He's Just Not That into YouGreg Behrendt and Liz TuccilloJuly 31, 202546Summer of Our DiscontentThomas Chatterton WilliamsSeptember 11, 202547How to Win Friends and Influence PeopleDale CarnegieOctober 2, 202548Sapiens: A Brief History of HumankindYuval Noah HarariNovember 20, 202549 Elon Musk Walter IsaacsonDecember 9, 202550December 18, 202551The Millionaire Next DoorThomas J. Stanley and William D. DankoFebruary 5, 202652Bullshit JobsDavid GraeberMarch 5, 202653The 4-Hour Body (with Maintenance Phase)Tim FerrissApril 16, 202654Grit: The Power of Passion and PerseverenceAngela DuckworthApril 30, 202655Think and Grow RichNapoleon HillMay 21, 202656The Body Keeps the ScoreBessel van der KolkJune 18, 202657Three Cups of TeaGreg Mortenson and David Oliver RelinAugust 5, 202658Surrounded by IdiotsThomas EriksonSeptember 1, 2026
Reception If Books Could Kill was listed by Vulture as one of the best podcasts of 2023, described by the website as a "cutting and ambitious criticism of the nexus linking publishing, media, and elite power". Jessie Gaynor praised the podcast in a review on Literary Hub. Fiona McCann in The Irish Times described the podcast as "smart, intellectually engaged, left-leaning American men indulging in deliciously catty takedowns of popular and problematic 'big ideas' books" in a positive review, commenting that "your average left-leaner will have a field day, even as they face their own gullibility." In The Times, James Marriott gave the podcast a 4/5 star review, describing the show as satisfying but commenting that "after more than half an hour the hosts’ tone gets a bit smug". Hannah Giorgis in The Atlantic reviewed the podcast positively and praised the show for "resist[ing] the impulse to be satisfied with reaching into libraries past just to point and laugh", and instead exploring how such books have shaped public opinion and what they reveal about the historical moment in which they were published.
References
External links Official website