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If Books Could Kill

Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds

  1. 25 AUG · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Pundit Portrait: Bret Stephens

    Peter and Michael discuss Bret Stephens, the snitching, climate change-denying, racist creep who is gainfully employed by The New York Times.

    1h 7m

  2. 31 JUL

    He's Just Not That Into You

    How one comedian's offhand advice launched a decent TV episode, a mediocre book and a terrible movie. Where to find us:  Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Susan Faludi's "Backlash"For Women Who Count on Men to Be JerksBridget Jones’s LegacySingle Women in Popular CultureA Decade of Advice for Women and Men in the Best-Selling Self-Help LiteratureThe gendered nature of self-helpSingle Women in Popular Culture Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

    1 hr

  3. 29 JUL · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Pundit Portrait: Bari Weiss

    Michael and Peter discuss the rising star of Bari Weiss, who took a one-note journalism career and spun it into a media empire.

    1h 18m

  4. 17 JUL

    Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink"

    Did you know that in the split-second it took you to read the title of this episode, your subconscious already figured out that it was going to be extremely good? Peter and Michael talk about Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink," a book that is mostly cute scientific anecdotes but also indirectly resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted on fraudulent science. Where to find us:  Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Unconscious influences on decision making: A critical reviewHalf a Minute: Predicting Teacher Evaluations From Thin Slices of Nonverbal Behavior and Physical Attractiveness'Thin slices' of lifeConditions for Intuitive Expertise: A Failure to DisagreeTelling More Than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental ProcessesMagic at the marketplace: Choice blindness for the taste of jam and the smell of teaFalse-Positive Psychology: Undisclosed Flexibility in Data Collection and Analysis Allows Presenting Anything as SignificantReading Lies: Nonverbal Communication and Deception Behavioral Science and SecurityTSA Should Limit Future Funding for Behavior Detection ActivitiesTSA Does Not Have Valid Evidence Supporting Most of the Revised Behavioral Indicators Used in Its Behavior Detection Activities Telling Lies: Fact, Fiction, and NonsenseTSA’s Secret Behavior Checklist to Spot TerroristsA Review of 'Blink' by Malcolm GladwellThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

    58 min

  5. 1 JUL

    The Supreme Court Goes Full TERF [TEASER]

    This is most of the episode but if you want to hear the last 20 minutes, support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

    1h 2m

  6. 30 JUN · BONUS • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    The Supreme Court Goes Full TERF

    Michael and Peter discuss how a moral panic about trans people manifested in United States v. Skrmetti, a Supreme Court case upholding bans on gender affirming care for minors.

    1h 21m

  7. 19 JUN

    "In Covid's Wake" Part 2: Wrong About The Right

    Last episode we met two Princeton political scientists who are bad at virology. Today we learn that they are also bad at political science. Where to find us:  Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Lawrence Wright’s “The Plague Year”Jonathan Howard’s “We Want Them Infected”How the Pandemic Defeated AmericaCOVID-19: examining the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventionsUS State Restrictions and Excess COVID-19 Pandemic DeathsImpact of non-pharmaceutical interventionsPolicy Interventions, Social Distancing, and SARS-CoV-2 TransmissionThe Impact of Vaccines and Behavior on US Cumulative DeathsPro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death ratesReport for the Scottish COVID-19 InquiryThe Effectiveness Of Government Masking Mandates School closures during COVID-19COVID-19–Related School ClosuresThe Effects of School Closures on COVID‑19Higher COVID-19 Deaths with Later School Closure in the United StatesReopening America’s SchoolsReading literacy decline in EuropeDeSantis vs. NewsomRed States Have Seen Less Learning LossPolitical partisanship and mobility restriction Republicans Aren’t New To The Anti-Vaxx MovementKFF poll on anti-vaxx beliefsThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

    1h 10m

  8. 17 JUN

    "In Covid's Wake" Part 1: Lying About Lockdowns

    Two political scientists look back at a deadly pandemic and ask, "could we have done even less?" Where to find us:  Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Lawrence Wright’s “The Plague Year”The 2019 WHO report                30‐day mortality following COVID‐19COVID-19: examining the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventionsPolicy Interventions, Social Distancing, and SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in the United StatesWhat we can learn from SwedenA review of the Swedish policy response to COVID-19How Sweden approached the COVID‐19 pandemicThe first eight months of Sweden’s COVID‐19 strategyThe Swedish COVID-19 Response Is a DisasterExcess mortality in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic Comparing drivers of pandemic economic decline 2020How Sweden approached the COVID-19 pandemicComparisons of all-cause mortality between European countries and regionsJonathan Howard’s “We Want Them Infected.”Deaths: Leading Causes for 2021Stay-at-home orders associate with subsequent decreases in COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States Did the Timing of State Mandated Lockdown Affect the Spread of COVID-19? US State Restrictions and Excess COVID-19 Pandemic DeathsThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

    58 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    99
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 If Books Could Kill
  • Show Website
    If Books Could Kill
  • Provider
    One Word LLC

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