If Books Could Kill

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Are you a single lady struggling to find love with a man? Don't fret! A twice-divorced game show host who thinks conversation is for women is here to help. Where to find us:  * Peter's newsletter [https://stringinamaze.net/] * Peter's other podcast, 5-4 [https://www.fivefourpod.com/] * Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase [https://www.maintenancephase.com/] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!

Who's to blame for the crisis of American masculinity? On the right, politicians tell men that they being oppressed by feminists and must reassert their manhood by supporting an authoritarian regime. And on the left, users of social media are often very irritating to people who write airport books.   Where to find us:  * Peter's newsletter [https://stringinamaze.net/] * Peter's other podcast, 5-4 [https://www.fivefourpod.com/] * Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase [https://www.maintenancephase.com/] Sources: * Conscientiousness as a Predictor of the Gender Gap in Academic Achievement [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9379878/] * Gender Differences in Scholastic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis [https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-a0036620.pdf] * Early Childhood Behavior Problems and the Gender Gap in Educational Attainment in the United States [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6208359/] * Where The Boys Aren’t [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w8964/w8964.pdf] * The gender achievement gap in grades and standardised tests [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sociology/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1448488/full] * The State of Gender Equality for U.S. Adolescents [https://planusa-org-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/public/uploads/2021/04/state-of-gender-equality-summary-2018.pdf] * Highlights of women’s earnings in 2023 [https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2023/] * The gender gap in educational outcomes in Norway [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328759687_The_gender_gap_in_educational_outcomes_in_Norway] * Social Influences And The Gender Gap In Disruptive Behavior [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17541/w17541.pdf] * Family Disadvantage and the Gender Gap [https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20170571] * What might interrupt men's suicide? [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4611172/] * As Women Take Over a Male-Dominated Field, the Pay Drops [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/upshot/as-women-take-over-a-male-dominated-field-the-pay-drops.html] * The Cost of Caring [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000271629956100103] * Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten? [https://www.educationnext.org/is-your-child-ready-kindergarten-redshirting-may-do-more-harm-than-good/] * Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children’s Academic Achievement [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2140009/] * The Effect of Age at School Entry on Reading Achievement Scores  [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/074193259001100209] * Beyond the Pros and Cons of Redshirting [https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/08/beyond-the-pros-and-cons-of-redshirting/401159/] * Self- Control and the Developing Brain [https://www.bu.edu/cdl/files/2013/08/Tarullo-Obradovic-Gunnar-2009.pdf] * Importance of Sex Differences in Impulse Control and Addictions [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4332159/] * It is a myth that boys lag behind in brain development [https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2019/02/boys-lag-behind-in-brain-development-is-a-myth] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!

Peter and Michael dissect Jen Sincero's "You are a Badass," a book that answers the question: What if "The Secret" was written in the painful, try-hard style of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck"? Featuring a surprise digression about Sincero's other, even worse books. Where to find us:  * Peter's other podcast, 5-4 [https://www.fivefourpod.com/] * Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase [https://www.maintenancephase.com/] Sources: * Savy Writes Books [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9WShNx2HsXRGjj9F593HzA] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!

In 2004, historian Thomas Frank proposed a theory about the rightward drift of the white working class. Was he a prescient king whose work presaged the rise of Trump — or a bumbling fool with a broken thesis?  Unfortunately it turns out he is a secret third thing that takes one hour and six minutes to explain. Special thanks to Julia Valdés for her help with this episode! Where to find us:  * Peter's other podcast, 5-4 [https://www.fivefourpod.com/] * Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase [https://www.maintenancephase.com/] Sources: * The Thesis That Drove American Politics Crazy: The Emerging Democratic Majority [https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-thesis-that-drove-american-politics-crazy-part-1/] * What’s the Matter with What’s the Matter with Kansas? [http://www.vanneman.umd.edu/socy789b/Bartels06.pdf] * Class is Dismissed [https://tcfrank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TCFRANK_Class_Dismissed_2005.pdf] * The White Working Class and the Democratic Party [https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/04_demographics_teixeira.pdf] * It’s time to bust the myth: Most Trump voters were not working class. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/06/05/its-time-to-bust-the-myth-most-trump-voters-were-not-working-class/] * How the diploma divide came to dominate American politics [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/01/understanding-electorate-diploma-divide/] * The 'Diploma Divide': Does It Exist for Racial and Ethnic Minorities? [https://ippsr.msu.edu/public-policy/michigan-wonk-blog/diploma-divide-does-it-exist-racial-and-ethnic-minorities] * Blind Retrospection: Why Shark Attacks Are Bad For Democracy [https://www.vanderbilt.edu/csdi/research/CSDI_WP_05-2013.pdf] * Nationally poor, locally rich: Income and local context in the 2016 presidential election [https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/nationally-poor-locally-rich-income-and-local-context-in-the-2016] * Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691169446/democracy-for-realists] * Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America [https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691196435/identity-crisis] * Political Landscapes of Donald Trump [https://www.routledge.com/Political-Landscapes-of-Donald-Trump/Warf/p/book/9780367197001] * The White Working Class and the 2016 Election [https://noamlupu.com/Carnes_Lupu_WWC.pdf] * Partisanship by family income, home ownership, union membership and veteran status [https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-family-income-home-ownership-union-membership-and-veteran-status] * The Elites Had It Coming [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/09/opinion/democrats-trump-elites-centrism.html] * What Explains Educational Realignment Among White Americans? [https://williammarble.co/docs/EducPolarization.pdf] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!