If Books Could Kill

The Worst Takes of 2025 [TEASER]

The boys catalog the definitive worst takes of the year, from the pundits who misunderstood our political moment to a guy who wants to have sex with a computer. To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

Elon Musk Part 2

The boys continue their discussion of Walter Isaacson's "Elon Musk." This is the part where Elon loses his mind.  Where to find us:  * Our Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod] * Our merch! [https://ifbookspod.dashery.com/] * 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: * From self-proclaimed ‘socialist’ to Team Trump and DeSantis: Elon Musk’s curious politics revealed [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-twitter-deal-politics-b2345301.html]   * The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban Doom [https://newrepublic.com/article/168125/david-sacks-elon-musk-peter-thiel] * Elon Musk biographer admits suggestion SpaceX head blocked Ukraine drone attack was wrong  [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/12/elon-musk-biographer-admits-suggestion-spacex-head-blocked-ukraine-drone-attack-was-wrong] * Elon Musk's Daughter on Dad's Biography: 'Sad Excuse for a Puff Piece' [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/vivian-jenna-wilson-elon-musk-biographer-walter-isaacson-1235078112/] * Character Limit [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/737290/character-limit-by-kate-conger-and-ryan-mac/] * Twitter fulfilling more government censorship requests under Musk  [https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/5/2/twitter-fulfilling-more-government-censorship-requests-under-musk] * Elon Musk booed for nearly 5 minutes straight at Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco [https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-12-12/elon-musk-booed-dave-chappelle-show-san-francisco]  * New CNN Chief Trying to Please GOP Elite [https://fair.org/take-action/action-alerts/new-cnn-chief-trying-to-please-gop-elite/]  * Research finds more than 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues, including more than 4 million children under five [https://ph.ucla.edu/news-events/news/research-finds-more-14-million-preventable-deaths-2030-if-usaid-defunding] * What the data says about Social Security [https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/05/20/what-the-data-says-about-social-security/#:~:text=As%20of%20April%202025%2C%2073.9%20million%20people,average%20retired%20worker%20received%20$1%2C999.97%20in%20benefits]  * Trump Administration, DOGE Activities Risk SSA Operations and Security of Personal Data [https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/2025-03-25socsec.pdf] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!

Elon Musk

A biography that dares to ask: Is a lifetime of worker abuse and narcissism worth it to experience robot butlers? Where to find us:  * Our Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod] * Our merch! [https://ifbookspod.dashery.com/] * 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: * What Elon Musk Gets Wrong about South Africa [https://www.thedial.world/articles/news/issue-10/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-south-africa-myths] * Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/09/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-grandfather-apartheid-antisemitism/675396/]  * Elon Musk claims he was once one of the best Quake players around [https://www.pcgamer.com/elon-musk-claims-he-was-once-one-of-the-best-quake-players-around-everyone-laughs-but-wait-the-actual-best-quake-player-ever-says-musk-wasnt-very-good-but-hes-still-an-og/] * Watch Elon Musk Talk About Being an ‘Illegal Immigrant’ in Video From 2013 [https://gizmodo.com/watch-elon-musk-talk-about-being-illegal-immigrant-1851376973]  * Elon Musk’s dad Errol says he can ‘prove’ existence of emerald mine in new bombshell claim revealing its location [https://www.the-sun.com/news/7911051/elon-musks-dad-errol-emerald-business/]  * How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/18/elon-musk-walter-isaacson-book-review]  * The Believer [https://www.gq.com/story/elon-musk-paypal-solar-power-electric-cars-space-travel] * Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-the-architect-of-tomorrow-120850/]  * How Elon Musk Plans on Reinventing the World (and Mars) [https://www.gq.com/story/elon-musk-mars-spacex-tesla-interview] * Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: 'Everything feels like the future but us' | Tesla [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/18/tesla-workers-factory-conditions-elon-musk] * Hundreds of Tesla workers tested positive for the virus after Elon Musk reopened a plant, data shows [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/business/tesla-workers-coronavirus.html] * Inside Tesla as Elon Musk Pushed an Unflinching Vision for Self-Driving Cars [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/technology/tesla-autopilot-elon-musk.html]  * Tesla video promoting self-driving was staged, engineer testifies [https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-video-promoting-self-driving-was-staged-engineer-testifies-2023-01-17/] * Elon Musk Says His 'Running Robot' Will 'Actually Eliminate Poverty' As He Shares Video Of Tesla Optimus Jogging [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-says-running-robot-213110677.html]  * Elon Musk Wants ‘Strong Influence’ Over the ‘Robot Army’ He’s Building [https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-wants-strong-influence-over-the-robot-army-hes-building/]  * There’s a Very Simple Pattern to Elon Musk’s Broken Promises [https://www.wired.com/story/theres-a-very-simple-pattern-to-elon-musks-broken-promises/] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!

Sapiens

How do you tell the entire history of humanity in a single book? Whatever you do, do not open a browser window.  Thanks to Dorsa Amir [http://www.dorsaamir.com/], Duncan Stibbard Hawkes [http://www.stibbardhawkes.com/] and David Perry [https://www.davidmperry.com/] for help researching and fact-checking this episode! Where to find us:  * Our Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod] * Our merch! [https://ifbookspod.dashery.com/] * 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: * A Response to Yuval Harari [https://web.archive.org/web/20211203050910/https:/www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm?sec_id=189085] * Yuval Noah Harari’s History of Everyone, Ever [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/17/yuval-noah-harari-gives-the-really-big-picture] * How Humankind Conquered the World [https://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-sapiens-a-brief-history-of-humankind-by-yuval-noah-harari-1423261230] * The revolution that wasn't [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248400904354] * Advances In The Study Of The Origin Of Humanness [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24393638] * 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a banal and risible self-help book [https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2018/08/yuval-noah-harari-s-21-lessons-21st-century-banal-and-risible-self-help-book] * Are Human Rights Western?  [https://www.abebooks.com/9780195679489/Human-Rights-Western-Contribution-Dialogue-0195679482/plp] * Bonaparte in Egypt [https://www.napoleon.org/en/young-historians/napodoc/bonaparte-in-egypt-1-the-military-campaign/] * Ship of Fools [https://www.hallpike.com/book/ship-of-fools/] * The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari [https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2022/07/the-dangerous-populist-science-of-yuval-noah-harari] * A Reductionist History of Humankind [https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-history-of-humankind] * Harari, Sapiens and historical accuracy [https://revolutioninfiction.wordpress.com/2016/05/24/harari-sapiens-and-historical-accuracy-does-it-matter/] * The Broad Spectrum Revolution at 40 [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278416512000232] * The Neolithic Revolution in the Middle East [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/ehr.13307] * Was the Agricultural Revolution a Terrible Mistake? [https://www.rachellaudan.com/2016/01/was-the-agricultural-revolution-a-terrible-mistake.html] * The Darker Side of the "Original Affluent Society" [https://kk.org/mt-files/reCCearch-mt/kaplan-darker.pdf] * Harari's world history [https://findresearcher.sdu.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/195627577/Nye_on_Harari.pdf] * Compassion with Justice: Harari’s Assault on Human Rights [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjp.12367] * Reconsidering the link between past material culture and cognition  [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378973881_Reconsidering_the_link_between_past_material_culture_and_cognition_in_light_of_contemporary_hunter-gatherer_material_use] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!

How To Win Friends And Influence People

Live like Dale Carnegie, neg like Calvin Coolidge. Where to find us:  * Our Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod] * Our merch! [https://ifbookspod.dashery.com/] * 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: * Self-help Messiah: Dale Carnegie and Success in Modern America [https://otherpress.com/product/self-help-messiah-9781590515037/] * The Positive Thinkers [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/113754/the-positive-thinkers-by-donald-meyer/9780307828231] * Age of industrial violence 1910-1915 : the activities and findings of the United States commission on industrial relations [https://archive.org/details/ageofindustrialv0000adam] * Representation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1914–1942  [https://www.upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/1891-representation-and-rebellion] * Dale Carnegie and the Problem of Sincerity [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2712571] New York Times review from 1937 [https://www.nytimes.com/1937/02/14/archives/miscellaneous-brief-reviews-palestine-at-the-grossroads-by-ladislas.html] Thanks to Mindseye [https://mindseye-music.bandcamp.com/track/the-place-beyond-the-clouds-2] for our theme song!