2 Better 2 Angels Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: Jeffrey Epstein’s Science of Sleaze Pinker’s response to Epstein allegations How Jeffrey Epstein Captivated Harvard Jeffrey Epstein Hoped to Seed Human Race With His DNA It’s Official — Steven Pinker Is Full of Shit Pinker, Epstein, Soldier, Spy A century of sexual abuse victimisation: A birth cohort analysis The prevalence of child sexual abuse with online sexual abuse added Have Sexual Abuse and Physical Abuse Declined Since the 1990s? Explanations for the Decline in Child Sexual Abuse Cases The Decline in Child Sexual Abuse Cases Why Have Child Maltreatment and Child Victimization Declined? Spanking and Other Corporal Punishment of Children by Parents: Undervaluing Children, Overvaluing Pain Were There Really More Hate Crimes Last Year? Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police The Sexual Victimization of College Women The "Discovery" of Child Abuse A Short History of Child Protection in America Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

We're finally discussing a good book! Naomi Klein's "Doppelgänger" chronicles the long, steady descent of another Naomi — Wolf (buddy oof) — from feminist icon to crank conspiracist. To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

In 2013, Sheryl Sandberg became an icon for women who wanted to move from middle management at a tech company into upper management at a tech company. Today, Peter and Michael examine the contents of her bestselling book, survey the wreckage of corporate feminism and ask whether women will finally find liberation in the Metaverse. Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: Facebook Feminism, Like It or Not Feminism's Tipping Point: Who Wins from Leaning in? One Cheer for Lean In Is there an implicit quota on women in top management? A large‐sample statistical analysis Female tokens in high-prestige work groups: Catalysts or inhibitors of group diversification? Want Equal Pay? Get a Union. The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations What Was the Girlboss? New Research: Women Who Don’t Negotiate Might Have a Good Reason Now, Women Do Ask: A Call to Update Beliefs about the Gender Pay Gap What’s It Like Inside the Hive? Managerial Discretion Drives TMT Gender Diversity of Women-Led Firms I asked Facebook if I could work part-time from home after I had my baby. They said no—so I quit Women in the Workplace 2023 Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

This week we're tackling Steven Pinker's 900 page dissection of the reasons why violence, torture and war have declined over the last 10,000 years. Was it an indeterminate mixture of politics, economics, technology and serendipity? Or did some European guys write some books that said murder was bad? Special thanks to Philip Dwyer, Eleanor Janega, David M. Perry and Doug Thompson for help researching and fact-checking this episode! Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: The Darker Angels of Our Nature Getting Medieval On Steven Pinker The Decline of Violence in the West: From Cultural to Post-Cultural History Pinker’s (Mis)Representation of the Enlightenment and Violence Herding and Homicide: An Examination of the Nisbett-Reaves Hypothesis Peace in Our Time John Gray: Steven Pinker is wrong about violence and war The business class doesn't understand the Enlightenment Delusions Of Peace Pinker And Progress Norbert Elias and the History of Violence Modernization, Self-Control And Lethal Violence Explaining Long Term Trends in Violent Crime The Enlightenment’s Dark Side Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Before Donald Trump became America's most prominent politician and birth certificate inspector, he spent his days making everyone in New York City slightly uncomfortable. Michael and Peter discuss "The Art of the Deal," Trump’s 1987 bestseller chronicling his exploits as a celebrity slumlord. Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: When Donald Trump Took Down Holiday Inns The Lost City of Trump Who Runs New York Now? How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions Doer and Slumlord Both Donald Trump Gets What He Wants Donald Trump was a nightmare landlord in the 1980s Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

"There are two kinds of political scientists: The types who deal with noisy data and post on Twitter with a bunch of caveats. And then there are the types who write books about identity politics." Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: Sam Huneke's "Yascha Mounk’s Woke Straw Man" Jacob T. Levy's "The Defense of Liberty Can’t Do Without Identity Politics" Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò's "Elite Capture" Aaron Huertas's "We Need to Talk About Reactionary Centrists" Mary Lin Elementary under federal investigation Parents refute claims of segregation at Mary Lin Elementary School School Segregation in Metropolitan Regions, 1970–2000 60 Years After Brown School choice and racial segregation in US schools Student Population Has Significantly Diversified, But Many Schools Remain Divided Along Racial, Ethnic, and Economic Lines U.S. public school students often go to schools where at least half of their peers are the same race or ethnicity The Return of Old-Fashioned Racism to White Americans’ Partisan Preferences Why The Democrats Have Shifted Left Over The Last 30 Years Widespread misperceptions of long-term attitude change Trump, the 2016 Election, and Expressions of Sexism Changing Norms Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election: The Trump Effect on Prejudice Changes in Americans’ prejudices during the presidency of Donald Trump The CDC slide presentation Model-informed COVID-19 vaccine prioritization strategies Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

You stare, mouth agape, at the bookstore display. It’s a self-help book, but with curse words in the title?! This must be a revolutionary new framework, not simply the same dull, reactionary ideas repackaged as hip and new. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck (Blog Post) Where A is Ordinary: The Evolution of American College and University Grading, 1940-2009 We’ve Been Handing Out Participation Trophies for 100 Years Positive Disintegration‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!’ Review: A Blunt Philosophy Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

In 1996, a frustrated screenwriter got a fellowship in Italy. Twenty years later, Beyoncé released "Lemonade." Content warning: This episode includes a mention of suicide. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: Rebecca Solnit’s “A Paradise Built in Hell” Kelly Link's "White Cat, Black Dog" The Half-Century in Bullshit: On Peter Bogdanovich’s “Paper Moon” and Robert Greene’s “The 48 Laws of Power” A Book of Anecdotes, 1957 The Little Brown Book Of Anecdotes Fear Nothing: Self-Fashioning and Social Mobility in 50 Cent’s The 50th Law The fear of conflict leads people to systematically avoid potentially valuable zero-sum situations The Immigration Dilemma You Can Win But I Can't Lose If you rise, I fall: Equality is prevented by the misperception that it harms advantaged groups Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of U.S. Political Divides A Genesis of Conflict: The Zero-Sum Mindset Forbes Winslow’s Physic and Physicians The role of masculinity in men's help-seeking for depression: A systematic review The Strange, Sad Story of Joe Orton, His Lover, and 72 Stolen Library Books A Failure Of Initiative New Orleans reaches settlements for police shootings after Hurricane Katrina Post-Katrina, White Vigilantes Shot African-Americans With Impunity Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Retailers have been sounding the alarm about a shoplifting epidemic driven by organized criminal syndicates. In a shocking twist, it turns out that their story is mostly made up. Join us as Peter tries to figure out where this panic originated and as Mike finally comes clean about his criminal past. To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

This week we're tackling "San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities," a book that dares to ask: What if everything that experts think about homelessness is wrong, and everything that one crank on Twitter thinks about homelessness is right? Thanks to Ned Resnikoff for helping us with the research for this episode! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: Inflection Points in Community-level Homeless Rates How Housing Costs Drive Levels of Homelessness The 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report To Congress The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness San Francisco Homelessness Benchmarking Report Homelessness is a Housing Problem A randomized trial of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless persons with high use of publicly funded services San Francisco Department of Public Health Update Report on Mental Health Reform Civil Commitment in the United States Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Have you ever wanted to escape the grind and follow your dreams? This week we're discussing "The 4-Hour Workweek," which reveals that all you need is a plan, a willingness to take risks and a modestly sized fraud operation built on Third World labor. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: The Fraud and the Four-Hour Workweek Revisiting "The 4-Hour Workweek" New! Improved! Shape Up Your Life! From Productivity to Psychedelics: Tim Ferriss Has Changed His Mind About Success Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

But her e-mails! Michael explains the non-scandal that captivated the mainstream media in 2016 while Peter attempts to sow the podcast with anti-Hillary sentiment. To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

Oops all grievance. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: No Ivory Tower : Mccarthyism And The Universities The Fire Is Upon Us The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America Since 1945 The Passion of William F. Buckley: Academic Freedom, Conspiratorial Conservatism, and the Rise of the Postwar Right Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care? Compromised Campus: The Collaboration of Universities with the Intelligence Community, 1945-1955 Debunking a Longstanding Myth About William F. Buckley How William F. Buckley Jr.’s Right-Wing College Crusade Paved the Way for Ron DeSantis The Right v. Higher Education: Change and Continuity The Buckleys: A Family Examined The Academic Elite Goes to Washington, and to War What About “God and Man”? The Attack on Yale The academy on the firing line: William F. Buckley, Jr.'s God and Man at Yale and the modern conservative critique of higher education Conservatives charge that universities are hotbeds of liberalism. They’re wrong. Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

For this month's bonus episode we dissected Harry Frankfurt's gloriously brief bestseller and applied the concept to our favorite op-ed page. To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

Who poses the greatest threat to democracy? Is it the movement that openly identifies with the symbols, goals and policies of fascist governments? Or is it the median bureaucrat at the Department of Health and Human Services? In 2008, a National Review nepo-baby attempted to answer this vexing question. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: History News Network: A Symposium on Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism The Nature of Fascism How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them The Anatomy of Fascism Mussolini and Fascism: The View From America The Return of Old-Fashioned Racism to White Americans’ Partisan Preferences in the Early Obama Era Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America What Hillary Rodham Clinton Really Said About Children’s Rights and Child Policy The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930 A campus takeover that symbolized an era of change Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

In our "Rules" and "Game" episodes we didn't get a chance to dissect the phenomenon of online dating (i.e. describe our worst dates and read cringe profiles out loud to each other), so that is what we are doing on today's bonus episode. To hear the rest of the show, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

Lots of subscribers asked us to release last month's bonus episode in full so here it is! Share it with the conservatives, the boomers and the Satanists in your life. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

In 1995 a bestselling book proposed a simple dating strategy for women: Lose weight, wear bright colors and become a completely different person for the rest of your life. Thanks to Moira Donegan for helping us with this episode! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Where to find us: Twitter Peter's other podcast, 5-4 Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Sources: From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s essay, “Stuff Your ‘Rules’” The More Things Change: The Rules And Late Eighteenth‐Century Conduct Books For Women Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts: Shyness and Heterosexuality from the Roles of the Fifties to "The Rules" of the Nineties From Mountain Peak to Total Woman: An Evolutionary History of Pre-feminist Dating Advice The Mating Game: How Gender Still Shapes How We Date by Ellen Lamont So Many Rules, So Little Time Abiding by The Rules: Instructing Women in Relationships What leads to romantic attraction: similarity, reciprocity, security, or beauty? Evidence from a speed-dating study "Playing Hard To Get": Understanding An Elusive Phenomenon Egalitarian Daters, Traditionalist Dates Aspirational pursuit of mates in online dating markets Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting Playing Hard To Get Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!