Book · 2013 · Fiction
Candide
Candide by Francois Voltaire has been mentioned in 8 episodes across 6 podcasts (1 episode recommends it and 7 episodes discuss it), through . Most frequently brought up by Azeem Azhar (1 episode), Angela Duckworth (3 episodes) and Ada Palmer (1 episode) on No Stupid Questions (3 episodes), Conversations with Tyler (1 episode) and EconTalk (1 episode).
- episodes
- 8
- podcasts
- 6
- people
- 6
- episode recommends it
- 1
Voltaire also wrote in Candide one of the great great attacks on slavery.
Douglas Murray · Modern Wisdom · Apr 2022 Listen at 39:50 Questions about Candide by Francois Voltaire
Who recommends Candide by Francois Voltaire on podcasts?
Azeem Azhar (1 episode) has recommended Candide by Francois Voltaire on podcasts. In all, 6 people brought it up across 6 podcasts (1 person recommended it).
Which podcasts mention Candide the most?
No Stupid Questions (3 episodes), Conversations with Tyler (1 episode), EconTalk (1 episode), Modern Wisdom (1 episode) and The Ezra Klein Show (1 episode), among 6 podcasts in all.
Is Candide recommended, or only discussed?
Candide by Francois Voltaire was recommended in 1 episode and discussed without a recommendation in 7 episodes, as of 2026-10-16.
What do people say about Candide?
Douglas Murray on Modern Wisdom (2022-04-25): "Voltaire also wrote in Candide one of the great great attacks on slavery."
When was Candide last mentioned on a podcast?
Candide by Francois Voltaire was last recommended on The Ezra Klein Show by Azeem Azhar on 2026-10-16.
What they say about it
- Read in high school French class3
- Discussed school memories of the book“when I was in high school”2
The best things said about it
This is very much what Voltaire depicts in Candide, which is full of contrived and improbable reunions and encounters that clearly serve to teach us a moral lesson.
Ada Palmer Conversations with Tyler · Oct 2023 The final one which I'm just re-reading again is Candide by Voltaire.
Azeem Azhar The Ezra Klein Show · Oct 2026 That's the the character in Voltz Kandid that said everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds when people's teeth are falling out and the roads are full of holes and so on.
I also remember when I was 16 I had to read I think for a French class Candide which I hated by Voltaire I despised it.
Angela Duckworth No Stupid Questions · Sep 2020 When I was in high school, I read Candide. Did you read Candide by Voltaire? Let us go cultivate our garden.
Angela Duckworth No Stupid Questions · Feb 2022 Where and when it comes up
Most episodes, by podcast
6 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Candide by Francois Voltaire is a classic philosophical novella that satirizes blind optimism and societal absurdities through the endless misfortunes of its protagonist. Azeem Azhar recommended the book on The Ezra Klein Show, sharing that he was in the process of rereading it as his final selection. Frank Wright referenced the novel on The Tucker Carlson Show to draw comparisons between the current political system's unwarranted optimism and the fictional philosophy of Dr. Pangloss. Ada Palmer discussed Voltaire's work on Conversations with Tyler while contrasting Diderot's literary style with conventional eighteenth-century narratives that rely on contrived encounters to impart moral lessons. Angela Duckworth frequently mentioned reading the book during her high school French class on No Stupid Questions, expressing her personal dislike for the text while using it to illustrate the philosophical concept of cultivating one's own garden rather than struggling to fix unchangeable systemic problems. Stephen Dubner also recalled encountering the book in high school during an episode of No Stupid Questions, engaging his co-host in a reflection on its famous concluding advice about tending to one's immediate surroundings when confronted with overwhelming worldly troubles.
Every mention
Azeem Azhar And then the final one which I'm just re-reading again is Condide by Voltaire. 1
“And then the final one which I'm just re-reading again is Condide by Voltaire.”
Angela Duckworth I remember reading in French class I think it was junior year and Dr Roland had assigned Candide by Voltaire 3
“I remember reading in French class I think it was junior year and Dr Roland had assigned Candide by Voltaire”
“I remember reading in French class—I think it was junior year—and Dr. Roland had assigned Candide by Voltaire, and I hated it, by the way!”
“You know, when I was in high school, I read 'Candide'. Did you read 'Candide' by Voltaire? Let us go cultivate our garden.”
“when I was in high school I read Candide did you read candied by Voltaire”
“I also remember when I was 16 I had to read I think for a French class Candide which I hated by Voltaire I despised it”
Ada Palmer This is very much what Voltaire depicts in Candide, which is full of contrived and improbable reunions and… 1
“This is very much what Voltaire depicts in Candide, which is full of contrived and improbable reunions and encounters that clearly serve to teach us a moral lesson.”
Azra Raza just I think that small terrors is in Candide is is that also liveness does he say that - so the Voltaire w… 1
“just I think that small terrors is in Candide is is that also liveness does he say that - so the Voltaire wrote Candide as a parity of life”
Douglas Murray they forgot to forget by the way that voltaire also wrote in candide one of the great great uh attacks on s… 1
“they forgot to forget by the way that voltaire also wrote in candide one of the great great uh attacks on slavery”
Frank Wright That's the the character in Voltz Kandid that said everything is for the best in the best of all possible w… 1
“That's the the character in Voltz Kandid that said everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds when people's teeth are falling out and the roads are full of holes and so on.”
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“In Candid gives kind of the final word in the book to a Turkish dervish. Uh in the princess of Babylon he depicts a golden age civilization on the banks of the Ganes.”