Book · 2011 · Fiction
The Handmaid's Tale
#74 of 16,793 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 39
- people
- 23
- podcasts
- 12
- episodes
- 31
- recommendations
- 2
I think there's a clarity to Orwell's '1984', there's a clarity to Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale,' similarly the construction of the elements.
Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · Apr 2025 Listen at 47:11 What they say about it
- Cultural moment and TV show“cultural moment right now with the TV show”5
- Dystopian and totalitarian themes“dystopian Tales of plausible Futures”3
- Mentioning the 1985 classic2
The best things said about it
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale which is having a real cultural moment right now with the TV show.
Well I recently reread the H it's tell by Margaret Atwood in anticipation of of the sequel that she's writing which is called the Testaments it's coming out this fall.
As a Canadian, I feel a sense of ownership of that book because Margaret Atwood is a great Canadian author. We all read it in school, so I'm quite familiar with it.
The sequel to Margaret Atwood's 1985 classic The Handmaid's Tale.
When you wrote The Handmaid's Tale decades ago did you plan Aunt Lydia's role as a double agent?
Tim Ferriss The Tim Ferriss Show · Feb 2022 Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
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How it comes up
23 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Handmaid's Tale is Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel about a totalitarian society where women's rights are stripped away and a select few are forced into reproductive servitude. Greg Cowles discussed on The Book Review that the book is experiencing a major cultural moment due to its television adaptation, while John Williams shared a listener letter noting that plausible dystopian futures like Atwood's work terrify readers. On Behind the Bastards, Mick brought up the novel to illustrate a concrete scenario of legally sanctioned human rights violations. The book also surfaced on Modern Wisdom, where Chris Williamson and Simone Collins debated birth rates, pronatalism, and societal fears regarding far-right groups outvoting others, prompting cultural references to the story's iconic costumes and accusations of trying to force a handmaid-style society. Additionally, Chris Williamson read a one-star Goodreads review of a book by Freya India that drew negative comparisons to Atwood's novel for lacking nuance and descending into conservative pearl-clutching. Across these discussions, the book serves as a powerful cultural touchstone representing severe political regression and authoritarian control.
Every mention
Greg Cowles and that is Margaret Atwood's The handmaid's Tale which is having a real cultural moment right now with the… 1
Recommended
“and that is Margaret Atwood's The handmaid's Tale which is having a real cultural moment right now with the TV show”
John Williams Jack Martin said that dystopian Tales of plausible Futures are what terrify him including the handmaid's ta… 1
Recommended
“Jack Martin said that dystopian Tales of plausible Futures are what terrify him including the handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood and Michelle welbeck's recent submission”
Alexandra Alter so one of the most anticipated books I would say not only for this year but maybe for several decades is um… 5
Discussed
“so one of the most anticipated books I would say not only for this year but maybe for several decades is um the sequel to Margaret Atwoods 1985 classic the handmaid's tale”
Discussed
“well I recently reread the H it's tell by Margaret Atwood in anticipation of of the sequel that she's writing which is called the Testaments it's coming out this fall”
Discussed
“there was a period where the bestseller list was dominated by Margaret Atwoods the handmaid's tale George Orwell's 1984 and even stclair Lewis's novel”
Discussed
“some other interesting series that are coming up this spring include the handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood and of course this is a novel that came out many many years ago in 1985”
Discussed
“it's number 23 is the handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood”
Tim Pool they're watching too much handmade uh tail they're watching their own movies exactly 4
Discussed
“they're watching too much handmade uh tail they're watching their own movies exactly”
Discussed
“fahrenheit 451 even handmaid's tale and it's not any one of them someone back in the day”
Discussed
“the totalitarian Theocratic government establ of Gideons establishes a rule in the former United States or I'm sorry of Gilead established established his role in the United States in the aftermath of a civil war”
Discussed
“the thing all they ever reference are harry potter and the handmaid's tale both of which are movies or exist in visual media so it's like i know you didn't even read them”
Chris Williamson and then you have daughters and then you learn that the future is going to be one where like all the crazy… 3
Discussed
“and then you have daughters and then you learn that the future is going to be one where like all the crazy far-right people had all the babies and they're going to outvote you and now your daughters live without Handmaid's Tale.”
Discussed
“And again, for every step that you take forward, there's 10 people saying you're trying to take rights away, force Handmaid's Tale, etc. etc. etc.”
Critiqued
“Handmaid's Tail. Beautiful. What starts off as disappointing through its lack of nuance and depth make contradictory points and statistics that feel cherrypicked in order to back up points the author is desperately trying to make. Quickly descends into conservative pearl clutching before ultimately concluding as a manifesto for girls getting back to family values and baby making that could”
Joe Rogan Have you been watching this handmaid's tale? No. What is that? No have you know about this on Hulu? Man it… 2
Discussed
“Have you ever you know the writer Margaret Margaret Atwood I've heard the name okay she has a book called The handmaid's Tale Yes this dystopian yeah my wife loves that show oh I haven't seen the show yeah uh I'm familiar with maybe what I'm gonna say I don't know if it's in the show or just in the”
Discussed
“Have you been watching this handmaid's tale? No. What is that? No have you know about this on Hulu? Man it a book written um I want to say 20 years ago”
Simone Collins Why are they wearing those Handmaid's Tale costumes? Because it is it's hot. 2
Discussed
“Why are they wearing those Handmaid's Tale costumes? Because it is it's hot.”
Discussed
“The divorce deck. It's so stupid.”
Tom Bevin and if all of the all of the hysteria over you know if America does not turn into the handmaid's tale over… 2
Discussed
“and if all of the all of the hysteria over you know if America does not turn into the handmaid's tale over the course of the summer”
Discussed
“and you know Outlaw abortion altogether or what have you it's not going to become the handmaid's tale”
Alyssa Mastromonaco all the people on television who are like oh the handmaid's tales examples are so extra 1
Discussed
“all the people on television who are like oh the handmaid's tales examples are so extra”
Andrew Santino have you been watching this handmaid's tale no what is that no have you know about this on Hulu man it a bo… 1
Discussed
“have you been watching this handmaid's tale no what is that no have you know about this on Hulu man it a book written um I want to say 20 years ago”
Doug Wilson That was not a totalitarian hellhole. That was not the Handmaid's Tale. It was a free and prosperous countr… 1
Discussed
“That was not a totalitarian hellhole. That was not the Handmaid's Tale. It was a free and prosperous country that I was grateful to God to be growing up in.”
Elisabeth Moss As a Canadian, I feel a sense of ownership of that book because Margaret Atwood is a great Canadian author.… 1
Discussed
“As a Canadian, I feel a sense of ownership of that book because Margaret Atwood is a great Canadian author. We all read it in school, so I'm quite familiar with it.”
Garrison Davis The picture book I am jazz, uh, Kate Bournestein's My Gender Workbook, and the YA novel Two Boys Kissing. A… 1
Discussed
“The picture book I am jazz, uh, Kate Bournestein's My Gender Workbook, and the YA novel Two Boys Kissing. Also included is Margaret Atwoods, The Hand The Handmaidaiden's Tale. No left turn indiscriminately targets all these titles”
Ian Crossland what's that handmaid's tale 1
Discussed
“what's that handmaid's tale”
Jeffrey Wasserstrom there's a clarity to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," similarly the construction of the elements. 1
Discussed
“there's a clarity to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," similarly the construction of the elements.”
Jon Lovett a woman is forced to become a handmaiden to bear children for her mistress's husband oh definitely the bibl… 1
Discussed
“a woman is forced to become a handmaiden to bear children for her mistress's husband oh definitely the bible oh is that the bible yes handmaid's still you're both right yeah that's right”
Lex Fridman I think there's a clarity to Orwell's '1984', there's a clarity to Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale,'… 1
Discussed
“I think there's a clarity to Orwell's '1984', there's a clarity to Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale,' similarly the construction of the elements.”
Niall Ferguson I keep reflecting on the curious revival of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale which is always taken to… 1
Discussed
“I keep reflecting on the curious revival of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale which is always taken to be a vision of what happens when right-wing people take over America”
Nick Bostrom and and there's like a number of these that most people would like the you know 1984 Brave New World handma… 1
Discussed
“and and there's like a number of these that most people would like the you know 1984 Brave New World handmaid's taale like all of these”
Rollo Tomassi And that's like in the handmaidaden's tale, you know, like like a Gilead where it's all the women are just… 1
Discussed
“And that's like in the handmaidaden's tale, you know, like like a Gilead where it's all the women are just forced into, you know, pregnancies and stuff like that.”
Steven Rinella you know the writer Margaret Margaret Atwood I've heard the name okay she has a book called The handmaid's… 1
Discussed
“you know the writer Margaret Margaret Atwood I've heard the name okay she has a book called The handmaid's Tale yes this dystopian”
Tim Ferriss when you wrote the handmaid stale decades ago did you plan Aunt Lydia's role as a double agent which the re… 1
Discussed
“when you wrote the handmaid stale decades ago did you plan Aunt Lydia's role as a double agent which the rest of us didn't find out until the Testament or did she evolve as a character in the space between the two books”
William MacAskill depending on what that ideology is like could be very bad indeed you know some something like what you got… 1
Discussed
“depending on what that ideology is like could be very bad indeed you know some something like what you got in 1984 George Orwell with the handmaid's tale Mark outward”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker4
Discussed
“And we can put it in a more concrete example like the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.”
Critiqued
“They never even read the handmmaid sale. They don't even know what they're talking about.”
Discussed
“Um, have you guys uh read or seen Hand A Handmaid's Tale? I have. It's a good book. So, I've not I tried watching the show a little bit, but I didn't care. I didn't read it. But what I've heard a lot from feminists, and I'm not sure this accurately portrays the book, is that it's basically women are”
Discussed
“what the entire country has seen is that this is some actual handmaid's taale”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (35: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“You think it's a the um the the United States transition toward the becoming the society from a Handmaid's Tale? Yeah. That might have something to do with it.”
Passing
“and the Handmaid's Tale in Oklahoma and then eventually they start fighting with each other”
Passing
“She was in the freaking Handmaid's Tale. like the the only literary reference left-wing people know, she was in that show as well.”
Passing
“You, the handmaid's tail is coming.”
Passing
“I mean, it's like The Handmaid's Tale.”
Passing
“I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of handmaid's tail thing”
Passing
“It's not going to look like the Handmaid's Tail where somebody's like coming in and going and forcing you to do something and dress a certain way or etc. Um, it's not going to be like anything new and fancy.”
Passing
“Wade is going to allow for women to be put in red dresses and caps— they're not advocating for the handmaids' tale!”
Passing
“Yeah, as a brainstorm or a blue sky pitch; very Handmaid's Tale in some ways! Like what's that thing that went around?”
Passing
“All of the other numbers that you see in the early voting data seem to favor him; it's just if they are breaking, you know, enough for Kamala Harris because, uh, vagina. And by the way, that's not all female voters; it's the female voters who go up to the voting voting booths dressed as handmaid's tale when they drove”
Passing
“and it is becoming a little bit handmaid's taale 21 States now restrict to some extent abortion”
Passing
“Part of what's so funny about The Handmaid's Tale is that the women all look very angry while wearing bonnets—it's just a comedic image! Just seeing an angry person in a bonnet is honestly pretty funny!”
Passing
“Now, the other thing about Handmaid's Tale is remember once the inauguration of President Trump happened in 17, you would always see the women in red robes everywhere. Another effort that Kamala is trying to do is to scare people like if Trump is elected all these bad things are going to happen.”
Passing
“Oh yes, yes, yes. The non-handmaid's tale, that's right.”
Speaker Stuff They Don't Want You To Know CLASSIC: Who Killed Artemus Ogletree? 2024-08-13 Listen at 5:05
Passing
“it sounds like something between like a cross between an SNL sketch sketch and like the handmaid's tail it just sounds so stupid”
Passing
“I don't fear very much that we'll be returning to a a handmaid's tail Puritan kind of female oppressing regime”
Passing
“I mean she probably thinks if she watched the handmaid's tale she's thinking well what's the problem”
Passing
“yeah handmaid's tale like they use that against Amy Coney Barrett too because of her Catholicism”
Passing
“I saw them dressing up like a handmaid's tale yeah that's what they do when they go and challenge I saw them doing that right”
Passing
“her dystopia feels milder than in books like 1984 or the handmaid's tale the effect quote makes it more able and hence more upsetting”
Passing
“because these people have only read uh two books harry potter and the handmaid's tale”
Passing
“millennials are like the government should give me free stuff i know i should sit around reading harry potter and the handmaid's tale and get money for it”
Passing
“what is not on the table so far is a federal ban on abortion not quite to handmaiden's tale not quite to hand mainstay however”
Passing
“William Jazz says Libby looks like Elizabeth Moss from the show handmaid's tale great show very relevant to what's going on today”
Passing
“The thing all they ever reference are harry potter and the handmaid's tale Both of which are movies or exist in visual media so it's like i know you didn't even read them”
Passing
“it's her you know her incredibly highly anticipated sequel to The handmaid's Tale”
Passing
“Jordan Peterson survived the mob why did the mob come after him because all he said was I'm not against trans people but I don't want the government to be able to dictate my speech relative to what pronouns I use when referring to them”
Passing
“Published in sections across several issues of Attack, the book is presented as a series of diary entries from a revolutionary. You might compare it to a Nazi answer to a Handmaid's Tale. And in fact, it was partly probably inspired by I think it actually predates that by a little bit.”
Passing
“Robert Novak, Roland Evans, and other notable conservative thinkers wrote a whole bunch of lies about the Surgeon General's report and basically accused him of wanting to groom children for pedophilia. Uh Phyllis Schaeley, uh right-wing religious fire brand, uh opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, and if you've watched Handmaidaiden's Tale, the commander's wife in the Handmaiden's Tale was”
Passing
“This feels relevant to Handmaid's Tail. Oh yeah. Yeah. I think he was trying to create a Handmaid's Tale, right?”
Passing
“we're seeing a number of additional dystopia novels being adapted for TV this year the handmaids tale by Margaret Atwood was so successful in its first season”
Passing
“it's called the red Clocks by Lenny zumas and it's kind of in the mold of Margaret Atwoods the hamid's tale or ones that we've seen recently like Louise Erik's future home of the Living God and the power by Naomi Alderman”
Passing
“I think you've seen a lot of backlist titles doing well because of TV shows like the handmaid's tale and things like that”
Passing
“it's a graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwoods the handmaid's tale which is doing tremendously well in novel form right now”
Passing
“you know we saw in the first few months of this year this huge surge in sales for classic dystopian novels 1984 Brave New World uh the handmaid's tale which is still selling briskly”