Book · 2006 · Fiction
The Road
The Road by Cormac McCarthy has been mentioned in 21 episodes across 9 podcasts (3 episodes recommend it and 18 episodes discuss it), through . Most frequently brought up by Gilbert Cruz (5 episodes), Ben Dominic (1 episode) and Dr John Delony (1 episode) on The Book Review (7 episodes), The Daily Stoic (4 episodes) and The Joe Rogan Experience (3 episodes).
#169 of 17,122 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- episodes
- 21
- podcasts
- 9
- people
- 16
- episodes recommend it
- 3
The Road by Cormac McCarthy, for you dads, especially dads of sons, read that book. You won't sleep well, but it's a good book.
Questions about The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Who recommends The Road by Cormac McCarthy on podcasts?
Gilbert Cruz (1 episode), Ben Dominic (1 episode) and Dr John Delony (1 episode) have recommended The Road by Cormac McCarthy on podcasts. In all, 16 people brought it up across 9 podcasts (3 people recommended it).
Which podcasts mention The Road the most?
The Book Review (7 episodes), The Daily Stoic (4 episodes), The Joe Rogan Experience (3 episodes), How I Write (2 episodes) and Conversations with Tyler (1 episode), among 9 podcasts in all.
Is The Road recommended, or only discussed?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy was recommended in 2 episodes, picked for a book club in 1 episode, and discussed without a recommendation in 18 episodes, as of 2026-11-09.
What do people say about The Road?
Dr John Delony on The Dr. John Delony Show (2020-12-28): "The Road by Cormac McCarthy, for you dads, especially dads of sons, read that book. You won't sleep well, but it's a good book."
When was The Road last mentioned on a podcast?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy was last discussed on The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday on 2026-11-09.
What they say about it
- Post-apocalyptic father and son story“post-apocalyptic story of father and his young son”2
- Familiarity with The Road“lots of people are familiar with the road”2
The best things said about it
I did decide to pick up The Road, and I remember zipping through it.
Ryan Holiday The Book Review · Jun 2026 It's been 16 years since he published the road which became a huge bestseller one of pullit ser and devastated me and millions of others readers.
I stupidly reread Cormac McCarthy's The Road at the beginning of the pandemic.
Sebastian Junger The Daily Stoic · Feb 2022 Like KC McCarthy is the road which is about a father and sun on the road they're in a burned out postnuclear War America and they're trying to survive and they're cannibals and it's just Grim.
The road is similar the road is quite a slim novel as many listeners will know sort of a post-apocalyptic story of father and his young son.
Where and when it comes up
How it comes up
16 people who brought it up
- Gilbert Cruz5 episodes · recommended in 1
- Ben Dominic1 episode · recommended in 1
- Dr John Delony1 episode · recommended in 1
- Ryan Holiday4 episodes
- Alexandra Alter1 episode
- Annie Jacobsen1 episode
- David Perell1 episode
- Dean Koontz1 episode
Duncan Trussell1 episode- Dwight Garner1 episode
- Gabrielle Zevin1 episode
- Lawrence Wright1 episode
Why people recommend it
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a bleak post-apocalyptic novel that follows a father and son walking across a ruined American landscape. On The Ezra Klein Show, Ben Dominic described it as a well-known work by Cormac McCarthy and recommended revisiting his broader bibliography following the author's passing. Similarly, Dr. John Delony recommended the novel on The Dr. John Delony Show specifically for fathers of sons, noting that while it is a good book, it will keep readers awake. On The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday referenced the novel to encourage listeners to remain decent during difficult times, while David Perell discussed it on How I Write as part of McCarthy's later body of work. Additionally, Gilbert Cruz and Ryan Holiday discussed the novel on The Book Review, where Cruz introduced it as a top-ranked 21st-century book, recapped its plot for listeners, and Holiday noted that he had reread it during the early days of the pandemic.
Every mention
Gilbert Cruz If we're going to talk about The Road, I think it would be useful to quickly recap it here for anyone who h… 5
Discussed
“So today, we're going to dig in on one of those books, number 13 on the list, The Road by Cormac McCarthy.”
Discussed
“If we're going to talk about The Road, I think it would be useful to quickly recap it here for anyone who hasn't had a chance to read it yet or hasn't read it in a while.”
Discussed
“The Road was the only novel you picked when we asked you to pick 10 books from the 21st century.”
Discussed
“Because 2 years before The Hunger Games, um in 2006, um Cormac McCarthy's The Road came out”
Discussed
“like KC McCarthy is the road which is about a father and sun on the road they're in a burned out postnuclear War America and they're trying to survive and they're cannibals and it's just Grim”
Book club
“and he was on Oprah because she picked the road for Oprah's Book Club he was uncomfortable because he hated to do press the number of”
Discussed
“you've said that the director Ridley Scott asked you a question after reading cormack McCarthy's the road and that that was your inspiration”
Ben Dominic lots of people are familiar with the road but people are not generally familiar I think with some of his ot… 1
Recommended
“lots of people are familiar with the road but people are not generally familiar I think with some of his other works”
Dr John Delony the road by cormac mccarthy for you dads especially dads of sons read that book you won't sleep well but it… 1
Recommended
“the road by cormac mccarthy for you dads especially dads of sons read that book you won't sleep well but it's a good book”
Ryan Holiday yeah i i haven't read that book but i'm a huge uh admirer of of cormac mccarthy and uh i'm not sure the roa… 4
Discussed
“to carry the fire, as Cormac McCarthy writes in The Road.”
Discussed
“...but I did decide to pick up The Road, and I remember zipping through it.”
Discussed
“Have you read uh have you read Cormac McCarthy's The Road?”
Discussed
“yeah i i haven't read that book but i'm a huge uh admirer of of cormac mccarthy and uh i'm not sure the road was his best book”
Alexandra Alter it's been 16 years since he published the road which became a huge bestseller one of pullit ser and devasta… 1
Discussed
“it's been 16 years since he published the road which became a huge bestseller one of pullit ser and devastated me and millions of others readers”
Annie Jacobsen and someone asked me or rather stated that my book nuclear war a scenario was clearly influenced by John He… 1
Discussed
“and someone asked me or rather stated that my book nuclear war a scenario was clearly influenced by John Hershey's Hiroshima and Cormick McCarthy's the road and I thought what absolutely both of those books I have read more than once each of those books”
David Perell And when he started drifting away from that when he wrote No Country or Furlough Men or The Road and great… 1
Discussed
“And when he started drifting away from that when he wrote No Country or Furlough Men or The Road and great books on their own but I kind of miss the way he used to write”
Dean Koontz Then he moved to things like No Country for Old Men and The Road which is stripped down and just the opposi… 1
Discussed
“Then he moved to things like No Country for Old Men and The Road which is stripped down and just the opposite of everything in his first career.”
Duncan Trussell have you seen um the road or red the road dude that's the uh Hugo vgo Morgan I watched that up until the po… 1
Discussed
“have you seen um the road or red the road dude that's the uh Hugo vgo Morgan I watched that up until the point when he was teaching his son to shoot himself in the mouth and I was like check please I think the author of that book was Cormac McCarthy”
Dwight Garner the road is similar the road is quite a slim novel as many listeners will know sort of a post-apocalyptic s… 1
Discussed
“the road is similar the road is quite a slim novel as many listeners will know sort of a post-apocalyptic story of father and his young son”
Discussed
“and of course there are really disgusting moments for example in the road where these characters are keeping human beings alive in a basement so they can slowly consume their flesh”
Gabrielle Zevin so I'm thinking of something like the last of us which feels quite a bit like the road or the passage by Ju… 1
Discussed
“so I'm thinking of something like the last of us which feels quite a bit like the road or the passage by Justin Cronin games call on literature all the time”
Lawrence Wright it started a decade ago when ridley scott had me write a script he wanted he had read the cormac mccarthy n… 1
Discussed
“it started a decade ago when ridley scott had me write a script he wanted he had read the cormac mccarthy novel the road which is this post-apocalyptic story father and son”
Sebastian Junger uh maybe people have brought this up to you but i i i stupidly reread uh cormac mccarthy's the road at the… 1
Discussed
“uh maybe people have brought this up to you but i i i stupidly reread uh cormac mccarthy's the road at the beginning of the pandemic”
Steven Bartlett what do you think about that keeping commitments to ourselves in uh in the road the Cormac McCarthy novel 1
Discussed
“what do you think about that keeping commitments to ourselves in uh in the road the Cormac McCarthy novel”
Theo Von he wrote like the road yeah dude he wrote some real No Country For Men yeah 1
Discussed
“he wrote like the road yeah dude he wrote some real No Country For Men yeah”
Troy Baker um believe it or not I didn't cry in the road um the book or the movie we don't talk about the movie we'll… 1
Discussed
“um believe it or not I didn't cry in the road um the book or the movie we don't talk about the movie we'll talk about the book”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
Recommended
“lots of people are familiar with the road but people are not generally familiar I think with some of his other works and it's great to go back and read them after the author's passing”
Discussed
“i heard the books too crazy dark man like that's that's one of the things like it's like it's a taste that stays with you a little too long”
Other mentions (10: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“Ryan Holiday, thank you so much for joining The Book Review to talk about Cormac McCarthy's The Road, one of the New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st century.”
Passing
“The Road, Blood, Meridian. I mean, there are many other examples.”
Passing
“and the road, which is also uh directed by John Hillote.”
Plugged
“Melania right now has the number one selling -- go out and buy it. It's a great book.”
Passing
“then he goes into sort of the last part of his career which is No Country for Old Men the road”
Passing
“the United States was a version of Cormac McCarthy's the road”
Passing
“All right. I think where we left off uh the United States was a version of Corormack McCarthy's The Road. Yeah. And The Walking Dead.”
Passing
“the day after tomorrow Zombieland The Walking Dead the road children of men the Last of Us the same story again and again somewhere between wish fulfillment and trauma”
Passing
“if you've seen the road that's a pretty dark take on what happens but yeah I'm a little more optimistic Lee”
Passing
“even cormic McCarthy's the road”