Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2026-05-09
Books mentioned on Ezra Klein Grills CA’s Possible Governors | The Ezra Klein Show
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Hour of the Predator
The Hour of the Predator by Giuliano da Empoli is a non-fiction book that explores the changing nature of power globally and serves as a strong plea for the preservation of democratic institutions.
Recommended“The book that I'm recommending is called The Hour of the Predator. And it's a statement it's a non-fiction book about how the power in our society and around the world is changing, and it is an absolute plea for us to preserve our democracy.”
Where to get it
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Rain of Gold
Rain of Gold by Victor Villaseñor is a celebrated multigenerational biographical novel that chronicles an immigrant family's harrowing journey from Mexico to the United States and their pursuit of prosperity.
Recommended“There's a a book called Rain of Gold by Victor Villaseñor, which is all about how if you just put your mind to it, you can lift up your family and have success. It's the American dream in this book, and it's a Rain of Gold.”
Where to get it
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Yesteryear
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is a contemporary fiction novel that explores the intricate pressures, frustrations, and gender stereotypes that women navigate in modern society.
Recommended“So, I would tell you that I think the banger book of the year that really encapsu- encapsulates in a fascinating, mind-bending way all of the frustration and rage that women and gender stereotypes put in onto us and that we have to navigate is Yesteryear, which is a fiction book. It just came out. It's a 36-hour stay up”
Where to get it
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Why Nothing Works
Why Nothing Works by Marvin Harris is an analytical book that examines institutional stagnation, governance challenges, and the friction between centralized policy and localized problem-solving.
Recommended“So, in this audience is this totally unoriginal, but the truth is I just read Why Nothing Works. I think you just interviewed Mark Duckworth. I know. I told I literally just read it. It's on my nightstand. Um and it was great. It was it was really it got me thinking about this mix of top-down, more centralized, get”
Where to get it
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Ours Was the Shining Future
Ours Was the Shining Future by David Leonhardt is a sweeping economic and social history that investigates the erosion of the American dream, growing inequality, and the struggles of the working class.
Recommended“Ours was The Shining Future. Your colleague David Leonhardt wrote it about a year and a half, almost 2 years ago. It's a book that is critical of Democrats among other things. And what it says we forgot to be the party of working people. We forgot to fight for an economy that's not working for enough people.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“And it you know, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was one example, crazy, but the other example is that we there too many that would nobody goes to lock mental facilities.”