Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2023-05-26
Books mentioned on If You’re Reading This, You’re Probably ‘WEIRD’
Ezra Klein discussed The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Henrich and others and The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Patrick Henrich and others. Also mentioned: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Secret of Our Success
The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Henrich explores how human cultural learning, cooperation, and cumulative knowledge have driven evolutionary success far beyond raw intelligence alone.
Discussed“his 2015 book The Secret of our success argued that what sets human beings apart from other species is our capacity for cultural learning”
Where to get it
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The WEIRDest People in the World
The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Patrick Henrich, Joseph Henrich, and Korey Jackson is an exploration of how psychology, anthropology, and culture intersect to shape distinct societal structures.
Discussed“his 2020 book the weirdest people in the world takes that argument and extends it arguing that beginning sometime in the Middle Ages certain cultural and really religious shifts radically transformed the psychologies of individuals living in Europe”
Where to get it
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Guns, Germs and Steel
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is a sweeping historical and anthropological study that investigates why Eurasian civilizations survived and conquered other societies, attributing outcomes to environmental and geographical advantages rather than biological superiority.
Recommended“I still think everybody should read Jared Diamonds Guns Germs and Steel”
Where to get it
