Episode · Behind the Bastards · 2025-04-12
Books mentioned on It Could Happen Here Weekly 177
All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.
Robert Evans discussed Gender Trouble by Judith Butler, Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler, and Debt by David Graeber. Ellie Yerman criticized Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson. James Stout discussed Peasants into Frenchmen by Eugen Weber. Andrew Sage criticized Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Gender Trouble
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler is a foundational work of feminist and queer theory that challenges traditional assumptions about sex, gender, and identity.
Discussed“I read that book. Um you have my copy. I think I'm almost certain I do. That that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. Almost certainly. That's the trouble with gender, right? Uh gender trouble.”
Where to get it
-
Who’s Afraid of Gender?
Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler is a critical examination of contemporary political panics and the organized backlashes against gender theory and queer studies.
Discussed“It's Who's Afraid of Gender? It's Who's Afraid of Gender? Thank you very much. I have your book, but I haven't looked at it in a long time, except for to remember the word fantasm.”
Where to get it
-
Elon Musk
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson is a comprehensive biography that chronicles the tumultuous life, intense work ethic, and complex personality of the high-profile entrepreneur behind companies like SpaceX, Tesla, and X.
Critiqued“Well, and especially to like counter the narrative of her life that's been driven by Walter Isacson's 2023 biography, which is like so hostile and and to have like a prominent a like a prominent biography like that, like trying to make a narrative out of out of your existence”
Where to get it
-
Peasants into Frenchmen
Discussed“Like France is like language. If you read like peasants into Frenchmen is kind of the classic work on like French nationalization. But like in order to make people French, they did have to press like Basque and Breton and Catalan and other languages, right?”
Where to get it
-
Seeing Like a State
James C.
Critiqued“And here's where I think James C. Scott had a rather negative characterization of Espiranto as a purely high modernist endeavor as though all Espiranes sought to make Espiranto the official international language. In seem like a state, he claims that Espiranto was created to replace the dialects and vernaculars of Europe.”
Where to get it
-
Debt
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber is a sweeping anthropological examination of the history and social functions of debt, credit, and power across human civilizations.
Discussed“The anthropologist David Greyber called this in his book that the first 5,000 years a tribute system that again every country in the world is forced to buy US bonds. The US government has just like fairly explicitly like did this during the Reagan administration”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“You know Rald Doll, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories?”
“You know Rald Doll, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG. But did you know he was also a spy? Was this before he wrote his stories?”
“The second thing that you must remember is that Roar is a work of art on the level of Moby Dick. If you watch it enough among the right people and in the right headsp space, you can come to a deeper understanding of every facet of human existence.”