Episode · Behind the Bastards · 2025-07-19
Books mentioned on It Could Happen Here Weekly 191
All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - Humanity, the Good feat.
Robert Evans discussed Humans by Brandon Stanton, Humankind by Rutger Bregman, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality among Men, A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Ya Davis discussed Cultish by Amanda Montell.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Humans
Discussed“And recently I was reading through a photo book called Humans by Brandon Stanton.”
Where to get it
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Humankind
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman is a historical and sociological exploration arguing that human nature is fundamentally cooperative rather than inherently selfish.
Discussed“seeing that variety of humanity reminded me of another book that I read and finished recently which is called humankind a hopeful history by Rutka Bregman.”
Where to get it
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Leviathan
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes is a foundational 1651 political treatise arguing that human life in a state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short, and that peace requires absolute submission to a strong central authority.
Discussed“Hobbes of course had the perspective in Leviathan which was written in 1651 that in the absence of a strong central authority human beings would live in a condition of perpetual war with every man against every other man.”
Where to get it
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Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau is a foundational 18th-century philosophical text exploring the transition of human beings from a hypothetical state of nature into civil society, arguing that private property created inequality and social vices.
Discussed“A couple years later, a couple decades later, Rouso was writing in the discourse on the origin and basis of inequality among men.”
Where to get it
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Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality among Men
Discussed“A couple years later, a couple decades later, Rouso was writing in the discourse on the origin and basis of inequality among men.”
Where to get it
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A Paradise Built in Hell
A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit is a striking non-fiction book examining disaster sociology that argues communities naturally respond to crises with extraordinary generosity, cooperation, and mutual aid rather than descending into panic or selfishness.
Discussed“In Rebecca's Soulnit's book, A Paradise Built in Hell, she found that disasters peeled back the layers of society and revealed the empathy, cooperation, and care at humanity's core.”
Where to get it
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Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a classic novel examining human nature and the descent into savagery among a group of stranded schoolboys.
Discussed“You know, another narrative I see referenced all the time, Lord of the Flies.”
Where to get it
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Cultish
Cultish by Amanda Montell is a nonfiction book examining the linguistic tactics and psychological mechanisms used by modern cults, high-control groups, and pervasive cultural movements.
Discussed“I mean, like you can also point to the uh the book Cultish, which explains how American culture is pretty defined by like cultlike tendencies.”
Where to get it
