Episode · People I (Mostly) Admire · 2023-04-06
Steve Levitt & John Green: books mentioned on People I (Mostly) Admire #92
John Green's Reluctant Rocket Ship Ride | People I (Mostly) Admire | Episode 92
Steve Levitt discussed The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and others, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. John Green discussed Paper Towns by John Green and All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Anthropocene Reviewed
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green is a collection of personal essays adapted from the author's podcast, in which he reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale.
Discussed“I've secretly been a fan of John Green for a while but when I stumbled onto his latest book The anthropocene reviewed I was shocked to discover that it was non-fiction actually meant for adults”
Where to get it
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Looking for Alaska
Looking for Alaska by John Green is a coming-of-age young adult novel centered on a teenager attending boarding school and navigating grief, friendship, and first love.
Discussed“can you take me back to your first book it's called Looking for Alaska what were you doing at the time”
Where to get it
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Freakonomics
Freakonomics by Steven D.
Discussed“yeah it makes total sense to me because Freakonomics was a fluke bestseller I had never even wanted to be an author”
Where to get it
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The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is an acclaimed young adult novel that follows two teenagers coping with terminal cancer diagnoses who fall in love while navigating the painful realities of mortality.
Discussed“but then you made the mistake of writing the Fault in Our Stars which turned out to be one of the biggest books of all time”
Where to get it
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Paper Towns
Paper Towns by John Green is a young adult contemporary novel that follows a high school senior on a mysterious quest to find his missing neighbor and childhood crush.
Discussed“I had to do it once I wrote a screenplay adaptation of my book Paper Towns and so I had to reread Paper Towns once in 2010 and it was excruciating once you can't change it”
Where to get it
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Turtles All the Way Down
Turtles All the Way Down is a young adult novel by John Green that explores themes of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder through a fictionalized context.
Discussed“You've been cranking out books every year, every other year, and then after The Fault in Our Stars, there was a five-year gap before your next book, Turtles All the Way Down.”
Where to get it
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All the King's Men
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren is a classic political novel that traces the rise and corruption of demagogic populist Willie Stark in the American South.
Discussed“there's that great Robert pen Warren line the end of man is knowledge”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“he's the author of The Fault in Our Stars which began as a novel for young adults and ended up a cultural phenomenon”
“He's the author of The Fault in Our Stars, which began as a novel for young adults and ended up a cultural phenomenon.”
“because when we wrote Freakonomics we would sell more each week for like the first 10 weeks and no one had ever heard of that before either”
“so I guess you're welcome by your third book Paper Towns you were really established that popped out right onto the best seller list”
“and then after the Fault in Our Stars there was a five-year gap before your next book Turtles all the way down”