Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2025-08-22
Books mentioned on MAHA Is a Bad Answer to a Good Question | The Ezra Klein Show
David Wallace-Wells recommended Doppelganger by Naomi Klein and Plagues upon the Earth by Kyle Harper. Rachel Bard recommended The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes, Calling the shots by Jennifer A. Reich, and Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Doppelganger
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein is a piercing work of nonfiction that explores the psychic distortions, political fragmentation, and public confusion of modern life, particularly examining the isolation and paranoia amplified online during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended“Um, I wanted to start with Naomi Klein's doppelganger, which I think is about the best book about the psychic distortions of our experience living especially online in the first year or two of the pandemic, having so much of our external world um, withdrawn and the sort of, you know, crash course in um, libertarianism, lack of society, living”
Where to get it
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Plagues upon the Earth
Kyle Harper's Plagues upon the Earth is a sweeping historical examination of disease and how pathogens have continuously shaped human history, politics, and civilization.
Recommended“And then I also wanted to recommend um Kyle Harper's Plagues Upon the Earth, which is a history of disease and the way that it has shaped history and politics um social life, civilization for, you know, the whole of um human history.”
Where to get it
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The making of the atomic bomb
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes is a comprehensive historical account of the scientific breakthroughs, political forces, and personalities behind the development of nuclear weapons during World War II.
Recommended“Rachel, um Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodess, which I think it it reads like a blockbuster movie, but it is an 850 page book about physics. um all about how scientific breakthroughs and discoveries happen and very much how about how they're shaped by um social forces, political events, and government priorities.”
Where to get it
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Calling the shots
Calling the shots by Jennifer A.
Recommended“Um calling the shots, which is a book by the sociologist Jennifer Reich that was published in 2016, and it's um an ethnography and a history of the antivax movement that I found incredibly useful in illuminating and helping me think about this.”
Where to get it
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Wave
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala is a harrowing and deeply moving memoir documenting the author's survival of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which tragically claimed the lives of her entire family, including her husband, two children, and parents.
Recommended“And then a book called Wave by Sonia Dana Yagala, who is an economist. It's a it's a memoir that she wrote. She lost her entire family in the 2004 Sri Lankan tsunami. um, her husband, her two children, and her parents all at once. That sounds like it would be an excruciating memoir to read. It is an unbelievably”
Where to get it
