Episode · Behind the Bastards · 2026-03-12
Books mentioned on Part Two: From Elliott Rodger to Clavicular: The Story of Incel Evolution
Robert explains how incel terminology met the social internet, particularly reddit, and became tied inexorably with Gen Z slang. See omnystudio.
Robert Evans discussed The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and Algospeak by Adam Aleksic.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Secret
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is a bestselling self-help phenomenon centered on the law of attraction, which posits that positive visualization and focused intention can manifest wealth, health, and happiness directly into a person's life.
Discussed“And in fact, when his dad sees this and is like, oh, my son might be on the verge of doing something crazy and violent, his solution is to give Elliot Rodger a copy of The Secret.”
Where to get it
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Algospeak
Discussed“One of my sources for these episodes is the 2025 book AlgoSpeak by linguist Adam Aleksic.”
Where to get it
