Episode · Interesting Times · 2025-08-21
Books mentioned on Ross and Ezra Klein Discuss Trump, Mysticism and Psychedelics | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
This week, we’re sharing a great conversation Ross had on “The Ezra Klein Show” this past spring. Ezra asks Ross about his most recent book, “Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious.
Ezra Klein discussed Believe by Ross Douthat and Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer. Ross Douthat recommended Modern Physics and Ancient Faith by Stephen M. Barr, After by Bruce Greyson, and Mind and Cosmos by Thomas Nagel, and discussed Living with a Wild God by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Believe
Believe by Ross Douthat is an exploration of why religious faith remains logical and vital in the modern era.
Discussed“He's the author of Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, a book I enjoyed very much, even though quite a bit of it I had some questions about.”
Where to get it
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Living with a Wild God
Living with a Wild God by Barbara Ehrenreich is a reflective memoir that chronicles a well-known secular atheist's unexpected encounters with profound and mysterious religious experiences.
Discussed“Famous left liberal writer wrote a whole book called and a famous atheist. yes. famous atheist called Living with a Wild God, right? And it was just a book about a very secular person who had a lot of religious experiences”
Where to get it
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Inventing the Renaissance
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer is a historical exploration of how early modern scholars, poets, and printers consciously constructed the myth of the Renaissance as a distinct rebirth of classical learning separate from the medieval era.
Discussed“I've been reading about the Renaissance recently. Um, Ada Palmer's great book on inventing the Renaissance.”
Where to get it
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Modern Physics and Ancient Faith
Modern Physics and Ancient Faith by Stephen M.
Recommended“The first one is a book called from about 20 years ago by a physicist named Steven Bar called ancient physics and modern faith. That is I think despite being a little bit dated is still really the best overall survey”
Where to get it
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After
After by Bruce Greyson is a comprehensive non-fiction exploration of near-death experiences, drawing on extensive psychiatric research and data from the University of Virginia.
Recommended“I think people who are interested in this subject, interested in the conversation, one recommendation would be a book called After by Bruce Grayson, who's a I think psychiatrist or neuroscientist from the University of Virginia”
Where to get it
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Mind and Cosmos
Mind and Cosmos by Thomas Nagel is a concise philosophical work by a prominent non-religious thinker that challenges the fundamental limits, assumptions, and problems of a strictly materialist framework on the world.
Recommended“um but a book called Mind and Cosmos by Thomas Nagel was a famous philosopher not religious but arguing for the fundamental limits and problems with a materialist framework on the world and it is a very short book”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Ezra had me on his show this past spring to talk about my recent book, Believe.”