Episode · People I (Mostly) Admire · 2025-11-15
Steve Levitt & Suleika Jaouad: books mentioned on People I (Mostly) Admire
Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms (Replay)
Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer at 22. She made her illness the subject of a New York Times column and a memoir, Between Two Kingdoms.
Suleika Jaouad discussed Bright-sided by Barbara Ehrenreich. Steve Levitt discussed Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Bright-sided
Bright-sided by Barbara Ehrenreich is a critical examination of the American culture of enforced optimism and toxic positivity.
Discussed“Maybe the most insidious one was stay positive, which is a byproduct of our culture of toxic positivity that Barbara Aaron Reich has written so beautifully about this idea that if you allow any bit of quote unquote negativity in, you'll somehow make your cancer worse.”
Where to get it
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Between Two Kingdoms
Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad is a compelling memoir chronicling the author's battle with leukemia and her subsequent journey of recovery and reintegration into normal life.
Discussed“I'm not generally an emotional or an empathetic person, but I cried over and over reading your book between two kingdoms.”
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“Have you read The Fault in Our Stars? It's John Green's book about two young people, I think, with cancer who are dying, who fall in love. It's one of my favorite books. I love John Green. I had him on the show. He was amazing.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“Her amazing memoir, Between Two Kingdoms, tells the story of her battle with cancer, as well as the challenges after years of being in and out of the hospital.”
“first in a blog and then in a series of New York Times columns entitled Life Interrupted and eventually in a best-selling book called Between Two Kingdoms and also of course there's the Academy Award nominated documentary American Symphony.”
“Since she wrote her memoir, Between Two Kingdoms, Sleek has had both a recurrence of cancer and another successful bone marrow transplant.”
“Sleeka has had two new books come out in this past year. The first is The Book of Alchemy and the second, The Alchemy...”
“Sleeka has had two new books come out in this past year. The first is The Book of Alchemy and the second, The Alchemy [Journal]”