Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2026-09-18
Books mentioned on SYSK Gets Weird Playlist: Doppelgängers: Hey you, you're me!
Seeing your near twin is probably pretty weird. But could there be a genetic commonality as well?
Chuck Bryant discussed Siebenkäs 3 by Jean Paul and William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe. Josh Clark discussed The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Siebenkäs 3
Discussed“It was actually coined at the end of the 18th century by an author named Jean Paul, which is an unlikely German name if you ask me. But he wrote a book called Siebenkass.”
Where to get it
-
William Wilson
Discussed“Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story called William Wilson. It's sort of like I mentioned before about, you know, evil things happening. A narrator meets a boy at school and this one had the same name, I'm presuming William Wilson.”
Where to get it
-
The Double
Discussed“Yeah, there's also Dostoyevsky kind of a spin on it where he introduced a doppelganger to the main character in a novel called, or a novella, I think, called The Double. And I love this.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I think I even say in the episode that I remember learning about doppelgangers from those time-life books about the paranormal back when I was a kid.”
“And then my favorite one of all time, I've known this one since I was a kid back when I was into the Time Life Mysteries books because I think that's where I first read it.”