Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 2026-09-08
Books mentioned on What ‘Hyperpolitics’ Explains About This Era
Behind the intense political movements of the last decade, from Trumpism to wokeness and back again, there’s a strange and erratic rhythm. Movements saturate the culture seemingly overnight, only to evaporate or spark backlash just as rapidly.
Ezra Klein discussed Hyperpolitics by Anton Jäger and Public opinion by Walter Lippmann. Anton Jäger recommended The Prophet by Isaac Deutscher, Cheese by Willem Elsschot, Quelques mois dans ma vie by Michel Houellebecq, and Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Hyperpolitics
Discussed“And he's also the author of this book, Hyper politics, extreme politicization without political consequences. And what he's describing is an era in which politics feels like it is everywhere.”
Where to get it
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Public opinion
Public opinion by Walter Lippmann is a foundational sociological and political text that examines how mass media, stereotypes, and institutional structures shape collective thought and democratic governance.
Discussed“So you go back to Walter Lipman's book, "Public Opinion," which I think comes out in 1922, if I'm not wrong, right around there. And Walter Lipman's answer to the reality that the world outside our heads differs from the world inside our heads”
Where to get it
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The Prophet
The Prophet is a three-part biography of Leon Trotsky written by the Polish historian Isaac Deutscher.
Recommended“The first is The Prophet by Isaac Deutscher, a Polish historian who only learned English, I think in his early 30s and then wrote one of the greatest biographies of the 20th century. It's a three-part biography of Leon Trotsky”
Where to get it
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Cheese
Cheese is a novel written by the Flemish or Belgian author Willem Elsschot in the 1930s.
Recommended“The second book is Cheese by Willem Elshot, written in the 1930s. This is something much more obscure. It's by a Flemish or Belgian author.”
Where to get it
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Quelques mois dans ma vie
Quelques mois dans ma vie is a memoir by the French writer Michel Houellebecq.
Recommended“The final one, and I'm not sure there is already an English translation of this, is some months from my life by the French writer Michel Welbeck.”
Where to get it
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Serotonin
Serotonin is a novel by Michel Houellebecq.
Recommended“If you go for later works, I would recommend Serotonin, which also gave him a Nostradamus-like quality in France because he seemed to predict part of the yellow vest and farmers protests that shook the country.”
Where to get it
