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Books podcasts were talking about in June 2026
In June 2026, podcasters and guests discussed a diverse range of political philosophy, historical biographies, fitness guides, and writing manuals. On The Ezra Klein Show, Chris Rufo offered several reading recommendations, pointing listeners to John Marini's Unmasking the Administrative State, which he credited with helping him understand the deeper philosophical and political underpinnings of modern dilemmas. Rufo also recommended Stacy Schiff's biography of American founder Samuel Adams, titled The Revolutionary, and mentioned works by James Burnham including The Managerial Revolution, The Machiavellians, and Suicide of the West. On The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, the host promoted forthcoming and recent works, highlighting Dr. Stephanie Estima's upcoming book Nothing to Lose, Build the Dream Body You Want Today, Gain the Strength and Mobility You'll Need Tomorrow, as well as Jeremy Grantham's book during an interview concluding segment. In discussions concerning psychology and personal well-being on Modern Wisdom, Sonja Lyubomirsky discussed Susan Cain's book Quiet, expressing her love for the text while exploring introversion. Additionally, on How I Write, Andrew Stanton recommended Denny Martin Flinn's book How Not to Write a Screenplay, praising it as smart and clear regarding the basics of formatting and storytelling mechanics that make readers want to keep turning the page.
The Joe Rogan Experience
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I Want My MTV
Discussed“Despite its major success, the song is sometimes associated with the end of his career as a singles musician due to the music video, which is described as one of the worst ever in a 2011 book I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.”
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Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things
Discussed“Uh this guy, I can't remember his name, uh he wrote a book called Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things. That was the first language categories that we had for language was women, fire, and dangerous stuff.”
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The Science of Magic
Discussed“You could read more about it in his extraordinary life through Franciscan Media.”
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Havana Nocturne
Recommended“When you got a minute, you run, you read that a van turn. That book, what is it called? It's a van turn. It's a revolution from three different places. Union City, New Jersey, New York City, and Miami. And how... Oh, no, no, not my New York City. Tampa and how those three cities were like involved in that”
Lex Fridman Podcast
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Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood
Discussed“you have written one of the books is Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood: The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 AD to the First Crusade.”
The Ezra Klein Show
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Aristotle's Treatise on Rhetoric,.
Discussed“I think that Aristotle has a great line in his book on rhetoric where he says the truth has a tendency to prevail.”
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When the Clock Broke
Discussed“He's got this book about the '9s um called when the Clock Broke, I believe.”
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Unmasking the Administrative State
Recommended“The first I would recommend is a book by my mentor John Marini, Claremont Institute scholar called unmasking the administrative state which I think has helped me more than anything understand the deeper philosophical and political underpinnings of our modern dilemma.”
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The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
Recommended“The second book that I think all conservatives should read and all liberals should read is a biography by Stacy Schiff called The Revolutionary, which is a biography of the American founder Samuel Adams.”
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The Managerial Revolution
Recommended“Wrote a book called Managerial Revolution, another called the Machavelians, another called Suicide of the West.”
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Suicide of the West
Recommended“Wrote a book called Managerial Revolution, another called the Machavelians, another called Suicide of the West.”
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Crisis of the Common Good
Recommended“you mentioned Senator Chris Murphy and his his new book, The Crisis of the Common Good. I've just been reading it and I really I really recommend it because as I said, I think Senator Murphy um has been one someone who has really articulated a strong theory of the case of what really ails our politics”
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From Life Itself
Recommended“The second one is by journalist Suzy Hansen. It's called From Life Itself. It's a book about Turkey through just exploring one neighborhood in Istanbul um that she she's reported on over 10 years”
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Book of Mercy
Recommended“And the last one is book by Leonard Cohen. It's called Book of Mercy. Um So, my mom recently passed away. She's She was among other things a woman of deep religious faith... And it's just been something that I shared with her in her last months”
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The Last Men
Discussed“I read your piece and then I read The Last Man by Charles Cornish Dale, uh, The Raw Egg Nationalist.”
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Madame de Pompadour
Recommended“Nancy Mittford's biography of Madame de Pompador, Mistress of Louis the 15th of France.”
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The Genius Factory
Recommended“So, I have brought The Genius Factory by David Plots, which is the story of one mad eugenicist millionaire who decides that the way to solve all of America's problem is to get lots of Nobel Prize winners to donate their sperm...”
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The American Thomistic Revival in the Philosophical Papers of R.J. Henle, S.J.
Discussed“The Robert Putnam book I think is much more specific and I wish people would talk in this language. We didn't hollow out the middle class. We hollowed out places.”
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The Chronoliths
Recommended“And then finally I was going to say The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson which was written back in 2001 but which I went back and I read recently.”
Huberman Lab
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Laws of Form
Discussed“This is the most as as George Spencer Brown talks about this in laws of form. This is the the act of differentiation.”
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Bonded by Evolution
Recommended“To learn more about his work and to find a link to his book, Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection, please see the links in the show notes caption.”
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Drownproof
Discussed“Today's discussion was prompted by my reading of Andy's recent book called Drownproof.”
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Eat Better, Sleep Better
Recommended“To learn more about her laboratory's research and to find a link to her book Eat Better, Sleep Better, please see the links in the show note captions.”
Modern Wisdom
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Alchemy
Discussed“That's why that's why his book's called Alchemy, right? Behavioral science applied well is kind of like magic.”
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Friends
Discussed“Did you read uh friends by Robin Dunbar?”
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Quiet
Recommended“Susan Kane wrote this great book right called Quiet. Love the book and I'm a big fan of introversion.”
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Super Sad True Love Story
Discussed“You ever read Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart?”
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Attached
Discussed“A lot of people love books like Attached by Am Lavine or Jessica Balm's book.”
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Secure
Discussed“Am's got a new one out called Secure.”
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Your Nervous System
Discussed“your nervous system will always choose a familiar hell over an unfamiliar heaven.”
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The Mind of a Mnemonist
Recommended“If people want a real exaggerated case of not forgetting, there's an old book called the mind of a neonist like pneummonic device, the mind of a neonist by AJ Lura, which is effectively an extended case study of someone who never forgets.”
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Churchill
Recommended“Churchill's biography is so good. Like you go Jesus Christ did this man um the big I think it's Andrew Roberts uh Churchill biography.”
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Oblomov
Recommended“There's going to be a a book breakdown, a list of a load of different books, but the personal one of uh Oblamov, a Russian man from the 18th century who the first 50 pages are about him getting out of bed.”
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
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The Betty Body
Discussed“um on your book the Betty Body, the last word on the subtitle is the word sex. A geeky goddess guide to intuitive eating, balanced hormones, and transformative sex.”
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Nothing to Lose
Recommended“If people want more of your work, I know you've got a book coming out the top of the year next year called Nothing to Lose, Build the Dream Body You Want Today, Gain the Strength and Mobility You'll Need Tomorrow.”
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The Making of a Permabear
Recommended“Your book, The Making of a Manager, Baron, to link it below for everyone to buy it themselves. Jeremy, thank you.”
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Mankind in Amnesia
Discussed“That's why I refer to us as a species with amnesia. And when I use that phrase, I need to give credit to Immanuel Velikovsky, who wrote a book called Mankind in Amnesia.”
How I Write
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The Art of Dramatic Writing
Discussed“I was very inspired by reading a book about playwriting in the '40s called The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri. I've read every book that there is about screenwriting and about stories, and that one spoke to me, and he has a a belief about”
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How Not to Write a Screenplay
Recommended“Which sounds like the kind of book that that you would avoid in a bookstore. But it is so smart and clear about the basics of formatting and a screenplay and how not just in formatting, but how to make somebody want to turn the page and keep reading.”
Interesting Times
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Communion
Discussed“You’re talking about your New book, which is called communion, Yes, Finding my way back to faith.”
