Person
Every book Ben Rhodes recommended on podcasts
Ben Rhodes appeared on The Ezra Klein Show to discuss political history, international relations, and contemporary global challenges. Drawing from his own intellectual explorations, Rhodes recommended several significant books that address the complexities of modern governance and historical transformation. First, he recommended Pankaj Mishra's From the Ruins of Empire, describing it as an excellent intellectual history that examines how people across the global South and within decolonized spaces in the twentieth century formulated alternatives to Western hegemony. Second, Rhodes recommended Stefan Zweig's memoir, The World of Yesterday, noting that he found himself reading the haunting and beautiful contemporaneous account multiple times following the election of Donald Trump. He explained that Zweig's reflections offer a vital lens through which to comprehend the experience of living in a collapsing liberal order. Through these thoughtful recommendations, Rhodes provided listeners with profound historical and literary frameworks for analyzing global power shifts, the decline of international norms, and the recurring political anxieties that haunt modern democratic societies across different historical eras.
Books recommended by Ben Rhodes
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From the Ruins of Empire
From the Ruins of Empire by Pankaj Mishra is an intellectual history examining how thinkers and leaders across the global South and decolonized spaces formulated alternatives to Western hegemony during the twentieth century.
Recommended“So a few things. I mean, on this last question, From the Ruins of Empire by Pankaj Mishra is a really excellent kind of intellectual history of for lack of a better way of putting it, you know, people global south or people in decolonized spaces um in the 20th century uh coming up with alternatives to Western hegemony.”
Where to get it
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The World of Yesterday
The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig is a haunting autobiographical memoir that captures the author's life in Vienna and the broader cultural splendor of a united Europe before its collapse into the catastrophic world wars and the rise of Nazism.
Recommended“Then I personally, as someone who's been trying to make sense of what it's like to live in a collapsing liberal order, um The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig I found myself reading twice since Trump's election. But it's it's just haunting and beautiful um contemporaneous uh you know, Stefan Zweig was a great Austrian writer writing this writing”
Where to get it
Books Ben Rhodes wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Great Lie of War | The Ezra Klein Show | The Ezra Klein Show | 2026-03-03 | 2 |
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“the last few days looks like literally the man in the high castle”
“i just wanna i mean here i'm just gonna go to my book real quick because it was really interesting to write the book and relive the last 10 years because i i real how much what Trump is you know was something that was building while we were in office right”