Person
Every book Gad Saad recommended on podcasts
Gad Saad, through his appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, presents himself as a social commentator, academic, and author focused on cultural critiques, evolutionary psychology, and the intellectual trends of modern academia. Throughout his discussions, Saad engages with a variety of literary works, sometimes referencing his own writing and at other times analyzing cultural texts. He frequently discussed his own book, The Parasitic Mind, using it to highlight academic elitism, address victimhood narratives, and recount personal anecdotes regarding modern ideological debates. In addition to his own work, Saad examined external texts to support his sociological arguments. He brought up Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth to deliver a detailed critique of feminist arguments surrounding beauty standards, contrasting them with his own earlier writings from the 1990s and 2000s. Saad also connected with classical philosophy, noting how his independent thoughts mirrored the ancient wisdom of Epictetus. Furthermore, guest host Joe Rogan highlighted Steven Rinella's American Buffalo during the episode, which Saad and Rogan appreciated as a fantastic exploration of the subject, collectively showcasing Saad's broad intellectual engagement with history, philosophy, and cultural critique.
Books recommended by Gad Saad
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The Beauty Myth
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf is a prominent 1990s cultural critique examining societal standards of femininity and their impact on women's lives.
Discussed“do you remember the book the beauty myth by naomi wolf did you know that book”
Where to get it
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American Buffalo
American Buffalo by Steven Rinella is a narrative non-fiction book that chronicles the author's quest to hunt an American bison while exploring the history, ecology, and cultural significance of the species in North America.
Recommended“he has a book on the american buffalo It's a fantastic book”
Where to get it
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Consilience
Consilience by E.
Discussed“reintroduced into the common lexicon by EO Wilson The evolutionary biologist at Harvard is consilience unity of knowledge”
Where to get it
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Epictetus
Epictetus by Epictetus comprises the surviving teachings and discourses of the ancient Stoic philosopher on self-governance, reason, and personal resilience.
Discussed“and that the fact that i independently thought of something that epictetus thought 2000 years ago connects me with him”
Where to get it
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Irresistible
Irresistible by Adam Alter is a non-fiction book exploring behavioral addiction, screen time, and the technological mechanisms designed to keep users hooked on their devices and applications.
Discussed“It's funny because there's a book that I read recently uh by adam alter It's called irresistible and it's about uh addiction to technology”
Where to get it
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Name of the Rose
Discussed“Right, then I referred to a book, well originally a book but then a movie. The Name of the Rose, if you remember The Name of the, did you see it Dave by the way?”
Where to get it
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Sperm Wars
Sperm Wars by Robin Baker is a controversial book exploring evolutionary biology and human reproductive strategies through the lens of sperm competition.
Discussed“Robin Baker who's who has since retired wrote a book I think it was in the mid 90s called sperm Wars where he talked about what's called the sperm competition hypothesis”
Where to get it
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The beauty myth : how images of beauty are used against women
Naomi Wolf and Suzy Jackson's The beauty myth : how images of beauty are used against women is a foundational feminist text that investigates how societal standards of physical attractiveness are weaponized against female advancement and autonomy.
Discussed“Naomi Wolf wrote a a book in the early '90s, uh, the beauty myth that sold millions of copies where she argued that there is no such thing as universal standards of beauty.”
Where to get it
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The Name of the Rose (Helen and Kurt Wolff Books)
Discussed“- Right, then I referred to a book, well originally a book but then a movie. The Name of the Rose, if you remember The Name of the, did you see it Dave by the way?”
Where to get it
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The Parasitic Mind
The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad is a non-fiction book that critiques modern ideological conformity, identity politics, and postmodernism through an evolutionary psychology lens.
Discussed“and so i had tackled that book at my in my first book in 2007 as a bunch of uh gibberish that was part of sort of the victimhood narrative”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a landmark popular science book that presents a gene-centric view of evolution and introduced the concept of the meme.
Discussed“So, a meme is a term that Richard Dawkins coined in his book uh in 1976, selfish gene.”
Where to get it
Books Gad Saad wrote
- The Parasitic Mind
- Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind
- The Saad Truth about Happiness
- The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption
- The Consuming Instinct
Appearances
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So, I I thought maybe I'd give you because I I know that you know The Parasitic Mind really well. And so, I wanted to kind of contextualize this book in relation to that book.”
“Well, The Parasitic Mind was the story of what I need to do to hijack your cognitive system, your your your ability to think rationally. And hence, there were all these parasitic ideas that destroyed your capacity to think.”
“And so what I argue in the book and then we we can drill down to endless examples if you want. I'm not saying that empathy is a bad thing”
“So, in the Parasitic Mind, I talk about social constructivism. Everything is a social construction.”
“Cultural relativism is a parasitic idea that I discuss in The Parasitic Mind. It basically says, "Who are you to judge the beliefs and the practices of another culture? Shut up, racist."”
“he's here to discuss his new book The sad truth about happiness eight secrets for leading the good life foreign”
“so I argue in the parasitic mind that our critical thinking expects the same thing”
“uh i like it the parasitic mind mask excellent”
“- So I called them of course in the book, idea pathogens and drawing a corollary to how animals could be parasitized by actual brain worms. I argue that human beings can be parasitized by another class of pathogens, idea pathogens. So and hence this is why it's called The Parasitic Mind.”
“- Well because their, their tribalism supersedes their desire to be truthful. So there's a tension that I discuss in The Parasitic Mind between two types of ethical systems.”
“uh now I take this idea and is part of my book so the book is tally titled death of the west by a Thousand Cuts”