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Josh Clark’s book recommendations in 2024

120 books · 80 episodes · Josh Clark’s most recommended books, all years →

Every episode from 2024, newest first

The Trivial Pursuit Trivia Edition

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-12-19

Trivia by Edwin Goodgold · discussed · at 3:50
How to Win at Trivial Pursuit and Other Knowledge Games by Robert J. Heller · discussed · at 28:02

Taylorism: Work Faster!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-12-17

On the Art of Cutting Metals by Frederick Winslow Taylor · discussed · at 5:03
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth · discussed · at 20:57
The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor · discussed · at 30:44

Selects: How The Pill Changed the World

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-12-07

The doctors' case against the pill by Barbara Seaman · discussed · at 11:58

Selects: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-12-04

How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor · recommended · at 52:04

LIVE: Minneapolis - The Madd Gasser of Mattoon

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-11-28

The Mad Gasser of Mattoon by Scott Maruna · discussed · at 52:04

Selects: The Cleveland Torso Murders

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-11-16

Torso by Steven Nickel · discussed · at 9:46

The Fascinating History of Dandelions

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-11-14

The Garden of Health by William Langham · discussed · at 14:28

Kids' Chemistry Sets: KABOOM!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-11-12

How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees · discussed · at 1:51

ADHD pt 2

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-11-07

Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? by Gina Pera · recommended · at 47:30
Self-Care for People with ADHD by Sasha Hamdani · recommended · at 48:12

15th Annual SYSK Halloween Spooktacular!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-31

A Woman's Ghost by Algernon Blackwood · discussed · at 4:25
The Middle Toe of the Right Foot by Ambrose Bierce · discussed · at 30:26

Short Stuff: Two Scary True Shorties!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-30

The Long Lost Friend by John George Hohman · discussed · at 2:31

The Mystery of the Skeletons of Roopkund Lake

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-29

Shogun by James Clavell · discussed · at 34:06

Q Anon: When Wild Conspiracy Went (sort of) Mainstream

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-22

Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone by Hunter S. Thompson · discussed · at 11:25
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson · discussed · at 11:25

The Anarchist Cookbook: Funny but Dangerous

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-15

The Anarchist Cookbook by William F. Powell, William Powell, William Powell, Peter M Bergman · discussed · at 0:40

Gobekli Tepe

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-08

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber · discussed · at 37:41

The Strange Story of Lysol

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-10-03

The Colossus by Sylvia Plath · discussed · at 21:33

Selects: Rosa Parks: Agent of Change

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-28

Little People, BIG DREAMS by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Lisbeth Kaiser · recommended · at 5:35
Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose · recommended · at 23:15
The Rebellious Life of Mrs Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis · recommended · at 46:01

Selects: How Government Shutdowns Work | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-25

Contract with America by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means · discussed · at 33:12

Tom Slick: Not the Cartoon

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-19

The Search for Bigfoot (Monster, Myth or Man?) by Peter Byrne · discussed · at 40:58

Would A Love Drug Be Ethical?

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-17

Love Drugs by Brian D. Earp · discussed · at 1:12

Selects: The Manson Family Murders Part 2

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-14

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi · discussed · at 3:31

Selects: How Futurology Works | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-11

The Year 2000; A Framework for Speculation on the Next Thirty-Three Years, by Herman Kahn and Anthony J. Wiener, With Contributions From Other Staff Members of the Hudson Institute. Introd. by Daniel Bell by Herman Kahn · discussed · at 14:49

Henry Ford: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-09-10

The International Jew by Henry Ford · discussed · at 30:19

Selects: The Manson Family Murders Part 1

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-31

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi · discussed · at 4:50

How Bomb Disposal Works

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-29

Near Dark by Stacey Abbott · recommended · at 3:15

The Strange Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-27

Marathon running by James Edward Sullivan · discussed · at 37:11

The Luddites: Misunderstood Working Class Heroes

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-22

An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith · discussed · at 9:27
Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant · discussed · at 37:39

Selects: Genghis Khan: Madman or Genius?

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-10

The Secret History of the Mongols by The Arth Estate · discussed · at 13:24

The Call of the Void: Don’t Pick Up!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-08

Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre · discussed · at 11:43

The Story of Rudolf Diesel

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-08-06

The coal question by William Stanley Jevons, Alfred William Flux · discussed · at 12:05
Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt · recommended · at 41:28

Selects: The Tulsa 'Race Riots'

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-27

The Burning by Tim Madigan · discussed · at 10:11

The KILLDOZER Rampage

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-25

Killdozer! by Theodore Sturgeon · discussed · at 47:23

Phone Phreaking: The Advent of Hacking

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-23

Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War by Kaplan, Fred · discussed · at 25:35

The Puritans in America

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-16

1491 by Charles C. Mann, Charles Mann · recommended · at 40:14

Selects: Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, Feminist Physician

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-13

Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women by Elizabeth Blackwell · discussed · at 3:30

Jane Goodall: All Good

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-09

In the shadow of man by Jane Goodall · discussed · at 26:44

How Dopamine Works

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-07-02

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks · discussed · at 8:50

Selects: How Restaurant Health Inspections Work

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-06-29

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair · discussed · at 7:36

Selects: How the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Work, Part I

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-06-22

Powerslave by Iron Maiden · recommended · at 18:27

Why Must Widowhood Be So Difficult?

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-06-18

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer · discussed · at 33:36

Coercive Control, the Invisible Basis of Abuse

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-06-11

Coercive control by Evan Stark · recommended · at 23:08

The Ballad of Grit

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-06-06

GRIT The Power of PASSION and PERSEVERANCE by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 10:24
The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 10:24
How Children Succeed by Paul Tough · discussed · at 24:35

Selects: What are think tanks all about?

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-06-01

Do Think Tanks Matter? by Donald E. Abelson · discussed · at 39:08

The Guinness Book of Records

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-05-30

The Guinness Book of Records by Unknown · discussed · at 2:56
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader by Bathroom Readers' Institute · discussed · at 4:23
Guinness Book of World Records by Unknown · discussed · at 8:51

J. Edgar Hoover: Evil G-Man Pt. 1

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-05-21

G-Man by Beverly Gage · recommended · at 5:50

Selects: The Great War of the Worlds Panic Myth

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-05-18

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells · discussed · at 2:52
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson · discussed · at 7:57
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne · discussed · at 8:04

The Silurian Hypothesis

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-05-16

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman · recommended · at 15:26

10 - Yes, 10! - Dumb Criminals

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-05-09

Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone by Hunter S. Thompson · discussed · at 20:11
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson · discussed · at 20:11
The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson · discussed · at 20:12
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson · discussed · at 20:13
An American Prayer by Jim Morrison · discussed · at 21:17
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith · recommended · at 36:48

Selects: The Legends of Lost Nazi Gold

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-05-04

The Bell Curve by Richard J. Herrnstein · critiqued · at 44:43

The Awful Crimes of Georgia Tann

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-25

The Baby Thief by Barbara Bisantz Raymond · discussed · at 42:35

Short Stuff: The Sad, Strange Tale of Margaret Schilling

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-24

On the Construction, Organization, and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane by Thomas Story Kirkbride · discussed · at 2:03

Hitchhiking: Two thumbs out!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-18

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins · discussed · at 38:58

The Dubious Science of Arson Investigation

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-16

Fire Investigations by Rethoret, Harry · discussed · at 6:01
Fire investigation by Paul Leland Kirk · discussed · at 7:12

Selects: How Famines Work

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-13

Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen · discussed · at 30:03

Testosterone and Estrogen: Wondrous Hormones

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-11

Human sexual response by William H. Masters · discussed · at 9:14

The 1977 Women's Conference That Changed America

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-09

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan · discussed · at 12:28

The Everglades: Wowee

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-04-04

The Everglades: river of grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas · discussed · at 23:32

The Pulitzer Prize: A major award!

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-03-28

Less by Andrew Sean Greer · recommended · at 17:50
1491 by Charles C. Mann, Charles Mann · discussed · at 18:47
1493 by Charles C. Mann, Charles Mann · discussed · at 18:47
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet · discussed · at 19:44
Fences by August Wilson · discussed · at 20:02
A million little pieces by James Frey · discussed · at 39:17
Roots by Alex Haley · discussed · at 40:36

Short Stuff: Ramree Island Crocodile Massacre

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-03-27

Dangerous to man by Roger A. Caras · discussed · at 3:11

Peanuts (the comic) Part I

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-03-19

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman · discussed · at 29:07

The Alien Abduction Phenomenon of the Mid-20th Century

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-03-14

The interrupted journey by John G. Fuller · discussed · at 14:37
Communion by Whitley Strieber · discussed · at 27:01
Abduction by John E. Mack · discussed · at 34:18

Selects: The Science of Break-Ups

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-03-09

How to fix a broken heart by Guy Winch · recommended · at 21:05

Selects: How Zero Population Growth Works

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-24

The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich · discussed · at 6:57
The Pump House Gang by Tom Wolfe · discussed · at 41:41
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner · discussed · at 42:45

The Story of the Nuclear Boy Scout

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-22

The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein · recommended · at 1:02
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments by Robert Brent · discussed · at 4:36

Ray and Charles Eames: More than Chairs

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-20

Cosmic View by Kees Boeke · discussed · at 49:13

Selects: Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-17

Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R. Buckminster Fuller · recommended · at 46:10

Like, here's the episode on "like"

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-15

On the Road by Jack Kerouac · discussed · at 27:47

Short Stuff: The Original Snake Oil Salesman

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-14

The Life and Adventures of the American Cow-boy by Clark Stanley · discussed · at 6:01
John Brown's Body by Stephen Vincent Benét · discussed · at 9:13

What Americans Ate When There Were No Food Laws

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-13

The Poison Squad by Deborah Blum · discussed · at 3:03
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair · discussed · at 22:30
The pilgrim's progress by John Bunyan · discussed · at 36:30

What's the Pygmalion Effect?

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-08

Metamorphoses by Ovid · discussed · at 1:44
Pygmalion in the classroom by Robert Rosenthal, Lenore Jacobson · discussed · at 13:50

The History of Las Vegas

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-02-01

Las Vegas, City of Sin? by Richard Blackburn Taylor · discussed · at 41:31

The Harrowing Story of the North Hollywood Shootout

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-30

The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko · discussed · at 46:32

Esperanto: Tre Mojosa

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-25

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler · discussed · at 41:24

The Strange Unsolved Murder of Ken McElroy

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-23

In broad daylight by Harry N. MacLean · discussed · at 1:45

Selects: History's Greatest Traitors

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-13

Inferno by Dante Alighieri · discussed · at 15:46
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis · discussed · at 20:03

Kenton Grua: Grand Canyon Legend

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-09

The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko · recommended · at 2:16
The Man Who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher · discussed · at 17:21

Selects: Dr. Seuss: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-06

Hooper Humperdink ... ? Not him! by Dr. Seuss · discussed · at 8:04
Why Johnny Can't Read by Rudolf Franz Flesch · discussed · at 29:48
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss · discussed · at 31:13
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss · discussed · at 31:31
Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham with 12 Silly Sounds! by Dr. Seuss · discussed · at 31:31
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss · discussed · at 32:18
And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss · discussed · at 40:17
Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss · discussed · at 45:43

Short Stuff: Blueprints

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-03

Photographs of British Algae. Cyanotype impressions. [The preface signed: A. A., i.e. Anna Atkins.] by Anna Atkins · discussed · at 2:03

SYSK Live in Nashville: The Biosphere II Experiment

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-02

Eating in by Sally Silverstone · discussed · at 25:31

Selects: Nuclear Semiotics: How to Talk to Future Humans | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Stuff You Should Know · 2024-01-02

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Unknown · discussed · at 19:25

Other mentions in 2024 (34: passing, ad reads, own books)