Person
Every book Krystal Ball recommended on podcasts
Krystal Ball’s most recommended books
- Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastani
- Gilded Rage by Jacob Silverman
- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
- The age of entitlement by Christopher Caldwell
- The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
- Melania by Melania Trump
- Money to Burn by William D. Cohan
- Neoconservatism by Douglas Murray
- There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone
Krystal Ball is an American political commentator and political podcast host currently co-hosting the American political news and opinion series Breaking Points alongside Saagar Enjeti. She was previously a political candidate, as well as co-host on the MSNBC show The Cycle, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, and a co-host of The Hill's Rising along with Enjeti. In May 2021, Ball and Enjeti announced that they were leaving the show in order to launch their own independent project titled Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar. Ball is the co-host, alongside her husband Kyle Kulinski, of the podcast Krystal Kyle & Friends. On her podcast appearances, Ball has recommended and discussed several notable titles. She praised Cixin Liu's The Three-Body Problem trilogy as fantastic books that everyone should read, and she recommended Jacob Silverman's Gilded Rage regarding Elon Musk and the radicalization of Silicon Valley. Ball also highlighted Aaron Bastani's Fully Automated Luxury Communism as an excellent book offering perspective on technology and the future, and pointed listeners to Christopher Caldwell's Age of Entitlement as a short, highly influential read on civil rights legislation. Furthermore, she discussed William D. Cohan's Money to Burn in relation to Leon Black and private equity, and referenced Melania Trump's memoir Melania during discussions on personal introductions.
Books recommended by Krystal Ball
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Fully Automated Luxury Communism
Fully Automated Luxury Communism by Aaron Bastani is a radical leftist manifesto envisioning a post-scarcity future enabled by automation, renewable energy, and advanced artificial intelligence.
Recommended“And so to break down what this means for the world going forward, we're lucky to be joined by Aaron Basani, who's the co-founder of Navara Media and wrote an excellent book that I really recommend to everyone. Put this up on the screen titled Fully Automated Luxury Communism.”
Where to get it
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Gilded Rage
Gilded Rage by Jacob Silverman is a piercing look at Silicon Valley culture, focusing specifically on Elon Musk and the broader radicalization and dark political quests of tech billionaires.
Discussed“His book is Gilded Rage, Elon Musk and the radicalization of Silicon Valley.”
Where to get it
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The Jungle
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a searing 1906 naturalist novel exposing the appalling working conditions, exploitation of laborers, and unsanitary practices within Chicago's meatpacking industry during the Gilded Age.
Discussed“Think of like, you know, more denzian. Think of like, you know, Upton Sinclair and the way workers were treated in, you know, in the jungle. Think of the triangle shirt waist fire.”
Where to get it
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The age of entitlement
The Age of Entitlement by Christopher Caldwell is a provocative historical and political analysis examining how civil rights legislation and shifting legal frameworks reshaped American society from the 1960s onward.
Recommended“I mean, if people want to read a good um book on this, Age of Entitlement by Christopher Caldwell is a a short read and it was hugely influential. I mean, I've seen some people point to the book Richard Hanania wrote a couple of years back, but Caldwell is the book that really um was influential on the right”
Where to get it
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The Three-Body Problem
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu is a sweeping hard science fiction trilogy starter that chronicles humanity's first contact with an alien civilization facing imminent destruction from a triple-star system.
Recommended“I read these the three body problem trilogy and in the first book, and I'm not really giving it away anything here, but everybody should read them because they're fantastic books.”
Where to get it
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson is a comprehensive biography exploring the tumultuous life, career, and complex psychology of one of the world's most prominent technology entrepreneurs.
Discussed“I've been reading Walter Walter isaacson's biography on Elon one thing you really get is how he has personally cast himself as the savior of humanity”
Where to get it
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Melania
Melania by Melania Trump is a memoir by the former First Lady offering a personal account of her life story, public experiences, and private perspectives.
Discussed“That's not what I read in Melania.”
Where to get it
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Money to Burn
Money to Burn by William D.
Discussed“An author of a new book on Leon Black explains his relationship, Leon Black's relationship, not the author's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. And also how private equity is eating absolutely everything.”
Where to get it
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Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism by Douglas Murray is a political book examining the ideology and arguments supporting neoconservative foreign policy during the post-Cold War era.
Critiqued“You are a literal dilotant who flits about the world, writes neoonservatism and why we need it and now madness of crowds and the strange death of your It's like are you a expert on immigration?”
Where to get it
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There Is No Place for Us
There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone is a work of narrative non-fiction examining the reality of the working homeless and the housing crisis in America through the lives of families in and around the Atlanta area.
Discussed“And then we've have um Brian Goldstone on. He's written written a really important Roen... Um written a really important new book about, you know, we talk so much about the working poor. He digs into the working homeless, which is increasingly a reality, people who are doing everything they can, working full-time, but because housing and rent is so”
Where to get it
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William McKinley
Discussed“I mean he talked endlessly about President William McKinley right and this was like the model for him”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I guess they'll go back to from the this will create jobs. Now they go back to Art of the Deal in the the meme that shows him going back and forth.”
“Now they go back to Art of the Deal in the the meme that shows him going back and forth.”
“If Trump ultimately gets back into the something very similar to the original Obama JCPOA deal, I have no doubt he can message it as like this is totally different and this is way better and art of the deal or whatever.”
“When you break it down, I need Nate Silver to do this for me.”