Person
Every book Matt Frederick recommended on podcasts
Matt Frederick’s most recommended books
- Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken
- Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen
- Hannibal by Thomas Harris
- Conference on Clean Room Specifications by Sandia Corporation
- Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- The Sting Man by Robert W. Greene
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- 1984 by George Orwell
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Matt Frederick appears on Stuff They Don't Want You To Know to explore historical mysteries, conspiracies, and fringe topics, frequently recommending books that provide deeper background for the podcast's subjects. Frederick recommended Annie Jacobsen's Nuclear War: A Scenario as a detailed source outlining the sequence of events during a global nuclear exchange. He also praised Joshua Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World as a remarkable historical account that he wishes more people would read, and recommended Robert W. Greene's The Sting Man for listeners interested in the details of the Abscam political corruption story. To illustrate the struggles of workers facing corporate exploitation, Frederick highlighted John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as a major influence that opened his eyes to systemic economic structures. Additionally, he mentioned technical and historical texts such as Sandia Corporation's Conference on Clean Room Specifications. During discussions on folklore, Frederick and his co-hosts also referenced Arthur Miller's play The Crucible and Lawrence Wright's investigative book Going Clear, which inspired the documentary on Scientology, demonstrating his broad engagement with historical, literary, and investigative sources.
Books recommended by Matt Frederick
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Chariots of the Gods?
Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Daniken is a well-known alternative history book that posits ancient civilizations were influenced by extraterrestrial visitors.
Discussed“didn't until 1968 when Danakin's breakout piece Chariots of the Gods made the bold claim that the world's oldest religion originated not from the observance of uh the the celestial bodies, the observance of astronomical movement or from the natural world itself, but rather as a reaction to um firsthand experience and contact with an alien.”
Where to get it
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Nuclear War
Annie Jacobsen's nonfiction book Nuclear War: A Scenario provides a chilling, unsparing countdown and thorough examination of what a global nuclear exchange would actually look like.
Recommended“So we can shout out Annie Jacobson for her book nuclear war a scenario that goes through pretty much what we're about to take you through.”
Where to get it
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Hannibal
Discussed“in Thomas Harris's um sequel to Silence of the Lambs Hannibal was based on”
Where to get it
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Conference on Clean Room Specifications
Conference on Clean Room Specifications is a technical publication released by the Sandia Corporation that outlines standards and guidelines for maintaining controlled contamination-free environments.
Recommended“and also uh check out clean room I'm I'm bullish on it uh anyway”
Where to get it
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Sailing Alone Around the World
Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum chronicles the author's pioneering solo circumnavigation of the globe in a small wooden sloop between 1895 and 1898.
Recommended“who is an historical figure that I wish more people read his book sailing alone around the world is a stem to Banger”
Where to get it
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The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a classic American novel depicting the hardships of Oklahoma families migrating to California during the Great Depression.
Recommended“shout out to Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath hugely that's that's the book that that really hipped me to this whole struggle and this whole structure you know”
Where to get it
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The Sting Man
The Sting Man is a non-fiction book by Robert W.
Recommended“and you can read about all of this in a book called The Sting man that was written by Robert W green uh this whole story like this book is nuts it is um really worth your time if you if you like reading books check it out”
Where to get it
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11/22/63
11/22/63 by Stephen King is a science fiction time-travel novel in which a high school teacher attempts to prevent the assassination of John F.
Discussed“112263 you know we talked about Comedians and satirists and science fiction and stuff so many amazing ways that folks like that who maybe you wouldn't immediately think can really shed light on this stuff I learned a lot of this stuff from that book um and a lot of it is historically accurate of course it's a work of”
Where to get it
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1984
1984 by George Orwell is a classic dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian regime characterized by extreme surveillance, historical denial, and psychological manipulation.
Discussed“that's you know what reminds me of the telescreens in 1984 which were like on this on one level seen as like a luxury and as like a really cool technological Gadget where you could watch all of these whatever entertainment you so wished but it was a two-way thing”
Where to get it
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A Canticle for Leibowitz
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M.
Book club“Thinking things like Canacle for Liowitz, The Day After Tomorrow. Uh hey, you hit us to your favorites.”
Where to get it
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Banksy. Wall and piece
Discussed“and a comment that copyright is for losers from his 2006 book wall and peace”
Where to get it
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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is a deeply influential historical book that chronicles the systematic displacement, broken treaties, and forced assimilation of Native American tribes in the American West through the perspective of the indigenous peoples.
Discussed“If I'm not mistaken, um there's a really fantastic series on HBO was called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee that was based on a book of the same name. And it was about um just the conflict between, you know, like it was with uh Sitting Bull”
Where to get it
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Delay, Deny, Defend
Delay, Deny, Defend by Jay M.
Discussed“a book written by author Jay Fineman first published in 2010 has skyrocketed to number two on the Amazon non-fiction charts the uh bestselling non-fiction charts the subtitle is why insurance companies don't pay claims and what you can do about it the title is delay deny defend”
Where to get it
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Going Clear
Going Clear by Lawrence Wright is a meticulously researched investigative book that exposes the inner workings, history, and controversial practices of the Church of Scientology.
Discussed“Well, if anyone's ever read the Alex or no, the book that the Alex Gibney documentary Going Clear was based on, um the footnotes alone in that book like are massive.”
Where to get it
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Lives
Lives by Plutarch is a classic collection of parallel biographies of famous Greek and Roman leaders, offering enduring moral and historical lessons from antiquity.
Discussed“Um the line that stands out to me and I think to a lot of us uh is from Plutarch in his work lives where he says the first messenger that gave notice of Lucilles's coming was so far from pleasing Ty Grains that he had his head caught off were his pains and no man dared to bring further”
Where to get it
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Missing 411
Missing 411 by David Paulides and Chris Williams is a chilling investigation into mysterious disappearances of people in national parks and public lands across North America.
Discussed“say that Anthony um most notable David Pilates in his book series he also recently released a short documentary about it that would make for an interesting topic to play”
Where to get it
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Mythology
Discussed“I've got a giant tome here called Mythology, the illustrated anthology of world myth and storytelling.”
Where to get it
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Nameless
Nameless by Grant Morrison is a mind-bending comic book series that dives into dark, space-themed horror and complex existential mysteries.
Discussed“and in the in between these two episodes I've mentioned just off air that I was reading that book The nameless and I didn't realize that a big part of that book is about the anian language that we covered in do angels have a language”
Where to get it
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Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr.
Discussed“we were talking about some of our favorite children's books and I reread a book called oh the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss”
Where to get it
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Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer by Charles Thorpe is a biographical and historical examination of J.
Discussed“well I for one cannot wait for Oppenheimer and it's because of that graphic novel comic book I don't know I don't know how we got our hands on did you give it uh I don't know how we got our hands on it but man it's good that's one of the ones you hit me too Matt I think”
Where to get it
The other 16 books Matt Frederick recommended or discussed, ranked
- Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch by Plutarch
- Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjamin Franklin
- The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- The Black Monday Murders, Vol. 1 by Jonathan Hickman
- The Boys by Garth Ennis
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
- The Day After Tomorrow by Allan Folsom
- The Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol F. Karlsen
- The FBI by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
- The Final Witness by Paul Landis
- The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time Book 2) by Robert Jordan
- The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
- Watchmen by Alan Moore
- Where My Shadow Falls by Leon G. Turrou
Appearances
Other mentions (7: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And this is this reminds me I'm sure it reminds a lot of us of the Dune universe and the longstanding ban on thinking machines or Terminator 2.”
“The old Gish Gallup, right? Uh there are the running man, another good example. Shout out Stephen King. Um via his pseudonym.”
“That is the seminal 2000's classic Drive from the album Make Yourself by Incubus.”
“Yeah, that's just at least the image I get. Eric Von Däniken! Love to drop that name.”
“oh like the Christopher walk and King Louie in the liveaction uh Jungle Book”
“also that the way it's depicted in The liveaction Jungle Book in the King Louie character”
“it turns out Androids do Dream of Electric Sheep or at the very least bad directions”