Person
Michael Shermer books: every book Michael Shermer wrote and recommended
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Michael Shermer appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Michael Shermer
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Why People Believe Weird Things
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How We Believe
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Science friction
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Denying History
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The Science of Good and Evil
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The mind of the market
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Believing Brain
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Heavens on Earth
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Giving the Devil his Due
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Conspiracy
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Sport cycling
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Cycling
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Teach Your Child Science
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The Borderlands of Science
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Why Darwin Matters
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The soul of science
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The Moral Arc
Michael Shermer’s most recommended books
- The sacred mushroom and the cross by John Marco Allegro
- On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
- Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
- Case Closed by Gerald Posner
- The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper
- The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
- Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright
- DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman
- A Savage Order by Rachel Kleinfeld
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The author of over a dozen books, Shermer is known for engaging in debates on pseudoscience and religion in which he emphasizes scientific skepticism. He mentioned Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan's The Demon-Haunted World while discussing social experiments and comparative methods, and discussed Rick Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule in relation to federally approved clinical trials on dimethyltryptamine. Shermer also touched on John Marco Allegro's The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint approach to diet, and recommended Paul Bloom's Just Babies to support the argument that infants possess an innate sense of morality. Additionally, he praised Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven when discussing the origins of polygamy in the Mormon church, and reflected on his own bibliography, citing Why People Believe Weird Things.
Books recommended by Michael Shermer
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The sacred mushroom and the cross
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross by John Marco Allegro is a controversial scholarly study that posits early Christianity originated from ancient fertility cults centered around the sacramental use of psychedelic mushrooms.
Discussed“well you know that is also John Marco allegro's thoughts oh right The Sacred Mushroom in the cross”
Where to get it
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On Liberty
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill is a classic 1959 political essay that serves as one of history's most robust defenses of individual freedom, free expression, and intellectual liberty.
Discussed“I do think if you apply the principles of free speech as originally laid out by John Stuart Mill in 1859 his book on Liberty where he said okay look you might be completely right”
Where to get it
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Under the Banner of Heaven
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer is a compelling non-fiction investigation into fundamentalist Mormonism, religious extremism, and a brutal double murder rooted in the history of the Latter-day Saint movement.
Discussed“I don't know if you ever read John Jon Krakauer's book under the banner of heaven this is the guy the the mountain climber that did into thin air”
Where to get it
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Case Closed
"Case Closed" by Gerald Posner is a comprehensive investigative exploration of the assassination of President John F.
Discussed“and then i read gerald posner's book the case closed about the life of lee harvey oswald and why all the evidence points to him”
Where to get it
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The Open Society and Its Enemies
The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper is a monumental post-World War II philosophical critique of totalitarianism that explores the historical roots of closed societies and defends the principles of liberal democracy.
Discussed“I'm a big pro free speech idea and tolerance, is Carl Poppers "Open Society."”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a seminal science book that popularizes a gene-centric view of evolution and explores the biological origins of selfishness and altruism.
Discussed“so this is Dawkins argument in The Selfish Gene that that the gene is the is this is the thing we should be focused on not the body”
Where to get it
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Why Buddhism is True
Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright is an exploration of evolutionary psychology and ancient Buddhist philosophy that examines how the human mind creates suffering and how mindfulness can alter our perception of reality.
Discussed“you know there's other people like sam harris at bob right has a new book out called why buddhism is true”
Where to get it
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DMT: The Spirit Molecule
DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman is a scientific and clinical investigation into the effects of dimethyltryptamine, chronicling the first FDA-approved human clinical studies on psychedelics in decades.
Recommended“dr. rich Rick Strassman who was the guy who wrote the book DMT two-spirit male and it's an amazing book really really fascinating”
Where to get it
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A Savage Order
A Savage Order by Rachel Kleinfeld is a non-fiction book that examines failed states, systemic violence, and the methods governments use to restore order and establish functional security.
Discussed“she has this a new book called a savage order and it's about failed states and what happens to them”
Where to get it
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Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is a philosophical novel that outlines the author's system of Objectivism through a dystopian narrative about a society collapsing under heavy government intervention.
Discussed“Gerald Ford came to speak and Edward Teller came and gave his mutual assured destruction speech, and everyone was, Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged" and all that, pretty much what you'd expect.”
Where to get it
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God Is Not Great
God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens is a prominent polemical manifesto of the New Atheism movement that argues organized religion poisons everything, undermines moral responsibility, and distorts human understanding.
Discussed“well hitch still dealt with this in his book God is not great”
Where to get it
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Not Born Yesterday
Not Born Yesterday by Hugo Mercier is a cognitive science book that argues humans are far less gullible than commonly assumed, utilizing evolutionary psychology to explain how people evaluate information and trust elites.
Discussed“and nicely summarized in Hugo Mercier's book called not born yesterday”
Where to get it
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Sham
Discussed“and um there was a guy wrote a book called sham s-h-a-m self-help actualization movement and he was the head book guy for rodale press that publishes these self-help books um and so his takeaway on in this book was that the number one predictor of people who will buy self-help books are people who already bought self-help books and”
Where to get it
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The Blank Slate
The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker is a widely read nonfiction book that challenges the traditional sociological doctrine that the human mind is entirely shaped by culture and environment at birth, arguing instead for a nuanced view of innate human nature and genetics.
Discussed“Well, because as Steven Pinker points out in The Blank Slate, the blank slate model that, you know, that culture determines everything and otherwise people are equal, that's more of a left-wing than right-wing view of human nature.”
Where to get it
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Just Babies
Just Babies by Paul Bloom is an insightful exploration of the moral lives of infants, arguing that human beings possess an innate sense of fairness and empathy from a very early age.
Recommended“then also read Paul Bloom's book just babies so they show that like these little things with the infant they can't speak yet”
Where to get it
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Primal Blueprint
Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson is a foundational health and fitness guide that advocates for ancestral nutrition, low-carbohydrate eating, and lifestyle changes to improve overall well-being.
Recommended“or Mark Sisson calls it primal primal blueprint you're essentially just eating vegetables and fish and meat”
Where to get it
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The Demon-Haunted World
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan is a classic work of science communication that explores the importance of critical thinking, the scientific method, and skepticism in combating pseudoscience.
Recommended“our mutual friend the late great carl sagan has a great chapter in the demon hunter world on these kinds of experiments”
Where to get it
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12 Rules for Life
Jordan B.
Discussed“you know in Jordan has this book here's the 12 things you got to do”
Where to get it
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A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is an absurdist, darkly comedic masterpiece centered on the eccentric and pompous protagonist Ignatius J.
Discussed“I don't think all of this adds up to a conspiracy other than a conspiracy of Dunces that that just screwed up”
Where to get it
The other 44 books Michael Shermer recommended or discussed, ranked
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- Black Athena by Martin Bernal
- Culture Of Honor by Richard E Nisbett
- Denying History by Michael Shermer
- Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard
- DOOMSDAY MACHINE by ELLSBERG DANIEL
- Evil by Roy F. Baumeister, Ph.D.
- Final Charade by David Lifton
- Going Clear by Lawrence Wright
- Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
- Heavens on Earth by Michael Shermer
- Hitler by Ian Kershaw
- Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln
- Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
- Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
- Lord of Flies by William Golding
- Magicians of the Gods by Graham Hancock
- Noah's Flood by William Ryan
- Papers on the War by Daniel Ellsberg
- Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander
- Rationality by Steven Pinker
- Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi
- Rule Makers, Rule Breakers by Michele Gelfand
- Scale by Geoffrey West
- The Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith
- The Constitution of Knowledge by Jonathan Rauch
- The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth by John Marco Allegro
- The doors of perception by Aldous Huxley
- The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
- The Internationalists by Oona A. Hathaway
- The Moral Arc by Michael Shermer
- The Murderer Next Door by David M. Buss
- The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter
- The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift
- The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton
- The Square and the Tower by Niall Ferguson
- The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony
- UFOs : Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean
- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins
- Waking Up by Sam Harris
- When bad things happen to good people by Harold S. Kushner
- When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter
- Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
Appearances
Other mentions (23: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Uh, two. Conspiracy and this one.”
“I had a signed copy of my book for him conspiracy because I thought this guy needs to read my book and I'll just wait in the green room for him”
“taking my previous book the moral arc or steve baker's books you know talking about the shift in norms”
“First real book as Mr. Skeptic was "Why People Believe Weird Things", in 1997.”
“Last real book was 2018, "Heavens On Earth", so it takes me, you know, three to four years, really, on average, ah, to...”
“You know, I remember that, when my first book came out, I went on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show, in Washington DC, "Why People Believe Weird Things", so...”
“yeah carl sagan had a great line that i i quoted in my first book why people believe were things on the the kind of healthy skepticism”
“Hi everybody, Michael Shermer here talking to Dave Rubin about his new book, "Don't Burn This Book."”
“You know, at the end of the moral arch I sort of speculate about a future, a world without borders. ... Unfortunately since I wrote that in 2015 we've kind of gone the other direction...”
“Well those were all the right answers so I'm not gonna burn your book after all.”
“This was of course Dan Brown's novel. That was a real book, actually.”
“who I was when I was working on giving the devil is do I had this was kind of a challenge to me because I feel like there's so much fake news”
“neil i think in the last chapter the moral arc i speculated on us becoming a multi-planetary spacefaring civilization”
“the moral arc uh heavens on earth look at you skeptic magazine”
“he wrote a series of essays for vanity fair his column uh which you can get as a book now i think it's called mortality or something like that anyway”
“particularly when I was writing the moral arc and now I'm getting ready to teach this honors course at Chapman on morality and ethics and evolution”
“you know Buddhism has quite a resurgence now there's a number of books you know Bob Wright's book Buddhism is true and so on”
“this is subject of my next book Heavens on Earth that you know so I talk about the idea of of uploading the Mind into a computer”
“and and what is it that actually happens This is subject of my next book Heavens on Earth that you know”
“and I thought that's an interesting Niche to have and and so that just got bigger and bigger in my first book why people believe where things came out in 97 and about that time ocidental College was going through a financial crisis and they were letting go their adjuncts”
“in the moral Arc I have a chapter on animal rights in which I show that the numbers are still in single digits”
“so I call that I call it in the moral Arc I call that protop Solutions”
“so I mean the moral Arc that's what that's about tracking”