Person
Every book Naomi Wolf recommended on podcasts
Naomi Wolf appeared on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in April 2023 to discuss liberalism, cultural shifts, and public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the episode, Wolf recommended and discussed several historically and psychologically significant texts to support her arguments regarding collective behavior and trauma. She praised Robert Porctors Racial Hygiene and Robert Jay Liftons The Nazi Doctors, using both works to illustrate the dangerous intersections between Nazi ideology, public health, and extermination campaigns. Wolf also recommended Bessel van der Kolks The Body Keeps the Score, connecting its insights on trauma to her own childhood experiences and writing process. In addition to these recommendations, she frequently referenced Charles Mackays Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds to frame the perceived irrationality of political movements. Finally, Wolf reflected on her own seminal book, The Beauty Myth, contemplating how societal attitudes and cultural perceptions toward older women have evolved significantly since its original publication decades prior.
Books recommended by Naomi Wolf
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Racial hygiene
Racial hygiene by Robert Proctor is a historical examination of how the medical profession and scientific institutions in Germany contributed to Nazi ideology and eugenics policies.
Recommended“There's a fantastic book called 'Racial Hygiene,' and of course, the classic 'The Nazi Doctors' makes this point.”
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The Body Keeps the Score
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is a prominent psychological study that explores how trauma physically impacts the brain and body, offering pathways to healing through modern therapies.
Recommended“One really wonderful book is The Body Keeps Score about trauma, right?”
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The Nazi Doctors
The Nazi Doctors by Robert Jay Lifton is a historical and psychological study examining the medical professionals who participated in torture and mass murder within Nazi concentration camps.
Recommended“There's a fantastic book called 'Racial Hygiene,' and of course, the classic 'The Nazi Doctors' makes this point.”
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Memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions
Discussed“I keep going back to 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions' and 'The Madness of Crowds.'”
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The Beauty Myth
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf is a feminist cultural critique arguing that societal standards of physical attractiveness are weaponized to suppress women's social and political advancements.
Discussed“But I will say that now I think that young men, for instance, like a whole phenomenon that I find fascinating—I might find it fascinating as an older woman who's married to a much younger man—but I find it fascinating that when I was writing The Beauty Myth, older women were considered done reproductively or sexually, and now that’s no”
Books Naomi Wolf wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Marxist Slide from Liberalism | Naomi Wolf | EP 351 | The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast | 2023-04-24 | 5 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“But I do think if you're looking for unconscious motivations, my work dating from The End of America, in which I was focused on torture and surveillance, and my more recent work in which I recognized how violent and a coercive society can become definitely arose from my experience of being raped as a child and then molested as a”