Person
Every book Steven D. Levitt recommended on podcasts
Steven D. Levitt’s most recommended books
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Fist Stick Knife Gun by Geoffrey Canada
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
Steven D. Levitt discussed several books across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. He enthusiastically recommended Geoffrey Canada's Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun, calling it one of the most fantastically insightful books he had ever read and explaining its view on how guns alter conflicts. Levitt also reflected on his own written works, mentioning When to Rob a Bank when discussing a controversial blog post about a hypothetical terrorist attack, and referencing their first book, Freakonomics, to describe how he and Stephen J. Dubner used a bagel seller's payment data to study honesty. Additionally, Levitt brought up Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, noting the unusual calming effect the novel had on him and using it as a literary example of fiction that removes standard human constraints such as the need for sleep or money. He further cited their books Think Like a Freak and Superfreakonomics to address listener questions regarding health uncertainty, persuasion, and the authors' desire to continually cover fresh topics.
Books recommended by Steven D. Levitt
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Twilight
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer is a globally popular young adult fantasy romance novel that follows the intense and complicated relationship between a human high school girl and a century-old vampire.
Discussed“So it was a long time ago that I read Twilight. But I had a reaction to it that was different than any other person I've ever met. Which is somehow Twilight had a very calming effect on me.”
Where to get it
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Think Like a Freak
Think Like a Freak by Steven D.
Discussed“On the health front, as we write in Think Like a Freak, there's so much confusion in the world about what's healthy and what is not healthy.”
Where to get it
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Fist Stick Knife Gun
Fist Stick Knife Gun by Geoffrey Canada is a powerful memoir and sociological examination of growing up amid violence in the inner city, while also outlining the foundations of the Harlem Children's Zone.
Recommended“and the idea here comes out of Canada's book Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun which honestly I'll say is one of the best books I've ever read in my life if it's still in print I would just encourage people to go find it it's fantastically insightful”
Where to get it
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Freakonomics
Freakonomics by Steven D.
Discussed“In our first book, Freakonomics, we analyzed the bagel man's payment data and wrote up the findings. What the payment rates told us about honesty as it relates to the size of a company, time of year, company morale, things like that.”
Where to get it
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K.
Discussed“Twilight would be number one you think? No. I know Harry Potter was way better than Twilight. I kind of had a love – you know I had a love-hate relationship with the Twilight series.”
Where to get it
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Superfreakonomics
SuperFreakonomics by Steven D.
Discussed“The one thing I like best about it is that after we wrote Super Freakonomics, we said, let's just not write the same book over and over and over.”
Where to get it
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When to Rob a Bank
When to Rob a Bank by Steven D.
Discussed“And then it's in the book, it's in this book. And then I responded a day or two later, in which, you know, it's one of those incredibly obvious things”
Where to get it
Books Steven D. Levitt wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| 206. Ten Years of Freakonomics | Freakonomics Radio | 2015-05-14 | 1 |
| Think Like a Child (Rebroadcast) | Freakonomics Radio | 2015-04-30 | 1 |
| 184. What Can Vampires Teach Us About Economics? | Freakonomics Radio | 2014-10-30 | 2 |
| 166. How to Think Like a Freak -- and Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions | Freakonomics Radio | 2014-05-08 | 2 |
| 161. How to Make People Quit Smoking | Freakonomics Radio | 2014-04-03 | 1 |
| 114. How to Think About Guns | Freakonomics Radio | 2013-02-13 | 1 |
| 82. Please Steal My Car | Freakonomics Radio | 2012-07-04 | 2 |
Other mentions (7: passing, ad reads, own books)
“We're at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and we are bringing our new book, Winder Abba Bank, into the public spectacle.”
“But what I find interesting in fiction is when the author can create an alternative universe that has enough similarities in it that you kind of can get on board with it, and yet it allows you to get excited about things. And so Harry Potter would be the best example of that”
“She opened it up. And? And she found a bunch of books. And they were called Think Like a Freak. And she immediately put it onto Instagram.”
“And one of her 13-year-old friends said, I never knew your dad wrote Freakonomics. That's so cool. Wow. Did Amanda read any of it yet?”
“Did Amanda read any of it yet? I don't think she has. She's read Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics, which has not yet tackled Think Like a Freak.”
“And, I mean, obviously, you and I had some success with the books and stuff, so we have more money than we thought we would have.”
“The Hunger Games is next on my list. I haven't had a chance to get to that yet.”