Person
Tommy Vietor's book recommendations
Tommy Vietor’s most recommended books
- Original Sin by Jake Tapper
- Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance
- Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein
- Mobility by Lydia Kiesling
- Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman
- Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
- On the Other Side of Freedom by DeRay Mckesson
- Prequel by Rachel Maddow
- Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
- Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan
Thomas Frederick Vietor IV is an American political commentator and podcaster. He was a spokesman for President Barack Obama and the United States National Security Council from 2011 to 2012. He is a co-founder of Crooked Media with fellow former Obama staffers Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett, and co-hosts the podcasts Pod Save America and Pod Save the World. Throughout his work on Pod Save America, Vietor frequently highlights and recommends various books by guests and fellow authors. Towards the end of interviews and episodes, he has recommended Colin Kaepernick's The Perilous Fight, reminded listeners about Jessica Tarlov's I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, and promoted Brian Tyler Cohen's book The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World. He also introduced guest Roger Bennett and promoted his New York Times bestseller We Are the World Cup, urged listeners to pick up Jake Tapper's Race Against Terror, and recommended Seth Harp's The Fort Bragg Cartel as a unique window into the Delta Force community. Finally, Vietor mentioned finishing and praising Erik Larson's historical book Dead Wake.
Books recommended by Tommy Vietor
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Original Sin
Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson is a political non-fiction book detailing President Joe Biden's political decline, the internal cover-up surrounding his health, and his controversial choice to run for reelection in 2024.
Discussed“Your last book original sin which you wrote with Alex Thompson from Axios made a lot of waves.”
Where to get it
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Hillbilly Elegy
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D.
Discussed“he had a bestselling book but not that many people read it you know you know who knows about that Elite podcasters yes exactly he had a had a movie was made of his of his book almost no one watched it”
Where to get it
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Why We're Polarized
Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein is a deep dive into the structural forces driving American political division.
Discussed“it is just like basically an escrow client podcast but in ezra client's book why we're polarized he talks about how the remember those buzzfeed quizzes”
Where to get it
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Mobility
Mobility by Lydia Kiesling is a coming-of-age novel following a corporate worker navigating a world shaped by geopolitical shifts and corporate greed.
Recommended“everyone go buy Mobility uh crooked.com Mobility or wherever books are sold”
Where to get it
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Confidence Man
Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman is a biography of Donald Trump that examines his career as a real estate developer in New York and his subsequent political trajectory.
Recommended“joining us now to talk about her new book confidence man the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times journalist”
Where to get it
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Fear: Trump in the White House
Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward is a bestselling investigative work examining the inner workings, chaos, and decision-making processes of the Donald Trump administration.
Discussed“this hotbed comes as Trump is losing his mind over Bob Woodward's new book it's called fear Dan you've dealt with Woodward on to books”
Where to get it
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On the Other Side of Freedom
On the Other Side of Freedom by DeRay Mckesson is a compelling book exploring civil rights, activism, and the persistent pursuit of hope in modern America.
Recommended“a reminder that DeRay McKesson the host of POD save the people has a new book out that you can get right now at der a calm it's called the other side of freedom”
Where to get it
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Prequel
Prequel by Rachel Maddow is a historical nonfiction work that uncovers the fascist movements, right-wing extremist plots, and anti-Semitic propaganda operating within the United States during the era of World War II.
Recommended“if you're listening you haven't already you should go listen to uh Rachel's podcast Ultra or read uh prequel both of which tell the story of a fascist movement in 1930s America”
Where to get it
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Say Nothing
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is a true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland that investigates political violence, justice, and the heavy personal cost of what individuals kill and die for.
Recommended“I'm very excited to watch uh say nothing Patrick Ren Keefe's book that's been adapted I think it's on Hulu right now”
Where to get it
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Win Every Argument
Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan is a comprehensive guide to the art of debating, persuading, and public speaking, written by a prominent journalist and broadcaster.
Recommended“and everyone should buy your book win every argument because then you can just you know beat everyone in your family over holidays or whatever debate you need to do”
Where to get it
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A Promised Land
A Promised Land by Barack Obama is the presidential memoir by the 44th President of the United States, offering a detailed and reflective look into his early life, political rise, and the first term of his historic presidency.
Discussed“we're talking to a uh president former president obama later today uh about his memoir but specifically ben and i are going to focus on all the uh foreign policy parts of the book his record”
Where to get it
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The World as It Is
The World as It Is is a political memoir by Ben Rhodes that explores the author's experiences inside the Obama administration and serves as the central theme for deep dives into foreign policy and modern governance.
Discussed“Ben Rhodess wrote in his book that you once jokingly referred to him as Hamas. Uh people on the left have taken this anecdote and interpreted as showing that you didn't care about Palestinian rights.”
Where to get it
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107 Days
107 Days is a political memoir by Kamala Harris that offers an insider account of her high-profile campaign and political career.
Discussed“He also has an in-depth accounting of Kla Harris's VP vetting process. Which Shapiro apparently found to be quite contentious. He writes that the vetting team asked him at one point if he had ever quote communicated with an undercover agent of Israel or if he ever was himself an agent for Israel. Um, that news comes after Harris wrote”
Where to get it
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Peril
Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa is a political nonfiction book examining the final days of the Donald Trump administration and the early months of the Biden presidency.
Discussed“one important source for the recent details about the trump coup attempt is bob woodward's most recent book and that got me thinking about how every bob woodward book has three core elements one juicy insider details two sort of an omniscient voice that makes it impossible to verify said details three a histrionic title you bet the most reason”
Where to get it
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The Buried Giant
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro is a fantastical novel set in a post-Arthurian British landscape where a mysterious fog causes the inhabitants to lose their memories.
Discussed“there's this book by ishiguru uh called the berry giant and it's about a fog that falls over england that makes them all lose their memories”
Where to get it
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What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a comprehensive conservative blueprint and policy transition plan designed to restructure the federal government during a future Republican presidential administration.
Discussed“and then you know in Project 2025 they specifically cite the first round that they of of undocumented immigrants they want to go after are people who committed felonies crimes of violence”
Where to get it
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Beloved
Beloved by Toni Morrison is a powerful historical fiction novel that tells the harrowing story of Sethe, an escaped enslaved woman haunted by the trauma of her past and the literal ghost of her daughter.
Discussed“specifically yonkin is running an ad attacking mcauliffe for controversy over tony morrison's classic book beloved to help us sort through all this nonsense and tell us what's actually happening on the ground”
Where to get it
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Papa's Coming Home
Papa's Coming Home by Chasten Buttigieg is a children's picture book that explores themes of family life, belonging, and identity.
Recommended“We So Chaston's got a book coming out. It's called uh Papa's Coming Home. It's a children's book. We talked about uh why he wanted to write that, LGBT representation in books, what it's like to be the focus of uh disgusting constant right-wing attacks on his family, book bands, their adoption story, being a dad, Pete's Beard.”
Where to get it
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An Ugly Truth
An Ugly Truth by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang is a gripping non-fiction book that explores the inner workings and controversies of Facebook.
Discussed“she's a new york times tech reporter and one of the authors of an ugly truth inside facebook's battle for domination shira franco thank you so much for being here”
Where to get it
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The Big Break
The Big Break by Ben Terris is a riveting account of Washington, D.C.
Discussed“Then later the Washington Post's Ben Terris talks to Tommy about his new book The Big Break, which is a riveting account of DC in the post-Trump era.”
Where to get it
- You Can't Be Serious by Kal Penn
- All the Demons Are Here by Jake Tapper
- Thank You for Your Servitude by Mark Leibovich
- The Gates of Gaza by Amir Tibon
- We Are the World (Cup) by Roger Bennett
- Battling the Big Lie by Dan Pfeiffer
- Persist by Elizabeth Warren
- Race Against Terror by Jake Tapper
- The Day After by Brian Tyler Cohen
- The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
- Why We Did It by Tim Miller
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Betrayal by Jonathan Karl
- Every Day Is Extra by John Kerry
- What Would Reagan Do? by Chris Christie
- An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
- Bag Man by Rachel Maddow, Michael Yarvitz
- Beautiful Things by Hunter Biden
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Dead Wake by Erik Larson
- Ghost Wars 12-copy floor by Steve Coll
- Grace by Cody Keenan
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
- Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
- How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell
- I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends by Jessica Tarlov
- I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg
- King Leopold's ghost by Adam Hochschild
- Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Questions about Tommy Vietor’s book recommendations
What book does Tommy Vietor recommend most?
Original Sin by Jake Tapper. Tommy Vietor recommended it in 4 episodes.
How many books has Tommy Vietor recommended on podcasts?
We have found 119 books Tommy Vietor recommended or discussed, across 111 episodes of 1 podcast. Ad reads and passing mentions are not counted.
What books are on Tommy Vietor's reading list?
The books Tommy Vietor has recommended most on podcasts are Original Sin by Jake Tapper, Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance, Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein, Mobility by Lydia Kiesling and Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman. The year-by-year lists below have all 119.
What did Tommy Vietor recommend on Pod Save America?
Original Sin, Hillbilly Elegy and Why We're Polarized, among 119 books in all.
What is the latest book Tommy Vietor recommended?
The Perilous Fight, recommended on Pod Save America (2026-09-25).
People who recommend the same books
Books Tommy Vietor wrote
Tommy Vietor’s latest episodes with books
Tommy Vietor’s book recommendations by year
All 119 books Tommy Vietor recommended or discussed across 111 episodes, filed by the year each episode came out. Each year goes episode by episode, with the minute every book came up.