Podcast
Behind the Bastards book recommendations
There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous i…
Latest mentions
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The Art of Travel
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The Origin of Species
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Hereditary Genius
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Inquiries Into Human Faculty
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Inquiries Into Human Faculty and Its Development
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Superior
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The Iliad
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The Odyssey
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Paradise Lost
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Kropotkin, Read, and the Intellectual History of British Anarchism
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The First World War
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Peter Kropotkin
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Against the Grain
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Civilized to Death
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Wild Thought
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Ishmael
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The Botany of Desire
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Fall
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Foreign Body
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Fall
Most recommended on Behind the Bastards
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After the Revolution
On Behind the Bastards, host Robert Evans frequently promoted his novel, "After the Revolution." Across numerous episodes, Evans reminded listeners where they could purchase the book, pointing them to AK Press, online book retailers, and his dedicated website ATRbook.com. His plugs often featured humorous commentary about shouting the title in public locations or bookstores. In addition to Evans plugging the novel himself, his co-host occasionally promoted the title at the end of episodes. During historical discussions on the podcast, Evans also drew connections between his writing and research projects, mentioning past creative efforts alongside his fictional work.
Discussed“I have a novel; it's called After the Revolution; just type that and Robert Evans into Google, you'll find places to buy it. It's from AK Press; you can also just buy it from them anyway.”
Where to get it
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Bible
On Behind the Bastards, the "Bible" came up in multiple contexts examining historical and religious figures. In a discussion on Thomas Jefferson, the hosts noted how he selectively edited the Bible to omit unwanted passages. In the episode on Kent Hovind, the host explained that fundamentalist Jack Hiles insisted on using the King James Bible to save souls, while Hovind sought to prove no contradictions existed between true science and scripture. Additionally, during episodes on TB Joshua, host Robert detailed how Joshua's father translated the Bible, fueling Joshua's childhood obsession with reading the entire text every two months and later using it to construct personal defenses.
Discussed“It was all show, flash bulbs sparked the air, people cheered, police swarmed, and the show opened by reading excerpts from Brown America, the book written by Rosenwald.”
Where to get it
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Mein Kampf
On Behind the Bastards, host Robert Evans and guest Garrison discussed Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" across several episodes. During a series on Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge, they highlighted how Talmadge's political opponents criticized him for boasting that he had read the book seven times. Evans remarked on the dense, unreadable nature of the text, stating that it was not a book anyone would realistically want to read repeatedly. The hosts also discussed historical context surrounding the book's creation, noting Rudolf Hess's role as Hitler's co-writer or ghostwriter, while making humorously irreverent references to the book's reputation in pop culture.
Discussed“Like obviously, Stalin's a foreign leader, but I've been reading about Stalin my whole life. Hitler's a foreign leader—I've read more books about Hitler than anybody who's not a Hitler scholar—but like Jair Bolsonaro?”
Where to get it
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Raw Dog
On Behind the Bastards, Jamie Loftus and host Robert Evans discussed and promoted her book 'Raw Dog,' which explores the subject of hot dogs. Evans plugged the book for pre-order across multiple episodes, noting its connection to a previous hot dog episode, while Loftus herself encouraged listeners to purchase her bestselling work.
Discussed“Uh, you can—what else can you do? You can buy my book, Raw Dog, which is about hot dogs!”
Where to get it
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Study Guide
On Behind the Bastards, host Robert Evans and co-hosts referenced several books and texts across various episodes. In "Part Two: Thomas Jefferson: King of Hypocrites," Evans cited the book "Master of the Mountain" to detail how an enslaved person protected property at Monticello during a British raid. In "Part Three: Beria: Stalin's Pedophile Cop & the Soviet Oppenheimer," Evans quoted Amy Knight's book to illustrate brutal NKVD arrest tactics and Gulag labor in construction projects. Additionally, during "Part Four: How Lawrence of Arabia Invented Modern War," the hosts recommended Evans's book "After The Revolution," while an earlier episode touched upon the fictional "The Amazing Amy" series from "Gone Girl."
Discussed“And Ber was curious; they should go read Robert's book After The Revolution because that is what that is talking about—a book full of morally compromised people who regret their actions in war!”
Where to get it
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Cultish
On Behind the Bastards, the book comes up across multiple episodes. In April 2025, the host mentions Amanda Montell's work and later introduces Montell as the guest on the show, noting that 'Cultish' has been cited on the program. Earlier, in a January 2025 Q&A episode, the host and Sophie discuss having read 'Cultish', with the host expressing his appreciation for the book.
Discussed“I have another podcast called Magical Overthinkers and I got a bunch of books. Cultish, The Age of Magical Overthinking.”
Where to get it
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Notes on the state of Virginia
On Behind the Bastards, the host explored Thomas Jefferson's only published book, "Notes on the State of Virginia," across a multi-part series in June 2024. The host analyzed how the text highlighted Jefferson's deep hypocrisies—utilizing erudite summaries regarding the evils of tyranny while simultaneously arguing that Black people lacked the mental capability for freedom and engaging in the sale of enslaved individuals.
Discussed“So back during his years in France, when he had written Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson had written at length his belief that black people were not mentally capable of being free.”
Where to get it
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Sapling Cage
On the Behind the Bastards podcast, the host and guest Margaret Killjoy discussed her young adult novel 'The Sapling Cage' across multiple episodes in May and November 2024. Margaret described the book as her favorite piece of her own writing, while the host praised it as an excellent read and humorously referenced it as a superior work of fiction compared to other books featured on the show. The host also encouraged listeners to purchase a copy.
Discussed“Yeah, purchase Margaret's new book, you know, 'The Sapling Cage,' it's excellent. If you're listening to this several weeks ahead, you can go see Robert and I talk in Portland.”
Where to get it
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American Sphinx
Host Robert Evans analyzed Joseph J. Ellis's biography "American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson" during a multi-part series on Behind the Bastards. Evans quoted from the 1996 edition to examine the sharp contradictions between Jefferson's lofty rhetoric on liberty and his actual practices as a slaveholder. He highlighted Ellis's portrayal of Jefferson as a complex, elusive figure who developed rigid, fundamentalist views over time. Evans also discussed how Ellis coined the term "revolutionary realism" to compare Jefferson's political ideology to that of later revolutionary figures like Lenin and Mao.
Discussed“And that is contrary to how he is depicted even in Ellis's book American Sphinx. He has this long passage where he’s like there was no such thing as good slavery; like it was bad and it was hypocritical of Jefferson.”
Where to get it
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Berlin Games
On Behind the Bastards, the host mentioned Guy Walters's book 'Berlin Games' across two episodes in June 2024. In Part One, Robert quoted a passage describing the intense, almost religious devotion given to the Olympic ideal and its leaders. In Part Two, the host noted that the book provided insight into Avery Brundage's questionable character.
Discussed“Uh, yeah, now I learned he was a piece of [__] from the book Berlin Games by Guy Walters.”
Where to get it
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Blood Meridian
On Behind the Bastards, host Robert Evans mentioned Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian across multiple episodes. In 'Part Two: P. Diddy: A Life in Crimes,' Evans humorously stated he planned to 'do a Blood Meridian' by using his own urine to make gunpowder. Later, in 'Part Two: AI Is Coming for Your Children,' the hosts discussed the book's immense challenges and unique nature as an abnormal novel, comparing its complexity to Finnegan's Wake and noting how it establishes a dialogue between writer and reader.
Discussed“I'm going to go do a Blood Meridian after this. Use my own urine to make gunpowder.”
Where to get it
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Escape from Incel Island
On Behind the Bastards in December 2022, guest Margaret Killjoy discussed her upcoming book Escape from Incel Island across two episodes. Killjoy announced the release details and described the premise of the book, which centers on men who feel owed a woman by the government being tricked into moving to an isolated island.
Discussed“I have a book coming out yeah called escape from in cell Island which asks the very important question of what if all of the men who felt like they were owed a Woman by the government got tricked into moving to an island where they were stuck”
Where to get it
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Fifty Shades of Grey
Behind the Bastards hosts referenced E.L. James's bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey to illustrate broader cultural and technological phenomena. The host noted the book's origins as derivative Twilight fanfiction to draw parallels to developments in artificial intelligence, while Jordan Peterson previously cited the novel as an example of common female erotic fantasies during a discussion on psychological studies.
Discussed“It's like the, uh, what was it? 50 Shades of Grey, how it was originally a Twilight fanfic?”
Where to get it
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Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
On Behind the Bastards, the host discussed Eliezer Yudkowsky's Harry Potter fan fiction, 'Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.' The host explained that the work serves as a foundational text for the rationalist movement and noted that a subject read the fan fiction in college, which contributed to her self-perception as a hero figure.
Discussed“um she starts reading around this time when she's in college Harry Potter and the methods of rationality This helps to solidify her feelings of her own centrality as a hero figure”
Where to get it
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History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Complete and Unabridged
Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was referenced on Behind the Bastards in December 2024 and March 2025. The host mentioned the classic scholarly work as a historical touchstone about why societies collapse, using it to contrast contemporary political commentary and humorously suggesting that volumes of Gibbon's work could be swapped out with modern memoirs as a prank.
Discussed“I mean [ __ ] man the the first and most his like one of the first influential works of his modern scholarship is the decline and fall of the Roman Empire It's a whole book about why a society fell apart”
Where to get it
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Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei
On Behind the Bastards, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Manifesto der Kommunistischen Partei came up when the host examined Kent Hovind's misinterpretation of the text, noting that Hovind correctly identified chapter two while baselessly claiming it supported a communist plot involving income taxes. In a separate episode, a host briefly promoted their own book, After the Revolution, during a commercial break.
Discussed“What they are actually referring to is chapter two of The Communist Manifesto, which Kent did get right.”
Where to get it
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On Stalin's team
On Behind the Bastards, Sheila Fitzpatrick's book On Stalin's Team was utilized as a primary source for episodes about Joseph Stalin's inner circle. The host mentioned using the book to understand the group surrounding Stalin and noted the author's preference for the term team, along with the Russian equivalent komanda.
Discussed“Uh, Sheila Fitzpatrick, author of 'On Stalin's Team,' which is a book about said team, prefers this word; she uses the term team, but notes, 'quote, alternatives are available.'”
Where to get it
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Steve Jobs
On Behind the Bastards, the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson came up across multiple episodes. Host Robert Evans mentioned in one episode that he had avoided reading the book because he disliked Isaacson's perspective. In another episode, the hosts referenced a specific quote from the book regarding Jobs's well-known aversion to using styluses.
Discussed“Isaacson writes, 'God gave us ten styluses,' he would say, waving his fingers. 'Let's not invent another.'”
Where to get it
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The Art of War
On Behind the Bastards, the hosts discussed Sun Tzu, the renowned ancient military strategist, during the episode titled Part Two: How Lawrence of Arabia Invented Modern War on November 14, 2024, implicitly referencing his iconic book, The Art of War. Additionally, in the episode titled Part One: The Religion War, by Scott Adams on September 19, 2023, the hosts discussed Scott Adams' book The Religion War, expressing critical opinions about it.
Discussed“Whether Lawrence was aware of this or not, others had presented a similar ideal some 2,200 years earlier, Sun Tzu. The most famous—yeah, exactly.”
Where to get it
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The Sexual Politics of Meat
On Behind the Bastards, the host referenced 'The Sexual Politics of Meat' by Carol J. Adams. The book came up during discussions regarding feminist veganism and the prolonged harassment Adams faced from media figures like Rush Limbaugh following her advocacy work.
Discussed“Actually, a lot of what I was thinking throughout this episode had to do with an interview on a recent episode with Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, who was harassed and doxxed for weeks and like an entire summer by Rush Limbaugh back in the day and then went on to be harassed and doxxed”
Where to get it
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The way of the iceman
On Behind the Bastards in September 2023, host Robert Evans examined Wim Hof's book 'The Way of the Iceman' during a two-part series on Hof's background. Evans critiqued the book's poor writing style and noted discrepancies between Hof's written narrative and his later public stories, particularly regarding the circumstances of his birth and the tragic suicide of his wife, Olea. Evans pointed out that the 2017 book omitted significant details about the timeline of Hof's rise to prominence.
Discussed“His book, The Way of the Iceman, gives us very little detail on the long gap between Olea's suicide and his rise to prominence.”
Where to get it
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Unsafe at any speed
On Behind the Bastards, Robert Evans and other hosts referenced Ralph Nader's book 'Unsafe at Any Speed' during episodes in April and May 2024. The discussions highlighted the book's pivotal role in compelling the automotive industry to introduce seat belts and improve safety features, while critiquing historical apathetic attitudes toward vehicle safety and corporate power.
Discussed“When Joe was 11, he lost his younger brother to an auto accident, which was not uncommon in those days because cars didn't crumple, and seat belts were but a fever dream in Ralph Nader's eye.”
Where to get it
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Web of deceit
On Behind the Bastards in June 2024, Robert Evans used Mark Curtis's 2003 book "Web of Deceit" as a historical source. The podcast cited the book to document secret British government files and U.K. actions regarding indigenous populations and territorial agreements concerning the Chagos Islands.
Discussed“Michael Stewart, the Baron Stewart of Fulham, a British labor party politician and foreign secretary, wrote in yet another secret document and I'm reading from Mark Curtis's Web of Deceit, here: "By any stretch of the English language, there was an indigenous population and the foreign office knew it."”
Where to get it
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Where Am I Now?
On Behind the Bastards, the host mentioned Mara Wilson's memoir, "Where Am I Now?", across multiple episodes in September 2024. Welcoming Wilson as a guest, the host acknowledged her extensive childhood acting career and her transition to writing. The host explicitly encouraged listeners to check out the book, noting its subtitle and praising Wilson's work as an author and audiobook narrator.
Discussed“Mara, your memoir, Where Am I Now?”
Where to get it
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1984
On the Behind the Bastards episode titled Part Two: Blue Dawn: A Right Wing Fantasy of Leftist Revolution, released on August 8, 2024, host Robert references 1984 by George Orwell. He brings up the famous novel while discussing a character described as a milquetoast liberal who is secretly sinister and is named Winston, drawing a direct comparison to the protagonist of Orwell's classic dystopian work.
Discussed“And that is, I think, our 1984 reference, is his, uh, this guy who was like the milquetoast liberal that's like secretly sinister is named Winston.”
Where to get it
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A drink with Shane MacGowan
On the December 14, 2023 episode of Behind the Bastards titled "Part Two: William Bailey: The Gwyneth Paltrow of Radiation," the podcast host briefly referenced the book "A Drink with Shane MacGowan" by Shane MacGowan. The title was casually brought up in dialogue to establish a cultural point of reference, demonstrating its familiarity even though it was not the main focus of the episode's historical investigation.
Discussed“You've never read the book 'A Drink with Shane MacGowan'? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.”
Where to get it
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A Gentle Introduction to Unqualified Reservations
On Behind the Bastards, the host discussed A Gentle Introduction to Unqualified Reservations by Mencius Moldbug during the episode Part One: Curtis Yarvin: The Philosopher Behind J.D. Vance on September 17, 2024. The podcast host described Curtis Yarvin's blog and series of essays, titled Unqualified Reservations, explaining how he began disseminating his thoughts on politics to garner support for reorganizing society away from democracy and toward enlightened rule.
Discussed“He begins disseminating his new thoughts on politics through his blog, in a series of essays called 'Unqualified Reservations,' aimed at garnering support for reorganizing society away from democracy and towards his vision of enlightened rule.”
Where to get it
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A Quiet Flame
On the April 13, 2023, episode of Behind the Bastards titled Part Two: Josef Mengele & The Nazi Doctors, host Robert Evans talked about Philip Kerr's novel A Quiet Flame. Evans mentioned that he occasionally reads the Bernie Gunther detective series, which focuses on a detective working first in the Weimar State and later in the Nazi State.
Discussed“There's a series of detective books that I read from time to time, the Bernie Gunther books, which are about a detective who is not a Nazi but is first in the Weimar State and then in the Nazi State.”
Where to get it
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A State-by-State History of Race and Racism in the United States [2 volumes]
During the October 17, 2024 episode of Behind the Bastards titled 'Part Four: America's First Fascist Governor', the hosts discussed Patricia Reid-Merritt's two-volume work 'A State-by-State History of Race and Racism in the United States'. The hosts read a direct quote from the text regarding Eugene Talmadge on his deathbed to illustrate the extreme racist beliefs he held, demonstrating the historical documentation of such ideologies.
Discussed“I'm going to quote from the book Race and Racism in the United States: 'On his deathbed, he told his Baptist preacher that the black race was created inferior by God.'”
Where to get it
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A thousand days
During the October 24, 2024 episode of Behind the Bastards titled Part Two: The History of American Masculinity Grifters, the host highlighted the career of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. The discussion focused on his political writing and his authorship of A Thousand Days, which the host described as the definitive first biography of John F. Kennedy's time in the White House.
Discussed“Over a long career as a political writer, he laid down the definitive first biography of JFK's White House, he convinced RFK to run for president, he then wrote a definitive book about RFK after he was assassinated, he invented the term the imperial presidency!”
Where to get it
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Against the Grain
Discussed“But one thing is really stuck with me in reading, for instance, Jamesy Scott, which talks about this and against the green, it's just whole fragile and not inevitable.”
Where to get it
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Alfred Hugenberg
On an episode of Behind the Bastards titled Part One: Alfred Hugenberg: The Elon Musk of Weimar Germany, released on April 8, 2025, the host discussed the historical figure. During the segment, the host read a direct quote from biographer John A. Leopold's book on Hugenberg, detailing how the young doctoral candidate analyzed the role of the state in fostering economic growth.
Discussed“Uh in his book on Hugenberg John Leopold writes quote the young doctoral candidate analyzed in detail the role of the state in fostering economic growth.”
Where to get it
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All About Love
On the Behind the Bastards episode Part Two: Tech Bros Have Built A Cult Around AI, released on February 1, 2024, the host discussed All About Love by bell hooks. The host highlighted the book's exploration of lovelessness and the constant search for connection, linking these themes to the broader psychological conversation taking place on the podcast.
Discussed“But I just finished All About Love by bell hooks, and you know, she often talks about the wandering life with lovelessness and that searching for it and not having it, and I feel like that goes hand in hand with what you’re saying, right?”
Where to get it
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Atlas Shrugged
Discussed“I mean, look, we're we're living through the same version of that, but just the the book is [ __ ] Atlas Shrugged.”
Where to get it
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Autobiography of a Yogi
On the Behind the Bastards episode titled Part Two: The First American Yoga Cult Leader, released on April 27, 2023, the podcast hosts discussed the background of Bikram Chowdhury's yoga teacher, Vishnu Ghosh. During the conversation, they mentioned that Ghosh's younger brother, Paramahansa Yogananda, wrote the 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi.
Discussed“And, uh, Vishnu Ghosh is the younger brother of a famous guru and author named, uh, Paramahansa Yogananda, who wrote a book called Autobiography of a Yogi that was published in 1946.”
Where to get it
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Bad Boy
On Behind the Bastards in the episode Part One: P. Diddy: A Life in Crimes on December 17, 2024, the host discussed Bad Boy by Ronin Ro. The host noted that the book covers Sean P. Diddy Combs's influence on the hip hop industry and paints a picture of a young man who was, above all else, an opportunist.
Discussed“Ronin's book 'Bad Boy,' which covers Diddy’s influence on the hip hop industry, paints a picture of a young man who was beyond everything else an opportunist!”
Where to get it
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Barbara Walters
During the July 25, 2024, episode of Behind the Bastards titled 'Part Two: The RFK Jr. Episodes', the host discussed Jerry Oppenheimer's biography of Barbara Walters. However, the host used the reference to critique Oppenheimer's description of a bizarre African safari trip taken by RFK Jr. and Lim Billings. The book was cited to highlight how strange the documented adventure was, noting the presence of professional 35mm cameras capturing the journey.
Discussed“Yeah, get you another turtle, I spent my time expressing issues with Oppenheimer's biography, but I do think his description of this trip, this second death safari, can ask how damned weird it was with professional 35mm cameras, Bobby and Billings documented their African adventure, which also included a rafting trip to Egypt's Valley of the Kings and oddly a”
Where to get it
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Beria
During an April 9, 2024 episode of Behind the Bastards, the host discussed Amy Knight's book about Lavrentiy Beria. The host read an excerpt from the biography describing Beria's adolescence as a mediocre student who was considered cunning and devious.
Discussed“So here's how Knight describes Lavrentiy as an adolescent in the book Beria: Stalin’s First Lieutenant, ‘Beria was a mediocre student, not excelling in any subject but considered cunning and devious.’”
Where to get it
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Blink
On an episode of Behind the Bastards titled "Part Three: Beria: Stalin's Pedophile Cop & the Soviet Oppenheimer," released on April 16, 2024, Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink was brought up in conversation. The podcast host referenced Gladwell in connection with the famous ten-thousand-hours rule, humorously reframing the concept in the bizarre context of mastering the art of torture.
Discussed“He needs on-the-job training, you need 10,000 hours of torturing to get really good at it, that's what that Malcolm Gladwell book is about, if I'm remembering it properly.”
Speaker Part Three: Beria: Stalin's Pedophile Cop & the Soviet Oppenheimer 2024-04-16 Listen at 6:50Where to get it
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Bloodlands
On Behind the Bastards on April 11, 2024, the host referenced Timothy Snyder's book "Bloodlands." The historian's work was cited to discuss ethnic purges within the NKVD during the Great Terror, specifically highlighting which national minorities were overrepresented at the time.
Discussed“Writing about this in the book 'Bloodlands,' historian Timothy Snyder claims the only national minority that was highly overrepresented at the end of the NKVD during the Great Terror were the Georgians—Stalin's own.”
Where to get it
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Bound for Glory
On Behind the Bastards, the host discussed the career of Woody Guthrie and his autobiographical novel, Bound for Glory. The host explained that Guthrie had composed the book with the intention of a major Hollywood film adaptation, but the deal ultimately fell through as Hollywood studios and unions adopted anti-communist stances during that paranoid political era.
Discussed“He had composed an autobiographical novel at this point entitled 'Bound for Glory,' which had been set for adaptation into a major Hollywood production, but that deal fell through, as did many others, as unions adopted anti-communist stances during this paranoid era.”
Where to get it
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Brave New World
On Behind the Bastards, the host referenced Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. A Sequoia article writer compared his reaction to Sam Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency world to the perspective of a beta citizen in Huxley's dystopian society.
Discussed“it occurs to me that my reaction is exactly what might be expected from a beta in the Brave New World crypto is creating”
Where to get it
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Brother Number One
Discussed“In his book on Pulpot, brother number one, Chandler writes, "Recollections about Salathsar's behavior at the meetings are contradictory."”
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Cambodia
Discussed“Um now Chsky preferred a different book. Um he compared Ponchard's work uh Ponchad's work unfavorably with another book called Cambodia starvation and revolution written by George Hildebrand and Gareth Porter”
Where to get it
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Camp des saints
On the September 19, 2024 episode of Behind the Bastards titled Part Two: Curtis Yarvin: The Philosopher Behind J.D. Vance, the host discussed Jean Raspail's novel Camp des saints. The host described it as a racist narrative about migrants from India invading Europe and destroying civilization, noting that the book is a favorite of Steve Bannon while exploring themes relevant to Curtis Yarvin's ideology.
Discussed“He also praises the novel, "The Camp of the Saints," a racist narrative about migrants from India invading Europe and destroying civilization, which happens to be a favorite of Steve Bannon.”
Where to get it
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Chemistry
On the May 31, 2024 episode of Behind the Bastards titled Part One: Kent Hovind: Fake Dinosaur Scholar and Accidental Child Killer, the hosts discussed Chemistry by Theodore L. Brown, H. Eugene Lemay, Bruce E. Bursten, Catherine Murphy, and Patrick Woodward. The hosts highlighted that Kent Hovind's dissertation included an illustration of the electromagnetic spectrum that had been literally cut out of an actual science textbook and taped badly inside his thesis.
Discussed“It has one illustration, which was a diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum, literally cut out of an actual science textbook and taped badly inside the thesis.”
Where to get it
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Civilized to Death
Discussed“I think it's curious because when I look at, for instance, this book, Civilized Death by Christopher Ryan, and he uses this concept of human domestication.”
Where to get it
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Cloud Atlas
On the Behind the Bastards episode Part Two: Tech Bros Have Built A Cult Around AI, released on February 8, 2024, the host referenced David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas. The host used the book as an analogy to describe how interconnected things can be.
Discussed“And there's going to be like a, uh, Cloud Atlas-esque, you know?”
Where to get it
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Deadly Choices
Discussed“As off, it writes, "All these tests and procedures were expensive, potentially dangerous, and according to the opinions of expert witnesses, of no value to the child."”
Where to get it
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Dear Benjamin Banneker
On the June 13, 2024 episode of Behind the Bastards titled Part Four: Thomas Jefferson: King of Hypocrites, the host discussed Andrea Davis Pinkney's book Dear Benjamin Banneker. The host detailed Benjamin Banneker's early mathematical prowess, noting that by the late 1700s he produced a widely used popular almanac that figures like Thomas Jefferson and many other Americans relied upon.
Discussed“Now, Banneker was an early mathematician, and he was in fact so able at mathematics that by the late 1700s he had a popular almanac that Jefferson and many other Americans used.”
Where to get it
Host picks
- Against the Grain
- Atlas Shrugged
- Brother Number One
- Cambodia
- Civilized to Death
- Deadly Choices
- Defeating Autism
- Fall
- Fall
- Foreign Body
- Hereditary Genius
- Inquiries Into Human Faculty
- Inquiries Into Human Faculty and Its Development
- Ishmael
- Kampuchea
- Kropotkin, Read, and the Intellectual History of British Anarchism
- Major Barbara
- Murder of a Gentle Land
- Paradise Lost
- Peter Kropotkin
Guest picks
Guests who recommended books
Latest mentions
“His first book was such a hit that he got to write a second in 1855, and the art of travel became a bestseller and in modified form, a textbook for the Royal Geographic Society”
“In the 1859 publication of The Origin of Species by his older cousin, Charles Darwin, electrified and inspired him.”
“In 1869, he published a book, Hereditary Genius, that took his initial list of successful men in their offspring and expanded it to collect data on many different kinds of successful people.”
“Galton first came up with the infamous term eugenics in the early 1880s, we don't know exactly when, but it's first published when he's working on a book called inquiries into human faculty and its development.”
“Galton first came up with the infamous term eugenics in the early 1880s, we don't know exactly when, but it's first published when he's working on a book called inquiries into human faculty and its development.”
“As Angela Syne writes in the book Superior, Galton coined the term in 1883 from the Greek prefix "you" for "well" or "good" to describe the idea of using social control to improve the health and intelligence of future generations.”
“Francis recalled performing Milton's paradise loss and Pope's translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey for his family and his autobiography, perhaps sensing that bragging about his tendency for spouting versus a child made him seem arrogant, Francis included this passage.”
“Francis recalled performing Milton's paradise loss and Pope's translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey for his family and his autobiography, perhaps sensing that bragging about his tendency for spouting versus a child made him seem arrogant, Francis included this passage.”
“Francis recalled performing Milton's paradise loss and Pope's translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey for his family and his autobiography, perhaps sensing that bragging about his tendency for spouting versus a child made him seem arrogant, Francis included this passage.”
“As documented by historian Matthew S. Adam in Anarchism in the First World War, Kropotkin wrote, "I consider that the duty of everyone who cherishes the idea of human progress is to crush the invasion of the Germans into Western Europe."”
“As documented by historian Matthew S. Adam in Anarchism in the First World War, Kropotkin wrote, "I consider that the duty of everyone who cherishes the idea of human progress is to crush the invasion of the Germans into Western Europe."”
“However, as noted by historian George Woodcock in Pizza Kropotkin from Prince Terrebel, quote, "anti-German sentiment was probably an influence on Kropotkin long before this point..."”
“But one thing is really stuck with me in reading, for instance, Jamesy Scott, which talks about this and against the green, it's just whole fragile and not inevitable.”
“I think it's curious because when I look at, for instance, this book, Civilized Death by Christopher Ryan, and he uses this concept of human domestication.”
“In his book, Wild Thoughts, Claude Levy-Strauss had made the point that many of humanity's greatest technological breakthroughs in agriculture, weaving, pottery, animal domestication, they were developed long before we conventionally think of as civilization.”
“The author Daniel Quinn in his book Ishmael had made a point that tribes can be defined not by Hunter and Catherine or ethnicity, but as a social organization that allows people to make a living together.”
“I think there's a I forget the name of the book. It said bought any of desire. Yeah, I haven't read that. I've been recommended that book before. Yeah, I've read that a couple years ago.”
“One colleague cited in the book Fall later quoted him as having admitted, Well, of course I'm conservative, but I'm not a member of the establishment, so I've got to become labor.”
“And there is a much more accurate look at his spying and and his involvement in intelligence agencies in the book foreign body the secret life of Robert Maxwell by Russell Davies. And Davies outlines the directions of the the dimensions of these shady dealings”
“And I'm going to I'm going to quote from John Preston's book, Fall here, describing what happens next.”