Podcast
Jordan Peterson's book list: the books mentioned on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
Key facts
- 601 books have been mentioned on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, as of November 2, 2026.
- 331 episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast mention at least one book, as of November 2, 2026.
- 177 people brought up a book on the show, as of November 2, 2026.
- The 3 books mentioned in the most episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, as of November 2, 2026: The Brothers Karamazov, 12 Rules for Life and Irreversible Damage.
- The latest episode of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast with a book mention aired on November 2, 2026.
Updated
Join intellectual phenomenon Dr. Jordan Peterson for enlightening discourse that will change the way you think. This podcast breaks down the dichotomy of life through interviews and lectures that explain how individuals and culture are shaped by values, music, religion, and beyond. It will give you a new perspective and a modern understanding of your creativity, competence, and personality.
Books from the latest episodes
Most mentioned on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
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The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov was discussed across several episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast between 2023 and 2026. Jordan Peterson, John Vervaeke, Andrew Klavan, and Vivek Ramaswamy brought up the novel to explore themes of deep fiction, moral responsibility, the triumph of goodness over rationality, and philosophical arguments such as 'The Grand Inquisitor' chapter.
Recommended“For me, Dostoevsky, the Russian novelist, sort of top of that list. His books, The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground, The Devils, are unbelievably compelling works of fiction and they're deep.”
Where to get it
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12 Rules for Life
Jordan B. Peterson's book 12 Rules for Life was referenced across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by guests, callers, and the host. Contributors such as Rikki Schlott and caller Alex shared personal stories about how the book helped them navigate difficult life challenges, manage family health struggles, and pursue intentional living.
Discussed“and 12 rules for life. You described how you and your family managed with Michaela's health struggles and that was very helpful for me and my wife”
Where to get it
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Irreversible Damage
Discussed“I had a period of illness and when I came back to start my podcast up again in earnest, I interviewed Abigail Shrier and she wrote Irreversible Damage.”
Where to get it
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Maps of Meaning
Jordan B. Peterson's academic book Maps of Meaning was frequently discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by Peterson himself and guests such as Robert Greene and Jonathan Pageau. Greene noted that the dense work was crucial for helping him write his book on war, while Peterson described the motivations and academic development behind his first book. Throughout various episodes, Peterson and his guests connected the text's themes on comparative storytelling, archetypes, and the religious substrate of culture to his subsequent writings.
Discussed“I did some at McGill when I was there in Montreal beforehand, but I did a lot of the work that culminated in this book, Maps of Meaning, very academic book. One that was probably really in some ways mostly written for me”
Where to get it
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Crime and Punishment
Jordan Peterson frequently recommended Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, describing it as an amazing book and the world's greatest thriller that fundamentally transformed his worldview. He also referenced the character Raskolnikov across multiple episodes to illustrate psychological patterns, the temptation to rationalize wrongful actions, the consequences of nihilism, and the reality that criminals often get caught because they overestimate their own intelligence.
Discussed“like the attitude that DSTVski's character Rolnikov adopts in his famous book crime and punishment”
Where to get it
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Notes from Underground
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and guest John Vervaeke frequently referenced Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground across multiple episodes. Peterson highlighted the book as a compelling, prophetic work of fiction that serves as an astute critique of materialist and socialist utopian dreams, while Vervaeke noted teaching it in a literature course on the meaning crisis.
Discussed“Well, DSki tried to work through that problem very early on in the mid to late 1800s. He was a very astute critic of the socialist utopian dreams of that time which are very much like the same dreams in modern time. And he wrote about this in a book called Notes from Underground”
Where to get it
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1984
George Orwell's novel 1984 was referenced across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Host Jordan Peterson brought it up frequently, mentioning it when discussing his early readings on totalitarianism, analyzing the conflicts inherent in unbridled hedonic desires, examining the book's preface on the nature of tyranny alongside guest Glenn Greenwald, and referencing its socio-political themes with Jonathan Pageau. Other guests also discussed the novel: Marc Andreessen mentioned the telescreen to talk about government surveillance, Jonathan Pageau related its depiction of centralized control and altered headlines to modern artificial intelligence, and Rod Dreher used it to contrast historical totalitarianism with contemporary forms.
Discussed“and then I read 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World.”
Where to get it
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The Wealth of Nations
On multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast between 2022 and 2023, host Jordan Peterson and guests including Kevin Roberts, Helen Joyce, Josh Hawley, Newt Gingrich, Gale Pooley, and Vishal Mangalwadi referenced Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. The speakers cited the classic work while discussing economic principles, market dynamics versus moral sentiments, and the historical context of capitalist theory.
Discussed“It was the monks of Salaka in the 1200s who first came up with this concept and even Adam Smith himself, I think, would be very comfortable in this exchange that you and I are having about the lack of primacy of the free market as it relates to human goods.”
Where to get it
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The Gulag Archipelago
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago was referenced frequently across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by host Jordan Peterson and guests like Paul Kengor. Peterson cited the book to illustrate how totalitarian brutality and the tyrannical actions of Lenin and Stalin were direct outcomes of axioms embedded in the communist worldview. He also utilized specific accounts from the text, such as imprisoned intellectuals holding weekly seminars despite facing death, to discuss human resilience, personal responsibility, and the nature of totalitarian systems.
Discussed“This was while I was reading Soljenitson's book on the Gulleg archipelago and various accounts of totalitarian brutality in Nazi Germany and and so forth and some psychoanalytic work and and that's where the story part emerges.”
Where to get it
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The Lord of the Rings
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan B. Peterson and his guests frequently referenced J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Peterson used elements from the narrative—such as the ring of power, the all-seeing eye of Sauron, and the ultimate return home of the hobbits—to illustrate philosophical points about power, responsibility, technological centralization, and the human journey.
Discussed“How do you return home like the Hobbit does at the end of the well the Hobbit and at the end of the Lord of the Rings, right?”
Where to get it
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The Population Bomb
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson, along with guests like Stephen J. Shaw, Konstantin Kisin, Alex Epstein, and Marian Tupy, frequently referenced Paul R. Ehrlich's 1968 book The Population Bomb. The speakers used the book as a prime example of historical Malthusian doomsaying and apocalyptic predictions from the 1960s regarding mass starvation and population catastrophes. They also discussed Ehrlich's founding of organizations aimed at zero population growth and his famous bet with economist Julian Simon over commodity prices.
Discussed“So Paul Erick who wrote the population bomb and his du kicking around made a very famous bet with an economist Julian Simon”
Where to get it
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The Neuropsychology of Anxiety
Jordan Peterson frequently referenced The Neuropsychology of Anxiety by Jeffrey Alan Gray and Neil McNaughton across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Peterson consistently praised it as one of the greatest and most rigorous scientific works in neuroscience and behaviorism over the last fifty years.
Discussed“I read Daniel Dennett's book and also Jeffrey Gray's book; Gray is a real genius.”
Where to get it
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The Great Mother
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and guest Mikhail Avdeev repeatedly recommended and discussed Erich Neumann's The Great Mother. Peterson praised it as a classic study of feminine symbolism, chaos, and Jungian psychological structures.
Recommended“and also another book called the great mother which is study of the symbolism of the feminine it's a great book”
Where to get it
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Animal Farm
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson, Andrew Doyle, and Pierre Poilievre discussed George Orwell's Animal Farm, noting the initial difficulties in getting it published due to its themes of left-wing authoritarianism and how the book inspired individuals like Yeonmi Park to speak out against totalitarian systems.
Discussed“it's precisely the reason why when he wrote Animal Farm he couldn't get it published for so long because people were horrified by the possibility that left-wing people could be authoritarian”
Where to get it
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The Origins and History of Consciousness
Jordan Peterson frequently recommended Erich Neumann's The Origins and History of Consciousness on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Peterson described the book as a work of genius and a remarkable summary of Carl Jung's psychological framework. He praised it as a profound exploration of mythology, the hero myth, and symbolism, lamenting that it remained insufficiently known among academics.
Recommended“she studied the work of a man named Eric noyman noyman wrote a book called the history Origins and history of Consciousness which is a work of genius”
Where to get it
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and various guests repeatedly referenced Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling. Conversations touched on the books as modern archetypes embodying Christ-like figures, their deep symbolism, the cultural and economic impact of their creation, and how children and readers connect with their themes of self-sacrifice.
Discussed“He's reading his son who's only four he's reading his son Harry Potter and that's pretty rough for a four year old but this little guy he's pretty verbally proficient”
Where to get it
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The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene came up in several episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein, Gad Saad, and Matt Ridley discussed or critiqued the book's evolutionary concepts, the metaphysical implications of its text, and Chapter 11's introduction of memes.
Discussed“so I was thinking about this in relationship to Dawkins theory of The Selfish Gene”
Where to get it
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The Discovery Of The Unconscious
Henri F. Ellenberger's book The Discovery Of The Unconscious was discussed by Jordan Peterson across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast between 2021 and 2025. Peterson recommended the text as a brilliant canonical work and a master document, citing its 350-year history of clinical endeavors to support discussions on psychogenic epidemics and psychological contagions.
Recommended“There's a great book called um the history of the unconscious by Henri Alberge and he traces the history of psychoanalytic thought way back before memer and documents the hysteria so to speak which was the Freudian version of social contagion literally back it's 300 years so it's very well documented it's a great book by the way very useful”
Where to get it
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In Order to Live
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson frequently recommended and discussed Yeonmi Park and Maryanne Vollers's memoir In Order to Live between May and September 2021. Peterson brought up the book while interviewing guests like Bari Weiss and discussing his conversation with Park. He described the book as harrowing and amazing, using it to highlight Park's escape from North Korea and her subsequent critique of Columbia University's humanities program.
Discussed“she wrote this book called in order to live which is a harrowing book although i don't think it's as harrying to read as it is harrowing to talk to her”
Where to get it
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Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" was discussed across several episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Peter Thiel referenced the book to analyze its perspective on secondhanders and imitation. Jordan Peterson and Kevin Roberts both discussed their experiences rereading the novel approximately every fifteen years, debating the core doctrines of self-interest and how the book shaped their evolving perspectives on the free market.
Discussed“where in um you know Atlas shrugged the the bad people are all the people who imitate they're the secondhanders”
Where to get it
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Fossil Future
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan B. Peterson frequently discussed Alex Epstein's book, Fossil Future. Across multiple episodes, including in January and February 2023 as well as January 2025, Peterson referenced the book to introduce Epstein, explore themes of environmental narratives and anti-humanist elements in radical environmentalism, and discuss the author's upcoming writing projects. Peterson noted that he had read the book, citing its use of radical environmentalist sources.
Discussed“so I had the Good Fortune to speak again today with Alex Epstein who I spoke with two years ago almost to the day um Alex is the author of two influential books one the first one the moral case for fossil fuels and the second one fossil future”
Where to get it
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White Fragility
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, guests and host Jordan Peterson discussed Robin DiAngelo's book White Fragility. Lee Jussim and David M. Haskell referenced it regarding anti-racism training and bestseller lists, while Jordan Peterson and Andrew Doyle strongly critiqued the text as flawed and incoherent.
Discussed“and there are for for race we used um passages from kend's How To Be An anti-racist and from D'Angelo's white fr these books were widely required throughout colleges”
Where to get it
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Infidel
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson repeatedly referenced the memoir Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali across several episodes. Peterson discussed the book to praise the author's resilience, highlight her early experiences moving from Somalia to the Netherlands, and examine her later advocacy work concerning women's freedom and cultural tensions.
Discussed“I read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book Infidel oh, it must be 15 years ago and I thought, oh my God, this woman, she's just unbelievable.”
Where to get it
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Paradise Lost
John Milton's Paradise Lost came up on several episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Rex Murphy recalled in June 2021 how hearing an excerpt read aloud in his first year of university inspired him to read the entire epic, and he later criticized modern literary critics for hunting for offenses rather than appreciating the work's artistry. Jordan Peterson frequently referenced the text in conversations with guests like Bishop Barron and Jim Caviezel to explore imaginative representations of evil and differing interpretations of Satan.
Discussed“In Milton's 'Paradise Lost', there have been two readings forever, and one is that Milton's Satan is an anti-hero of the most profound sort— really, the embodiment of evil.”
Where to get it
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The Ecological Approach To Visual Perception
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson repeatedly discussed James J. Gibson's The Ecological Approach To Visual Perception across multiple episodes, highlighting it as an influential and sophisticated text that contained brilliant concepts regarding affordances, tools, obstacles, and how humans perceive the functional meanings of objects.
Recommended“Gibson wrote a great book called 'The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception,' and I believe there are brilliant concepts within it.”
Where to get it
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Brave New World
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson and guests Helen Joyce and Rod Dreher referenced Aldous Huxley's Brave New World across several episodes. Peterson mentioned reading the novel around age 13 and later cited it alongside 1984 to discuss changing standards of sexual consent, modern socio-political agendas, and the unholy blend of dystopian themes. Rod Dreher also referenced the book in July 2022 to examine a softer, comfort-driven form of modern totalitarianism, reading aloud from chapter 17 to illustrate human unhappiness.
Discussed“and then I read 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World.”
Where to get it
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Immortality Key
The Immortality Key by Brian C. Muraresku was discussed by Jordan Peterson across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast between 2021 and 2022. Peterson brought up the book to explore ethno-pharmacology, comparing ancient Greek psychedelic wine traditions and Eleusinian mysteries to Amazonian Ayahuasca, and discussing the historical role of hallucinogenic substances in Western civilization.
Discussed“I was talking to Brian Murray rescue I think it's probably yeah more than a year ago he wrote the immortality key and you know he he was although a lawyer he was the book is about ethno pharmacology in many regards”
Where to get it
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Inferno
Across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast from 2021 to 2026, Jordan Peterson frequently referenced Dante Alighieri's Inferno. Peterson used the text to illustrate concepts related to the historical formulation of hell, human misery, the psychological descent into bad choices, and the depth of unresolved interpersonal conflicts.
Discussed“Dante, who wrote Dante's Inferno, is one of the figures of the classic age, the Renaissance, let's say, classic European age, who who really formulated much of the modern vision of hell.”
Where to get it
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Pinocchio
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson discussed Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio across several episodes. On September 27, 2026, and May 19, 2022, he spoke about his fondness for the story and its underlying narrative. On June 2, 2025, he referenced Pinocchio's time on Pleasure Island to illustrate how slavery to hedonic whims leads to a lack of freedom.
Discussed“I like the movie Pinocchio a lot. I've talked about it a lot.”
Where to get it
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The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray came up across several episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson, along with guests like Daniel M. Higgins and Glenn Loury, reflected on the book's 1994 publication, the intense academic controversies it ignited at Harvard, and its findings regarding cognitive distribution and societal inequality.
Discussed“I mean I I started to see all this happen back in 1992 because I was at Harvard when the uh bell curve was published and I watched that blow up the department at Harvard”
Where to get it
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The Coddling of the American Mind
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, the book The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt was discussed in multiple episodes. Guests and hosts including David French, Jonathan Haidt, Jordan Peterson, and Greg Lukianoff referenced the book to explore topics such as childhood development, over-invested parenting, historical research on aggression, and the origins of their cultural commentary.
Discussed“And you know, not to refer too much to Jonathan, but there's in in his book, The Coddling of the American Mind with my dear friend Greg Lucanoff was really important in and one of the ways that I that really helped open my eyes and helped me put a finger on what was happening was offering this contrast like”
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The Idiot
Jordan Peterson repeatedly discussed Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. He used the book to explore character archetypes, embodied virtue, and how Dostoevsky's most ethical characters, acting as Christ analogs, transcend pure rationalism.
Discussed“he does the same thing in his book The Idiot which is about a prince who's an analog of Christ who is a holy fool and and who people have some pity for but he's a he's a very good person”
Where to get it
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The Skeptical Environmentalist
Bjørn Lomborg's book The Skeptical Environmentalist was discussed by Jordan Peterson on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast across multiple episodes. Peterson highlighted Lomborg's rank-ordered approach to environmental solutions based on cost-benefit analysis and noted the book's role in establishing Lomborg's reputation and the backlash he faced for challenging conventional climate priorities.
Discussed“One of the reasons I like Bjorn Lomborg's work on the environmental front, for example, is he's rank-ordered solutions according to cost-benefit.”
Where to get it
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War on the West
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and guest Jacob Howland brought up Douglas Murray's book The War on the West across several episodes to examine traditional values, approaches to art and history, and the ideological roots of modern political conflicts.
Discussed“Douglas Murray's book, The War on the West, he's got this wonderful passage where he says, "You can stand in front of a painting and you can look at it and you can say, hm, um this peculiar blue pigment, was that sourced from um some country that was in poverty?”
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The Denial of Death
Ernest Becker's book The Denial of Death came up across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson referenced it while discussing psychological arguments regarding death anxiety. Dr. Clay Routledge brought it up during a discussion on the foundations of Terror Management Theory, noting that while he found parts of it fundamentally wrong, it remained a great and intellectually stimulating work. Additionally, Michael Shellenberger mentioned related works during his appearance.
Recommended“and people like Ernest Becker made much of that in his denial of death which is actually really a great book”
Where to get it
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A Billion Wicked Thoughts
Jordan Peterson repeatedly referenced A Billion Wicked Thoughts by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. He recommended it in December 2024 while discussing sex differences in pornography use with guest Laila Mickelwait, and referenced it in September 2024 with Jamie Wheal to illustrate patterns in female romantic and pornographic fantasies involving figures like pirates and billionaires. Peterson also brought it up in June 2022 with Warren Farrell, praising the insights gathered by Google engineers regarding male and female pornography consumption patterns.
Recommended“there's a great book by the Google Engineers called a billion Wicked thoughts do you know that book”
Where to get it
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How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place
Bjørn Lomborg's book How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place was discussed across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson mentioned the text as part of Lomborg's bibliography, praised its straightforward and accessible nature, and highlighted its intelligent approach to global priorities. James Lindsay also discussed the book, framing it as a thoughtful strategy for resource allocation.
Recommended“Bjorn wrote a book a while back called 'How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place,' which is an intelligent approach to... I wouldn't say the polycrisis because that isn't how he frames it!”
Where to get it
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Systemantics
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson recommended John Gall's cult classic book Systemantics in multiple episodes, including discussions with Michael Shellenberger and Dr. Simone Gold. Peterson highlighted the book's aphorisms on how complex bureaucratic systems operate, specifically noting the axiom that the name of a system does not necessarily reflect what the system actually does.
Recommended“and I was reading a book at that time by a man named John Gaul it's a great book it's a cult classic called systematics trying to make sense of this it's great title system Antics very smart and one of his maxims his axioms was the name of the system is not what the system does”
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The Sacred and the Profane
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and Russell Brand discussed Mircea Eliade's book The Sacred and the Profane. Peterson recommended the text to Brand and mentioned previously asking Richard Dawkins about it, while Brand later shared insights he gained from reading it.
Discussed“elsewhere in that you talked about something that I picked up while reading that book you gave me told me to read profane in the sa”
Where to get it
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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson repeatedly referenced David S. Landes's book The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. In July 2022, Peterson cited the Harvard professor's work to explain how trust in trade influences global economic disparities. He returned to the book in September 2022 to argue that trust is a foundational natural resource for successful nations.
Recommended“and so I read this great book once called uh the wealth of the wealth and poverty of Nations by a man named Richard Landis and he analyzed Japan in particular”
Where to get it
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Case Against the Sexual Revolution
Louise Perry's Case Against the Sexual Revolution was discussed across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson introduced the 2022 book and its themes of disillusionment with hedonistic urges, while guests Konstantin Kisin and Mary Harrington later referenced it to support arguments concerning modern dating preferences and the societal consequences of the sexual revolution.
Discussed“What if, as our good friend Luis Perry has written in her book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, this is simply a product of the fact that in the 60s we invent and roll out the pill.”
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Laptop from Hell
Miranda Devine's book 'Laptop from Hell' was discussed extensively on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Dr. Jordan Peterson frequently brought up the title to support his psychological analyses of Joe and Hunter Biden, expressing concern over Hunter's behavior on foreign trips and the complex network of shell companies detailed in the text. Across episodes like his 2023 interview and 2024 follow-ups, Peterson encouraged listeners to read the book and draw their own conclusions regarding the political and ethical controversies surrounding the Biden family.
Discussed“now I read the Biden laptop book Miranda Devine's book laptop from hell”
Where to get it
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Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning—sometimes referenced under alternative titles—was discussed across several episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. In January 2025, Tony Robbins strongly recommended the book for its profound personal influence. In November 2023, Tony Abbott reflected on reading it during his youth, and in October 2022, Mohammed Hijab brought up Frankl while discussing human suffering and purpose.
Recommended“I'm actually making the film and it was one of the books that influenced me the most because the ability to find meaning even in the most difficult time and Victor Frankle to me is just a God sent to this planet most people read this book it's crazy you haven't read it”
Where to get it
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The Boy Crisis
The Boy Crisis by Warren Farrell and John Gray was featured across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson discussed the book in episodes 187 and 193 to analyze divorce and children, and he later asked Warren Farrell for book recommendations on family communication in episode 261, prompting Farrell to recommend the title.
Recommended“Where if if people want to read what you've written that that say specifically focuses on familial communication patterns, what what's the best book for them do you think? The boy crisis is definitely the best and the portions of the book and I have to say that a lot of men in particular are saying to me that they”
Where to get it
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The master and his emissary
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson and guest Iain McGilchrist frequently discussed McGilchrist's influential book, "The Master and His Emissary." Across several episodes, Peterson highlighted the text as a deep analysis of hemispheric brain specialization and its philosophical implications for Western civilization. McGilchrist referenced the book to explain his research into how different brain hemispheres shape human attention, perception, and worldview, and how these neurological concepts evolved into his subsequent work.
Recommended“People say, 'This is a great book, The Master and His Emissary, but you need to write something about half the length that will be more accessible.' And so, I got a contract with Penguin Random House to do that.”
Where to get it
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The Parasitic Mind
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson repeatedly discussed Dr. Gad Saad's book The Parasitic Mind across multiple episodes. Peterson brought up the book to introduce Saad, examine its core theory regarding the woke mind virus and infectious ideas killing common sense, and explicitly recommended it to listeners as a worthwhile read during closing remarks.
Discussed“The last one was called the parasitic mind where he outlines his theory of the woke mind virus.”
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Beyond Order
Jordan Peterson's book 'Beyond Order' was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast across several episodes. Guests including Matthew McConaughey and Mikhail Avdeev, along with Peterson himself, mentioned the book while exploring topics such as the writing process, memory heuristics, and the significance of specific chapters in foreign translations.
Discussed“when you're working on say beyond order this new book how do you think of composing your stories or your messages so that they are not lost”
Where to get it
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Faust
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson referenced Goethe's Faust to illustrate the antinatalist perspective that life is fundamentally miserable, comparing it to the character Mephistopheles. Peter Kreeft also brought up the work to discuss absolute evil and a line uttered by Mephistopheles, while Peterson touched upon the text in another episode while discussing nihilistic philosophies with Matthew McConaughey.
Discussed“If you look at the conditions of life, especially when things are not going well for you, you could easily proclaim, like the antinatalists do, that life is so bloody miserable in its essence that it would be better if it didn't exist at all. That's Mephistopheles, by the way, in Goethe's Faust.”
Where to get it
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How to Be an Antiracist
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, the book How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi came up in multiple episodes. In a December 2024 episode with Lee Jussim, the guest noted passages from the book were widely required in college courses as DEI rhetoric. In earlier episodes from 2022, guests Douglas Murray and David Haskell each critiqued Kendi's concepts, with Haskell quoting directly from the text to challenge the ideology of anti-racism.
Discussed“and there are for for race we used um passages from kend's How To Be An anti-racist and from D'Angelo's white fr these books were widely required throughout colleges”
Where to get it
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On Liberty
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, On Liberty by John Stuart Mill was referenced by Andrew Doyle to illustrate the enduring struggle between liberty and authority, by Jordan Peterson in relation to utilitarianism and free speech mandates, and by Norman Doidge to emphasize defending minority rights during a crisis.
Discussed“actually this struggle between Liberty and Authority which which John Stuart Mill talks about in his book on Liberty”
Where to get it
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Study Guide
SuperSummary's Study Guide was not the primary subject of discussion on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, but host Jordan B. Peterson and his guests referenced various other literary works across multiple episodes. Discussions touched upon Tolstoy's Confessions to explore existential dread, and Eric Kaufmann's book regarding political leanings among young demographics.
Critiqued“and he now writes books called The Road to Freedom and pretends to be the savior of the West or the killer, the undertaker of neoliberalism or something like that.”
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The Beauty Myth
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and Naomi Wolf discussed her book The Beauty Myth, examining its arguments that societal notions of attraction are fabricated and exploring its narrative surrounding patriarchal oppression and changing roles for women.
Discussed“She wrote 'The Beauty Myth' and has been a pretty powerful voice on the left, promoting the narrative of patriarchal oppression. I mean, that's a narrative she buys.”
Where to get it
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The Confessions
On the Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Saint Augustine's book The Confessions was referenced across multiple episodes. In December 2023, Jordan Peterson and Niall Ferguson discussed apocalyptic texts, while Peter Kreeft spoke with Peterson in September 2022 about how deeply Augustine's Confessions touches students. Additionally, in September 2021, James Orr recounted to Peterson how a student attempted to study the concept of identity by reading Augustine's works, including The Confessions.
Discussed“The Book of Revelation, for example, are in part attempts to structure our apprehension of what you would call the eternal apocalypse and to also help us determine practically and politically how that might be at least staved off, although perhaps even managed more comprehensively.”
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The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code came up across multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jordan Peterson used the novel to illustrate why audiences enjoy stories filled with mysteries and hints of deeper knowledge, and later compared it to a work of non-fiction inquiry. Additionally, guest Zach Lahn cited the book as an example of advanced reading material chosen by school kids.
Discussed“they're sitting in different chairs reading and the books that I saw them reading were Atlas Shrugged the boys who challenged Hitler The Da Vinci Code and unbroken”
Where to get it
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The Dialogues of Plato
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, the host and guests referenced The Dialogues of Plato. Contributors such as Larry P. Arnn and Hamza Yusuf discussed Plato's use of dialogue in works like the Seventh Letter, Phaedrus, and Timaeus to capture the teachings of Socrates and explore philosophical principles like the triad.
Discussed“Uh in Plato it shows up in the very first sentence of Plato's Fedrris.”
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The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels
Alex Epstein's book The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels was referenced on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by host Jordan B. Peterson. Peterson brought up the work to introduce Epstein as a guest and to contextualize their ongoing conversations regarding energy policy, climate debates, and Epstein's subsequent writings.
Discussed“so I had the Good Fortune to speak again today with Alex Epstein who I spoke with two years ago almost to the day um Alex is the author of two influential books one the first one the moral case for fossil fuels and the second one fossil future”
Where to get it
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The Republic
Plato's "The Republic" was discussed on multiple episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. John Vervaeke spoke about reading the text in an introductory philosophy course where he first met Socrates, and later described the book as a transformative, inexhaustible fountain of intelligibility. Jordan Peterson also mentioned the work while discussing how universities teach the origins of democracy and political philosophy.
Discussed“I took an intro to philosophy course and we read the Republic and I met Socrates”
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The sacred mushroom and the cross
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in 2021, Jordan Peterson and guest Carl Ruck discussed John Marco Allegro's The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. Peterson and Ruck recalled reading the book in their youth, with Peterson referencing Allegro's linguistic arguments that early Christianity originated as a mushroom cult.
Discussed“i mean that's certainly what john allegro claimed right with the mushroom and the cross i read that when i was pretty young 15”
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The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Thomas S. Kuhn's book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was referenced across multiple episodes. Michael Saylor used it to discuss paradigm shifts, Jordan Peterson brought it up while exploring how science extends beyond explicit statements and how knowledge paradigms change, and Joe Hage cited it during a conversation about philosophy of science.
Discussed“So Thomas Cune in the structure of scientific revolution, he introduces this idea of the paradigm shift and what he notes is that when a new paradigm comes along, it's embraced by the youth.”
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Values
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson and guests including Jim Balsillie and Matthew Goodwin discussed Mark Carney's book, Values: Building a Better World for All. Peterson and his guests analyzed and critiqued Carney's economic policies, political ideas, and ideological alignment, with Peterson expressing a largely negative assessment of the book's arguments and literary quality following a deep analysis of its chapters.
Discussed“Now he's also written a book values building a better world for all which was published in 2021 and we're going to talk about that as well.”
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Bad Therapy
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson recommended Abigail Shrier's book Bad Therapy during his opening remarks and prompted the author to remind listeners that it was available for purchase. Later in the series, guest Katharine Birbalsingh referenced Shrier's book when discussing modern parenting approaches and children's freedom.
Recommended“Abigail Shrier in her excellent book Bad Therapy, also mentions this sort of thing, where they want children to have the freedom that they had when they were growing up.”
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Best Things First
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Terrence Keeley recommended and discussed Bjorn Lomborg's book Best Things First regarding practical global policy solutions, noting that the author points out twelve different policies in the text.
Recommended“Lor's most recent book best things first and you know let's just be very clear in this book Boran lomborg points out 12 different policies”
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History of Religious Ideas
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson recommended Mircea Eliade's three-volume work History of Religious Ideas across multiple episodes, including January 13, 2022, and October 21, 2024. Peterson praised the publication as a great study in religion and psychology, highlighting its insightful analysis of religious motifs and history.
Recommended“he also has a three book series called a history of religious ideas and I really like a history of religious ideas it's a great book”
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The Bitcoin Standard
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, the book The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous and James Fouhey came up in multiple episodes. Michael Saylor mentioned reading the book when he first started researching Bitcoin, and Jordan Peterson reminded listeners of the title at the conclusion of an interview with the author.
Recommended“and I started looking for the books and I read the Bitcoin standard and I I got quote unquote dragged down the rabbit hole”
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Unmasked
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and guest Douglas Murray discussed Andy Ngo's book Unmasked. Peterson praised the book in episode 239 as a gripping New York Times bestseller that helped him understand the structure of extremist groups, also referencing its account of Ngo's severe beating. Douglas Murray previously mentioned in episode 152 that he had blurbed the forthcoming book and celebrated its status as a number one bestseller on Amazon.
Discussed“his february 2021 book unmasked inside antifa's radical plan to destroy democracy was a new york times bestseller and quite a gripping”
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Woke Racism
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson discussed John McWhorter's book Woke Racism. Peterson recommended the book as a helpful read for understanding anti-racism and Bill 67, and he promoted its provocative premise and publication during an episode featuring the author.
Recommended“and because one book a year isn't enough he's coming out with a new one called woke racism how a new religion is betraying black america”
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A Confession
Jordan Peterson discussed and recommended A Confession by Leo Tolstoy across two episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. In Why Listening Beats Every Argument, he recommended the short book as a meditation on success, suffering, and existential recovery. Later, in Navigating Belief, Skepticism, and the Afterlife with guest Alex O'Connor, he referenced the roughly one-hundred-page book to illustrate how Tolstoy wrestled with reason and faith.
Recommended“Now, Toltoy wrote a book called Confessions um or Confession. I don't remember if it's singular or plural. And uh it's relatively short book. It's very much worth reading.”
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Dominion
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Niall Ferguson recommended Tom Holland's Dominion to argue that Christian ways of thinking outlived Christianity. Michael Shellenberger later referenced the same book when discussing the roots of the Enlightenment as a secularized version of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Discussed“the enlightenment is a is arguably a secularized version of the judeo-christian tradition that's the argument that Tom Holland makes and dominion and N made it others make it”
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Factfulness
Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Rönnlund's book Factfulness was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in separate episodes. In November 2022, Danielle Smith recommended the book to illustrate positive global trends concerning poverty reduction. Earlier, in May 2021, Marian Tupy referenced the book while discussing the value of informing the public with accurate data and facts rather than presenting a purely optimistic view of the world.
Recommended“I I read a a book by Hans Roslyn called factualness I don't know if you read it a couple of years ago it's a great book”
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Lord of Light
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, guest John Vervaeke mentioned Roger Zelazny's science fiction book Lord of Light in two separate episodes. In November 2021, he cited it as a work that showed him the possibility of wonder and self-transcendence within a scientific worldview. In September 2024, he recalled reading it in his youth, explaining how the novel introduced him to Buddhism, Hinduism, and the power of myth.
Discussed“and I read a book by Roger zasi called Lord of Light that introduced me to Buddhism and Hinduism and the power of myth”
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The Anxious Generation
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson and guest Katharine Birbalsingh discussed Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation. Peterson and Birbalsingh praised the work for its focus on the damaging mental health effects that technology and smartphones inflict on children and young people.
Discussed“He's the author of a number of books, The Coddling of the American Mind, The Righteous Mind, The Happiness Hypothesis, and most recently, The Anxious Generation, which is the focus of our discussion today.”
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The Blank Slate
Steven Pinker's book The Blank Slate was highlighted on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray. Jordan Peterson strongly recommended the work to listeners without reservation. Douglas Murray referenced the book to support an argument regarding the higher rates of violent deaths in pre-modern tribal societies compared to the 20th century.
Discussed“I mean uh that's one of the things that pink is right on in the blank slate is uh deaths in tribal societies pre-modernity way higher the the violent deaths way”
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The Devils
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson repeatedly referenced The Devils by Fyodor Dostoevsky across multiple episodes, including 'Message from JBP | What You First Determines Your Life' and 'Why Being Nice Is Destroying Your Family.' Peterson cited the novel as an unbelievably compelling and deep work of fiction that had a profound personal impact on him. Furthermore, he highlighted Dostoevsky's work, including The Devils, to illustrate the author's accurate literary predictions regarding the catastrophe of the communist revolution.
Discussed“He did that in a book called The Devils or The Possessed, and in many of his other books as well, not least in Notes from Underground.”
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The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, the book came up in two separate episodes. In June 2021, Jordan Peterson recommended The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, praising it as a brilliant journalistic anthropological investigation into early 1960s psychedelic culture. Later, in October 2023, Matt Taibbi briefly referenced the same title during a conversation about gonzo and narrative journalism.
Discussed“no no no U no no no uh like the Kool-Aid Acid Test yep yes exactly”
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The Open Society and Its Enemies
The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper was referenced on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by host Jordan B. Peterson and guest Winston Marshall. Peterson expressed his deep admiration for Popper while discussing the necessity of cognitive conservatism regarding internal schemas. Winston Marshall brought up the text to examine post-WWII distinctions between open and closed societies and highlighted the famous paradox of tolerance found within the book's footnotes.
Discussed“at the end of the second world war you have writers like KL poer writing about the open society and they create this dichotomy between the open society and the closed Society”
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The Order of Things
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson discussed Michel Foucault's book The Order of Things in episodes from May 2022 and May 2023. Peterson praised the book as a work of genius, particularly its first half, and recommended it to guest Richard Dawkins as valuable reading alongside literature on the neuropsychology of anxiety.
Discussed“Foucault was really really smart like his book The Order of Things is a real work of Genius especially the first half”
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The Rational Optimist
Marian Tupy and Jordan Peterson discussed The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Marian Tupy cited the book as an inspiration for his own work, while Jordan Peterson referenced it to describe the author's optimistic outlook and to highlight its arguments for a positive future.
Recommended“and then um at in 2010 i read a wonderful book which is still worth reading by one of your previous guests met ridley it's called rational optimist and matt ridley's book was filled with some very interesting statistics that i didn't know about”
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The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium
Martin Gurri's book The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by multiple guests. Bari Weiss recommended the text to explain the democratization of information and the decline of traditional media authority, while Russell Brand later mentioned reading it to analyze the inevitability and early foresight surrounding independent media and public revolt.
Discussed“I said ages ago after reading Martin gur's book The Revolt of the public that there was an inevitability The Independent Media and the way that it you know M gory saw this much earlier than any of us”
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We Who Wrestle with God
Jordan B. Peterson's book We Who Wrestle with God was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast by guest Dr. Mehmet Oz, who praised it as Peterson's most important work after reviewing an early draft, and by Richard Dawkins and Alex O'Connor, who analyzed its extensive references to Cain.
Recommended“Well, this is a good time to give you this book that I think as you know, and you were very kindly you shared a draft with me early on. Probably it was January, February, very early and I remember going through it and I'll tell you right now in a nonpatronizing way, uh, this may be your most important”
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Angela's Ashes
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson referenced Frank McCourt's memoir Angela's Ashes during two different episodes. He brought up the book to illustrate the concepts of honoring imperfect parents and understanding a child's relationship with a destructive father.
Discussed“and you could think of honor the same way is that you know I read this book by Frank McCourt called Angela's Ashes and in that book he talks about his father back in Ireland”
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City of God
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, the book City of God by Augustine of Hippo was discussed in multiple episodes. In December 2021, Christopher Kaczor cited Augustine's book when exploring the theme of two loves and what individuals choose to love without God. In September 2021, James Orr referenced the work while discussing student research on identity.
Discussed“that theme is one that augustine talks about in the city of god he talks about two loves and he talks about the love of god”
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Civilization and Its Discontents
Sigmund Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents came up on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. Jacob Howland and Robin Carhart-Harris referenced Freud's concepts regarding modern humanity as a prosthetic god and the psychological view of depression as repressed anger.
Discussed“I mean Freud has this phrase in civilization and it's discontent about how modern man is a prosthetic god right like we we equip ourselves with all these tools and things like this”
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Confession
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson brought up Leo Tolstoy's book Confessions to illustrate themes of despair and suicidal crisis experienced at the height of fame and fortune, referencing it across multiple episodes to draw parallels to guests' experiences.
Discussed“I remember reading the the autobiography of Leo Toltoy called Confessions.”
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Covid-19: The Great Reset
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, guest Leslyn Lewis and Jordan Peterson discussed Thierry Malleret and Klaus Schwab's book Covid-19: The Great Reset. Lewis brought up the text to discuss the transition of the economic mode of production, while Peterson critiqued the work as a terrible book filled with platitudes and clichés.
Critiqued“Did you read Klaus Schwab's 'Great Reset'? I did, and quite the aggregation of clichés.”
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Democracy in America
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Ernst Roets discussed Alexis de Tocqueville's book in the context of American exceptionalism and subsidiary structures. In another episode, Jeff Sandefer mentioned to Jordan Peterson that young students read the book as part of their summer reading.
Discussed“That's very tovillian. The the Alexis detoville when he wrote democracy in in America he said well this is what is going to make America great in in the 1830s is well and America's got that right with its 51 state or 50 state experiments.”
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Exodus
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson cited the biblical book of Exodus across episodes in October 2022 and October 2026. He used the narrative to discuss archetypal leadership, the temptation to use force, the taking of Egyptian treasure, and the biblical stance against slavery.
Discussed“Well, so one of the things you see, for example, in this Exodus story is that the temptation of Moses who's a leader. He's the archetypal leader. He's the person who archetypally leads his people from slavery.”
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson brought up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to illustrate the anti-establishment and critical ethos of the mid-1970s when he was a teenager. He mentioned the book again while discussing Gonzo journalism.
Discussed“So for example, I remember when I was 13 or 14, so that would have been se mid70s, um I was reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and some of the uh so-called new journalists.”
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Fifty Shades of Grey
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast episode '261. Avoiding School Shootings and the Boy Crisis | Dr. Warren Farrell' on June 13, 2022, Jordan Peterson mentioned E. L. James's novel Fifty Shades of Grey. Peterson noted that the book shared the same underlying behavioral pattern found in other romance dynamics discussed during the episode.
Discussed“you see the same sort of thing pop up for example in 50 Shades of Gray which is again an archetypal example of the feminine proclivity for a certain kind of structured pornography”
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Frankenstein
Jordan Peterson referenced Frankenstein on his podcast to illustrate how the pure pursuit of knowledge without moral orientation can be dangerous. Andrew Klavan also discussed the novel in relation to science, motherhood, and creation.
Discussed“you know like the story like Frankenstein stories for example are an indication of the fact that well the pursuit of knowledge pur say isn't necessarily a good”
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Hamlet
William Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet' was referenced on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in broader discussions concerning classic literature and academic trends. Dr. Jordan Peterson and guest Ayaan Hirsi Ali criticized the declining emphasis on classic texts in educational curricula in favor of contemporary works. In another episode, 'Hamlet' was cited in the context of literary criticism and the challenges posed by conflicting postmodernist interpretations.
Discussed“In general, the ditching of the classics where we said, 'Oh well, look at the list of books that students are to read—Maya Angelou, Shakespeare.'”
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Heart of Darkness
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, host Jordan Peterson and his guests referenced Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness while exploring themes in hero mythology and discussing the curriculum of a literature course that covered foundational novels.
Discussed“Like there there's also an in insistence in in hero mythology that you go to the Heart of Darkness”
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Johann Gutenberg and his Bible
On episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, including an interview with Masih Alinejad and an episode featuring Dr. Steven Koonin, host Jordan Peterson discussed the Gutenberg Bible printed on the press of Johann Gutenberg. Peterson highlighted the historical artifact to illustrate the transformative, widespread effects of printing technology and literacy.
Discussed“Here we have a Gutenberg Bible printed on the press of Johann Gutenberg.”
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Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity
Jordan Peterson discussed the book Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity by Chris Kaczor and Matthew Petrusek on two episodes of The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. In an episode with Jonathan Pageau, he mentioned receiving an early draft of the book written by theology professors responding to his work. Later, in an episode dedicated to the authors, he introduced the newly published book as a text exploring a meaningful life.
Discussed“they're both working at loyola marymount university and they recently co-authored a book called jordan peterson god in christianity the search for a meaningful life which is definitely a title that i would never have imagined existing”
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Mein Kampf
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf was referenced in different episodes. In October 2022, guest Alex Story mentioned the book to illustrate how Hitler transparently utilized power to impose his views. Later, in March 2024, guest Destiny also brought up the book while debating the predictability of ideological intentions.
Discussed“he talks about this a lot in mind comp but maybe it's just a coincidence uh I don't think you can compare like Hitler to people that are worried about climate change”
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Moby Dick
Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast across two episodes featuring Dr. John Vervaeke. In episode #482, Vervaeke mentioned teaching 'Moby Dick' as part of a course on significant literary works. In episode #414, Dr. Jordan Peterson discussed Melville's narrative in relation to compelling moments of humanity and drew thematic parallels to the Bible.
Discussed“You know, I did a course on Moby Dick, Heart of Darkness, Notes from Underground, Death in Venice, and The Plague—all one course. Oh yeah, that's fun.”
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Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast across two episodes. Gad Saad referenced the classic work to introduce the concept of the golden mean as a universal law. Hamza Yusuf noted that Abrahamic traditions have greatly benefited from the text, observing that their ethical treatises reflect many of the truths articulated by Aristotle.
Discussed“So, I I argue that the most fundamental universal law that is most ubiquitous is something that Aristotle had already talked about in his uh Nicomachean Ethics book, uh the golden mean, right?”
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Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land came up on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, where Jordan Peterson referenced the character Valentine Smith and the concept of grok. Peterson used the book to discuss themes of myth entering engineering spheres and to illustrate the literary trope of a sky savior.
Discussed“heand does the same thing with Stranger in a Strange Land right because and it's so interesting because musk named his AI grock after Valentine Smith”
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Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know
Ronald Bailey and Marian L. Tupy's book Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know was discussed on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in May 2021 and September 2022. Jordan Peterson introduced Tupy by highlighting the book as an interesting and informative read. Tupy then explained the motivation behind the publication, stating that it was designed to present factual information to readers rather than to project an unrealistically optimistic view of the world.
Discussed“Marion has talked to me before particularly about his book 10 Global Trends every smart person should know and many others you will find interesting that was published in 2020”
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The Book of revelation
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Jordan Peterson referenced the Book of Revelation to examine attempts to structure the apprehension of the eternal apocalypse and to discuss relevant end-of-the-world imagery. In another episode, Jonathan Pageau also cited the Book of Revelation to draw parallels between biblical technology imagery and modern artificial intelligence developments.
Discussed“The Book of Revelation for example are in part attempts to structure our apprehension of the what would you say the Eternal apocalypse”
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The Communist Manifesto
On The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, Alex Story discussed Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto, arguing that its most important and central point is the destruction of the family unit to achieve a communist society. In a separate episode, Jordan Peterson mentioned offering a critique of the text, describing it to his audience as a call to bloody, violent revolution.
Discussed“if you read Das Capitan sorry if you read The Communist Manifesto the most important point in the book is the destruction of the family it's the number one thing of the book Nothing Else Matters as much as that”
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The next 300 books mentioned on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, ranked
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- The doors of perception by Aldous Huxley
- The Federalist papers by Alexander Hamilton
- The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
- The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell
- A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
- Alienated America by Timothy P. Carney
- American Prometheus by Kai Bird
- An Instinct for Dragons by David E. Jones
- Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans De Waal
- As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto
- Awakening From the Meaning Crisis by Christopher Mastropietro
- Catching Fire by Richard Wrangham
- Chesterton's stories, essays and poems, by g.k. chesterton by G. K. Chesterton
- Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara
- Colonialism by Nigel Biggar
- coming apart the state of white america 1960-2010 by Charles Murray
- Consciousness by Christof Koch
- Consilience by E. O. Wilson
- Daring Young Men by Richard Reeves
- Darwin's Cathedral by David Wilson
- Democracy in Canada by Donald J. Savoie
- Demonic males by Dale Peterson
- Different by Frans de Waal
- Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
- Eyewitness by DK Publishing
- Fabianism and the empire by George Bernard Shaw
- Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
- From Plato to NATO by David Gress
- Good Natured by Frans B. M. de Waal
- Hydriotaphia Urn Burial by Thomas Browne
- Interdependence by Kriti Sharma
- Jordan B. Peterson's Best Selling 2-Book Set (12 Rules for Life: an Antidote to Chaos & Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life) by Jordan B. Peterson
- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- Let There Be by Anthony B Wilson
- Light of the Mind, Light of the World by Spencer Klavan
- Lost and Broken by Congressman Adam Smith
- Lost in TransNation by Miriam Grossman
- Mama's Last Hug by Frans de Waal
- Manliness by Harvey C. Mansfield
- Megafauna by Gabrielle Balkan
- More from Less by Andrew McAfee
- Napoleon and his Marshals by A. G. Macdonell
- Naturalist (Pul) by Eo Wilson
- Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves
- On Beauty and Being Just by Elaine Scarry
- Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning
- Orwell's Revenge by Peter Huber
- Own Your Past Change Your Future by Dr. John Delony
- Peacemaking among Primates by Frans B. M. de Waal
- Plato's Critique of Impure Reason by D. C. Schindler
- Political ponerology by Andrew M. Łobaczewski
- Prey by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Racial hygiene by Proctor, Robert
- Red Famine by Anne Applebaum
- Satan's silence by Debbie Nathan, Michael R. Snedeker
- Shamanism: archaic techniques of ecstasy, tr by Mircea Eliade
- Sledgehammer by David Friedman
- St. Thomas Aquinas by G. K. Chesterton
- Takedown by Laila Mickelwait
- The Assembly of Women by Aristophanes
- The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
- The Book that Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi
- The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz
- The Case for Trump by Victor Davis Hanson
- The Culture by Iain M. Banks
- The descent of man by Charles Darwin
- The Education of Ronald Reagan by Thomas W. Evans
- The Fiat Standard by Saifedean Ammous
- The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg
- The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
- The Goodness Paradox by Richard Wrangham
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
- The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars by Michael E. Mann
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
- The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- The mind has mountains by Paul R. McHugh
- The Mindful Body by Ellen J. Langer
- The Mystery of Capital by Hernando De Soto
- The Natural Order of Money by Roy Sebag
- The Nazi Doctors by Robert Jay Lifton
- The Omni-Americans by Albert Murray
- The Quest for Cosmic Justice by Thomas Sowell
- The rape of the mind by Joost Meerloo
- The Saad Truth about Happiness by Gad Saad
- The Trial of God by Elie Wiesel
- The user illusion by Tor Nørretranders
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- There Is No Alternative by Claire Berlinski
- This Book Changed Everything by Vishal Mangalwadi
- This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf
- Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
- White Guilt by Shelby Steele
- Why Men Earn More by Warren Farrell
- With God in Russia by Walter Ciszek
- You Can Do It! by Rob Schneider
- Your erroneous zones by Wayne W. Dyer
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
- 2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
- A Deadly Misunderstanding by Mark D. Siljander
- A Discourse on the Method by René Descartes
- A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century by Heather Heying
- A Promise to Ourselves by Alec Baldwin
- A theory of justice by John Rawls
- A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze
- A Tragic Legacy by Glenn Greenwald
- Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg
- Abuse of language, abuse of power by Josef Pieper
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- An Essay on Liberation by Herbert Marcuse
- An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
- And there was light by Jacques Lusseyran
- Apocalypse Never by Michael Shellenberger
- Ayahuasca Visions by Pablo Amaringo
- Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
- Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
- Behave by Robert M. Sapolsky
- Best Children's Stories by Jacob Grimm
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer
- Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas
- Born to Rebel by Frank J. Sulloway
- Brain Train by Richard Palmer, Chris Pope
- Breaking the spell by Daniel C. Dennett
- Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence by Robert J. Sternberg
- Cancer as a Metabolic Disease by Thomas Seyfried
- Capital by Karl Marx
- Capitalism and freedom by Milton Friedman
- Capitalism in America by Alan Greenspan
- Carl Panzram Papers by Carl Panzram
- Cato by Joseph Addison, Christine Dunn Henderson, Mark E. Yellin
- Choice by Robert P. Murphy
- Christ Alive in Me by David Vincent Meconi
- Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump by Donald Trump
- Coming apart by Charles A. Murray
- Communicating with Kids by Stephanie Davies-Arai
- Computational physics by Steven E. Koonin
- Conservatism by Yoram Hazony
- Cool it by Bjørn Lomborg
- Counterclockwise by Ellen J. Langer
- Critical Race Theory by Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic
- Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
- Cues by Vanessa Van Edwards
- Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose
- Cypherpunks, Freedom, and the Future of the Internet by Julian Assange
- Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri
- Dark Nature by Lyall Watson
- Das Kapital by Karl Marx
- De Anima by Aristotle
- De Trinitate by Augustine of Hippo
- Deceit and Self-Deception by Robert Trivers
- Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
- Deep Undercover by Jack Barsky, Cindy Coloma
- Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Dennett's philosophy by Ross, Don, Andrew Brook, David Thompson
- Dictionary of Newfoundland English by G. M. Story
- DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman
- Don Juan by Lord Byron
- Doom by Niall Ferguson
- Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
- Elements by Euclid
- Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki
- End of Race Politics by Coleman Hughes
- Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
- Euclid's Elements by Euclid, Dana Densmore
- Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal by Joel Salatin
- Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences by Gad Saad
- Expressly Human by Mark Changizi, Tim Barber
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay
- Exuberant Animal by Frank Forencich
- False Alarm by Bjørn Lomborg
- False Alarm by Bjorn Lomborg
- Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone by Hunter S. Thompson
- Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson
- Feminism against Progress by Mary Harrington
- Fortitude by Dan Crenshaw
- Frames Of Mind by Howard Gardner
- Free Speech And Why It Matters by Andrew Doyle
- Gender by Ivan Illich
- Generation me by Jean M. Twenge
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Latest mentions
“He's reading his son who's only four he's reading his son Harry Potter and that's pretty rough for a four year old but this little guy he's pretty verbally proficient”
“I did some at McGill when I was there in Montreal beforehand, but I did a lot of the work that culminated in this book, Maps of Meaning, very academic book. One that was probably really in some ways mostly written for me”
“Well, DSki tried to work through that problem very early on in the mid to late 1800s. He was a very astute critic of the socialist utopian dreams of that time which are very much like the same dreams in modern time. And he wrote about this in a book called Notes from Underground”
“I I want to say one last thing about because there was this image that came to me also while Jordan was talking. There's a there's a verse in Revelation Revelation 2 where Christ says to those who are victorious will be given to parti to receive the secret mana right the secret mana the bread from heaven”
“Well, so one of the things you see, for example, in this Exodus story is that the temptation of Moses who's a leader. He's the archetypal leader. He's the person who archetypally leads his people from slavery.”
“like the attitude that DSTVski's character Rolnikov adopts in his famous book crime and punishment”
“What if, as our good friend Luis Perry has written in her book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, this is simply a product of the fact that in the 60s we invent and roll out the pill.”
“I like the movie Pinocchio a lot. I've talked about it a lot.”
“This is from Toltoy's Leo Toltoy who was a great Russian author. He wrote Warren Peace and Anacredina. Um, many people believe that Warren Peace is the greatest novel ever written.”
“Now, Toltoy wrote a book called Confessions um or Confession. I don't remember if it's singular or plural. And uh it's relatively short book. It's very much worth reading.”
“And he wrote some very great books uh that were religiously oriented, specifically one had a fairly major impact on me called the kingdom of God is within us.”
“Dante, who wrote Dante's Inferno, is one of the figures of the classic age, the Renaissance, let's say, classic European age, who really formulated much of the modern vision of hell.”
“Dante, who wrote Dante's Inferno, is one of the figures of the classic age, the Renaissance, let's say, classic European age, who who really formulated much of the modern vision of hell.”
“I was reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins today.”
“He did that in a book called The Devils or The Possessed, and in many of his other books as well, not least in Notes from Underground.”
“You remember in the Lion King, most of you have seen that when Scar emerges to rule, the landscape parches and all the provision disappears.”
“I read first book by Alexander Soljenitz and I read when I was about 13. It was one day in the life of Ivan Denisvich and it was the first book that had come out of the Soviet Union really during a a period of thaw in the early 1960s that revealed what had happened under Stella and then I”
“and then I read 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World.”
“and then I read 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World.”
“This was while I was reading Soljenitson's book on the Gulleg archipelago and various accounts of totalitarian brutality in Nazi Germany and and so forth and some psychoanalytic work and and that's where the story part emerges.”
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