The Worst Takes of 2025 [TEASER]

The boys catalog the definitive worst takes of the year, from the pundits who misunderstood our political moment to a guy who wants to have sex with a computer.To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

The boys continue their discussion of Walter Isaacson's "Elon Musk." This is the part where Elon loses his mind. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:From self-proclaimed ‘socialist’ to Team Trump and DeSantis: Elon Musk’s curious politics revealed  The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban DoomElon Musk biographer admits suggestion SpaceX head blocked Ukraine drone attack was wrong Elon Musk's Daughter on Dad's Biography: 'Sad Excuse for a Puff Piece'Character LimitTwitter fulfilling more government censorship requests under Musk Elon Musk booed for nearly 5 minutes straight at Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco New CNN Chief Trying to Please GOP Elite Research finds more than 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues, including more than 4 million children under fiveWhat the data says about Social Security Trump Administration, DOGE Activities Risk SSA Operations and Security of Personal DataThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

A biography that dares to ask: Is a lifetime of worker abuse and narcissism worth it to experience robot butlers?Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:What Elon Musk Gets Wrong about South AfricaElon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather Elon Musk claims he was once one of the best Quake players aroundWatch Elon Musk Talk About Being an ‘Illegal Immigrant’ in Video From 2013 Elon Musk’s dad Errol says he can ‘prove’ existence of emerald mine in new bombshell claim revealing its location How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain The BelieverElon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow How Elon Musk Plans on Reinventing the World (and Mars)Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: 'Everything feels like the future but us' | TeslaHundreds of Tesla workers tested positive for the virus after Elon Musk reopened a plant, data showsInside Tesla as Elon Musk Pushed an Unflinching Vision for Self-Driving Cars Tesla video promoting self-driving was staged, engineer testifiesElon Musk Says His 'Running Robot' Will 'Actually Eliminate Poverty' As He Shares Video Of Tesla Optimus Jogging Elon Musk Wants ‘Strong Influence’ Over the ‘Robot Army’ He’s Building There’s a Very Simple Pattern to Elon Musk’s Broken PromisesThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

How do you tell the entire history of humanity in a single book? Whatever you do, do not open a browser window. Thanks to Dorsa Amir, Duncan Stibbard Hawkes and David Perry for help researching and fact-checking this episode!Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:A Response to Yuval HarariYuval Noah Harari’s History of Everyone, EverHow Humankind Conquered the WorldThe revolution that wasn'tAdvances In The Study Of The Origin Of Humanness21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a banal and risible self-help bookAre Human Rights Western? Bonaparte in EgyptShip of FoolsThe Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah HarariA Reductionist History of HumankindHarari, Sapiens and historical accuracyThe Broad Spectrum Revolution at 40The Neolithic Revolution in the Middle EastWas the Agricultural Revolution a Terrible Mistake?The Darker Side of the "Original Affluent Society"Harari's world historyCompassion with Justice: Harari’s Assault on Human RightsReconsidering the link between past material culture and cognition Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Live like Dale Carnegie, neg like Calvin Coolidge.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Self-help Messiah: Dale Carnegie and Success in Modern AmericaThe Positive ThinkersAge of industrial violence 1910-1915 : the activities and findings of the United States commission on industrial relationsRepresentation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1914–1942 Dale Carnegie and the Problem of SincerityNew York Times review from 1937Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Peter and Michael discuss a book that's light on facts and long on sentences.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Book Review: ‘Summer of Our Discontent,’ by Thomas Chatterton WilliamsPolice shootings database 2015-2024From the archive, 22 March 1991: President Bush sickened by Rodney King caseBarack Obama Public ApprovalLetter To Christopher L. Eisgruber, President Princeton UniversityPolice give additional details in beating of machete-wielding man amid Dallas protestIn City After City, Police Mishandled Black Lives Matter ProtestsRIOTS IN LOS ANGELES: Challenger; Nation Needs Healing, Clinton SaysMedian household income by race and ethnicity U.S. 1967-2023Majority of college students support Israel/Gaza campus protests, 1 in 10 actually participate in themThomas Chatterton Williams on Race, Identity, and “Cancel Culture”Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

How one comedian's offhand advice launched a decent TV episode, a mediocre book and a terrible movie.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Susan Faludi's "Backlash"For Women Who Count on Men to Be JerksBridget Jones’s LegacySingle Women in Popular CultureA Decade of Advice for Women and Men in the Best-Selling Self-Help LiteratureThe gendered nature of self-helpSingle Women in Popular Culture Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Did you know that in the split-second it took you to read the title of this episode, your subconscious already figured out that it was going to be extremely good?Peter and Michael talk about Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink," a book that is mostly cute scientific anecdotes but also indirectly resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted on fraudulent science.Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Unconscious influences on decision making: A critical reviewHalf a Minute: Predicting Teacher Evaluations From Thin Slices of Nonverbal Behavior and Physical Attractiveness'Thin slices' of lifeConditions for Intuitive Expertise: A Failure to DisagreeTelling More Than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental ProcessesMagic at the marketplace: Choice blindness for the taste of jam and the smell of teaFalse-Positive Psychology: Undisclosed Flexibility in Data Collection and Analysis Allows Presenting Anything as SignificantReading Lies: Nonverbal Communication and Deception Behavioral Science and SecurityTSA Should Limit Future Funding for Behavior Detection ActivitiesTSA Does Not Have Valid Evidence Supporting Most of the Revised Behavioral Indicators Used in Its Behavior Detection Activities Telling Lies: Fact, Fiction, and NonsenseTSA’s Secret Behavior Checklist to Spot TerroristsA Review of 'Blink' by Malcolm GladwellThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

This is most of the episode but if you want to hear the last 20 minutes, support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

Last episode we met two Princeton political scientists who are bad at virology. Today we learn that they are also bad at political science.Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:Lawrence Wright’s “The Plague Year”Jonathan Howard’s “We Want Them Infected”How the Pandemic Defeated AmericaCOVID-19: examining the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventionsUS State Restrictions and Excess COVID-19 Pandemic DeathsImpact of non-pharmaceutical interventionsPolicy Interventions, Social Distancing, and SARS-CoV-2 TransmissionThe Impact of Vaccines and Behavior on US Cumulative DeathsPro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death ratesReport for the Scottish COVID-19 InquiryThe Effectiveness Of Government Masking Mandates School closures during COVID-19COVID-19–Related School ClosuresThe Effects of School Closures on COVID‑19Higher COVID-19 Deaths with Later School Closure in the United StatesReopening America’s SchoolsReading literacy decline in EuropeDeSantis vs. NewsomRed States Have Seen Less Learning LossPolitical partisanship and mobility restriction Republicans Aren’t New To The Anti-Vaxx MovementKFF poll on anti-vaxx beliefsThanks to Mindseye for our theme song!