Podcast · Society & Culture

If Books Could Kill

by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri · English · Society & Culture

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds

New episodes: Monthly
Typical length: 1 hr 9 min
Latest: 5 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

5 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 12 minNew

Why Men Love Bitches

A 2002 dating guide has found new popularity on Tiktok using an old fashioned method: Have a catchy title and four pages of good advice. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: The Tragedy of HeterosexualityWhy men (still) love bitchesSystematic review on converting online contact into a first dateA Meta-Analytical Review of the Demand/Withdraw PatternGender-Related Predictors of Change in Marital...

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

1 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 9 min

Surrounded By Idiots

Peter and Michael discuss "Surrounded by Idiots," a book that dares to ask: Can the mystery of human relationships be unraveled by a workplace personality assessment? Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Pioneers, Drivers, Integrators, and GuardiansCreator of Lie Detector Test Dies; Lecturer and Author Produced Comic StripOne of Sweden's biggest scientific bluffs Pseudoscience and the Clai...
5 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 52 min

Three Cups of Tea

In 1993, a desperate man stumbled into a remote village in the foothills of the Karakoram mountains. After the residents nursed him back to health, he placed his hands on the village elder's shoulders and made a sacred promise. "Somehow," he said, "I am going to get some private jet reimbursements out of this." Warning: Contains spoilers for the 2016 film "Arrival." Thanks to Ted Callahan for helping us fact-check this episode! Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's ...
18 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 50 min

The Body Keeps The Score

You know that book your friend recommended? The one that rigorously describes the science of trauma, de-stigmatizes abuse and promotes effective treatments? Well here’s the thing: It doesn't actually do that. Thanks to Emi Nietfield, Keith Cox, Lisa Starr, Richard McNally, Kevin McGuire and everyone else who helped us research and fact-check this episode! Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSourc...
21 May 2026 · 1 hr 3 min

Think And Grow Rich

Peter and Michael discuss "Think And Grow Rich," the 1937 classic written by a lifelong fraudster who finds his final mark: You. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: The Untold Story of Napoleon Hill, the Greatest Self-Help Scammer of All TimeA Lifetime of RichesHow to Lose Friends and Alienate PeopleHow a Different America Responded to the Great DepressionThe Psychic Scandal How Trump Turned T...
30 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 19 min

Grit

In 2013, education reformers tried to help poor students the using the best tool at their disposal: The 16th most popular Ted Talk. Special thanks to Marcus Credé! Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Much Ado About GritWhat Shall We Do About Grit?Grit under attackTeaching “Grit”The Problem With GritThe Limits of “Grit”Grit: The power of passion and perseveranceIs 'Grit' Doomed To Be The ...
16 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 8 min

CROSSOVER EVENT: Tim Ferriss’s "The 4-Hour Body"

Peter went on Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase, to revisit a biohacking diet book for the boys. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: The 4-Hour BodyDoes Glycemic Index Matter for Weight Loss? An Examination of the Evidence New! Improved! Shape Up Your Life! The 4-Hour Body: The Real App You Are Working On Is An App Called YourselfThanks to Mindseye for our theme song! Support us o...
5 Mar 2026 · 1 hr

Bullshit Jobs

Peter and Michael discuss "Bullshit Jobs" by anarchist anthropologist David Graeber. The result: two professional podcasters debating which jobs are real and which jobs are fake. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant37% of British workers think their jobs are meaninglessAverage Annual Hours Worked by Persons Engaged for United StatesThe times they ...
5 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 11 min

The Millionaire Next Door

It turns out that the key to wealth is buying the right kind of watch, marrying the right kind of wife and being the right kind of white. Where to find us: Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Uneasy StreetA Century of Wealth In AmericaFamily, Education, and Sources of Wealth among the Richest Americans, 1982–2012Wealth Elite MoralitiesThe insane growth of America’s millionaire classThe Extraordinary Rise In The...
29 Dec 2025 · 50 min

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 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
18 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 31 min

Elon Musk Part 2

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 blocke...
9 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 28 min

Elon Musk

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&nb...
20 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 38 min

Sapiens

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...
2 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 10 min

How To Win Friends And Influence People

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&nbsp...
11 Sep 2025 · 1 hr 32 min

Thomas Chatterton Williams' "Summer of Our Discontent"

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 ...
31 Jul 2025 · 1 hr

He's Just Not That Into You

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&n...
17 Jul 2025 · 58 min

Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink"

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 PhaseSou...
1 Jul 2025 · 1 hr 2 min

The Supreme Court Goes Full TERF [TEASER]

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 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
19 Jun 2025 · 1 hr 10 min

"In Covid's Wake" Part 2: Wrong About The Right

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 DeathsIm...
17 Jun 2025 · 58 min

"In Covid's Wake" Part 1: Lying About Lockdowns

Two political scientists look back at a deadly pandemic and ask, "could we have done even less?" Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Lawrence Wright’s “The Plague Year”The 2019 WHO report 30‐day mortality following COVID‐19COVID-19: examining the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventionsPolicy Interventions, Social Distancing, and SARS-CoV-2 Trans...
5 Jun 2025 · 1 hr 21 min

Bonus: The Lab Leak Goes Mainstream

By popular demand we are releasing last month's Patreon bonus episode on the main feed! We chart the transformation of the lab leak from an unfounded theory promoted by right-wing cranks to an unfounded theory promoted by liberal journalists. Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
23 Apr 2025 · 54 min

The Let Them Theory

Peter and Michael discuss The Let Them Theory, a self-help guide to seeking bliss through unmitigated complacency. Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: How to stop screwing yourself overMel Robbins and PlagiarismLet her? Army wife claims Mel Robbins stole her idea for blockbuster self-help book Mel Robbins’s “Let Them” theory: really that simple?Breathing Practices for Stress and Anxiety Reduction: Conceptual ...
31 Mar 2025 · 53 min

Josh Hawley's "Manhood" [TEASER]

To hear the rest of the episode, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
28 Mar 2025 · 59 min

Steve Harvey's "Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man"

Are you a single lady struggling to find love with a man? Don't fret! A twice-divorced game show host who thinks conversation is for women is here to help. Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseThanks to Mindseye for our theme song! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
6 Mar 2025 · 1 hr 23 min

Of Boys And Men

Who's to blame for the crisis of American masculinity? On the right, politicians tell men that they being oppressed by feminists and must reassert their manhood by supporting an authoritarian regime. And on the left, users of social media are often very irritating to people who write airport books. Where to find us: Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Conscientiousness as a Predictor of the Gender Gap in Academic Achievement...
23 Jan 2025 · 59 min

You Are A Badass

Peter and Michael dissect Jen Sincero's "You are a Badass," a book that answers the question: What if "The Secret" was written in the painful, try-hard style of "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck"? Featuring a surprise digression about Sincero's other, even worse books. Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Savy Writes Books Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod
6 Dec 2024 · 1 hr 6 min

What's The Matter With Kansas?

In 2004, historian Thomas Frank proposed a theory about the rightward drift of the white working class. Was he a prescient king whose work presaged the rise of Trump — or a bumbling fool with a broken thesis? Unfortunately it turns out he is a secret third thing that takes one hour and six minutes to explain. Special thanks to Julia Valdés for her help with this episode! Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: The Thesis That D...
4 Nov 2024 · 1 hr 10 min

Sam Harris's "The End of Faith"

Peter and Michael discuss the book that launched the phenomenon of New Atheism and asked the question: What if we hated Muslims, but in a secular way? Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Views of ViolenceCarnival Booth: An Algorithm for Defeating the Computer-Assisted Passenger Screening SystemThe same motive for anti-US 'terrorism' is cited over and overDoes intuitive mindset influence belief in God? Terrorism science: 5 insi...
10 Oct 2024 · 1 hr 9 min

Who Moved My Cheese?

What should workers do when they get laid off? In 1998 a bleak, asinine bestseller told them to find another whey. Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources: Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining AmericaDownsizing in AmericaTemp: How American Work, American Business, and the American Dream Became TemporaryThe Disposable AmericanSpencer Johnson, ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ Author, Dies at 78What was the New Economy?Bo...
26 Sep 2024 · 59 min

UNLOCKED: Eric Adams

New York’s favorite criminal is in the news, so here is our episode about his ridiculous life. To hear all of our bonus episodes, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IfBooksPod

About If Books Could Kill

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds

If Books Could Kill is a English society & culture podcast from Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri
Language: English
Category: Society & Culture
New episodes: Monthly
Typical length: 1 hr 9 min
Latest episode: 5 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1651876897
Website: patreon.com/IfBooksPod

RSS feed Apple Podcasts Website

More English society & culture 6

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If Books Could Kill

Latest episode

Why Men Love Bitches

Earlier episodes 29 most recent

Surrounded By Idiots

Three Cups of Tea

The Body Keeps The Score

Think And Grow Rich

Grit

CROSSOVER EVENT: Tim Ferriss’s "The 4-Hour Body"

Bullshit Jobs

The Millionaire Next Door

The Worst Takes of 2025 [TEASER]

Elon Musk Part 2

Elon Musk

Sapiens

How To Win Friends And Influence People

Thomas Chatterton Williams' "Summer of Our Discontent"

He's Just Not That Into You

Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink"

The Supreme Court Goes Full TERF [TEASER]

"In Covid's Wake" Part 2: Wrong About The Right

"In Covid's Wake" Part 1: Lying About Lockdowns

Bonus: The Lab Leak Goes Mainstream

The Let Them Theory

Josh Hawley's "Manhood" [TEASER]

Steve Harvey's "Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man"

Of Boys And Men

You Are A Badass

What's The Matter With Kansas?

Sam Harris's "The End of Faith"

Who Moved My Cheese?

UNLOCKED: Eric Adams

About If Books Could Kill

More English society & culture 6

Take it with you