If Books Could Kill

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The Meme Stock Cult [TEASER] May 15, 2023

Show notes

In 2021, scrappy young investors from across the world joined forces to buy GameStop stock, aiming to take down greedy hedge funds. What came next was tragedy, injustice, and a conspiratorial internet cult so stupid we had to do an episode about it.

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"Nudge" Part 1: A Simple Solution For Littering, Organ Donations and Climate Change May 04, 2023

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In 2008, an economist and a law professor proposed a radical new approach to politics: Telling people not to do bad stuff.
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Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

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The 5 Love Languages Apr 20, 2023

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What’s your love language? Is it gifts? Words of affirmation? Or is it podcasts about books with extremely weird, reactionary gender dynamics?
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Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

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Ben Shapiro's Plan To End Poverty [TEASER] Apr 13, 2023

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Is it bootstraps? It's bootstraps.
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Rich Dad Poor Dad Apr 06, 2023

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In 1997, Robert Kiyosaki revealed the secret to lifelong success: Deliver grifty seminars and hire child slaves.
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The Dumbest Campus Controversies Of The Last Decade [TEASER] Mar 30, 2023

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Get in loser, we're going to Oberlin.
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Hillbilly Elegy Mar 23, 2023

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In 2016, J.D. Vance informally launched his political career with "Hillbilly Elegy," a memoir that blames the relative poverty of Appalachian and Rust Belt populations on their own culture. Despite its reactionary premise, mainstream and liberal press outlets were so enamored by the book that they accidentally made Vance a senator.

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Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

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The Coddling Of The American Mind Mar 09, 2023

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TRIGGER WARNING: if you're a SNOWFLAKE college professor afraid of how your students are expressing themselves, you might need a SAFE SPACE, because Michael and Peter are discussing "The Coddling of The American Mind," a book about campus culture that's light on facts and heavy on cherry-picked anecdotes.
CORRECTION: The Socrates quote mentioned at the end of this episode is apocryphal. We thank the listeners who pointed this out for refusing to coddle our American minds.
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The Miseducation of Free Speech (https://www.virginialawreview.org/articles/miseducation-free-speech/)
College and the “Culture War”: Assessing Higher Education’s Influence on Moral Attitudes (
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00031224211041094)
The Myth of the Campus Coddle Crisis (https://academeblog.org/2018/12/28/the-myth-of-the-campus-coddle-crisis-the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/)
What ‘Safe Spaces’ Really Look Like on College Campuses (https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-safe-spaces-really-look-like-on-college-campuses/?bc_nonce=peduocnzcslb08jxmt1dlb&cid=reg_wall_signup)
Are College Campuses Really in the Thrall of Leftist Censors? (https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/03/hypersensitive-campus-progressives-judith-shulevitz-is-half-right-but-takes-her-criticisms-too-far.html)
Speaking Freely: What Students Think about Expression at American Colleges (https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/student-attitudes-free-speech-survey)
‘Not all cultures are created equal’ says Penn Law professor in op-ed (https://www.thedp.com/article/2017/08/amy-wax-penn-law-cultural-values)
How Right Wing Media Has Tried to Stifle Student Speech at Evergreen State College (https://psmag.com/education/the-real-free-speech-story-at-evergreen-college)
I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me (https://www.vox.com/2015/6/3/8706323/college-professor-afraid)
In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/opinion/sunday/judith-shulevitz-hiding-from-scary-ideas.html)

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The New York Times's War On Trans Kids [TEASER] Feb 28, 2023

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The nation's most prestigious newspaper insists on asking a very stupid question. So for this month's bonus episode, we decided to answer it.
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As we mentioned at the top of the episode, we're donating this month's support to three of our trans journo-friends! They've been unbelievably patient with Mike as he's navigated the science and politics of this issue over the last year. Here's where to find and support their work:

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The Clash of Civilizations Feb 23, 2023

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"If your thesis doesn't hold up to obvious criticisms, there's a chance that your thesis sucks."
Thanks to Paul Musgrave and Alex Cruikshanks for helping us fact-check this episode!
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