Coming to this show already loving Peter and Michael, and it is so SO enjoyable. They are so funny and fun to listen to, and so smart in such a goofy and relatable way. I love so much that they read books for me that I never would ever read and prove to me over and over that I was right not to read them.

That’s whenever I see a new post on IBCK. I’m happy that day and days after

I’ve loved this pod since day one. The hosts are amazing, have excellent synergy, a great sense of humor, and really dig deep into books they feature. Another user suggested doing an episode of The Body Keeps the Score. Seconded!

Please do The Body Keeps the Score

Please cover Guns Germs and Steel!! 🙏

This podcast is incredible. I’ve listened to every episode multiple times. I can’t recommend it enough!

Love the concept. Love Michael Hobbes. I really wanted to like this podcast but am left feeling a bit meh after the handful of episodes I’ve listened to. Nothing terrible but each time I was frustrated by the one dimensional analysis. I wanted them to go deeper and with more nuance instead of a cursory debunking followed by mocking (except of John Gray, mock away). Anyway, lack of scientific rigor is easy to debunk but some of these books are significantly more harmful in other ways (eg. socially and psychologically). You know - the ways these books can kill. I’m left feeling like the episodes could have been so much better if they’d invite a psychologist or somebody that can riff off the cuff about these books in a more nuanced and meaningful way. Feels like the hosts might need to explore their own blind spots and the biased lens with which they view the world of these books because there has to be some understanding or lived experience for the critique not to come off as self righteous.

I subscribed to this show and found the banter entertaining and misguidedly hoped it was informative until the episode on 7/17/25 when Peter disparagingly referred to Nobel Prize winning Economist as “another airport author/psychologist.” Peter seems to ignore the notoriety and credentials of Danny Kahneman, making me question his (Peter’s) credibility regarding anything he’s ranted about before on the pod. Since the pod requires listeners to put their faith in Peter and Michael’s sense of intellectual superiority to the average American, it really made me cringe when Peter so casually dismissed Daniel Kahneman as some lowly airport pop psychology author. No one knows everything, but when a podcast is all about dismissive tear-downs of “inferior” books, the co-hosts better have, at minimum, basic knowledge about who and what they mock on their show.

I did not know that they had merch now

Love the analysis & banter 😆 👍

Can’t play it on Apple Podcasts, not sure why. I listen on Spotify.

Love the show and the hosts’ personalities together. In the Supreme Court TERF bonus episode at 42:38 Michael said “depression” like the da vinki twins, which is awesome of him

This is my new favorite podcast!

But I’m not happy Peter didn’t put up that shelf

But why do you guys hate Foucault so much 😂

Thank you for voicing the rage I had in my head when I listened to these authors on other podcasts. I’ve been a long time fan of this show and these episodes are the best yet.

one of the best media criticism shows right now. Peter and Michael take a critical look at many popular self-help books that the mainstream media and, by extension, the public have taken at face value. They often turn up motivated reasoning and junk science behind the authors’ sometimes well-meaning, sometimes harmful theses, highlighting mainstream media and other institutions’ credulity and often stupidity at following such advice, and discussing what that credulity may mean in the larger social context.

While I’m a faithful if sporadic listener here in IBCK Land, this past week’s skewering of the Princeton professors’ attempt to revise and memory hole successful COVID19 mutations surpassed even your The Secret episode. Thank you, Michael and Peter, for such a sharp and funny analysis of these people’s lame attempt at gaslighting, and for the perspective offered by actual facts. A Princeton alum friend who thinks I’m a kook for still masking (she’s had COVID at least twice; I’m still a noVID AFAIK) sent me Barbaro’s Daily interview with these creeps. I nearly lost my mind and my friend. You two said everything I wish I’d said and more since you, unlike me, actually read the book. Thanks again. Love your work.

I agree with them often, but they are so tribal that they really can’t be trusted. The far right has no greater ally than dishonest, bad faith actors on the left.

But these are the only men's voices I listen to willingly

Hello Michael and Peter, after your last episodes concerning Covid and the disinformation these two people have been spreading by going around all the shows to promote it with little push back. It’s important for the American people to get the real analysis of the data concerning Covid so we do the right thing the next time we have a viral outbreak of this and any degree. We need a book version of your data analysis that can make the rounds and inform people correctly. If Books Could Kill presents How Two Political Scientists Failed Us In COVID’s Wake.

My favorite thing about this podcast existing is how many terrible books I get to ruin for other people by suggesting they listen to certain episodes. No one reads The Anxious Generation on my watch.

Great podcast. They really do their research and help explain politics and history through the lens of popular nonfiction books. There’s a few they’ve done on books which I’ve liked and read and their analysis helped me understand deeper what I did *and* didn’t like.

The Covid Wake episode is the real real. Michael’s rant about 7 mins in about marginalizing liars who are serially wrong was just MUAH. I felt seen.

…and that is Michael Hobbes! (And those podcasts are If Books Could Kill, Maintenance Phase, and You’re Wrong About.) Never miss an episode, and am glad to have been introduced to Peter, who is also great. I had read some of these titles prior to listening to their corresponding episodes and have found the critique of some of the books to be a bit unfairly reductive, but love the objective of the podcast and the discussion and humor between Peter and Michael overall.

The books are bad. The dialog and discussion is good. The puns are GREAT! The cheese episode alone is worth 5 stars.

Books are always clearly read thoroughly (no matter how silly some are) and researched just as well! I’m always impressed with how well Micheal especially explains anything to do with science- he clearly has reliable sources who can explain anything he doesn’t fully understand so it can then be repeated back simply to the listener. This is important to me as a scientist in the biochem field where I’ve heard many other podcasts with tons of inaccuracies.

I was already complaining about these books but now I have more things to say; making me insufferable. Ha! I do really enjoy these episodes. They walk that line of being well researched and informative with being funny and interesting. If you’re interested in knowing, I’m a stay at home mom of 5 and this keeps me feeling like I’m still a person that can critically think about subjects.

Never thought I would LOVE listening to people absolutely shred books. Am I petty? Guess so. Request; Simon Sinek.

love this podcast, although not sure I can get over Michael pronouncing “genomic” as “gen-ah-mic”

Fun when it was about airport books. If I wanted to listen to a podcast about politics, I'd subscribe to a podcast about politics. More and more episodes about politics here, and it's not consistent with the original premise of the show and just not what I want.

This is for those who want vindication and commiseration more than understanding. That said, here as there, the friendship has cute moments. And the books themselves, as well as Peter in particular, are quite funny. I would put this in the podcast junk food section. Fine in moderation.

…still listening. Thanks guys, for saving me from reading books with more pages than substance. Some books should’ve been tweets and I’m glad you tell us which.

I understand you gotta make money, but it’s always sad when something you looked forward to tuning into says it’s been updated, but each time you get your hopes up to find out it is just for paying subscribers. There was a time when all podcasts were free. Goodbye, good times. “That’s how we make money!” Sure. Subscription fees aren’t the end of humanity. Sure. Loved u. xox RIP

So witty and unself-conscious. Please review Guns Germs and Steel

I love this podcast. It’s funny, engaging, and is really a “how to” manual for critical thinking. I love that even as Michael and Peter dissect a book, they can point out an idea or passage that has merit and then talk about how the idea could have been investigated and interrogated more completely. I am laughing and also getting ever so slightly better at recognizing what makes good (and very weak) storytelling evidence. Annoyingly, I now talk about this podcast every day to whoever will listen.

Good podcasts; hosts have the right (genuinely left) political impulses. But in this political moment, I didn’t like the Hegel hate just bc Hegel is difficult (Fukayama ep). Be the nerds: embrace Hegel! Even if Fukayama was wrong. (And oh, bc you wanted to know: not a lesbian 😉.)

Been listening since the show’s debut (I’m from the Michaelverse of podcasts). I love the show. It’s number one for snark, smarts, and the camaraderie between Peter and Michael is insanely charming. My only problem with it is I’m still not a lesbian. How long do I listen before I start seeing results?

I was proudly bisexual before this show, now I am saving up to buy a used Subaru and shopping for land with a woman who owns 5 dogs that I met at REI last weekend. Thank you for helping me figure out who I am.

I can attest to the fact that this show can be appreciated by aromantic asexuals

If you guys stop making episodes I fear I’ll never clean my house again. Seriously though this podcast is so refreshing, funny, and original. May I add a recommendation, “Don’t believe everything you think” By Joseph Nguyen. Would love to hear your thoughts! Also, not a lesbian. Hahah

You may enjoy even if you are a “straight.”

And this is my new obsession

Love this show, I wanted to comment because on the “let them” episode you said if you are other than a lesbian please let us know! Hey everyone 👋🏽 I’ve been a fan since “you’re wrong about” 💙

What a hidden gem I’ve stumbled upon. So far I’ve listened to “Let Them”, “Lean In” and now “Atomic Habits”. Comedy gold! Thank you for your service! Sincerely, A straight white woman in her late 30s

… but I am bisexual

And I still love this podcast

(Not a lesbian)

Writing to say- surprise! Not a lesbian, never seen a Star Wars movie or tv show, still got the joke. Sorry, Peter. I love this podcast.

Michael, thank you for the Let the Right One In intro on the latest episode. #bless