If Books Could Kill Subscribe

The Books · The Bestsellers · The Body Count

If Books Could Kill

If Books Could Kill

The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our minds

  1. 01

    Episode · May 21, 2026 ·1:03:04

    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.

  2. 02

    Episode · Apr 30, 2026 ·1:19:02

    Grit

    In 2013, education reformers tried to help poor students the using the best tool at their disposal: The 16th most popular Ted Talk.

  3. 03

    Crossover · Apr 16, 2026 ·1:08:18

    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.

  4. 04

    Episode · Mar 5, 2026 ·1:00:22

    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.

  5. 05

    Episode · Feb 5, 2026 ·1:11:25

    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.

  6. 06

    Teaser · Dec 29, 2025 ·50:05

    The Worst Takes of 2025

    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.

  7. 07

    Episode · Dec 18, 2025 ·1:31:15

    Elon Musk Part 2

    The boys continue their discussion of Walter Isaacson's "Elon Musk." This is the part where Elon loses his mind.

  8. 08

    Episode · Dec 9, 2025 ·1:28:25

    Elon Musk

    A biography that dares to ask: Is a lifetime of worker abuse and narcissism worth it to experience robot butlers?

  9. 09

    Episode · Nov 20, 2025 ·1:38:17

    Sapiens

    How do you tell the entire history of humanity in a single book? Whatever you do, do not open a browser window.

  10. 10

    Episode · Oct 2, 2025 ·1:10:00

    How To Win Friends And Influence People

    Live like Dale Carnegie, neg like Calvin Coolidge.

  11. 11

    Episode · Sep 11, 2025 ·1:31:42

    Thomas Chatterton Williams' "Summer of Our Discontent"

    Peter and Michael discuss a book that's light on facts and long on sentences.

  12. 12

    Episode · Jul 31, 2025 ·1:00:09

    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.

Latest episode

Think And Grow Rich

May 21, 2026 · 1:03:04

Peter and Michael discuss "Think And Grow Rich," the 1937 classic written by a lifelong fraudster who finds his final mark: You.

Episode page →
50+ Bestsellers dissected
3 Years on the case
2 Hosts, zero mercy
2023 On the beat since

The bonus shelf

Read along behind the velvet rope.

The free feed is only half the carnage. Members get the bonus episodes — the teasers you keep seeing cut off mid-sentence, finished in full — plus the ad-free back catalog and the warm glow of funding two men's righteous contempt for airport bestsellers.

It's the same forensic energy, just more of it, and it keeps the lights on so we can keep buying the books we're about to ruin for you.

  • Full bonus episodes, no teaser cliffhangers
  • Ad-free listening across the archive
  • Directly fund the show you love