❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now
Make Me Smart With Kai and Molly

Heard on Make Me Smart

Jennie Josephson May 18, 2017

Ryan Morgello wrote us an excellent email the other day:

“I love hearing about books on the air because often times the author is being interviewed and there are always valuable insights to be gained from listening in! My issue is, because of the nature of podcasts, I often listen to them the go. I’m usually driving, sometimes on my bike to school ( Just graduated!) or walking my dog, and when I hear an interesting book on the show I often don’t have the chance to pull over and include it in my notes as a “book to check out later”, and by the time I get home or to my destination I’ve already forgotten about it!”

This is one of those great listener emails where I do a hard face palm and think, “Why haven’t I done that yet?”

So here’s a constantly updating list of books, music and posts you might find interesting, brought to you by Ryan Morgello and everyone else in the Make Me Smart community who’s written to ask about something they heard on air. 

Our first Make Me Smart book club selection 

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt

We’re going to take some more time to read this book because it is LONG. We’ll do the book club episode in mid-June. If you don’t want to buy the book, check your local library, as well as its digital collection.

Want to contribute to the show?

Send us an email or an audio file with: 

  • A question about something you’d like to understand better
  • Your answer to our Make Me Smart question, “What’s something you thought you knew, but later found out you were wrong about?”
  • Tell us about your field of expertise
  • Or just send us pictures of avocado toast, cold waffles or anything you’re eating for breakfast

Other books we’ve mentioned on the show

“Twitter and Teargas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest” by Zeynep Tufekci

“Wherever You Go, There They Are: Stories About My Family You Might Relate to” by Annabelle Gurwitch

“The Guide to the Federal Budget” by Stan “The Budget Guy” Collender

“Man in the High Castle” by Philip K. Dick (second place in our book group voting)

“Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker” by Stephen Galloway

Joel Reidenberg has written a whole lot about online privacy and privacy policies. If you want to do a deep dive, here’s his bibliography. Some of his writing is in French!

Moral Politics: How Liberals & Conservatives Think” by George Lakoff

“Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House” by Alyssa Mastromonaco

“Change Agent” by Daniel Suarez

“Benefits of Immigration Outweigh the Costs” by Pia Orrenius via the George W. Bush Institute

“The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads” by Tim Wu

“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen

Other fun stuff from the podcast

Singer-songwriter Marian Call’s latest album “Standing StoneS”

“Playlist for an Organ Donor,” a story slam by Dr. Mohammed Zeeshan Nayeemuddin

Favorite posts by our team

“Let’s talk about avocado toast” blog post by Molly Wood

“This is your brain on Trump” The full transcript of our conversation with George Lakoff

What we talk about when we talk about ‘jagoffs'” by Tony Wagner

“What’s that song I heard on the podcast?” by Jennie Josephson 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.