Book Club with Michael Smerconish

Yoni Appelbaum is a deputy executive editor of The Atlantic and a social and cultural historian of the United States. Before joining The Atlantic, he was a lecturer on history and literature at Harvard University. He previously taught at Babson College and at Brandeis University, where he received his PhD in American history.

The epic story of how America turned the world economy into a weapon, upending decades of globalization to take on a new authoritarian axis—Russia, China, and Iran. It used to be that ravaging another country’s economy required blockading its ports and laying siege to its cities. Now all it takes is a statement posted online by the U.S. government. In Chokepoints, Edward Fishman, a former top State Department sanctions official, takes us deep into the back rooms of power to reveal the untold history of the last two decades of U.S. foreign policy, in which America renounced the gospel of globalization and waged a new kind of economic war. Listen to his conversation with Michael about "Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare." Original air date 5 February 2025. The book was published on 25 February 2025.

In Craig Fehrman’s groundbreaking work of history, "Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote" opens a rich new window into presidential biography. Listen to his conversation with Michael here to experience a different side of Presidents past and present. From volumes lost to history—Calvin Coolidge’s Autobiography, which was one of the most widely discussed titles of 1929—to ones we know from more recent times—Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, which was very nearly never published—Fehrman unearths countless insights about the presidents through their literary works. Presidential books have made an enormous impact on American history, catapulting their authors to the national stage and even turning key elections. Original air date 14 February 2020. The book was published on 11 February 2020.

Michael welcomes Nicholas Carr, author of "Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart," a bracing exploration of how social media has warped our sense of self and society. From the telegraph and telephone in the 1800s to the internet and social media in our own day, the public has welcomed new communication systems. Whenever people gain more power to share information, the assumption goes, society prospers. Superbloom tells a startlingly different story. As communication becomes more mechanized and efficient, it breeds confusion more than understanding, strife more than harmony. A celebrated commentator on the human consequences of technology, Nicholas Carr reorients the conversation around modern communication, challenging some of our most cherished beliefs about self-expression, free speech, and media democratization. Original air date 30 January 2025. The book was published on 28 January 2025.

He doesn't believe in diets, and says we should exercise less. Meet Dr. Fredrik Nystrom, professor of medicine at Linkoping University in Sweden. He joins Michael with his book "Lighten the load on your shoulders!" Dr. Nystrom is professor and senior consultant in internal medicine in the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences. Original air date 28 January 2025. The book was published on 29 October 2024.

Michael talks with Tim Harford, author of "The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics." Today we think statistics are the enemy, numbers used to mislead and confuse us. That’s a mistake, Tim Harford says in The Data Detective. We shouldn’t be suspicious of statistics—we need to understand what they mean and how they can improve our lives: they are, at heart, human behavior seen through the prism of numbers and are often “the only way of grasping much of what is going on around us.” If we can toss aside our fears and learn to approach them clearly—understanding how our own preconceptions lead us astray—statistics can point to ways we can live better and work smarter. Original air date 10 February 2021.

From the New York Times bestselling authors of "The Nazi Conspiracy" and "The Lincoln Conspiracy" comes a true, little-known story about the first assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy, right before his inauguration. What most Americans don’t know is that JFK’s historic presidency almost ended before it began―at the hands of a disgruntled sociopathic loner armed with dynamite, named Richard Pavlick, on December 11, 1960. Listen to Michael's conversation with Brad Meltzer, co-author (w/Josh Mensch) of "The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy―and Why It Failed" to learn all about it. Original air date 24 January 2025. The book was published on 14 January 2025.

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. Listen to him discuss "Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know" with Michael in this podcast. Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there's another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones. Original air date 3 February 2021. The book was published on 2 February 2021.

Jesse Ventura, the outspoken former Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, and governor of Minnesota, shares insights from his book detailing his wild political journey. He critiques the two-party system, discussing challenges for third-party candidates and the idea of a 'none of the above' option to empower voters. Ventura raises skepticism about significant events like 9/11 and questions official narratives regarding history, advocating for a new wave of independent voices in politics to challenge longstanding political dynasties.

Michael talks to William Cohan, author of "The Price of Silence: The Duke Lacrosse Scandal, the Power of the Elite, and the Corruption of Our Great Universities." The bestselling author presents his stunning account of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team scandal that reveals the pressures faced by America’s elite colleges and universities and pulls back the curtain, in a riveting narrative, on the larger issues of sexual misconduct, underage drinking, and bad-boy behavior—all too prevalent on campuses across the country. Original air date 15 April 2014. The book was published on 8 April 2014.