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Ezra Klein's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Ezra Klein recommends? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Ezra Klein's favorite book recommendations of all time. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy book cover1

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

Jenny Odell

4.0
Preview Summary
This thrilling critique of the forces vying for our attention re-defines what we think of as productivity, shows us a new way to connect with our environment and reveals all that we’ve been too distracted to see about our selves and our world.

When the technologies we use every day collapse our experiences into 24/7 availability, platforms for personal branding, and products to be monetized, nothin
Ezra Klein portraitBo Ren portraitBryan Formhals portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein, Bo Ren, Bryan Formhals, and 5 others.
Ezra Klein portrait
Ezra Klein

That's from @the_jennitaur's book "How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy," which hit me particularly hard, and made this conversation such a delight. https://t.co/y7SgRMhRsZ [source]

Bo Ren portrait
Bo Ren

@ClaytonHartford @the_jennitaur Best book I read in 2019! A must-read. [source]

Bryan Formhals portrait
Bryan Formhals

Such a great book. Gave me a lot of confidence to pursue some new ideas. https://t.co/SA9PP7mIAc [source]

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration book cover2

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

Ed Catmull

4.5
Preview Summary
“What does it mean to manage well?”
From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business—sure to appeal to readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and t
Mark Zuckerberg portraitTimothy Ferriss portraitEzra Klein portrait Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg, Timothy Ferriss, Ezra Klein, and 21 others.
Mark Zuckerberg portrait
Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

This book is written by the founder of Pixar and is about his experience building a culture that fosters creativity. His theory is that people are fundamentally creative, but many forces stand in the way of people being able to do their best work. I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity. This should be inspiring to anyone looking to do the same, and hopefully there will be lessons we can apply to connecting the world! [source]

Timothy Ferriss portrait
Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

No matter your circumstances, storytelling and creativity are two 'meta-skills' that can take your business and life to the next level. Ed is a master. [source]

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism book cover3

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism

Melanie Joy PhD, John Robbins

4.3

In this paperback edition is a foreword by activist and author John Robbins and a reader's group study guide. This ground-breaking work, voted one of the top ten books of 2010 by "VegNews" Magazine, offers an absorbing look at why and how humans can so wholeheartedly devote ourselves to certain animals and then allow others to suffer needlessly, especially those slaughtered for our consumption.

Soc

Ezra Klein portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein.
The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War book cover4

The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War

Joanne B. Freeman

4.3
In The Field of Blood, the historian Joanne B. Freeman offers a new and dramatically rendered portrait of American politics in its rowdiest years. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources, she shows that today's hyperpolarized environment cannot compare with the turbulent atmosphere of the decades before the Civil War, when the U.S. Congress itself was rife with conflict. Legislative sessions
Ezra Klein portraitJeff Stein portraitJulian E. Zelizer portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein, Jeff Stein, and Julian E. Zelizer.
Ezra Klein portrait
Ezra Klein

"Field of Blood" is an amazing book that really puts modern politics in perspective. And @jbf1755 is just brilliant — we did a podcast on political violence that I still think about often: https://t.co/RC3KoHkdXx https://t.co/8M7mFXieX0 [source]

Jeff Stein portrait
Jeff Stein

@jbf1755 Joshua Giddings was the best part of your book [source]

Julian E. Zelizer portrait
Julian E. Zelizer

The book’s point is that in the nineteenth century, Congress was an incredibly contentious place. Today, we think the parties can’t get along, but back in the nineteenth century, tensions were so severe that members were physically fighting on the floor of Congress. The book is well-written, and it brings Congress to life through these stories. Freeman conveys the flavor of the floor in a way very few other people can. [source]

This Is How You Lose the Time War book cover5

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone

4.1
Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellb
Ezra Klein portraitKen Liu portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein and Ken Liu.
Ezra Klein portrait
Ezra Klein

This book is amazing and if you haven't read it you should. https://t.co/0PNy4Kmbip [source]

Ken Liu portrait
Ken Liu

I suppose you could call it a time travel story. It takes place across all history, and features two protagonists, two women who are essentially spies—saboteurs for rival visions of the future, who are trying to twist the timeline to lead to their respective faction’s visions. But then they fall in love with each other. The story is incredibly beautiful and moving, and the language is so poetic. [source]

Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime book cover6

Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime

Sean Carroll

4.4
As you read these words, copies of you are being created.

Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of 20th century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His r
Ezra Klein portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein.
7

Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats

Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins

4.2
Why do Republican politicians promise to rein in government, only to face repeated rebellions from Republican voters and media critics for betraying their principles? Why do Democratic politicians propose an array of different policies to match the diversity of their supporters, only to become mired in stark demographic divisions over issue priorities? In short, why do the two parties act so diffe
Ezra Klein portraitGreg Dworkin portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein and Greg Dworkin.
Ezra Klein portrait
Ezra Klein

Sorry to both Dave and Dan. As penance, here’s another plug for Asymmetric Politics, which everyone should read: https://t.co/1gKUZEQkmU And for Dan’s great book, The Increasingly United States: https://t.co/oVlgXajE6w https://t.co/0aU1mF1SQk [source]

Greg Dworkin portrait
Greg Dworkin

@KnowTheSystem @Edsall @RyanDEnos love that book [source]

Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World book cover8

Give People Money: How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World

Annie Lowrey

4.1
A brilliantly reported, global look at universal basic income--a stipend given to every citizen--and why it might be necessary for our age of rising inequality, persistent poverty, and dazzling technology

Imagine if every month the government deposited $1,000 into your checking account, with nothing expected in return. It sounds crazy, but it has become one of the most influential and hotly debat
Ezra Klein portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein.
9

What It Takes: The Way to the White House

Richard Ben Cramer

4.3
Ezra Klein portraitSteven Sinofsky portraitJacob Weisberg portrait Recommended by Ezra Klein, Steven Sinofsky, Jacob Weisberg, and 2 others.
Steven Sinofsky portrait
Steven Sinofsky

@pkedrosky I *love* this book especially as one of those kids shipped from university in Mass to New Hampshire for the primary. Dixville Notch, 1988. I was there! [source]

Jacob Weisberg portrait
Jacob Weisberg

This is about the 1988 presidential campaign and is one of the great political books. Cramer was a Yale classmate of George H Bush and so had better access again to the family. It’s really about the father, about George H, and George W plays only a small role, but it has very revelatory scenes in it showing how George W was acting out and was the troublemaker and the reckless one, the black sheep, and how the rest of the family dealt with it. In 1986 George H was trying to get his campaign started and it’s about how people reacted to him and about Prescott Bush, his father, and the sense of this political family dynasty. It’s a great read and he tells the story of the rise of George H better than anyone else has ever told it. [source]

10

Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles, and Partisanship in the U. S. Senate

Frances E. Lee

4.6

The congressional agenda, Frances Lee contends, includes many issues about which liberals and conservatives generally agree. Even over these matters, though, Democratic and Republican senators tend to fight with each other. What explains this discord? Beyond Ideology argues that many partisan battles are rooted in competition for power rather than disagreement over the rightful role of governmen

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11

On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit

George C. Edwards III

4.0
In this book, George Edwards analyzes the results of hundreds of public opinion polls from recent presidencies to assess the success of these efforts. Surprisingly, he finds that presidents typically are not able to change public opinion, even great, communicators usually fail to obtain the public's support for their high-priority initiatives. According to Edwards, the bully pulpit has proven infe
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12

Overreach: Leadership in the Obama Presidency

George C. Edwards III

3.9
When Barack Obama became president, many Americans embraced him as a transformational leader who would fundamentally change the politics and policy of the country. Yet, two years into his administration, the public resisted his calls for support and Congress was deadlocked over many of his major policy proposals. How could this capable new president have difficulty attaining his goals? Did he lack
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13

Predicting the Presidency: The Potential of Persuasive Leadership

George C. Edwards III

4.0
Millions of Americans--including many experienced politicians--viewed Barack Obama through a prism of high expectations, based on a belief in the power of presidential persuasion. Yet many who were inspired by candidate Obama were disappointed in what he was able to accomplish once in the White House. They could not understand why he often was unable to leverage his position and political skills t
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14

The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election - Updated Edition

John Sides, Lynn Vavreck

3.9
A unique moneyball look at the 2012 U.S. presidential contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

Game changer. We heard it so many times during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. But what actually made a difference in the contest--and what was just hype? In this groundbreaking book, John Sides and Lynn Vavreck tell the dramatic story of the election--with a big difference. Using an unusual mone
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15

The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush

George C Edwards III and Desmond King

3.8
This collection examines the foreign and domestic policies of President George W Bush's administration. The analysis begins with an account of how highly polarized--in terms of public opinion and electoral patterns--this presidency has proved to be. This is followed by chapters on the use of unilateral executive powers and pre-rogative powers. Because the policy choices of the Bush presidency have
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16

Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America

George C. Edwards III, Neal R. Peirce

4.1
Americans currently choose their president through the electoral college, an extraordinarily complex mechanism that may elect a candidate who does not receive the most votes. In this provocative book, George Edwards III argues that—contrary to what supporters of the electoral college claim—there is no real justification for a system that might violate majority rule.

Drawing on systematic data, Edw
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