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Aug 14, 2026
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Your Book Review: The Escape Artist

57 min • 8,753 words • 328 comments • 277 likes
A book review of 'The Escape Artist,' which tells the story of Rudolf Vrba's escape from Auschwitz and his failed attempt to stop the Holocaust by warning European Jews, ultimately exploring human denial in the face of unimaginable horrors. Longer summary
This book review examines 'The Escape Artist' by Jonathan Freedland, which tells the true story of Rudolf Vrba (born Walter Rosenberg), one of the few Jews to escape from Auschwitz. The review traces Vrba's journey from volunteering for transport to Auschwitz, through his two years there learning about the systematic murder happening in the gas chambers, to his meticulously planned escape with Fred Wetzler in April 1944. However, the second half of the story reveals a bitter disappointment: despite producing the detailed Vrba-Wetzler Report documenting the Holocaust, Vrba fails in his larger mission to warn European Jews in time, as Jewish councils, Allied governments, and potential victims either don't believe the warnings, suppress them, or refuse to act. The review argues this is an anti-redemptive Holocaust narrative whose true antagonist is human nature's tendency toward denial when confronted with the unthinkable, and concludes with reflections on how this same dynamic continues today. Shorter summary
Jul 31, 2026
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Your Book Review: The Epic Of Gilgamesh

85 min • 13,140 words • 103 comments • 291 likes
An exploration of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest epic, examining its themes of mortality and meaning while providing extensive historical context about ancient Mesopotamia and arguing that the poem's true immortality comes from the countless people who preserved and transmitted it. Longer summary
This book review explores the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest epic story written around 2100 BC in Mesopotamia, examining its historical context, literary evolution through multiple versions, and central themes of mortality and meaning. The reviewer traces Gilgamesh's journey from tyrannical king through his friendship with Enkidu, his quest for immortality after Enkidu's death, and his ultimate acceptance of human mortality, while providing rich historical background on ancient Mesopotamia, the development of writing, and the text's rediscovery in the 19th century. The review concludes by reframing the poem's message: rather than seeking immortality through great deeds, we achieve a form of persistence through our connections to others and the information we leave behind, as demonstrated by the many anonymous scribes and citizens whose contributions preserved this ancient story. Shorter summary
Jul 24, 2026
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Your Book Review: Breakdown In Pakistan

49 min • 7,544 words • 338 comments • 273 likes
This review of Masooda Bano's 'Breakdown in Pakistan' examines how Western aid systematically destroys the capacity of local voluntary organizations to mobilize collective action, replacing diverse community-driven institutions with professionalized NGOs dependent on foreign funding. Longer summary
The review explores how foreign aid unintentionally eviscerates local institutions through a process the reviewer calls creating 'NGO monocultures.' Using Masooda Bano's ethnographic research in Pakistan, it shows how voluntary organizations that once thrived on local donations and volunteers lose both when they accept Western funding and adopt professional NGO practices. The review traces several mechanisms: visible material comfort of paid staff destroys signals of sacrifice that motivated donors; donor priorities replace local problem-solving; and the possibility of payment kills volunteerism. Drawing on the reviewer's own aid work experience across multiple countries, the piece documents this pattern's global prevalence and catastrophic long-term effects. The review concludes by discussing what both traditional aid work and effective altruism could learn from Bano's analysis, emphasizing the need to preserve rather than destroy local capacity for collective action. Shorter summary
Jul 17, 2026
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Your Book Review: Great And Desperate Cures

132 min • 20,439 words • 192 comments • 207 likes • podcast (147 min)
A review of 'Great and Desperate Cures' by Elliot Valenstein, which examines the history of lobotomy and psychosurgery, explaining how tens of thousands of patients underwent dangerous brain operations from the 1930s-1950s despite poor evidence of effectiveness. Longer summary
The post reviews 'Great and Desperate Cures' (1986) by psychologist Elliot Valenstein, exploring how lobotomy became widespread despite its horrific consequences. The review details the procedure itself (inserting an ice-pick-like instrument through the eye socket into the brain), then examines six factors Valenstein identifies for its acceptance: desperate patients and families, physician ambition (especially Egas Moniz and Walter Freeman), uncritical acceptance by researchers and media, territorial disputes between medical specialties, and cold economics. The post includes extensive details about key figures, particularly Freeman's aggressive promotion of transorbital lobotomy and his traveling surgery roadshows. It discusses patient outcomes, the lack of theoretical justification, media hype, and the procedure's eventual replacement by psychoactive drugs. The review concludes by reflecting on modern parallels and the tragic story of Howard Dully, lobotomized at age twelve, arguing that while Freeman likely had good intentions, the safeguards that might have prevented such harm were inadequate then and remain concerning today. Shorter summary
Jul 08, 2026
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Your Book Review: The Book Of Abraham

108 min • 16,711 words • 806 comments • 307 likes • podcast (105 min)
A deep dive into the Book of Abraham, focusing on how Joseph Smith's translations of Egyptian papyri were definitively proven false by Egyptologists, yet Mormonism continues to thrive—raising questions about whether instrumental rationality trumps epistemic rationality. Longer summary
This review examines the Book of Abraham, a Mormon scripture that Joseph Smith claimed to translate from Egyptian papyri purchased in 1835. The post methodically presents evidence showing Smith's translation was fraudulent: Egyptologists identified the papyri as standard funerary texts (the Book of Breathings for a priest named Hôr, dated 150 BC), not Abraham's writings from 2000 BC; Smith's interpretations of the three facsimiles contradict expert consensus (including identifying the god Min's erect phallus as God on his throne); and the rediscovery of the original papyri in 1967 confirmed they don't match Smith's translation. The author also covers Smith's history of treasure-digging with seer stones, the fraudulent Kirtland Anti-Banking Company, and the forged Kinderhook Plates. Despite all this evidence, Mormonism continues to grow and produces highly successful, charitable, tight-knit communities. The post concludes by exploring how a demonstrably false belief system can be instrumentally rational through costly signaling, community cohesion, and psychologically optimized doctrines that give members purpose and identity. Shorter summary
Jun 03, 2026
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Choose Book Review Finalists 2026

2 min • 176 words • 303 comments • 105 likes
Scott announces the finalist selection phase for the 2026 Book Review Contest, asking readers to help rate 162 entries using a new website built by Rob Ennals. Longer summary
Scott announces that the 2026 Book Review Contest has received 162 entries and needs to be narrowed down to about a dozen finalists. Since he can't read all entries alone, he's asking readers to help by rating as many reviews as they have time for on a scale of 1-10. Rob Ennals, a software engineer, has built a dedicated website to make the rating process easier, which displays reviews randomly by default to ensure diverse coverage. Readers have until June 15 to submit their ratings. Shorter summary
May 29, 2026
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Book Review: The Dialectical Imagination

52 min • 8,034 words • 671 comments • 749 likes • podcast (47 min)
Scott reviews a history of the Frankfurt School, explaining their response to Marxism's failures through negative dialectics, cultural criticism, and the belief that society needed conceptual transformation before communist revolution could succeed, while examining their actual influence on modern leftism. Longer summary
Scott reviews Martin Jay's 'The Dialectical Imagination,' examining the Frankfurt School's philosophy through various analogies including mysticism, Zen Buddhism, and Kuhnian paradigm shifts. He traces how the school emerged from the crisis of Marxism's failed predictions, developing 'negative dialectics' and focusing on cultural criticism rather than direct political action. The review explores key figures like Adorno, Horkheimer, and Marcuse, their obscure theories about art and society, and their belief that capitalism corrupts not just economics but consciousness itself. Scott concludes by examining whether the Frankfurt School actually influenced modern progressive movements, finding some connection through their emphasis on criticism over concrete solutions, while noting they warned against misinterpretation of their ideas. Shorter summary
Feb 20, 2026
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Book Review Contest Rules 2026

5 min • 651 words • 88 comments • 120 likes • podcast (4 min)
Scott announces the 2026 book review contest with a May 20th deadline, requiring anonymized submissions via Google Form, offering prizes of at least $2,500/$1,000/$500 for the top three winners. Longer summary
Scott announces the 2026 book review contest with rules and guidelines. Entries should be book reviews between 2,000-10,000 words, submitted via Google Form with an anonymized Google Doc by May 20th. The contest will have a finalist selection round voted on by readers in spring, with finalists posted weekly through summer, followed by final voting in late summer/fall. Prizes are at least $2,500 for first place, $1,000 for second, and $500 for third, plus publicity, free subscriptions, and potential writing opportunities. Scott emphasizes the contest should be blind (no identifying information in the document itself) and notes he may provide mild affirmative action for nontraditional categories like fiction, poetry, or pre-1900 books. Shorter summary
Nov 06, 2025
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The Bloomer's Paradox

19 min • 2,899 words • 426 comments • 493 likes • podcast (18 min)
Scott examines a paradox where bloomers and anti-doomers warn against apocalyptic thinking while treating doomerism itself as an unprecedented existential crisis requiring drastic action. Longer summary
Scott analyzes Jason Pargin's novel 'I'm Starting To Worry About This Black Box Of Doom' and similar arguments from Peter Thiel, Tyler Cowen, and progress studies advocates, noting they all share a contradiction: they argue we should stop treating problems as unprecedented crises, except for the problem of treating problems as crises, which they present as uniquely dangerous. The post examines how these thinkers simultaneously advocate against doomerism while expressing extreme concern about doomerism itself. Scott argues this reveals that strong views about a 'crisis of doomerism' are incompatible with worldviews that reject the existence of real crises, and concludes that optimism should be a heuristic rather than an absolute principle, with problems (including excessive doomerism) evaluated based on evidence using consistent standards. Shorter summary
Oct 30, 2025
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Links For October 2025

42 min • 6,423 words • 803 comments • 211 likes • podcast (38 min)
Scott Alexander presents 51 links covering AI progress and safety, political developments, scientific research, cultural oddities, and ongoing philosophical debates about miracles and education reform. Longer summary
Scott Alexander shares 51 links covering diverse topics including AI developments (agents, safety, consciousness research), political news (Ukraine policy, UK politics, Trump administration), science updates (climate predictions, genetics, bacteriophages), cultural curiosities (Shakespeare superfan plastic surgery, Soviet naming conventions, flag cones), health research (Alzheimer's prevention, shingles vaccine reducing dementia, kidney donation), and philosophical debates (Hume's argument against miracles, the Fatima miracle discussion). The post maintains Scott's characteristic blend of serious analysis and quirky observations, touching on everything from Bach's descendants in Oklahoma to the mystery of why AI still struggles with laundry folding despite mastering protein folding. Shorter summary
Oct 17, 2025
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Non-Book Review Contest 2025 Winners

12 min • 1,827 words • 274 comments • 128 likes • podcast (10 min)
Scott announces the winners and finalists of the 2025 Non-Book Review Contest, with prizes ranging from free subscriptions to $2500, and provides bios for all the winning authors. Longer summary
Scott announces the winners of the 2025 Non-Book Review Contest, with first place going to a review of Joan of Arc, second place to Alpha School, and third place to the Russo-Ukrainian War. The post lists all finalists and honorable mentions with brief bios of the authors, explains the prizes (ranging from free ACX subscriptions to cash awards of $2500 for first place), and notes that the contest will alternate yearly between book reviews and non-book reviews going forward. Shorter summary
Oct 03, 2025
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Vote In The 2025 Non-Book Review Contest

2 min • 234 words • 136 comments • 58 likes
Scott opens voting for the 2025 Non-Book Review Contest finalists, listing all thirteen entries and providing a link to the ranked-choice voting form. Longer summary
Scott Alexander announces voting for the 2025 Non-Book Review Contest finalists, providing links to all thirteen finalist entries and the voting form. The post lists the diverse topics of the finalists, ranging from education and science to personal experiences and historical events. Voting will use ranked choice format where voters pick their top three choices, and closes on October 13. Shorter summary
Sep 11, 2025
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Book Review: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies

46 min • 7,096 words • 1,060 comments • 480 likes • podcast (43 min)
Scott reviews a new book by Yudkowsky and Soares that makes an uncompromising case for halting AI development to prevent human extinction, analyzing both its arguments and its potential impact as a call to action. Longer summary
Scott reviews Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares' upcoming book 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies' about AI safety. The book makes an uncompromising case that AI development will likely lead to human extinction and should be halted immediately through an international treaty and arms control regime. Scott analyzes both the book's arguments and writing style, finding the core message compelling but questioning some of the specific scenarios presented. He reflects on why many people reject existential AI risk warnings using similar dismissive patterns seen with other potential catastrophic risks. Shorter summary
Aug 22, 2025
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Your Review: Ollantay

40 min • 6,138 words • 189 comments • 194 likes • podcast (33 min)
A review of Ollantay, a 1775 Quechua play that inspired the Túpac Amaru II rebellion in Peru, exploring how its plot became a deadly script for real historical events. Longer summary
This book review discusses Ollantay, a Quechua play from 1775 Peru that directly inspired the Túpac Amaru II rebellion. The review explores how the play's plot closely mirrors the real events of the rebellion, which led to 100,000 deaths. The author analyzes the mysterious origins of the play, its artistic merits, and its role as a 'cognitohazard' that influenced José Gabriel Condorcanqui (Túpac Amaru II) to follow its script, leading to tragedy. The review ends with reflections on how certain works of art seem designed to influence specific individuals to change history. Shorter summary
Aug 01, 2025
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Your Review: Joan of Arc

172 min • 26,568 words • 272 comments • 396 likes • podcast (139 min)
A book review examining the evidence for Joan of Arc's miraculous abilities and accomplishments, analyzing historical sources and debating whether she was divinely inspired, mentally ill, or part of a conspiracy. Longer summary
This review examines the historical evidence surrounding Joan of Arc, particularly focusing on the extensive documentation of her life through trial records and witness testimonies. The post first provides historical context about the Hundred Years' War and France's desperate situation, then recounts Joan's remarkable military achievements and her eventual capture and execution. The author analyzes three possible explanations for Joan's abilities: divine inspiration, mental illness, or conspiracy, while noting the complexity penalties in trying to explain her military genius, theological knowledge, and apparent prophetic abilities through non-supernatural means. The post ends with reflections on what Joan's case means for historical evidence and religious faith. Shorter summary
Jul 15, 2025
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Book Review: Arguments About Aborigines

49 min • 7,481 words • 575 comments • 448 likes • podcast (44 min)
A review of L.R. Hiatt's book on Aboriginal anthropology that examines the complexity of their traditional social structures and practices, while exploring broader questions about cultural evolution and the impact of colonialism. Longer summary
Scott reviews 'Arguments About Aborigines' by L.R. Hiatt, which explores two centuries of anthropological debates about Australian Aboriginal society. The book reveals both the incredible complexity of Aboriginal social structures and practices, and the challenges anthropologists faced in understanding them. Scott examines specific aspects like their section system (which divides people into eight categories determining marriage and social relations), mother-in-law taboos, and initiation rituals, using these to explore broader questions about cultural evolution and adaptation. The review concludes by discussing the tragic effects of colonialism on Aboriginal society, while acknowledging both the remarkable adaptations of traditional Aboriginal culture and its more troubling aspects. Shorter summary
Jul 11, 2025
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Your Review: Of Mice, Mechanisms, and Dementia

51 min • 7,754 words • 170 comments • 184 likes • podcast (48 min)
A detailed review of a 1995 paper introducing the PDAPP mouse model for Alzheimer's disease, examining how its limitations were overlooked and shaped decades of potentially misguided Alzheimer's research. Longer summary
The post reviews a landmark 1995 paper introducing the PDAPP mouse model for Alzheimer's disease, analyzing how its technical achievements and limitations shaped three decades of Alzheimer's research. The author examines the paper's methodology, results, and claims, showing how the model's flaws - including extreme protein overexpression and lack of key disease features - were overlooked in favor of a compelling but incomplete amyloid cascade hypothesis, leading to years of failed drug development and missed opportunities to explore alternative approaches. Shorter summary
Jul 09, 2025
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Practically-A-Book Review: Byrnes on Trance

28 min • 4,235 words • 397 comments • 259 likes • podcast (25 min)
Scott reviews Steven Byrnes' work explaining how our perception of self and consciousness can flip between different models, similar to optical illusions, which explains phenomena like trance, hypnosis, and spiritual experiences. Longer summary
Scott reviews Steven Byrnes' 2024 series on predictive processing and self-models. The post explains how our perception of both external reality and internal mental states is based on models that can be bistable (flip between two interpretations). Just as optical illusions can flip between two interpretations, our sense of self can flip between different models. This explains phenomena like trance, hypnosis, dissociative disorders, and spiritual experiences. The post details how trance states work through a four-step process of belief, relaxation, suppressing contrary evidence, and gathering supporting evidence, then applies this framework to explain various psychological phenomena including Buddhist enlightenment and Julian Jaynes' theories about ancient consciousness. Shorter summary
Jun 03, 2025
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Choose Nonbook Review Finalists 2025

5 min • 760 words • 297 comments • 70 likes • podcast (7 min)
Scott asks readers to help select finalists for the Non-Book Review Contest by rating entries through a provided form, with voting open until June 20. Longer summary
Scott Alexander announces the voting phase for the Non-Book Review Contest 2025, asking readers to help narrow down 141 entries to about a dozen finalists. He provides links to categorized lists of entries (Other A-I, J-S, T-Z, Games, Music, TV/Movies) and a rating form. He specifically asks readers not to read entries in order but either randomly or based on interest, to ensure more even distribution of votes. The post includes the full list of entries and mentions a June 20 deadline for voting. Shorter summary
May 15, 2025
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Book Review: Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids

43 min • 6,596 words • 724 comments • 497 likes • podcast (41 min)
Scott reviews Bryan Caplan's book arguing that modern parents can relax their intensive parenting, while wrestling with whether this advice still applies in the age of smartphones and social media. Longer summary
Scott reviews Bryan Caplan's book 'Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids', exploring its main arguments about how parents today spend much more time on childcare than previous generations despite evidence that parenting style doesn't greatly affect outcomes. The post explores historical childcare data, the cultural shift away from letting kids play unsupervised, and modern challenges like screen time. Scott, dealing with his own twins, finds the book's advice about relaxing parenting standards compelling but struggles with modern concerns about phones and technology that weren't relevant when the book was written in 2011. Shorter summary
Feb 28, 2025
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Everything-Except-Book Review Contest 2025

4 min • 587 words • 133 comments • 140 likes • podcast (4 min)
Scott announces a contest for reviews of anything except books, with prizes ranging from $500 to $2,500, due May 12th. Longer summary
Scott announces a variation on his yearly book review contest: instead of reviewing books, participants should review anything else - movies, products, societies, abstract concepts, etc. The post outlines the contest rules, including word count guidelines (2,000-10,000 words), submission process through a Google Form, and prize money ($2,500 for first place). Scott emphasizes that submissions should be anonymous and provides formatting guidelines for footnotes. Shorter summary
Dec 04, 2024
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Book Review: From Bauhaus To Our House

59 min • 9,037 words • 684 comments • 348 likes • podcast (58 min)
Scott reviews Tom Wolfe's 'From Bauhaus To Our House', which explains how modernist architecture took over American buildings despite being widely disliked, through a combination of European influence, academic capture, and institutional pressures. Longer summary
The book explores how modern architecture, originating from socialist artistic movements in Europe, conquered American architecture despite being unpopular with the public. After fleeing Nazi Germany, modernist architects were given prestigious positions in American universities, where they quickly eliminated traditional architectural teaching. Though most people disliked the new style, institutional pressures and loss of traditional crafting expertise made it dominant. The book follows the movement's evolution through various schools and styles, all maintaining the core modernist principles while fighting amongst themselves about subtle theoretical differences. Scott praises Wolfe's uncompromising criticism but notes he would have appreciated more explanation of what the architects thought they were achieving. Shorter summary
Nov 12, 2024
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Book Review: The Rise Of Christianity

59 min • 9,077 words • 660 comments • 465 likes • podcast (53 min)
Scott Alexander reviews Rodney Stark's 'The Rise of Christianity', which examines factors contributing to Christianity's growth from a small cult to a dominant religion in the Roman Empire. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reviews 'The Rise of Christianity' by Rodney Stark, which explores how Christianity grew from a small cult to dominate Western history. Stark, a sociologist, applies modern religious study insights to early Christianity. The book argues that Christianity's growth was steady and explainable through factors like social networks, appeal to women, fertility differences, plague survival, and moral teachings. Scott analyzes each argument, finding some more convincing than others, and ultimately suggests that Christianity's unique emphasis on love and virtue may have been its most significant advantage. Shorter summary
Oct 17, 2024
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Book Review: Deep Utopia

34 min • 5,137 words • 579 comments • 256 likes • podcast (30 min)
Scott Alexander reviews Nick Bostrom's 'Deep Utopia', which explores the concept of a technologically perfect utopia and discusses how to maintain meaning and purpose in such a world. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reviews Nick Bostrom's book 'Deep Utopia', which explores the concept of a technologically advanced utopia where all problems are solved and people can do whatever they want. The book discusses whether such a utopia would be fulfilling or boring, and proposes various solutions to maintain meaning and purpose in such a world. Scott analyzes Bostrom's ideas, critiques some aspects, and expands on the concept, considering additional implications and scenarios not fully explored in the book. Shorter summary
Oct 11, 2024
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Book Review Contest 2024 Winners

10 min • 1,500 words • 249 comments • 136 likes • podcast (8 min)
Scott Alexander announces the winners and finalists of the 2024 Book Review Contest, with prizes for the top three reviews. Longer summary
Scott Alexander announces the winners of the 2024 Book Review Contest. The top three winners are Amanda's review of 'Two Arms And A Head', David Matolcsi's review of 'Nine Lives', and Jack Thorlin's review of 'How The War Was Won'. The post lists the other finalists and honorable mentions, providing brief descriptions of the reviewers. Scott mentions potential changes to the contest format for future years, considering an 'Everything-Except-Book-Reviews' contest for next year. Shorter summary
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