# If Books Could Kill podcast 10 Hacker News commenters recommended If Books Could Kill podcast and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Entertaining podcast that takes apart popular books and current ideas. Critics say it looks for problems where none exist. ## Why people recommend it - Entertaining and well liked (3 comments): "it is quite entertaining, considering the subject matter" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47143771)) "I highly recommend the podcast: If Books Could Kill." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48566469)) "I'm very fond of If Books Could Kill." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47301598)) - Covers current stories and ideas (3 comments): "If you like Podcasts the "If Books Could Kill" Podcast goes into some of this story again too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48027094)) "what really sent me over the edge was the "if books could kill" podcast episode about it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47803748)) "See also the 'If books could kill' podcast's take" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46182371)) ## What people warn about - Looks for problems where none exist (1 comments): "I think the podcast is mostly looking for problems where there aren't any." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48575382)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Dwarkesh Podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dwarkesh-podcast.md): 29 recommend - [Oxide and Friends](https://hackerapproved.com/p/oxide-and-friends-podcast.md): 26 recommend - [Acquired podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/acquired-podcast.md): 25 recommend - [Behind the Bastards podcast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/behind-the-bastards-podcast.md): 18 recommend - [Mindscape podcast by Sean Carroll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mindscape-podcast.md): 18 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "If Books Could Kill podcast", https://hackerapproved.com/p/if-books-could-kill-podcast/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).