Our hosts have ideas about what sort of books should have been included on the Voyager spacecraft, to support its heartwarming mission of spreading humanity to the stars. Would you have just sent the aliens your favorite book? Because maybe they don’t have the context to understand what a “Da Vinci Code” even is. And speaking of putting a lot of pressure on a book, TV creator Michael Schur’s How to Be Perfect put that pressure on itself. Philosophical ethics never sounded so good.

How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur

Works cited this episode:

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare Bridgerton series, Julia Quinn Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk Twilight, Stephenie Meyer The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee The Ride of the Valkyries, Richard Wagner “Queen of the Night,” The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry The Three-Body Problem, CIxin Liu Contact, Carl Sagan The Art of War, Sun Tzu Silo, created by Graham Yost Fox in Socks, Dr. Seuss The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss Galaxy Quest, dir. Dean Parisot The Tragedy of King Lear, William Shakespeare The Office, developed by Greg Daniels Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur The Good Place, created by Michael Schur The Apology of Socrates, Plato Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, dir. Ed Solomon The Simpsons and Philosophy, William Irwin, Mark T. Conrad, Aeon J. Skoble, editors Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts, David Baggett, Shawn E. Klein, William Irwin, editors The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy, Luke Cuddy, editor Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy, Erin McKenna, Scott L. Pratt, editors Radiohead and Philosophy, Brandon W. Forbes, George A. Reisch, editors Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig

Author and screenwriter Chris Hauty joined us to discuss his latest thriller, Dead Ringer, which imagines a conspiracy around the JFK assassination—and if you think you’ve heard it all before on this topic, we assure you this novel will take you somewhere you were not expecting. Chris shared his surprising influences and offered insights about where Hollywood and book publishing overlap (and where they don’t).

Then, we ponder why books are such popular gifts when they’re actually rather fraught as an item to give someone else. What if they don’t like it? Or don’t even like books? Or you’re trying too hard? Or … what if we’re overthinking this topic. Hmm.

Dead Ringer by Chris Hauty is out now.

Works cited this episode:

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

Notes of a Dirty Old Man, Charles Bukowski

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, dir. Quentin Tarantino

Sniper: Ultimate Kill, dir. Claudio Fäh

Three Days of the Condor, dir. Sydney Pollack

Winter’s Bone, dir. Debra Granik

Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

The Gift, Lewis Hyde

“The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry

Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy

Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl

Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton

Dog Man, Dav Pilkey

Our Share of Night, Mariana Enriquez

Sister Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson, Claire Hoffman

They Flew: A History of the Impossible, Carlos Eire

Why? The Purpose of the Universe, Philip Goff

The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead

“Don’t Buy Me Books,” Katherine Marciniak, Bookriot

All those “best books of the year” lists are bogus marketing material that flattens the distinct reading experience that any individual brings to a book they interact with. We tore apart the very concept of those lists in this episode. Then we shared our own Best Books list! Hypocrisy, or nuanced ability to delicately balance competing perspectives? Eh.

Also, what is Author X up to with that crummy novel they released this year? Blind and not-so-blind items on the year’s worst books.

Works cited this episode:

Books We Love, National Public Radio

100 Notable Books of 2025, The New York Times

Sunshine on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins

Audition, Katie Mitamura

Spent, Alison Bechdel

“In Defense of the Traditional Review,” Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Luminous, Silvia Park

Audition, Pip Adam

Terrestrial History, Joe Mungo Reed

What We Can Know, Ian McEwan

The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu

Shadow Ticket, Thomas Pynchon

Of Monsters and Mainframes, Barbara Truelove

The Merge, Grace Walker

Severance, created by Dan Erickson

Severance, Ling Ma

The Unveiling, Quan Barry

Will There Ever Be Another You, Patricia Lockwood

Bind Me Tighter Still, Lara Ehrlich

Old Soul, Susan Barker

Metallic Realms, Lincoln Michel

Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov

Alchemised, SenLinYu