The Dumbest Books of 2021 (Darts and Letters ep43 w/ Luke Savage & David Moscrop)

The first annual Dumb Book Awards turns the page on 2021 as Washington Post columnist David Moscrop and Jacobin staff writer Luke Savage join host Gordon Katic to review the mostly mediocre 'The Two Michaels: Innocent Canadian Captives and High Stakes Espionage in the US-China Cyber War', Pete Buttigieg’s totally terrible 'Trust: America’s Best Chance' and more.

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SHOW NOTES:
First, (@4:09) the two Michaels and Meng affair gripped Canada and the world for the better part of three years. Could a single book capture the intricacies, context, and implications of that behemoth geopolitical moment? Washington Post columnist, podcaster and Darts and Letters show-notes writer/guy writing this sentence David Moscrop argues…maybe. But it’s certainly not The Two Michaels: Innocent Canadian Captives and High Stakes Espionage in the US-China Cyber War by Mike Blanchfield and Fen Osler Hampson.

Then, (@17:39) some argue trust is the glue that holds society together. But what if a book mangled the concept and mobilized it with a series of vapid phrases designed to superficially inspire centrists as only such a book–and maybe an episode of the West Wing–could? And what if that same book was written by one of the least trustworthy people in politics? Jacobin staff writer and co-host of the podcast Michael and Us Luke Savage makes the case for Pete Buttigieg’s Trust: America’s Best Chance.

Finally, (@29:01) the left needs to understand and contend with serious, right-wing books that seek to chart the course for the future of the ideology. Scholar, PillPod podcaster, and writer Matt McManus has found two offerings that are…not that. But they need to be reckoned with in their own way anyway. He takes down Ben Shapiro’s The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent and Mark Levin’s American Marxism.