My favourite books this year

Politics, epistemology, rationality, wokeism, climate change, and more

Readers,

Happy Holidays. Thanks for reading and engaging with this blog. Instead of an implausibly and unreadably long essay, this week’s post lists some of my favourite books from this year.

Best,

Dan

Books published in 2024 that I enjoyed

1. Invisible Rulers - Renée DiResta

I thought I would dislike this book. That’s not because I had been duped by the aggressive demonising campaign launched against DiResta by America’s right-wing culture warriors and professional contrarian class. It’s because I assumed it would embody a conventional wisdom concerning topics like “misinformation” and “disinformation” I think is profoundly mistaken. I was wrong. Although there’s plenty I disagree with (more on which in 2025), it provides an insightful and epistemologically nuanced analysis of how biased narratives and “bespoke realities” are propagated, elaborated, and rationalised in the digital age. I’d highly recommend it to readers of this blog.

2. We Have Never Been Woke - Musa al-Gharbi

This is the best thing I’ve read about “wokeism”, which Al-Gharbi situates within an insightful sociological analysis of the knowledge economy and the “symbolic capitalists” who thrive within it. Such capitalists, he argues, benefit from and perpetuate the very social inequalities condemned by the woke ideology they embrace. Although al-Gharbi argues that the book is not intended as a cynical analysis, it identifies an extreme mismatch between the high ideals with which progressive professionals understand and present their behaviour and the grubby status-seeking motives that actually drive it. As a cynic, I have no issues with that. I think my main disagreement with the book is that its analysis and critique of wokeism are extremely—and, I think, excessively—woke. Again, more on this (and other disagreements) in 2025…

3. On the Edge - Nate Silver

This is a weird book. It’s meandering and digressive. It lacks a conventional structure. And it covers an extremely diverse range of topics (e.g., gambling, politics, philosophy, forecasting, rationalism, effective altruism, Sam Bankman-Fried, artificial intelligence, and much more). Somehow it works. It’s one of the most interesting and insightful books I read this year and by far the most entertaining. The complex and often-hostile relationship between what Silver calls “The Village” (roughly, the liberal establishment) and “The River” (a diverse community united by professional risk-taking and distinctive modes of thought) is an important and yet under-appreciated aspect of many Western societies. When imagining The Village’s influential ideological antagonists, for example, most people think of the emotive and parochial cognitive style of modern populists rather than, say, Scott Alexander (or Silver himself). This book demonstrates what an oversight that is.

4. Not the End of the World - Hannah Ritchie

One of the most consequential and damaging forms of “misinformation” in the modern world is the extreme alarmism or outright doomism peddled by modern progressives on the topic of climate change. (Unsurprisingly, there is almost no attention on this misinformation within the anti-misinformation industry). I frequently talk to students who think that climate change means that the world is shortly going to end and that humans are going to go extinct. Although Ritchie goes to great lengths to identify the real dangers posed by climate change and other environmental problems, she demonstrates that the incessant catastrophising surrounding such issues is not supported by evidence or plausible forecasts.

4. Marx - Jaime Edwards and Brian Leiter

Marx is probably the most influential philosopher of all time. This is an exceptionally clear overview of his main ideas and arguments. This clarity is rare when it comes to quasi-religious figures like Marx because clearly and precisely stating their views exposes them to empirical disconfirmation and rational criticism, something which a guru’s followers—and Marx is effectively treated like a guru by many people—want to avoid. And this makes sense: although it clearly wasn’t the authors’ intention, my main takeaway from the book is that Marx was completely mistaken on almost every point of substance and detail.

5. Political Epistemology - Michael Hannon and Elise Woodard

This book isn’t published yet, but I read an advanced copy. Michael and Elise are two of my favourite philosophers, and many of my intellectual interests focus on political epistemology, broadly construed. Given this, I was excited to read this book. It didn’t disappoint. It’s extremely clear, well-structured, and insightful. It’s also the first systematic introduction of its kind to political epistemology. I’ve added it to the reading list for an advanced undergraduate module I’m teaching next year on “Politics, truth, and ideology”. I’d highly recommend it to readers of this blog.

6. Late Admissions - Glenn Loury

I usually avoid memoirs. Nevertheless, I made an exception for this one because Glenn Loury is one of my favourite public intellectuals. As someone who tries to publish high-quality academic research, write for a general audience, and sometimes do public speaking, I know how hard it is to succeed in any one of these domains. Somehow Loury has mastered all three: he produces rigorous and profound social-scientific research, he’s a brilliant writer, and he’s probably the most eloquent and engaging speaker on political issues alive today (especially when he’s ranting). He’s also had an incredibly interesting life. When combined with his game-theoretic reflections on the very concept of memoirs - why would readers trust the testimony of an author who has every incentive to paint their life in a self-aggrandising way? - the result is one of the most gripping and incisive books I read this year.

Some books not published in 2024 that I enjoyed

1. Elite Capture - Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

2. Cooperation and Social Justice - Joseph Heath

3. Enlightenment 2.0 - Joseph Heath

4. Origins of Political Order and Political Order and Political Decay - Francis Fukuyama

5. The Great Leveler - Walter Scheidel

6. Violence and Social Orders - Douglass C. North, John Joseph Wallis, Barry R. Weingast