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Animal Spirits Podcast

Animal Spirits is a show about markets, life, and investing. Join Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson as they talk about what they're reading, writing, listening to and watching. Look for new episodes every Wednesday morning. See our disclosures here - https://ritholtzwealth.com/podcast-youtube-disclosures/

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What the Hell Just Happened?! (EP. 490)
Nov 2026 · 3 books
Cover of Fooled by Randomness
Fooled by Randomness
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“I think it was fooled by randomness, as a matter of fact, where he was talking about, I don't know why this one stuck to my memory”
Cover of The Happiness Curve: Life Gets Better After 50
The Happiness Curve: Life Gets Better After 50
Jonathan Rauch
“The book that I recommended last week is called The Happiness Curve”
Cover of You Weren't Supposed to See That
You Weren't Supposed to See That
Josh Brown
“Josh wrote a book or a blog post, which he turned into a book called You Weren't Supposed to See That”
Talk Your Book: Customized and Income
Nov 2026
Drowning Financially (EP. 489)
Nov 2026 · 1 book
Cover of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Chris Miller
“I can't remember how they described it in a chip wars. It was like we basically took sand and glass and turned it into like super intelligence”
Talk Your Book: Diversifying the AI Trade
Nov 2026
Why Baby Boomers Have All the Money (EP. 488)
Oct 2026 · 1 book
Cover of East of Eden
East of Eden
John Steinbeck
“East of Eden, which is a Steinbeck novel I never read”
Talk Your Book: Beyond Bonds in Retirement
Oct 2026
Talk Your Book: Investing in Single Stock Futures
Oct 2026
It's a Bloodbath (EP. 487)
Oct 2026 · 6 books
Cover of Bull: A History of the Boom and Bust, 1982-2004
Bull: A History of the Boom and Bust, 1982-2004
Maggie Mahar
“Maggie Mayhar has this book called Bull. It's one of the great financial market history books that no one ever talks about”
Cover of More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
Sebastian Mallaby
“if you read a lot of like the More Money Than God books Like Michael Steinhart and stuff, a lot of the stuff they did. Would be illegal today”
Cover of Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Anthony Bourdain
“I actually just listened to Kitchen Confidential this year. So it's this is still pretty fresh, so a lot of the stories from the book. they used in the movie”
Cover of The Accidental Billionaires
The Accidental Billionaires
Ben Mezrich
“I read The Accidental Billionaires in two thousand nine when it came out. That's the book that Social Network is based on. Ben Mezrick wrote it”
Cover of Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir
Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir
Jann Wenner
“I'm listening to uh Like a Rolling Stone. I don't know. The Yan Winter Book. The creator of Rolling Stone, the magazine”
Cover of The Restaurant
The Restaurant
Keith McNally
“I listened to your Keith McNally book, The Restaurant One. I guess I'm in restaurant stuff”
Talk Your Book: The Case for Value and Momentum
Oct 2026
Are Higher Rates Worse Than ZIRP? (EP. 486)
Oct 2026 · 6 books
Cover of The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
Scott Galloway
“Scott Galloway's book came out the four. That was I think what like really made this take off'cause he gave that incredible talk that went viral”
Cover of The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door
Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
“that's why I think that Everywhere Millionaire Millionaire book was so good'cause they used actual tax returns. Of people”
Cover of The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest
The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest
Edward Chancellor
“So did you read the book The Price of Time? Edward Chancellor”
Cover of Generation Uncoupled: A Journey Through the New World of Dating and Relationships
Generation Uncoupled: A Journey Through the New World of Dating and Relationships
Daniel Cox
“Derek Thompson Interviewed Daniel Cox. Who is the author of a book called Generation Uncoupled”
Cover of The Glass Hotel
The Glass Hotel
Emily St. John Mandel
“This was on Anthony Jazzelnik's book club, The Glass Hotel by Emily Saint John Mandel”
Cover of Station Eleven
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
“One was Station Eleven, which is an awesome mini series in HBO. One of my favorites”
Talk Your Book: Will AI Debt Cause a Recession?
Oct 2026
Sudden Wealth Syndrome (EP. 485)
Oct 2026 · 4 books
HD
Hey Dad, Tell Me Something I Don't Know: A Fun and Memorable Activity and Family Keepsake
Unknown
“my dad returned this book to me. Hey Dad, tell me something I don't know. A fun and memorable activity and family keepsake”
Cover of Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World
Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World
Robin Wigglesworth
“a fabulous debt by Robin Wigglesworth for the FT ... This book is fantastic”
Cover of The History of the National Debt
The History of the National Debt
Thomas Babington Macaulay
“I want to reuse something. It was written. By Thomas McCauly in eighteen forty eight ... this is like the historical bond market book”
Cover of Sly: Stallone
Sly: Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
“the steps. By one Sylvester Stallone. And He read the book ... it went deep into His His childhood until he made Rocky”
Talk Your Book: How Higher Rates Are Re-Shaping Commercial Real Estate
Oct 2026
Will Higher Rates Kill the Stock Market? (EP. 484)
Sep 2026 · 2 books
Cover of Tough as They Come: A Memoir
Tough as They Come: A Memoir
Marcy Taschman
“on the flight I listened to Ari Manuel's book. Which Is awesome. And the narrator matters a ton. Bob Odenkirk”
Cover of The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door
Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
“Finally, I I listened to the Everywhere millionaire. We talked about it a few weeks ago. This is like the finance book of the year”
Talk Your Book: The Next Generation of Income Strategies
Sep 2026
The Wobbly House of Cards (EP. 483)
Sep 2026 · 2 books
Cover of Don't Fall For It: A Short History of Financial Scams
Don't Fall For It: A Short History of Financial Scams
Ben Carlson
“The railway build out, which I did I did some pretty extensive research for one of my books. It was all funded by the public”
Cover of Rich Dad Poor Dad
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Robert Kiyosaki
“Didn't you read Rich Dad, poor dad? Have you learned nothing from Robert Kayasaki”
Talk Your Book: Price Is the Ultimate Factor
Sep 2026
How to Talk To Your Clients About Ray Dalio (EP. 482)
Sep 2026 · 3 books
Cover of The Notebook
The Notebook
Nicholas Sparks
“Wait, is he an actor? No, he's a he's a author who who wrote the book The No who did the movie The Notebook”
Cover of Twilight
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
“So she's watching the Twilight movies, which I'd never watched before. Remember the books were huge”
Cover of How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle
How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle
Ray Dalio
“Right, there's there's no backtracking from he that's literally the name of one of his books, How Countries Go Broke”
Talk Your Book: Why Aren't There More IPOs?
Sep 2026
Everywhere Millionaires (EP. 481)
Sep 2026 · 2 books
Cover of Rich Dad Poor Dad
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Robert Kiyosaki
“I was listen. I read the book Rich Dead Poor Dad”
Cover of Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done
David Allen
“he talked about this book called uh Getting Things Done, which is productivity thing”
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