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A Caller's Request Sparks a Literary Journey
During a recent call-in segment, a listener named Brandon asked Charlie Kirk for a comprehensive reading list. Brandon explained his habit of screenshotting every book Kirk mentions on the show, adding them to an album before eventually purchasing them. As a groundskeeper at John Deere who listens to podcasts all day and reads voraciously at night, Brandon represents the kind of self-directed learner Kirk frequently champions.
Kirk acknowledged that this request comes up often and proceeded to share an extensive list of books spanning theology, philosophy, political theory, business, and Western civilization.
Essential Reads on Faith and Meaning
Kirk began with what he considers foundational texts. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl topped his list as a very important read. He enthusiastically recommended anything by CS Lewis, particularly Mere Christianity, which he loves.
Kirk revealed he's currently working through a serious theological text called Doctrine by Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears. The 345-page book was recommended to him by several people and has taken him a couple of months to get through, which he described as unusually long for him.
Kirk also mentioned plans to read I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Frank Turek, admitting he's never actually read the book despite his friendship with the author.
Political and Philosophical Foundations
For understanding political philosophy and the foundations of American government, Kirk emphasized several classics. He encouraged people to read George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Brandon mentioned he's currently reading the Federalist Papers, which Kirk praised.
Kirk recommended The Conservative Mind as a book he read a couple summers ago and enjoyed. He also mentioned The Road to Serfdom as a no-brainer for anyone interested in political philosophy. For a more provocative take, he suggested The Death of the West by Patrick Buchanan as a fabulous book.
Business and Personal Development
Shifting to business literature, Kirk expressed his love for Good to Great, describing it as very good for business scaling for anyone with a business mindset. This recommendation suggests Kirk's reading spans beyond purely political and theological interests into practical leadership and organizational management.
Celebrating Western Civilization
Kirk showed particular enthusiasm for books that celebrate Western civilization and its achievements. He highly recommended The Book That Built Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi, describing it as a fabulous work that brags about Western civilization and the beauty of the Bible from an Indian outsider's perspective.
He also mentioned Winston Churchill's extensive writings, particularly The History of the English-Speaking Peoples, though Kirk admitted he hasn't read it himself despite people recommending it to him.
Contemporary Social Issues
Kirk discussed more recent reads addressing modern challenges. He highly recommended The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, calling it very well-cited, thoroughly researched, and very funny. However, he humorously noted that the entire book can essentially be summarized in one lesson: cell phones are awful for kids.
He also mentioned reading Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke, which he described as very good. These contemporary works show Kirk's interest in understanding modern psychological and social challenges facing society.
Kirk's Writing Projects
Toward the end of the conversation, Kirk revealed he's been working intensively on his own writing. He mentioned spending a month and a half with his head down on literally just one book, trying to summarize it—an unusually long time for him.
Kirk announced he has another book coming out, scheduled for December release. Titled Stop in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Shabbat Will Transform Your Life, the book will explore the transformative power of observing the Sabbath. He mentioned still needing to put together an editing team and committee for the project.
The Importance of Lifelong Learning
Throughout the conversation, Kirk emphasized the importance of being and staying a lifelong learner. He praised Brandon's self-directed education approach, which combines listening to podcasts during work, taking Hillsdale College online courses, and reading extensively at home.
Kirk acknowledged that his team needs to do a better job cataloging book recommendations at charliekirk.com, recognizing the demand from listeners who want to follow his reading journey and recommendations.
Video Transcript
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[00:22] angel.com/charlie. Don't miss The Last
[00:24] Rodeo, only in theaters. Brandon, thank
[00:27] you for being a member. Let's go,
[00:28] Brandon. What's on your mind?
[00:31] Good morning, Charlie. Can you hear me?
[00:33] I can. Yes. How are you doing? Good. How
[00:36] are you? Very good. Uh I was uh Please
[00:39] continue. I was just wondering uh if we
[00:42] can get like a Charlie Kirk team reading
[00:44] list, you know, your your reading list,
[00:46] what you have, what you've read, what
[00:48] you want to read. you know, maybe
[00:50] Blakes's and there's anyone who wants to
[00:52] pitch in because like every time you
[00:54] mention a book on your show, I'll go
[00:57] Google it, screenshot it, and add it to
[00:58] an album and then eventually, you know,
[01:00] I buy it or I work on buying it.
[01:04] So, uh, we we we get this a lot. So,
[01:08] let me just kind of go through some of
[01:10] the basics. Uh, obviously, man's search
[01:12] for meaning
[01:13] with by Victor Frankle uh is very very
[01:17] important. uh anything by CS Lewis, so
[01:20] mere Christianity uh in particular,
[01:24] which I love. Uh I'm currently working
[01:27] through a book called Doctrine uh by
[01:29] Mark Driscoll and and Gary Basher
[01:32] because it was recommended uh to me by a
[01:34] couple people. That is a serious read,
[01:36] I'll tell you what. Is 345
[01:38] pages full. I mean, it is like it is a
[01:42] huge book. It's been actually taken me
[01:44] like a couple months. Anything. But so I
[01:47] obviously I encourage people to read
[01:48] 1984 Brave New World. I'm also going to
[01:51] planning to read I don't have enough
[01:52] faith to be an atheist by my friend
[01:54] Frank Turk. I've actually never uh read
[01:56] the book I don't have enough faith to be
[01:58] an atheist. Let me think about I mean I
[02:00] got like 300 books on my book stand,
[02:03] some of which that I'm working. I
[02:04] finished uh I finished your Right-wing
[02:06] Revolution. Oh, thank you. And so that
[02:08] little section of the of the books you
[02:10] recommended, I put all those in uh my
[02:13] Amazon cart and I've ordered a couple.
[02:16] Uh I'm reading the Federalist Papers
[02:17] right now. Uh that's taking a little
[02:19] bit. Amazing. I What do you do?
[02:24] Uh so I'm I'm I'm not in college right
[02:26] now, but I I go to school. I have a year
[02:28] left. Uh but right now I'm a
[02:30] groundskeeper at John Deere. So I just I
[02:33] listen to your podcasts all day. uh Ali
[02:36] Beth Stucky, you know, I'm taking uh
[02:38] Hillsdale online courses right now.
[02:40] That's what I'm talking about. I love
[02:41] it. And then I get home and read as much
[02:44] as I can.
[02:46] Well, that that first of all, yes,
[02:48] charlieforhillsdale.com
[02:49] is just phenomenal. Charlie
[02:51] forhillsdale.com.
[02:53] Let me recommend a couple other books to
[02:54] you. Um I love the book uh Good to
[02:57] Great. It's very good for business
[02:59] scaling if you have kind of a business
[03:01] mind. Um, I I really enjoyed the
[03:04] conservative mind. I read that a couple
[03:06] summers ago. Obviously, the road to
[03:07] surfom is kind of a no-brainer. Uh,
[03:11] anything Churchill wrote a bunch of
[03:13] books. I think he had the history of the
[03:14] English-speaking peoples. I think that
[03:15] was it. I actually have never read it,
[03:17] but uh people you recommended that one.
[03:20] Highly recommend. I still need to read
[03:22] that. Uh, you could also, if you want
[03:23] more provocative, The Death of the West
[03:25] by Patrick Buchanan um is a fabulous
[03:27] book. And then I love the book that
[03:29] built your world by Vashall Mangalwaldi.
[03:32] I love it. It brags about Western
[03:34] civilization and about the beauty of the
[03:36] Bible from an Indian outsers's
[03:38] perspective. Um, it's really fabulous.
[03:40] So, we got to do a better job of
[03:41] cataloging that at charliekirk.com. But,
[03:44] I've had my head down on literally just
[03:46] one book for a month and a half. That's
[03:47] a long time for me. Um, just trying to
[03:49] summarize one book. I also read another
[03:51] book by Jonathan Height recently, uh,
[03:55] called The Anxious Generation. Highly
[03:58] recommend it. Uh it's very wellstied,
[04:01] thoroughly researched. Uh it's very
[04:02] funny. Uh by the way, Hakee the Dream,
[04:04] dollar store Obama is done. Great.
[04:06] Terrific. Um but Anxious Generation is
[04:08] really good, but you can literally
[04:11] summarize anxious generation in one big
[04:13] lesson. Cell phones are awful for kids.
[04:16] So it's like that's the whole book. Uh
[04:19] but I've also read Dop Dopamine Nation.
[04:21] Yes. Um by Anna Lumpki. I read it. Uh
[04:25] very very good. Um, so I love those
[04:28] books. And uh, by the way, I have
[04:29] another book coming out. Should be in
[04:31] December. I still need to put an editing
[04:33] team and committee together. So Blake,
[04:35] you're gonna have some work on your
[04:36] hands, but it's going to it's called
[04:38] Stop in the Name of God. Why honoring
[04:41] the Shabbat will transform your life.
[04:43] Thank you, Brett. God bless you, man. Be
[04:45] come and stay a lifelong learner.
[04:48] Charlie forhillsdale.com.
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[05:05] Register now and get your tickets.
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