Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Professor Sven Beckert for a compelling discussion of his book Capitalism: A Global History, a sweeping account of the economic system that has transformed how we live, work, and organize our societies. Together, they explore the origins and evolution of capitalism over the past millennium, challenging the idea that it was simply a Western invention. Beckert traces capitalism’s development across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the America...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and philosopher Professor Steven Nadler for a thought-provoking discussion of Baruch Spinoza and Nadler’s book, Spinoza: Atheist. Together, they explore Spinoza’s extraordinary life, his excommunication from Amsterdam’s Jewish community, and his groundbreaking ideas about religion, science, politics, and human freedom. At the heart of the conversation is Spinoza’s controversial conception of God: was he an atheist, a pantheist, or something else e...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Sam Dalrymple for a fascinating discussion of his book Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia. Drawing on extensive archival research, personal histories, and overlooked narratives, Dalrymple reveals how the dissolution of the British Raj reshaped a vast region stretching from Yemen and the Gulf to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, giving rise to many of the political fault lines that continue to defin...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and tax policy expert Professor Dorothy A. Brown for a thought-provoking discussion of her books, The Whiteness of Wealth and Getting to Reparations. Drawing on decades of research, Brown examines how seemingly race-neutral tax policies have contributed to widening racial wealth disparities in the United States and explores what meaningful economic repair could look like in practice. Together, they discuss how the U.S. tax system has historically ...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Professor Rana Mitter, for a compelling discussion of his book Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937–1945. Drawing on extensive archival research and long-overlooked sources, Mitter brings to light China’s central, and often underappreciated, role in the global fight against Imperial Japan during World War II. Together, they explore how China’s prolonged resistance tied down vast numbers of Japanese troops, shaping the broader t...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs for a compelling conversation on Martyrs to the Unspeakable: The Assassinations of JFK, Malcolm, Martin, and RFK by James W. Douglass. In this sweeping work, Douglass reexamines the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, arguing that these four leaders were killed not by isolated actors, but within a deeper context of national security power and Cold War politics. Drawing on extensive documenta...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Michael J. Carley, retired Professeur at the Université de Montréal, for a discussion of his groundbreaking trilogy on the international crises of the 1930s: Stalin’s Gamble, Stalin’s Failed Alliance, and Stalin’s Great Game. Drawing on decades of archival research, Carley challenges the familiar Cold War narrative that paints Stalin and Hitler as “dual dictators” and instead uncovers a forgotten history of the Soviet Union’s sustain...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Yakov M. Rabkin, historian and Professor Emeritus at the University of Montreal, for a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion on the history of Zionism, Jewish thought, and the modern state of Israel. Delving into Rabkin’s path-breaking work, including his newest book, Israel in Palestine: Jewish Rejection of Zionism, Rabkin and Sachs discuss the early opposition to modern Zionism from many parts of the world Jewry, and the deep theological, ...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Professor James Romm, classicist and historian at Bard College, for a captivating discussion on one of the most dramatic and fascinating political experiments of the ancient world: Plato’s involvement with power politics in Syracuse (Siracusa). Drawing on Romm’s newest book, Plato and the Tyrant, Sachs and Romm explore the extraordinary story of how the great philosopher Plato attempted over the course of three decades to bring philosophy into...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Prof. Ilan Pappè, historian at Exeter University, UK, for an in-depth conversation on one of the most enduring and contentious issues of our time: the Israel-Palestine conflict. Drawing on Pappè’s powerful new books—Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic and A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Sachs and Pappè discuss the historical, political, and ideological forces that have shaped the Zionist movement and the o...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and futurist Ray Kurzweil for a compelling conversation on the accelerating pace of technological change and its profound implications for the future of humanity. In his new book, The Singularity Is Nearer, Kurzweil revisits and updates his groundbreaking predictions on AI & AGI, exponential growth, and human evolution and longevity. Together, they explore a future where AI rivals human intelligence by 2029, nanotechnology rebuilds the world a...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and American historian Lauren Benton for a discussion on the hidden histories of empires and the lasting impact of imperial violence. In her book, They Called It Peace: Worlds of Imperial Violence Benton uncovers how European powers built and maintained their empires through relentless cycles of raiding, slaving, and plunder—while portraying their conquests as missions of order and peace. Together, they explore the brutal mechanics of colonial exp...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian, Professor Richard Overy for an insightful conversation on one of humanity’s most unsettling questions: Why do we wage war? In his book, Why War? Overy takes us on a journey across time, from the ancient battlefields of the Roman Empire to the devastation of the World Wars and the conflicts shaping our present. Together, they examine what drives organized violence? Is it hardwired into human nature, or does it stem from competition f...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and global security expert Jon Wolfsthal to unravel the stark reality behind the Doomsday Clock - now set at a perilous 89 seconds to midnight. What does this ominous timepiece truly measure, and why has humanity never been closer to catastrophe? Wolfsthal offers a behind-the-scenes look at the decision-making process that determines the clock’s position and insights into how and if we can move the clock further away from midnight. Together,...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Eugene Rogan, professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford, as they delve into the complex history of the Arab world, from the Ottoman conquest in 1516 to today’s geopolitical crises of the modern Middle East. Through the lens of his acclaimed book The Arabs: A History, Rogan brilliantly examines the long history of foreign domination, the rise of Arab nationalism, the roles of Europe and the US as outside powers, and the unr...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and award-winning journalist Annie Jacobsen as they discuss Jacobsen’s chilling and rigorous depiction of nuclear war in her groundbreaking book, Nuclear War: A Scenario. With meticulous research and interviews with military and political insiders, Jacobsen takes us through a riveting, heart-pounding, second-by-second scenario of a world-ending nuclear war. From the technological aspects of nuclear weapons and missile defense systems to the ...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political scientist Glenn Diesen as they discuss Professor Diesen’s new book, The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order. Professor Diesen explains Europe’s fractured security framework which he believes has steered the continent toward conflict with no clear way to reverse course. The conversation focuses on Ukraine - a nation itself divided within a divided Europe, and a pivotal piece in the deadly geopolitical chess game between NATO an...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and retired Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant Dennis Fritz, a former Pentagon insider, as they explore the extremely important insights in Fritz’s new book, Deadly Betrayal, which uncovers the ugly truths behind the Iraq War in 2003. Drawing from dramatic evidence, Fritz explains how a group of high-level Pentagon officials (a “cabal” in Fritz’s description) in the Bush Jr. Administration manipulated intelligence, pressured other nations, an...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political scientist Aaron Good as they discuss Good’s book, American Exception: Empire and the Deep State. Good delves into the breakdown of U.S. democracy, focusing on the continuity of American foreign policy, the erosion of the rule of law, and the concentration of wealth and power among the corporate elite Together, they uncover the hidden forces shaping American governance, including the creation of a national security state after World W...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professors Jeffrey Sachs, Christina Gerhardt and UN Senior Advisor on Small Island Developing States, Simona Marinescu as they discuss human induced global warming, the implications of rising sea levels, and Gerhardt’s book, Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean. This discussion shifts our focus to the frontlines of climate change—low-lying islands and despite contributing the least to global warming, these islands bear the brunt of its impacts. Togethe...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Alfred de Zayas as they discuss de Zayas’s book, Building a Just World Order which delves into the possibility of a democratic and equitable international order, essential for sustainable development and the welfare of future generations Together, they explore the work of Dr. Alfred de Zayas, the first Independent Expert on a Democratic and Equitable International Order appointed by the UN. They discuss his 14 reports outlining 25 principl...

Send us Fan Mail Please join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and China expert, Jean Dong as they discuss Dong’s fascinating book, Chinese Statecraft in a Changing World: Demystifying Enduring Traditions and Dynamic Constraints. Ms. Dong offers a rich and subtle historical perspective on China’s statecraft, diplomacy, and national objectives. Her historically based analysis offers us great insights into the new geopolitics of our age. Together, Prof. Sachs and Ms. Dong explore the hi...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Monika Wiesak as they discuss one of America's most iconic leaders in, America's Last President: What the World Lost When It Lost John F. Kennedy. Listen in as they delve into the thrilling saga of a young, audacious visionary who dared to challenge the status quo and redefine the course of history. Together, they uncover the untold story of courage and sacrifice of JFK’s legacy—one where he embarked on a daring mission to reshape the world or...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs in his conversation with authors James and Tom Risen on their important, new book The Last Honest Man, a gripping biography of Idaho Senator, Frank Church. The Risens describe the remarkable events of 1975, when Senator Church almost single-handedly took on the CIA and FBI, to hold them accountable for serious crimes that they had committed, including the CIA’s assassination plots and the CIA’s and FBI’s illegal surveillance of American citi...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professors Jeffrey Sachs and Bryan Van Norden as they discuss Prof. Van Norden’s book, Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto. As a leading expert in Chinese philosophy, Prof. Van Norden promotes an inclusive, multicultural approach to philosophical inquiry, and urges educational institutions to uphold cosmopolitan ideals. Together, they delve into Prof. Van Norden’s powerful critique of American higher education's neglect of philosophical traditions fr...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professors Jeffrey Sachs and an expert on religious conflict, Richard E. Rubenstein as they discuss Rubenstein’s book, Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages. Rubenstein skillfully guides us through the vivid controversies of the Middle Ages, making the philosophical debates of yesteryear both lively and accessible Together, they discuss the riveting events that unfolded - sparking riots, initia...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political and media analyst Norman Solomon as they discuss Solomon’s important new book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine. Listen in as Solomon and Sachs explore the intricate interplay between the mainstream media and powerful political forces that promote America’s disastrous “wars of choice” – including the US-led wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and currently the US-Russia proxy war in U...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and economist David Daokui Li as they discuss Professor Li’s brilliant new book, China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict. Listen in as Professor Li explains the deep nature of Chinese politics and economics – based on China’s long history, Confucian culture, and meritocratic political system. Together, they delve into a wide-ranging discussion of politics, education, philosophy, culture, and international relations....

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Jessica Rawson, one of the world’s most eminent scholars of China, as they discuss Rawson’s book, Life and Afterlife in Ancient China. Listen in to learn about the roots of Chinese civilization through the stories of twelve grand tombs, each helping to reveal a pivotal phase in China’s history. Together, they discuss the political, geographical, technological, and cultural evolution of China. Professor Rawson offers profound and fascinat...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political scientist Lindsey O’Rourke as they discuss O’Rourke’s remarkable book, Covert Regime Change. US foreign policy is based heavily on trying to overthrow foreign governments, and O’Rourke’s account is a powerful and deeply scholarly account of America’s frequent resort to secretive regime-change operations. Her book focuses on the Cold War years (1947-1989), but Sachs and O’Rourke bring the issues up to the current day. &nbs...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political scientist John Mearsheimer as they discuss Professor Mearsheimer’s latest book, How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy. Hailed as the most influential foreign policy realist of his generation, Mearsheimer and co-author Prof. Sebastian Rosato provide a groundbreaking examination of a central question in international relations: Do states act rationally? Together, they discuss the book’s core idea: that states are generall...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and economist Francisco Rodriguez as they discuss Professor Rodriguez’s newest publication, The Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions. Prof. Rodriguez is an expert on the use of unilateral economic sanctions - when one country imposes economic costs on another, and shares insights on the US as the main user of such unilateral economic sanctions. Professor Rodriguez offers us a comprehensive assessment of the effects of unilateral sanctions on t...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and two of the world's leading experts on the economics of wellbeing, Lord Richard Layard and Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve to discuss their newest book, Wellbeing: Science and Policy. Together, they examine how wellbeing can be measured and how it can be promoted today and for future generations. What produces a happy life and a happy society? Layard’s and De Neve’s new book offers a systematic exploration that brings together a fascinating and ...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Professor Bruce Cumings, renowned historian and expert in East-Asian history, to discuss Cuming’s book, The Korean War. Together, they discuss the factors that led to the Korean War, its brutal trajectory, and its powerful and fateful impacts US foreign policy. The Korean War, though little known or understood today, continues to cast a long shadow on geopolitics and US foreign policy up to this day. Cumings offers a profound...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and bestselling science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, to discuss Robinson’s recent books The Ministry for the Future and New York 2140 for a thought provoking conversation on how climate change has and will potentially affect us all. Together, they explore climate change as an existential threat and the plausible and tumultuous ways the climate crisis will shape our future. What happens as we push beyond planetary boundari...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professors Jeffrey Sachs and Chris Coyne, economist and author of In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace, for an eye-opening examination on whether interventionist methods should ever have a place in foreign policy. Together, they discuss American imperialism and militaristic culture around the world, proving that nonviolent approaches to domestic and international conflicts not only minimize violence, but also promote...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Professor Glenn Denning, a world-leading specialist in agricultural and food policy to discuss Denning’s new book Universal Food Security: How to End Hunger While Protecting the Planet. Together, they explore how we can achieve a food-secure world while protecting the planet through sustainable agricultural technologies, farm practices, and healthy diets. Their discussion ranges broadly over the choices of agricultural technology,...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professors Jeffrey Sachs and Orlando Figes, historian and author of The Crimean War (2012) and his new book, The Story of Russia (2022), in a fascinating discussion of Russian history and ideas about Russian history. Together, they examine the 19th century Crimean War and the powerful light that the Crimean War, 170 years ago, sheds on the current conflict in Ukraine. More generally, Sachs and Figes explore Russia’s complex relationship with the West, and the ideas that ...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, join Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa, and Professor K. Srinath Reddy for their discussion of The Lancet Commission Report on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, they discuss the background to the Commission and the key findings after two years of research. They discuss the possible origins of the virus that causes Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2; including the possibilities that the virus emerged from laboratory re...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Professor Christopher Blattman, to explore the dynamics of war and peace as they discuss Blattman’s, Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace. In his newest book, Blattman argues that violence is not the norm; that there are five reasons why wars break out; and how peacemakers can draw on these reasons to prevent and stop wars. Together, they explore the dynamics of war and peace: how communities resolve conflicts, and...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and neuroscientist Anil Seth, author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness to explore the hard problem of consciousness. Because the deep puzzles of consciousness can’t be solved head-on with existing scientific methods, Seth aims to gradually “dissolve” the problem by looking at levels of consciousness, the content of consciousness, and the mystery of the sense of self. Together, they unpack several of the hard questions: How can physical ...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Peter H. Lindert, economic historian and author of Making Social Spending Work in which Lindert examines how social spending relates to economic growth in various countries and the emphasis we must place on investing in the young. Together, they examine the history of public social spending and address the key challenges around intergenerational inequality and fiscal redistribution, the returns on investment in human capital, how to deal...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Casey Michel, journalist and author of “American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World’s Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History.” In his debut book, Michel offers a deep investigation into how the US built the largest illicit offshore finance system the world has ever known. Together, they examine just how the US implosion into a center of global offshoring took place, what that means for the rest of the world, and its vast im...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Heather Cox Richardson, renowned historian and author of How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America in which Richardson argues that while the North prevailed in the American Civil War, ending slavery and giving the country a “new birth of freedom,” democracy’s blood-soaked victory was ephemeral. Together, they discuss the myth that the Civil War released the US from the grip of oliga...

Send us Fan Mail John Professor Jeffrey Sachs and award-winning historian, Dr. Keisha Blain, as they discuss her latest book, Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America. Together, they will situate Fannie Lou Hamer as a key political thinker alongside leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks while illustrating how her ideas remain salient for a new generation of activists committed to dismantling systems of oppression in the United States and ac...

Send us Fan Mail John Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Corey Robin, political theorist and author of The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump in which Robin argues that conservatism is a reaction against movements of the left—from the French Revolution to feminism. Together, they discuss aspects of such arguments, including the roots of conservatism, and what drives the political right in today's political landscape. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to ...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Eric Foner, as they discuss Foner's latest novel, The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution. Together, they discuss this transformative era in American history, and how the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments remain strong tools for achieving the American ideal of equality, if only we will take them up. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the ...

Send us Fan Mail John Professor Jeffrey Sachs and highly acclaimed author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, to discuss her latest novel, Not “A Nation of Immigrants.” Together they discuss settler colonialism, white supremacy, and the history of erasure and exclusion in the United States while urging the audience to embrace a more complex and honest history, which has typically been left out of traditional American textbooks. The Boo...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Rick Perlstein for their discussion of Reaganland. Together they discuss the "Southernization" of American politics, the causes behind U.S. President Ronald Reagan's rise to power in the 1970s, and the way that conservatives’ cutthroat strategies to gain power remain a powerful political force today. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable...

Send us Fan Mail In this month's episode of the Book Club, Jeffrey Sachs and Professor Patricia Sullivan, a leading civil rights historian, place Robert Kennedy at the center of the movement for racial justice of the 1960s—and show how many of today’s issues can be traced back to that pivotal time in US history. Prof. Sullivan is the author of this month's featured book Justice Rising: Robert Kennedy’s America in Black and White. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SD...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and New York Times-bestselling author Dr. Robert Lustig for their discussion of Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine, Dr. Lustig's newest book about the interconnected strands of nutrition, health/disease, medicine, environment, and society. Together, they discuss the relationship between nutrition and non-communicable disease, the dangers of processed foods, and the ways in which the entrenched inte...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Professor Jeffrey Sachs speaks with Dr. Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value and Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London, about her new book Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism. Professors Sachs and Mazzucato discuss the history of public ambition embodied in the American moon landing and the importance of boldly reimagining the capacities an...

Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Rashid Khalidi as they discuss Khalidi's book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017 and the long history of disenfranchisement against the Palestinian people. The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org. F...

Send us Fan Mail Prof. Sachs speaks with historian Richard Rothstein about his groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, in which Rothstein explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions. Rather, he makes clear that it was the laws and policy decisions of local, state, and federal governme...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs! In this first episode, world-renowned economist and Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Martin J. Sherwin about his book Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis, which explores the origins, scope, and consequences of the evolving place of nuclear weapons in the post-World War II world. Professors Sachs and Sherwin discuss the choic...