Astral Codex Ten

Public Citizens

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Public Citizens

Article

Public Citizens is a recurring book in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 4 times across 4 issues between June 23, 2023 and October 17, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “Much like the movement whose story it tells, Public Citizens the book is a worthwhile project”; “As a historical narrative, Public Citizens has a much simpler problem”; “6 : Public Citizens”. It most often appears alongside ACX, Brandon Hendrickson, Candy for Breakfast.

Metadata

  • Category: Books
  • Mention count: 4
  • Issue count: 4
  • First seen: June 23, 2023
  • Last seen: October 17, 2025

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Your Book Review: Public Citizens
June 23, 2023 · Original source
There is such a person, suggests history professor Paul Sabin in his new book Public Citizens: The Attack on Big Government and the Remaking of American Liberalism. And he isn’t isn’t a mustache-twirling villain—he’s a liberal intellectual. If you know him for anything, it’s probably for being the reason you know what a hanging chad is.
Much like the movement whose story it tells, Public Citizens the book is a worthwhile project that nonetheless suffers from significant flaws. The main problem is that it can’t decide if it’s a historical narrative or a work of political theory. As a work of political theory, it doesn’t take nearly a strong enough stand—I’ve made explicit a lot of claims that are only lightly implied in the book. I think we’re making the same argument, but the book makes its argument with such a delicate touch that it’s hard to be 100% sure.
As a historical narrative, Public Citizens has a much simpler problem: it’s boring. The author writes like an academic (which, to be fair, he is), and the book is quite light on colorful details. The uncreative chapter titles (chapter three is called “Creating Public Interest Firms”) give you a taste of what the writing is like. One particularly egregious issue is how little biographical information is provided about Nader, even though the majority of the book is about him. For someone who apparently subscribes to the Great Man theory of history, the author includes surprisingly little information about the Great Men themselves. Any interesting biographical fact you read in this review—even something as basic as the fact that Nader never married—is almost certainly something I found through other sources.
Vote In The 2023 Book Review Contest
September 08, 2023 · Original source
1: Cities And The Wealth Of Nations / The Question Of Separatism 2: Lying For Money 3: Why Machines Will Never Rule The World 4: Man’s Search For Meaning 5: Njal’s Saga 6: Public Citizens 7: Safe Enough? 8: Secret Government 9: The Educated Mind 10: The Laws Of Trading 11: On The Marble Cliffs 12: The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich 13: The WEIRDest People In The World 14: The Mind Of A Bee 15: Why Nations Fail 16: Zuozhuan
Inline links: Cities And The Wealth Of Nations / The Question Of Separatism, Lying For Money, Why Machines Will Never Rule The World, Man’s Search For Meaning, Njal’s Saga, Public Citizens, Safe Enough?, Secret Government, The Educated Mind, The Laws Of Trading, On The Marble Cliffs, The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich, The WEIRDest People In The World, The Mind Of A Bee, Why Nations Fail, Zuozhuan
Book Review Contest 2023 Winners
September 15, 2023 · Original source
Public Citizens, reviewed by Max Nussenbaum. Max writes at Candy for Breakfast. You may remember him from last year's review of The Outlier, about the life of Jimmy Carter.
Inline links: Public Citizens, Candy for Breakfast, last year's review of
Non-Book Review Contest 2025 Winners
October 17, 2025 · Original source
JFK Assassination Conspiracy Theories, reviewed by Max Nussenbaum. Max was a finalist in previous contests with his reviews of The Outlier and Public Citizens. He writes at Candy for Breakfast and begrudgingly acknowledges that Lee Harvey Oswald probably acted alone.
Inline links: JFK Assassination Conspiracy Theories, The Outlier, Public Citizens, Candy for Breakfast