Books featured on the podcast include Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama.

The hosts focus on flawed arguments, poor uses of data, factual errors, and the drawing of unsound conclusions or overgeneralizations.

[5] If Books Could Kill was listed by Vulture as one of the best podcasts of 2023, described by the website as a "cutting and ambitious criticism of the nexus linking publishing, media, and elite power".

"[3] In The Times, James Marriott gave the podcast a 4/5 star review, describing the show as satisfying but commenting that "after more than half an hour the hosts’ tone gets a bit smug".

[7] Hannah Giorgis in The Atlantic reviewed the podcast positively and praised the show for "resist[ing] the impulse to be satisfied with reaching into libraries past just to point and laugh", and instead exploring how such books have shaped public opinion and what they reveal about the historical moment in which they were published.