Every book Lex Fridman has recommended

#1 · Animal Farm

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on Dan Houser: GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Absurd & Future of Gaming | Lex in 2025. That episode features Dan Houser, Legendary video game creator, co-founder of Rockstar Games, and lead writer behind the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series. He has since founded a new company, Absurdventures, building new worlds across books, comics, audio, and games. It has been genuinely recommended 13 times on the show.

“the book I've read more than any other book is Animal Farm by George Orwell.” — Lex Fridman 02:26:39

What it is: Animal Farm is a brilliant political satire and a powerful and affecting story of revolutions and idealism, power and corruption. 'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.' Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten.

#2 · The Ascent of Money

Recommended by Lex Fridman on David Eagleman: Neuroplasticity and the Livewired Brain | Lex Fridman Podcast #1. That episode features David Eagleman, Neuroscientist, Stanford professor, and bestselling science communicator known for popularizing brain research. He runs Neosensory, a company building sensory-substitution wearables, and authored Livewired and Incognito. It has been genuinely recommended 9 times on the show.

“i recommend ascent of money as a great book on this history debits and credits on ledgers started around 30 000 years ago” — Lex Fridman 00:04:06

What it is: Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance.Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.

#3 · The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Lex Fridman brought this up on Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Ukraine, War, Peace, Putin, Trump, NATO, and Freedom | Lex (2025-01-05). That episode features Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, leading the country's defense since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. A former comedian and production-studio executive, he won the presidency in 2019 on an anti-corruption platform. It has been genuinely recommended 7 times on the show.

“he has written probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, book on the Third Reich ever” — Lex Fridman 02:53:40

What it is: Since it's publication five decades ago, William L. Shirer's monumental study of Hitler's empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the twentieth century's blackest hours. A worldwide bestseller with millions of copies in print, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world.

#4 · Man's Search for Meaning

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on David Pakman: Politics of Trump, Biden, Bernie, AOC, Socialism & Wokeism | Lex F in 2023. That episode features David Pakman, Left-wing progressive political commentator and host of The David Pakman Show, a daily news-and-commentary program he has run for over a decade. A Jewish Argentinian immigrant to the US who frames himself as a progressive social democrat. In total it earned 16 separate on-air endorsements across 4 different shows (Diary of a CEO, Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“Victor frankl's book is one I've read a bunch of times and it's so short” — Lex Fridman 03:15:08

#5 · The Brothers Karamazov

Recommended by Lex Fridman on Norman Ohler: Hitler, Nazis, Drugs, WW2, Blitzkrieg, LSD, MKUltra & CIA | Lex Fr. That episode features Norman Ohler, German novelist and non-fiction author of Blitzed, Tripped, and The Bohemians. He researches the role of drugs in history using primary archival sources and is working on a new book, Stoned Sapiens, about human civilization through the lens of drugs. In total it earned 7 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“Which one's your favorite? - Brothers Karamazov. Well, I read in both Russian and English.” — Lex Fridman 04:11:31

#6 · The Idiot

Lex Fridman brought this up on Neri Oxman: Biology, Art, and Science of Design & Engineering with Nature | Lex (2023-09-01). That episode features Neri Oxman, Engineer, scientist, designer, architect and artist who led MIT's Mediated Matter group and now runs OXMAN, a company pioneering biology-driven design and fabrication that works with nature rather than against it. It has been genuinely recommended 5 times on the show.

“Dostoevsky said Beauty will save the world in the idiot one of my favorite books of his” — Lex Fridman 01:12:07

#7 · Siddhartha

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on Narendra Modi: Prime Minister of India - Power, Democracy, War & Peace | Lex Fri in 2025. That episode features Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, leader of the world's largest democracy of 1.4 billion people, who rose from extreme childhood poverty in Gujarat to win three terms as PM. A former RSS volunteer and spiritual seeker who spent years wandering the Himalayas before entering public life. In total it earned 7 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“allow me to also comment about one of the books that first drew me toward India and to its deep history of philosophical and spiritual traditions. The book is "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse.” — Lex Fridman 03:09:52

What it is: Hermann Hesse wrote Siddhartha after he traveled to India in the 1910s. It tells the story of a young boy who travels the country in a quest for spiritual enlightenment in the time of Guatama Buddha. It is a compact, lyrical work, which reads like an allegory about the finding of wisdom.

#8 · The Denial of Death

Recommended by Lex Fridman on David Sinclair: Extending the Human Lifespan Beyond 100 Years | Lex Fridman Podc. That episode features David Sinclair, Professor of genetics at Harvard and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School. Author of 'Lifespan' and co-founder of several longevity biotech companies. In total it earned 7 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman).

“somebody i've enjoyed reading ernest becker wrote the denial of death there's also martin heidegger” — Lex Fridman 01:32:28

#9 · Deep Work

Lex Fridman brought this up on Charan Ranganath: Human Memory, Imagination, Deja Vu, and False Memories | Lex F (2024-05-25). That episode features Charan Ranganath, A psychologist and neuroscientist at UC Davis specializing in human memory, where he runs a lab using fMRI and other methods to study how the brain encodes and retrieves events. He is the author of 'Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold On to What Matters.'. In total it earned 6 separate on-air endorsements across 3 different shows (Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“I'm very much with kort on this he wrote deep work and a lot of other amazing books he talks about task switching as a sort of the thing that really destroys productivity” — Lex Fridman 02:52:58

What it is: One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy.

#10 · The Plague

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on 1984 by George Orwell | Lex Fridman in 2023. That episode features Lex Fridman (solo), AI researcher and host of the Lex Fridman Podcast. This is a solo video in which he reads and reflects on a classic book rather than interviewing a guest. In total it earned 5 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman).

“my favorite book Now by kamu is probably the plague and all of that has evolved” — Lex Fridman 00:47:58

What it is: It is the year 2072, sixty years on from the scarlet plague that decimated the earth's population. As one of the few who knew life before the plague, James Howard Smith tries to impart what he knows to his grandsons while he still can. Jack London's visionary post-apocalyptic novel The Scarlet Plague was written in 1912.

#11 · On the Road

Recommended by Lex Fridman on Aella: Sex Work, OnlyFans, Porn, Escorting, Dating, and Human Sexuality | Lex Fr. That episode features Aella, A data-driven sex researcher and writer (blog knowinglust.com) who runs some of the largest human-sexuality surveys in the world. She is also a former cam girl and escort and a prolific creator of provocative Twitter polls. In total it earned 4 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman).

“I'm currently reading on the road by Jack Kerouac and uh would be remiss if I didn't mention one of my favorite quotes from that book” — Lex Fridman 00:01:02

What it is: Described as everything from a "last gasp" of romantic fiction to a founding text of the Beat Generation movement, this story amounts to a nonfiction novel (as critics were later to describe some works). Unpublished writer buddies wander from coast to coast in search of whatever they find, eager for experience. Kerouac's spokesman is Sal Paradise (himself) and real-life friend Neal Casady appears as Dean Moriarty.

#12 · A Hunger Artist

Lex Fridman brought this up on Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fr (2025-09-30). That episode features Pavel Durov, Founder and CEO of Telegram, the messaging platform used by over a billion people, and earlier the founder of Russian social network VK. He owns 100% of Telegram and is known as a fearless advocate for free speech and user privacy. It has been genuinely recommended 3 times on the show.

“I can also highly recommend Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" and "Hunger Artist." Both are too interesting and weird to explain” — Lex Fridman 04:32:25

#13 · Projections: A Story of Human Emotions

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on Andrew Huberman: Focus, Stress, Relationships, and Friendship | Lex Fridman Podc in 2022. That episode features Andrew Huberman, Stanford neuroscientist and host of the Huberman Lab podcast, known for translating brain and body science into practical health protocols. This is his third appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast and a close personal friend of the host. In total it earned 3 separate on-air endorsements across 3 different shows (Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“Carl daero he uh wrote the book projections one of my favorite first of all just as you said incredible writer just amazing” — Lex Fridman 01:37:26

#14 · Deep Learning

Recommended by Lex Fridman on Deep Learning State of the Art (2020). Lex is MIT researcher, lecturer, and AI podcast host who teaches a popular deep learning lecture series and works on autonomous driving and human-centered AI. It has been genuinely recommended 2 times on the show.

“the three books I recommend of course learning book by yoshua bengio and good fellow and erinkoval that's more sort of the fundamental thinking” — Lex Fridman 01:09:09

What it is: "Deep learning is a form of machine learning that enables computers to learn from experience and understand the world in terms of a hierarchy of concepts. Because the computer gathers knowledge from experience, there is no need for a human computer operator to formally specify all the knowledge that the computer needs. The hierarchy of concepts allows the computer to learn complicated concepts by building them out of simpler ones; a graph of these hierarchies would be many layers deep. This book introduces a broad range of topics in deep learning.

#15 · Jungle Keeper

Lex Fridman brought this up on Paul Rosolie: Uncontacted Tribes in the Amazon Jungle | Lex Fridman Podcast #489 (2026-01-13). That episode features Paul Rosolie, Naturalist, explorer, and writer who has dedicated his life to protecting the Peruvian Amazon through his organization Jungle Keepers. Author of the books Mother of God and Jungle Keeper. In total it earned 2 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Diary of a CEO, Lex Fridman).

“He has a new book coming out in a few days titled Jungle Keeper that you should definitely go pre-order now.” — Lex Fridman 00:01:01

#16 · Love and Math

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on Peter Woit: Theories of Everything & Why String Theory is Not Even Wrong | Lex F in 2021. That episode features Peter Woit, Theoretical physicist and mathematician at Columbia University, author of the book and influential blog 'Not Even Wrong', best known as a leading critic of string theory. It has been genuinely recommended 2 times on the show.

“there's a book for instance by edward frankel about love and math and oh yeah that book is great i recommend it highly” — Lex Fridman 00:03:04

What it is: "Love and Math tells the two intertwined stories of mathematics and the adventure of one man in learning it. The result is a story about how he became one of the twenty-first century's leading mathematicians, working on one of the biggest ideas to come out of mathematics in the last 50 years: the Langlands Program. As Frenkel proves, a mathematical formula can be as elegant and beautiful as a painting, a poem, or a piece of music. And the process of creating new mathematics is just that, an artistic pursuit--a deeply personal experience, which requires passion, dedication, and love.

#17 · Steppenwolf

Recommended by Lex Fridman on Narendra Modi: Prime Minister of India - Power, Democracy, War & Peace | Lex Fri. That episode features Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, leader of the world's largest democracy of 1.4 billion people, who rose from extreme childhood poverty in Gujarat to win three terms as PM. A former RSS volunteer and spiritual seeker who spent years wandering the Himalayas before entering public life. It has been genuinely recommended 2 times on the show.

“I would recommend to read "Demian" when you are younger, "Steppenwolf" when you are older, "Siddhartha" throughout your life” — Lex Fridman 03:15:12

What it is: A story that focuses on the loneliness and suffering of the protagonist, Harry Haller, who feels that he has no place in a world filled with meaningless frivolity. Having decided to take his own life a chance encounter causes him to change his views and he begins to learn ways to enjoy life. One of the most misunderstood of his novels the book is, according to Hesse, about the possibilities of transcendence and healing.

#18 · Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic

Lex Fridman brought this up on Aella: Sex Work, OnlyFans, Porn, Escorting, Dating, and Human Sexuality | Lex Fr (2023-02-10). That episode features Aella, A data-driven sex researcher and writer (blog knowinglust.com) who runs some of the largest human-sexuality surveys in the world. She is also a former cam girl and escort and a prolific creator of provocative Twitter polls. In total it earned 5 separate on-air endorsements across 3 different shows (Andrew Huberman, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“this guy named uh Paul Conte he wrote a book on on trauma he's an incredible brilliant psychiatrist... oh that's cool I should read it yeah you should” — Lex Fridman 03:15:23

#19 · 1984

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on 1984 by George Orwell | Lex Fridman in 2023. That episode features Lex Fridman (solo), AI researcher and host of the Lex Fridman Podcast. This is a solo video in which he reads and reflects on a classic book rather than interviewing a guest. It has been genuinely recommended 4 times on the show.

“1984 by George Orwell is one of the most impactful books ever written” — Lex Fridman 00:00:00

What it is: Winston Smith lives in a society where the government controls people every second of the day. He fights this world with love. But it's dangerous: love for another person can be punished by death - and Big Brother is always watching. Orwell's classic story shows that there is no freedom unless ideas and beliefs can be questioned. This is as true today as when it was written, more than fifty years ago. --back cover

#20 · Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Recommended by Lex Fridman on Saagar Enjeti: Trump, MAGA, DOGE, Obama, FDR, JFK, History & Politics | Lex Frid. That episode features Saagar Enjeti, Political commentator and journalist, co-host of Breaking Points with Krystal Ball and of The Realignment podcast. A voracious reader of history whose analysis draws heavily on presidential biographies and political-science classics. In total it earned 4 separate on-air endorsements across 3 different shows (Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“reading jenus Khan and then making uh the modern world yeah Jack Weatherford fantastic he's coming on is he yeah amazing” — Lex Fridman 02:47:51

What it is: The name Genghis Khan often conjures the image of a relentless, bloodthirsty barbarian on horseback leading a ruthless band of nomadic warriors in the looting of the civilized world. But the surprising truth is that Genghis Khan was a visionary leader whose conquests joined backward Europe with the flourishing cultures of Asia to trigger a global awakening, an unprecedented explosion of technologies, trade, and ideas.

#21 · Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach

Lex Fridman brought this up on MIT 6.S094: Introduction to Deep Learning and Self-Driving Cars (2017-01-16). Lex is MIT researcher and instructor of course 6.S094, Deep Learning for Self-Driving Cars, focused on driver-state sensing and autonomous vehicles. In total it earned 3 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Diary of a CEO, Lex Fridman).

“from a book that got me into artificial intelligence as a bright-eyed high school student they are artificial intelligence to modern approach” — Lex Fridman 00:06:53

#22 · Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on Sam Altman: OpenAI CEO on GPT-4, ChatGPT, and the Future of AI | Lex Fridman Pod in 2023. That episode features Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind GPT-4, ChatGPT, DALL-E, Codex and Whisper. Former president of Y Combinator and a leading voice on AGI development and safety. In total it earned 3 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman).

“just read blitzed which is this oh I want to read that yeah it was really good it's uh it gives a theory of Nazi Germany” — Lex Fridman 01:50:05

#23 · The Bitcoin Standard

Recommended by Lex Fridman on Silvio Micali: Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Algorand, Bitcoin & Ethereum | Lex Fr. That episode features Silvio Micali, An MIT computer scientist, Turing Award winner, and pioneer of cryptography and game theory. He founded Algorand in 2017 to build a fully decentralized, secure, and scalable blockchain. It has been genuinely recommended 3 times on the show.

“i just recently finished reading the bitcoin standard a book i highly recommend as always with this podcast” — Lex Fridman 00:00:31

What it is: When a pseudonymous programmer introduced “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally-accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications.

#24 · The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Lex Fridman brought this up on Charan Ranganath: Human Memory, Imagination, Deja Vu, and False Memories | Lex F (2024-05-25). That episode features Charan Ranganath, A psychologist and neuroscientist at UC Davis specializing in human memory, where he runs a lab using fMRI and other methods to study how the brain encodes and retrieves events. He is the author of 'Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold On to What Matters.'. In total it earned 3 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“have you ever read the structure of scientific revolutions by Thomas yes that's like my only philosophy really that I've read but it's so brilliant” — Lex Fridman 03:08:35

#25 · A Brief History of Time

The endorsement here comes from Lex Fridman, on Roger Penrose: Physics of Consciousness and the Infinite Universe | Lex Fridman in 2020. That episode features Roger Penrose, Physicist, mathematician and philosopher at the University of Oxford, famous for foundational work in general relativity, black holes and cosmology, and for the controversial theory that consciousness is non-computational. In total it earned 2 separate on-air endorsements across 2 different shows (Lex Fridman, Tim Ferriss).

“both are and incredible books the brief history of time and I'm person you mind yes” — Lex Fridman 00:42:11

What it is: Stephen Hawking's ‘A Brief History of Time has become an international publishing phenomenon. Translated into thirty languages, it has sold over ten million copies worldwide and lives on as a science book that continues to captivate and inspire new readers each year. When it was first published in 1988 the ideas discussed in it were at the cutting edge of what was then known about the universe. In the intervening twenty years there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and macro-cosmic world. Indeed, during that time cosmology and the theoretical sciences have entered a new golden age .