Book · recommended on 13 episodes
Animal Farm
George Orwell ISBN 9798454468835
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George Orwell ISBN 9798454468835
Find it on AmazonAffiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
This book by George Orwell has come up 13 times on Lex Fridman. 13 of those mentions were genuine on-air recommendations, not just passing references. The people who brought it up: Janna Levin, Lex Fridman, guest. The earliest mention we indexed is from 2020-03-09 and the most recent from 2025-10-31. Every occurrence below links to the episode page and to the exact second it was said on YouTube.
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.
“the book I've read more than any other book is Animal Farm by George Orwell.”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is 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. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser on creating GTA and Red Dead Redemption, the craft of storytelling in games, and his new studio Absurdventures.
“I return to Orwell's Animal Farm a lot... Oh, animal form is incredible”— Janna Levin
The guest here is Janna Levin: A theoretical physicist and cosmologist specializing in black holes, extra dimensions, the topology of the universe, and gravitational waves. She is chief science officer of Pioneer Works in Brooklyn and author of books including 'Black Hole Blues' and 'A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines.'. Theoretical physicist Janna Levin explains black holes, the information paradox, wormholes, extra dimensions, gravitational waves, and the human stories behind the science.
“I've read that one I don't know over 50 times it's probably my favorite book”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is 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. Progressive commentator David Pakman dissects Trump, Biden, Bernie, AOC, wokeism and media outrage with Lex Fridman.
“animal farm is one of my favorite my favorite books I've been recently I'm rereading 1984 now”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Jeremi Suri: A historian at the University of Texas at Austin and author of 'Civil War by Other Means.' He specializes in American political history, leadership, and democracy, and co-hosts the podcast 'This Is Democracy' with his son. Historian Jeremi Suri argues America's Civil War never truly ended and its unfinished fights over freedom and democracy echo through today's politics.
“George Orwell brilliantly and probably my favorite book of his which is animal farm”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Michael Malice: Anarchist author, podcaster and online provocateur known for books on North Korea, the American fringe, and anarchism. Here he is releasing The White Pill, his history of 20th-century communist atrocities and the hope of their undoing. Lex and Michael Malice mark his book The White Pill with a darkly funny, costume-clad deep dive into Soviet evil and hard-won hope.
“it comes from animal farm by uh my probably my favorite book yeah so you remember benjamin the donkey”— guest
The guest here is Brian Keating: Experimental physicist and cosmologist at UC San Diego, author of 'Losing the Nobel Prize' and host of the 'Into the Impossible' podcast. He led the BICEP1 telescope project hunting for evidence of cosmic inflation in the early universe. Cosmologist Brian Keating on the birth of the universe, the heartbreak of nearly winning the Nobel Prize, and why science is an infinite game.
“so animal farm by george orwell is one of my favorite books it's an allegory about at least i think about the soviet union”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Michael Malice: Ukrainian-born American author, anarchist, and podcaster known for books on North Korea (Dear Reader) and anarchism (The Anarchist Handbook). A frequent media personality famous for his contrarian wit and Soviet-emigre perspective. Anarchist author Michael Malice and Lex Fridman trade hope against cynicism while dissecting totalitarianism, conscience, and the moral case against the state.
“i often say that my favorite book is animal farm by george orwell i've read it i don't know how many times”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Yeonmi Park: North Korean defector, human rights activist, and author of the memoir 'In Order to Live.' She escaped North Korea at 13 through China and became a prominent advocate exposing the regime's atrocities. North Korean defector Yeonmi Park recounts escaping a closed dictatorship and reflects on freedom, suffering, love, and the systems that shape human lives.
“one of my favorite books is animal farm by orwell and the horses don't get a good ending in that”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Yannis Pappas: A New York comedian who co-hosted the comedy-history podcast History Hyenas and now hosts Long Days; known for fast-paced, irreverent riffing and a free YouTube special, Blowing the Light. Comedian Yannis Pappas riffs with Lex Fridman on power, mortality, dogs, hyenas, the Battle of Crete, con men, and the magic of comedy.
“i'm a huge fan of animal farm which is a kind of friendly as a friend of 1984 by orwell”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Dmitri Dolgov: CTO of Waymo, the autonomous driving company that began as Google's self-driving car project in 2009. He has worked on the project since the DARPA Urban Challenge era and helped lead it to the first at-scale public driverless ride-hailing deployment. Waymo CTO Dmitri Dolgov on building a truly driverless car, scaling beyond Phoenix, and why aggression isn't the same as good driving.
“just the small Side Animal Farm is probably top I mean it's weird to say but I would say it's my favorite book”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Yaron Brook: Chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute, host of The Yaron Brook Show, and one of the world's best-known objectivist thinkers. He co-authored Free Market Revolution and Equal Is Unfair. Objectivist philosopher Yaron Brook makes the full case for Ayn Rand's reason, rational selfishness, and unbridled capitalism.
“i've read animal farm by george orwell a ridiculous number of times so for me like that book it connects deeply somehow”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Russ Tedrake: Roboticist, MIT professor, and VP of robotics research at Toyota Research Institute. Known for underactuated robotics, control theory, MIT's DARPA Robotics Challenge team, and the Drake simulator. MIT roboticist Russ Tedrake on why robots should embrace contact, softness, and physics instead of fighting gravity.
“Hemingway George Orwell Animal Farm is one of my favorite books I don't know why just love it for me”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Lex Fridman: AI researcher and host of the Lex Fridman Podcast, known for long-form conversations with scientists, engineers, and thinkers. Here he is both host and subject of a self-imposed endurance challenge. Lex Fridman attempts a David Goggins 48-mile challenge solo, running four miles every four hours while reflecting on twelve things he's grateful for.
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