Book · recommended on 2 episodes
The MANIAC
Benjamin Labatut ISBN 0593654498
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Benjamin Labatut ISBN 0593654498
Find it on AmazonAffiliate link — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
This book by Benjamin Labatut has come up 2 times across 2 different shows: Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman. 2 of those mentions were genuine on-air recommendations, not just passing references. The people who brought it up: Bradley Cooper, Lex Fridman. The earliest mention we indexed is from 2025-07-23 and the most recent from 2026-01-09. Every occurrence below links to the episode page and to the exact second it was said on YouTube.
“I read this great book called the maniac by Benjamin Lebatude who talked about Yan Newman”— Bradley Cooper
The guest here is Bradley Cooper: Oscar-nominated actor and director (American Sniper, A Star Is Born, Maestro) who directed the new standup-world film Is This Thing On?. A New York-trained method actor from the Actors Studio. Bradley Cooper talks craft, becoming Chris Kyle, raising kids, AI's coming wave, and why connection beats the dopamine drip.
“You mentioned to me the book the maniac by Benjamin Levitut ... a haunting and beautiful exploration of madness and genius”— Lex Fridman
The guest here is Demis Hassabis: CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind and a Nobel Prize winner (for AlphaFold). A former chess prodigy and video game designer turned AI researcher exploring intelligence, the simulation of reality, and the deepest questions of physics and biology. Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis on AGI by 2030, modeling reality with classical learning, video games, science, and the nature of life.
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