Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2024-03-22
Lex Fridman & Annie Jacobsen: books mentioned on Lex Fridman Podcast #420
#420 – Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy
Annie Jacobsen is an investigative journalist and author of “Nuclear War: A Scenario” and many other books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – HiddenLayer: https://hiddenlayer.
Lex Fridman discussed Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen, Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen, Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen, Operation paperclip by Annie Jacobsen, and Phenomena by Annie Jacobsen. Annie Jacobsen recommended The Cold and the Dark by Paul R. Ehrlich and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Nuclear War
Annie Jacobsen's nonfiction book Nuclear War: A Scenario provides a chilling, unsparing countdown and thorough examination of what a global nuclear exchange would actually look like.
Discussed“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled "Area 51", "Operation Paperclip", "The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena", "Surprise, Kill, Vanish", and her new book, "Nuclear War".”
Where to get it
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Surprise, Kill, Vanish
Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen is an investigative history book that chronicles the clandestine origins, evolution, and operations of the CIA's elite paramilitary Ground Branch.
Discussed“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled "Area 51", "Operation Paperclip", "The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena", "Surprise, Kill, Vanish", and her new book, "Nuclear War".”
Where to get it
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Area 51
Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen is an investigative history exploring the secrets, extreme boundary-pushing nuclear testing, and national security operations of America's most famous top-secret military base.
Discussed“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled "Area 51", "Operation Paperclip", "The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena", "Surprise, Kill, Vanish", and her new book, "Nuclear War".”
Where to get it
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Operation paperclip
Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen is a meticulously researched investigative history detailing the secret US intelligence program that recruited former Nazi scientists after World War II.
Discussed“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled "Area 51", "Operation Paperclip", "The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena", "Surprise, Kill, Vanish", and her new book, "Nuclear War".”
Where to get it
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The Cold and the Dark
The Cold and the Dark by Paul R.
Recommended“Carl Sagan talked about that in this amazing book he wrote with two scientist colleagues called "The Cold and the Dark."”
Where to get it
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Phenomena
Phenomena by Annie Jacobsen is an investigative history examining the United States government's secret research into extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, and remote viewing.
Discussed“You've written, like you said, the book "Phenomena" on the secret history of the US government's investigations into extrasensory perception and psychokinesis.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (10) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled 'Area 51', 'Operation Paperclip', 'The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena', 'Surprise, Kill, Vanish', and her new book, 'Nuclear War'.”
“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled 'Area 51', 'Operation Paperclip', 'The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena', 'Surprise, Kill, Vanish', and her new book, 'Nuclear War'.”
“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled 'Area 51', 'Operation Paperclip', 'The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena', 'Surprise, Kill, Vanish', and her new book, 'Nuclear War'.”
“The following is a conversation with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of several amazing books on war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security, including the books titled 'Area 51', 'Operation Paperclip', 'The Pentagon's Brain Phenomena', 'Surprise, Kill, Vanish', and her new book, 'Nuclear War'.”
“That was one of the most remarkable details I really nailed down for this book when I was reporting it and talking to Secretaries of Defense.”
“I think the sense-making part of this is really what I'm after in this book, because I want people to understand, on the one hand, it's incredibly simple; it's just the people that have made it so complicated.”
“I mean, my first learning about the CIA came from the work I did on the "Area 51" book about their aerial reconnaissance programs, which were set up again to prevent World War III, nuclear World War III.”
“Later, I wrote a book about the CIA's paramilitary, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish."”
“But the real problem, what has happened, and I write about this in my book, 'First Platoon', which is about a group of young soldiers who goes to Afghanistan and unwittingly becomes part of the Defense Department’s biome efforts to capture biometrics on 85% of the population of Afghanistan.”
“In my research on Third Reich weapons for 'Operation Paperclip', because of course, we got a lot of those scientists after.”