Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2022-12-22
Books mentioned on Bhaskar Sunkara: Socialism and Communism | Lex Fridman Podcast #349
Bhaskar Sunkara recommended The age of extremes by Eric Hobsbawm, and discussed Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam, The Monthly Review by Ralph Griffiths, and The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney. Lex Fridman discussed Stalin's war by Ernst Topitsch, Stalin's citizens by Serhy Yekelchyk, and The Socialist Manifesto by Bhaskar Sunkara.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Bowling Alone
Bowling Alone by Robert D.
Discussed“I mean there's that famous book The the Robert Putnam won bowling alone or whatever we described it for now”
Where to get it
-
Stalin's war
Discussed“as I've been reading a I was going to say too much maybe not enough but a lot about you know books like Stalin's war in Ukraine and just I've been reading a lot about the 30s and the 40s”
Where to get it
-
Stalin's citizens
Discussed“Perhaps I'll sort of reveal my bias here as I've been reading too much, maybe not enough, but a lot about, you know, books like 'Stalin's War in Ukraine,' and just I've been reading a lot about the 30s and 40s for personal reasons related to my travels in Ukraine and all that kind of stuff.”
Where to get it
-
The Monthly Review
Discussed“Albert Einstein wrote an article for the first issue of this um left-wing um magazines actually still publishing today called monthly review and I think 1949 and his his article is called by socialism”
Where to get it
-
The Spirit Level
Discussed“there's been plenty of of studies uh there's one book called the spirit level on um on inequality that was quite popular that just notes that inequality is really terrible for the psyches um of the rich too”
Where to get it
-
The Socialist Manifesto
Discussed“you also wrote the book that we mentioned a few times the Socialist Manifesto the case for radical politics in an era of extreme inequality”
Where to get it
-
The age of extremes
The Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm is a comprehensive historical work examining the turbulent twentieth century, often characterized by the author as the short twentieth century spanning from the start of the First World War in 1914 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Recommended“I started off reading books like Eric hopis bombs um uh four books on um history going from the 1700s all the way to 1994 the last book is age of extremes”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing The Socialist Manifesto
“and the author of the Socialist Manifesto the case for radical politics and an era of extreme inequality”
Passing The Socialist Manifesto
“He's a Democratic Socialist, a political writer, the founding editor of Jacobin, the president of The Nation, a former Vice Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality.”
Passing The light that failed
“As I often do, please allow me to read a few lines from the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling: 'If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too, if you can wait and not”
Passing Bowling Alone
“Hey, you know, leisure should mean civic activity too, right? I mean, there's that famous book by Robert Putnam, 'Bowling Alone,' or whatever—he describes it for now.”