Mentioned in Podcasts

Episode · Lenny's Podcast · 2026-04-23

Lenny Rachitsky & Cat Wu: books mentioned on Lenny's Podcast

How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)

3 books · With Cat Wu · Listen · Watch on YouTube

Cat Wu is Head of Product for Claude Code and Cowork at Anthropic, building one of the most important AI products of this generation. Before joining Anthropic, Cat spent years as an engineer and briefly worked in VC.

Cat Wu recommended How Asia Works by Joe Studwell, The Technology Trap by Carl Benedikt Frey, and The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu.

Books mentioned, in the order they came up

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  1. How Asia Works

    Joe Studwell · at 1:15:38

    How Asia Works by Joe Studwell is a widely acclaimed exploration of economic development and the government policies that shape successful, long-lasting economies.

    Recommended
    “I really like how Asia works. It's a story about economic development and what are the like the policies and governments that make long-lasting successful economies.”
    Cat Wu How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (H… 2026-04-23 Listen at 1:15:38
    Where to get it
    Listen free with an Audible trialAmazon

  2. The Technology Trap

    Carl Benedikt Frey · at 1:15:53

    The Technology Trap by Carl Benedikt Frey is an economic history book that investigates how past technological revolutions, such as the industrial and computer revolutions, have historically impacted workers and whether economic growth benefits are broadly shared.

    Recommended
    “The other books that I'm really into are the technology trap. So this is actually about the past few technology revolutions, so the industrial revolution and the computer revolution and how this has affected workers.”
    Cat Wu How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (H… 2026-04-23 Listen at 1:15:53
    Where to get it
    Listen free with an Audible trialAmazon

  3. The Paper Menagerie

    Ken Liu · at 1:16:15

    The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu is a critically praised collection of speculative short stories blending science fiction, fantasy, cultural identity, and emotional coming-of-age themes.

    Recommended
    “And maybe on like a fun note, I really like Paper Menagerie. It's just like a book of short stories about like coming of age and AI and just like self-discovery.”
    Cat Wu How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (H… 2026-04-23 Listen at 1:16:15
    Where to get it
    Listen free with an Audible trialAmazon
Link to this list from the episode’s show notes

For the whole show, see the Lenny's Podcast page.