Episode · EconTalk · 2026-11-09
Russ Roberts & Walter Isaacson: books mentioned on EconTalk
Hubris, Humility, and the AI Revolution (with Walter Isaacson)
The people building artificial intelligence worry there’s a real chance it could doom us all. So why do they keep building anyway?
Russ Roberts discussed The Innovators by Walter Isaacson and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Walter Isaacson discussed Bible and Lyndon Johnson and the American dream by Doris Kearns Goodwin and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Innovators
Discussed“In your book, The Innovators, you tend to, you say in your new preface, you're in the Ada camp.”
Where to get it
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Steve Jobs
Discussed“So I loved your book, your biography of Jobs, and I wasn't going to read it because people told me it's, it's, you just find out he's a jerk.”
Where to get it
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Bible
Discussed“I mean, if it's good enough for the Bible, it's good enough for us. The way we tell tales or convey morality is the stories of people. We go to a garden east of Eden and we meet Adam and Eve”
Where to get it
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Lyndon Johnson and the American dream
Discussed“I had a great professor who you know of. Her name then was Doris Kearns. And I took her course. And she wrote her dissertation and published her book. And it was a biography called Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing Steve Jobs
“He has written numerous books, including celebrated biographies of Da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Elon Musk, and others.”
Passing Elon Musk
“He has written numerous books, including celebrated biographies of Da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Elon Musk, and others.”
Passing Einstein
“He has written numerous books, including celebrated biographies of Da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Elon Musk, and others.”
Passing Leonardo da Vinci
“He has written numerous books, including celebrated biographies of Da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Elon Musk, and others.”
Passing The Innovators
“His book on the digital revolution, The Innovators, has a new edition out.”
Plugged MARIE CURIE.
“Every sentence I write, whether it's an email, whether it's an op-ed piece, or whether it's my new introduction to the innovators, or my forthcoming book on Marie Curie, every sentence is tight by my fingers and comes from my head and from my heart.”