Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2022-07-09
Books mentioned on #301 – Jack Barsky: KGB Spy
Jack Barsky is a former KGB spy and author of “Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America”. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Perestroika
Discussed“When Gorbachev wrote his book about perestroika and glasnost the East German rulers did not like it. They were much more orthodox. So they had to print the books in translation. Guess where they wound up? They were piled up in the hallways of the Stasi. They bought the entire print run.”
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La père Goriot
Discussed“You know, I wanted to see Paris because I had fallen in love with Honore Balzac, who wrote- Balzac, yeah. A phenomenal set of novels that I just ate up.”
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Stalin's Master Narrative
Discussed“Interestingly enough, the first book I was given to read was the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Oh, so understand, yeah, that's interesting.”
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Winnie the Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh)
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.
Discussed“And she gave me a book, "Winnie the Pooh," because we went to see the movie. And then she wrote the dedication, she says, "To the nicest German I've ever met."”
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing Anne of Green Gables
“You've looked back at the predecessors and the history in writing your book; is there some way in which the KGB is grounded in the culture, the spirit, the soul of its predecessors? Oh, absolutely.”
“And she gave me a book, 'Winnie the Pooh,' because we went to see the movie. And then she wrote the dedication, she says, 'To the nicest German I've ever met.'”