Episode · Dwarkesh Podcast · 2024-06-04
Dwarkesh Patel & Leopold Aschenbrenner: books mentioned on Dwarkesh Podcast
Leopold Aschenbrenner — 2027 AGI, China/US super-intelligence race, & the return of history
Chatted with my friend Leopold Aschenbrenner on the trillion dollar nationalized cluster, CCP espionage at AI labs, how unhobblings and scaling can lead to 2027 AGI, dangers of outsourcing clusters to Middle East, leaving OpenAI, and situational awareness. Watch on YouTube.
Dwarkesh Patel discussed The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenit︠s︡yn and Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman. Leopold Aschenbrenner discussed The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Gulag Archipelago
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a monumental historical exposé detailing the brutal Soviet forced labor camp system through survivor testimonies, archival research, and the author's own imprisonment.
Discussed“I was reading The Gulag Archipelago and one of the chapters begins with Solzhenitsyn saying how if you had told a Russian citizen under the tsars that because of all these new technologies — we wouldn’t see some Great Russian revival with Russia becoming a great power and the citizens made wealthy — you would see tens of millions of”
Where to get it
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Freedom's Forge
Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman details the remarkable industrial mobilization that allowed the United States to manufacture the war machine necessary to win World War II.
Discussed“Before the conversation I was reading a good book about World War II industrial mobilization in the United States called Freedom's Forge. I’m thinking back on that period, especially in the context of reading Patrick Collison’s Fast and the progress study stuff.”
Where to get it
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The making of the atomic bomb
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes is a comprehensive historical account of the scientific breakthroughs, political forces, and personalities behind the development of nuclear weapons during World War II.
Discussed“There's an amazing anecdote in The Making of the Atomic Bomb about this. Secrecy was one of the most contentious issues early on. Leo Szilard really thought a nuclear chain reaction and an atomic bomb were possible.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“I interviewed Richard Rhodes, the guy who wrote The Making of the Atomic Bomb.”