Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2021-12-31
Lex Fridman & Michael Malice: books mentioned on Lex Fridman Podcast #253
#253 – Michael Malice: New Year’s Special
Michael Malice is a political thinker, podcaster, author, and anarchist. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – FightCamp: https://joinfightcamp.
Lex Fridman discussed The Idiot by Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak by Larry Smith and others, and The Machiavellians by James Burnham. Michael Malice recommended What I Saw at the Revolution by Peggy Noonan, discussed Animal Farm by George Orwell, and criticized THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Idiot
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound 19th-century Russian novel that follows the compassionate, innocent, and deeply misunderstood Prince Myshkin as he navigates the cynical and corrupt high society of St.
Discussed“dostoevsky wrote in the idiot my favor of his books through the main character prince mishkin that beauty will save the world these words seemingly naive and ultimately at least to me profound what do they mean to you”
Where to get it
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Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak
Discussed“there's this book called six word memoirs right where all these different personalities are awesome were you in it”
Where to get it
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The Machiavellians
The Machiavellians by James Burnham is a work of political philosophy that examines how power operates in reality rather than how people ideally imagine it should function, focusing heavily on the Italian elite theorists and the iron law of oligarchy.
Discussed“in terms of resist you often bring up the book uh machiavellians by james burnham and uh so as i was looking through i was reading different parts”
Where to get it
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What I Saw at the Revolution
What I Saw at the Revolution by Peggy Noonan is a celebrated political memoir detailing the author's experiences working as a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.
Recommended“the first like real good writing advice i remember getting was this book by peggy noonan called what i sought the revolution and she was ronald reagan's speechwriter”
Where to get it
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THE PLAGUE
The Plague by Albert Camus is a classic existentialist novel that uses the allegorical setting of a city struck by a deadly epidemic to explore profound themes of human suffering, absurdism, collective responsibility, and resilience.
Critiqued“uh his book the plague which i find unreadable is an allegory about you know germany conquering france and so on and so forth”
Where to get it
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Animal Farm
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a classic allegorical novella that uses a farmyard setting to satirize the corruption of socialist ideals and the rise of totalitarianism following the Russian Revolution.
Discussed“To me, 'The Plague' is about the doctor, and it’s about love, and it’s about the different roles that humans take in a time of tragedy like the plague. Also, it’s an allegory, so you can start to think about whatever you think that is. See, you've been for white pill, researching a lot of actual, specifically defined suffering, sure.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“i'm writing as you know i talk about this endlessly this book the white pill but writing about when people do hurtful things to children it really is hard to watch”
“kerouac any of this stuff i have on the road i read and i read a biography of him”
“and then when i dropped anarchist handbook in may and it was the top non-fiction book on amazon for like most of the day”