Episode · Lex Fridman Podcast · 2025-10-01
Books mentioned on #482 – Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature
Pavel Durov is the founder and CEO of Telegram. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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ThePhantomTollbooth a miraculous the toll booths illusion of paradise. Norton Gu Site. the original English edition. Illustrated](Chinese Edition)
Discussed“When I was 11 years old, my biochemistry teacher, he gave me this book he wrote, it was called The Illusion of Paradise.”
Where to get it
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The Trial
The Trial is a haunting, unfinished novel by Franz Kafka that tells the story of Josef K., a man who is arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority for a crime that is never revealed to him or the reader.
Recommended“I highly recommend this short book, and I'll probably talk about it even more in the future.”
Where to get it
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1984
George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 depicts a chilling totalitarian society under the constant surveillance of Big Brother.
Discussed“Of course, "The Trial" is a work of fiction, but I think it is often useful to go to the surreal world of literature, even of the over-the-top dystopian variety like "1984," "Animal Farm," "Brave New World," "The Trial," "The Castle," "Metamorphosis," even "The Plague" by Albert Camus, all to better understand our real world...”
Where to get it
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Animal Farm
Animal Farm by George Orwell is an allegorical novella depicting a farm where animals overthrow their human farmer, eventually descending into totalitarian corruption.
Discussed“Of course, "The Trial" is a work of fiction, but I think it is often useful to go to the surreal world of literature, even of the over-the-top dystopian variety like "1984," "Animal Farm," "Brave New World," "The Trial," "The Castle," "Metamorphosis," even "The Plague" by Albert Camus...”
Where to get it
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Brave New World
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a dystopian novel that imagines a futuristic society engineered through biological conditioning, technological control, and the elimination of traditional human emotions.
Discussed“Of course, "The Trial" is a work of fiction, but I think it is often useful to go to the surreal world of literature, even of the over-the-top dystopian variety like "1984," "Animal Farm," "Brave New World," "The Trial," "The Castle," "Metamorphosis," even "The Plague" by Albert Camus...”
Where to get it
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The Castle
The Castle by Franz Kafka is an unfinished, surreal novel about a protagonist known only as K.
Discussed“Also, now that we're talking about it, let me mention some other of Kafka's work that was moving to me, "The Castle." A similar description as "The Trial" does of the absurd inaccessibility of those in authority of the nightmarish bureaucracy.”
Where to get it
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The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
Discussed“For example, famously, his work, "The Metamorphosis" opens with the following lines, "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."”
Where to get it
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THE PLAGUE
THE PLAGUE by Albert Camus is an existentialist novel chronicling a devastating epidemic in an Algerian city and exploring human solidarity, suffering, and the absurdity of existence.
Discussed“Of course, "The Trial" is a work of fiction, but I think it is often useful to go to the surreal world of literature, even of the over-the-top dystopian variety like "1984," "Animal Farm," "Brave New World," "The Trial," "The Castle," "Metamorphosis," even "The Plague" by Albert Camus...”
Where to get it
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A Hunger Artist
A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka is a classic collection of short fiction featuring psychological depth, themes of isolation, and existential struggle.
Recommended“I can also highly recommend Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" and "Hunger Artist." Both are too interesting and weird to explain in depth here. But let me say, "The Hunger Artist" is a story that I think is relevant to our modern-day attention economy...”
Where to get it
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In the Penal Colony
In the Penal Colony is a classic short story by Franz Kafka that explores themes of justice, punishment, absolute authority, and the mechanics of a brutal execution apparatus on a remote island.
Recommended“I can also highly recommend Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" and "Hunger Artist."”
Where to get it
