Books Mentioned in This Episode

Podcast: Lex Fridman Podcast

Episode: Walter Isaacson: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Da Vinci & Ben Franklin | Lex Fridman Podcast #395

Here’s a list of all the books mentioned in this episode, complete with an Amazon buy link and quotes from the episode.

Dreams from My Father Cover

Dreams from My Father

by Barack Obama

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"Barack Obama wrote in his memoir, "Every successful man is either trying to live up to his father's expectations or live down his father's sins." This is especially relevant for Elon, who had a violent and troubled childhood, with a psychologically complex father."
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Cover

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

by Douglas Adams

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"One of my theories on Elon, a minor theory, is that he may have read 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' a few times too often. And as you know, there's a scene that says there's a theory about the universe that if anyone ever discovers the secret meanings of the universe, it will be replaced by an even more complex universe."
Lyndon Johnson and the American dream Cover

Lyndon Johnson and the American dream

by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Doris Kearns

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"And when she was going for tenure at the university, she wrote a biography of 'Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.' They denied her tenure because it was beneath the dignity of the academy to write history through one person."
The Code Breaker Cover

The Code Breaker

by Walter Isaacson, Kathe Mazur

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"That's one of the reasons you write books about these people, so that if you're a young woman in a school where you're not being told to do science, and you read 'The Code Breaker' about Jennifer Doudna, you say, 'Okay, I can be that.'"