Person
Every book Aravind Srinivas recommended on podcasts
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Aravind Srinivas appears on, in one place — not just one.
Aravind Srinivas is associated with Perplexity AI, an American privately held software company offering a web search engine powered by large language models that processes user queries, synthesizes responses, and cites real-time internet sources. On podcasts, Srinivas discussed a variety of foundational texts, ancient scriptures, and strategic literature. During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, he referenced major ancient Hindu epics and texts, including the Mahabharata when discussing ancient weapons like the brahmastra, the Ramayana as another primary epic, and the Rigveda while exploring ancient sacred literature and Vedic computational traditions. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Srinivas brought up David Deutsch's book The Beginning of Infinity to illustrate the philosophical concept that knowledge is boundless and perpetually expanding. In the same podcast conversation, he quoted Sun Tzu's The Art of War, applying its strategic principles regarding turning an enemy's weaknesses into strengths to modern business strategy and market competition with major tech competitors like Google.
Books recommended by Aravind Srinivas
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The Art of War
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is an ancient military treatise offering timeless strategic principles on leadership, outmaneuvering adversaries, and conflict resolution.
Discussed“you know, there's this quote in 'The Art of War,' like 'Make the weakness of your enemy a strength.'”
Where to get it
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The beginning of infinity
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch is a profound work of popular science and philosophy exploring human progress, knowledge creation, and cosmic optimism.
Discussed“Like that's the whole concept of 'The Beginning of Infinity' book by David Deutsch.”
Where to get it
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The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is a monumental ancient Indian epic detailing legendary conflicts, spiritual philosophy, and vast cosmological wisdom across extensive poetic and narrative texts.
Discussed“So um the brahmastra is part of the mahabarat. I mean you've talked about Mahabharat in a bunch and Yeah.”
Where to get it
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The Ramayana
The Ramayana by Valmiki is an ancient Indian epic poem that recounts the adventures and moral trials of Prince Rama.
Discussed“The other one is Ramayan. But Mahabarat's more interesting.”
Where to get it
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The Rigveda
The Rigveda, translated by Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, is widely recognized as one of the oldest sacred texts in existence, containing ancient Indian hymns and ritualistic poetry.
Discussed“And um then you you wonder like, oh wait, the Rigveda is so old. It's as old as it's is the oldest sacred text out there.”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2521 - Aravind Srinivas | The Joe Rogan Experience | 2026-07-01 | 3 |
| #434 – Aravind Srinivas: Perplexity CEO on Future of AI, Search & the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast | 2024-06-19 | 2 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“The pivotal point to recognize is that there’s this quote from 'The Art of War': 'Make the weakness of your enemy a strength.' The core weakness of Google is that any ad unit less profitable than a link or one that discourages link clicks isn’t in their interests to pursue aggressively; they prefer to focus on something higher-margin.”