Person
Bill Gates's book recommendations
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Bill Gates appears on, in one place — not just one.
Bill Gates’s most recommended books
- Into the Wood Chipper by Nicholas Enrich
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie
- The Infinity Machine by Sebastian Mallaby
- Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari
- Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care? by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
William Henry Gates III is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Following Microsoft's initial public offering in 1986 and the subsequent increase in its stock price, Gates became the world's then-youngest billionaire in 1987, at age 31. Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's wealthiest person in their The World's Billionaires list for 18 out of 24 years between 1995 and 2017, including 13 years consecutively from 1995 to 2007. Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999, when his net worth briefly surpassed US$100 billion. According to Forbes, as of July 2026, his net worth stood at US$106.5 billion, making him the 19th-wealthiest individual in the world. Gates appeared on multiple podcasts to share book recommendations and reading habits. On The Ezra Klein Show, he recommended Virginia Evans's The Correspondent, Nicholas Enrich's Into the Wood Chipper, and Sebastian Mallaby's The Infinity Machine, noting that Mallaby's book covers the history of DeepMind and the artificial intelligence industry. On SmartLess, he recommended Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation when discussing children and social media. Speaking on On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Gates noted that Warren Buffett recommended Andrew Carnegie's The Gospel of Wealth to help shape his philanthropic outlook, and cited Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature as a book he frequently gifts to offer perspective on historical progress. Additionally, he discussed Yuval Noah Harari's Nexus to illustrate early technological misuses and mentioned Ezekiel J. Emanuel's Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care? during a conversation about global health systems.
Books recommended by Bill Gates
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Into the Wood Chipper
Into the Wood Chipper by Nicholas Enrich is a work examining contemporary political developments and administrative shifts.
Recommended“apropos of what we just discussed there's one called into the wood chipper by nicholas enric which talks about how uh somebody somebody didn't go to a party one weekend and they decided instead to put usa id uh into the wood chipper”
Where to get it
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The Anxious Generation
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is a prominent non-fiction book that explores the profound psychological impacts of smartphones and social media on youth mental health.
Recommended“you know there's a book by Jonathan height called the anxious generation”
Where to get it
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The Better Angels of Our Nature
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker is a sweeping historical and data-driven book arguing that violence has steadily declined over the course of human history.
Recommended“there's a Stephen Pinker book called better angel of our nature”
Where to get it
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The Correspondent
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is a touching and upbeat contemporary fiction novel written in an epistolary format that captivated readers and dominated bestseller lists.
Recommended“well when i literally binged this weekend was the correspondent by virginia evans that's you know fiction very touching very upbeat”
Where to get it
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The Gospel of Wealth
The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie is a classic essay outlining the social responsibilities of great wealth and the moral imperative for wealthy industrialists to engage in strategic philanthropy for the betterment of society.
Recommended“you know Carnegie Gospel of wealth the history of what rock of did”
Where to get it
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The Infinity Machine
Sebastian Mallaby's The Infinity Machine is an in-depth chronicle of the artificial intelligence industry, detailing the history of Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the quest for artificial general intelligence.
Recommended“about a month ago i read the infinity machine by sebastian maliby uh ai book uh yeah history uh of uh dean demas asibis and deep mind but you get a sense of the whole founding of the ai industry does a uh an incredible job”
Where to get it
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Nexus
Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari is a brief history of information networks spanning from the Stone Age to the age of artificial intelligence.
Discussed“I was reading this book Nexus where Harari says then when the prin press comes along it actually is books about witches”
Where to get it
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Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care?
Discussed“You know, I was just reading, Zeke Emanuel has one about which is the best health system in the world that does a good job of talking about the strengths and weaknesses, you know, where the US has a lot of weaknesses but has, you know, big chance to get better.”
Where to get it
Books by Bill Gates
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Business @ the speed of thought
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The Road Ahead
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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
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How to Prevent the Next Pandemic
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Source Code
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The impatient optimist
Questions about Bill Gates’s book recommendations
What book does Bill Gates recommend most?
Into the Wood Chipper by Nicholas Enrich. Bill Gates recommended it in 1 episode.
How many books has Bill Gates recommended on podcasts?
We have found 8 books Bill Gates recommended or discussed, across 4 episodes of 4 podcasts. Ad reads and passing mentions are not counted.
What books are on Bill Gates's reading list?
The books Bill Gates has recommended most on podcasts are Into the Wood Chipper by Nicholas Enrich, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans and The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie. The full book list below has all 8.
What books has Bill Gates written?
The Road Ahead (1995), Business @ the speed of thought (1999), The impatient optimist (2012), How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (2019), How to Prevent the Next Pandemic (2022) and Source Code (2025).
What did Bill Gates recommend on The Ezra Klein Show?
Into the Wood Chipper, The Correspondent and The Infinity Machine.
What is the latest book Bill Gates recommended?
The Correspondent, recommended on The Ezra Klein Show (2026-09-29).
People who recommend the same books
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Gates’s Blunt Warning on A.I. | The Ezra Klein Show | 2026-09-29 | 3 |
| Bill Gates | SmartLess | 2025-02-10 | 1 |
| BILL GATES REVEALS: "I Was Wrong About Success…" | On Purpose with Jay Shetty | 2025-02-03 | 3 |
| Short Stuff: The Return of Bill Gates! | Stuff You Should Know | 2020-08-12 | 1 |