Person
Every book Brian Muraresku recommended on podcasts
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Brian Muraresku appears on, in one place — not just one.
Brian Muraresku’s most recommended books
- The Road to Eleusis by R. Gordon Wasson
- Supernatural by Graham Hancock
- The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby
- Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck
- In the Dark Places of Wisdom by Peter Kingsley
- Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallee
- Reality by Peter Kingsley
- The Dionysian Gospel by Dennis R. MacDonald
- The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Brian Muraresku appeared on podcasts to discuss history, psychedelics, and ancient culture. During his appearances, he recommended and discussed several books. On The Joe Rogan Experience, he mentioned Steven Pressfield's The War of Art to illustrate how creative ideas are summoned through disciplined daily work. He also recommended Graham Hancock's Supernatural when talking about rock art, cave paintings, and ancient shamanism, noting that it sent him down a research rabbit hole. Additionally, he highlighted Jacques Vallee's Passport to Magonia for its perspective connecting UFOs to mythology and folklore. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Muraresku recommended Jeremy Narby's The Cosmic Serpent, which served as an impulse purchase that sparked his broader interest in the field. He discussed Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Head regarding contemporary shamanism and psychedelics, and pointed to Dennis MacDonald's The Dionysian Gospel while exploring parallels between Jesus and Dionysus. Finally, he recommended Julian Jaynes's The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind when touching on ancient consciousness and internal voices.
Books recommended by Brian Muraresku
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The Road to Eleusis
The Road to Eleusis by R.
Discussed“the road to ellucis by gordon watson who we talked about already albert hofmann who famously discovers lsd or synthesizes it from ergot”
Where to get it
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Supernatural
Supernatural by Graham Hancock is a controversial non-fiction exploration of human evolution, ancient cave art, altered states of consciousness, and the historical use of psychedelic substances like ayahuasca.
Recommended“and uh Graham Graham Hancock wrote a lot about this and it's my favorite book of his it's called Supernatural”
Where to get it
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The Cosmic Serpent
The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby explores the startling parallels between molecular biology, DNA, and traditional shamanic knowledge.
Recommended“it started with jeremy narby the cosmic serpent dna in the origins of knowledge”
Where to get it
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Breaking Open the Head
Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck is an exploration of contemporary shamanism, cultural sacraments, and psychedelic experiences.
Recommended“actually because it was after that that i discovered breaking open the head by daniel pinchback”
Where to get it
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In the Dark Places of Wisdom
In the Dark Places of Wisdom by Peter Kingsley is an exploration of the roots of Western thought, pre-Socratic philosophy, and the mystical origins of ancient Greek philosophy.
Recommended“uh one is in the dark places of wisdom and the other is reality”
Where to get it
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Passport to Magonia
Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallee is a 1969 work exploring the striking parallels between modern unidentified flying object sightings and historical mythology, folklore, and fairytales.
Recommended“I don't know what it is but when I read like jacqu fet for example I I love the hypothesis that these things you know fit better into mythology and folklore than they do into into science and Engineering journals ... passport to Magonia is a really cool book that talks about the interaction of you know what these could”
Where to get it
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Reality
Reality by Peter Kingsley is a philosophical and historical examination of Parmenides and the sacred origins of truth and perception in the ancient Western world.
Recommended“uh one is in the dark places of wisdom and the other is reality”
Where to get it
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The Dionysian Gospel
The Dionysian Gospel by Dennis R.
Recommended“and in my book i rely a lot on the scholarship of dennis mcdonald who writes a fabulous book called the dionysian gospel”
Where to get it
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The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes is a classic 1976 work that posits a provocative hypothesis about the historical development of human consciousness and psychological self-awareness.
Recommended“julian janes writes a great book um the origins of consciousness and the breakdown of the bicameral mind”
Where to get it
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The War of Art
Steven Pressfield's The War of Art serves as a profound guide for creatives, entrepreneurs, and thinkers seeking to understand and conquer the psychological barriers that hinder productivity and inspiration.
Recommended“you do the physical act of summoning The Muse which is how pressfield talks about it in the war of art”
Where to get it
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DMT: The Spirit Molecule
DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman is a scientific and clinical investigation into the effects of dimethyltryptamine, chronicling the first FDA-approved human clinical studies on psychedelics in decades.
Discussed“that was Rick Stan's work stman who wrote DMT The Spirit Molecule and did the first FDA approved studies that they did with IV slow drip DMT experiences”
Where to get it
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Meditations
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a timeless collection of personal reflections and Stoic philosophy written by the Roman emperor.
Discussed“Copies of marcus aurelius's meditations and paperback were sold out at the beginning of 2020.”
Where to get it
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Soma: divine mushroom of immortality
Discussed“he writes a book about this in 1968 soma divine mushroom of immortality that that was his guess too for for soma”
Where to get it
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The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth by John Marco Allegro is a controversial scholarly investigation that attempts to link ancient religious texts and Christian origins to the use of hallucinogenic plants and mystery cults.
Discussed“and then he so he comes out the second book the dead sea scrolls in the christian myth what”
Where to get it
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The sacred mushroom and the cross
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross by John Marco Allegro is a controversial scholarly study that posits early Christianity originated from ancient fertility cults centered around the sacramental use of psychedelic mushrooms.
Discussed“and carl rock has written the afterword to uh one of the additions you probably have of sacred mushroom in the cross”
Where to get it
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The Universal Christ
Discussed“richard rohr the franciscan friar i mentioned in the universal christ he writes a lot about how the divine for you is is often encountered in in the other”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“that's what i explore in the immortality key that this notion of techniques archaic techniques in some cases of ecstasy that allow that experience of the eternal principle to actually rise up in our consciousness”
“so the first chapter of my book is called identity crisis and it talks a lot about this”
“i mean what if it in addition to our faith traditions in addition to the bible the new testament what if in addition to all that these ancient philosophers and mystics had ideas that weren't that distinct from christian mystics and some of these heretical sex like the gnostics or some of the very mainstream followers of jesus”