Person
Every book Diana Walsh Pasulka recommended on podcasts
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Diana Walsh Pasulka appears on, in one place — not just one.
Diana Walsh Pasulka’s most recommended books
- Authors of the Impossible by Jeffrey J. Kripal
- Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
- The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche
- Mutants and Mystics by Jeffrey J. Kripal
- On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
- The Life of the Mind by Hannah Arendt
- The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil
- Mutants & Mystics by Jeffrey J. Kripal
- On the Essence of Language and the Question of Art by Martin Heidegger
- Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallee
Diana Walsh Pasulka is a professor of religion and author who researches the intersections of technology, belief, and anomalous phenomena. During her appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast, she recommended several profound works that significantly shaped her perspective. Diana Walsh Pasulka highly recommended Friedrich Nietzsche's The Gay Science as one of the best books she has ever read, praising it for its impact and its ability to evoke altered, elevated states of consciousness. She also recommended Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem, noting the author's astute observations on the nature of evil derived from attending the Nuremberg trials, and she enthusiastically endorsed Arendt's massive work The Life of the Mind as one of the finest books she has encountered. Additionally, Pasulka recommended Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near, observing that its descriptions of the singularity read similarly to religious language. She also highlighted Jeffrey J. Kripal's Authors of the Impossible as the work by him that impacted her the most. Through these recommendations, Pasulka emphasized texts that explore deep philosophical questions, the nature of belief, and human consciousness.
Books recommended by Diana Walsh Pasulka
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Authors of the Impossible
Authors of the Impossible by Jeffrey J.
Recommended“but he's um his i think his best book or the one that impacted me the most is called authors of the impossible and his book is his writing is very much like nietzsche's writing in the sense that he it's almost as if he reaches out of the pages and he grabs you and kind of slaps you around”
Where to get it
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Eichmann in Jerusalem
Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt is a profound and controversial work of political philosophy and journalistic reporting that examines the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Jerusalem.
Recommended“one is called eichmann in jerusalem where she attend attends the nuremberg trials and she basically makes this really astute observation about evil”
Where to get it
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The Gay Science
The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche is a philosophical work that examines morality, the death of God, knowledge, and the pursuit of a vibrant, self-affirmed existence.
Recommended“and you did ask me to talk about some of the books that made the largest impact on me and the nietzsche's gay science is one of them it's one of the best books ever”
Where to get it
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Mutants and Mystics
Mutants and Mystics is an academic exploration by religious studies scholar Jeffrey J.
Recommended“uh there's a great one he's written called mutants and mystics where he talks about the comic strips uh the um gosh why can't i remember the name of the person he just died stan lee he talks about the history of the comics by stan lee and they're all paranormal they all start off super paranormal and it's fascinating”
Where to get it
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On the Genealogy of Morals
On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche is a foundational philosophical work that investigates the historical evolution of human moral concepts, famously contrasting master and slave morality to critique modern societal values and nihilism.
Recommended“and the nietzsche's gay science is one of them”
Where to get it
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The Life of the Mind
The Life of the Mind is a book by Hannah Arendt that explores the philosophical foundations of thinking, willing, and judging, alongside related works by the author on political theory and totalitarianism.
Recommended“she has another book called the life of the mind which is gigantic and i don't think anybody will read it but frankly it's one of the best books i've ever read and i've read it many times and basically the life of the mind and the life of the mind she asks a very simple question”
Where to get it
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The Singularity Is Near
Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near is a visionary technological work that explores the impending merging of human biology and artificial intelligence, mapping an accelerating trajectory for civilization.
Recommended“but when i read the um kurzweil's book about the singularity to me it read just like um religious language”
Where to get it
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Mutants & Mystics
Discussed“uh there's a great one he's written called mutants and mystics where he talks about the comic strips”
Where to get it
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On the Essence of Language and the Question of Art
Discussed“so another um philosopher that philosophers actually don't like at all but religious studies people do is martin heidegger so martin heidegger has some great essays one is called what is a work of art”
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.
Discussed“So one of the first books I read when I made the turn to study U.F.O. beliefs and practices was Jack’s "Passport to Magonia," which is a great book, one of the many great titles of books in the U.F.O. literature.”
Where to get it
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The Book of Genesis
Discussed“He uses a religious reference even he says you could think of the matrix of the movie as a new as the new um book of genesis for our new world”
Where to get it
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The Critique of Practical Reason
Discussed“so emmanuel kant is one of the he was uh basically in the 1750s he wrote critiques of reason and things like that”
Where to get it
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The Genealogy of Morals
The Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche is a profound philosophical critique that attempts to trace the evolution of Western moral concepts, particularly contrasting master and slave morality.
Discussed“foucault this um other philosopher french philosopher actually takes up this idea and creates his own framework called genealogy from it so the genealogy of morals”
Where to get it
Books Diana Walsh Pasulka wrote
Appearances
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So I didn’t believe in U.F.O.s, had never seen "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."”
“So what I’m suggesting and I say this in my book, American cosmic, is that this is a new form of religion, actually.”
“So when I started the research for American cosmic, I said, O.K, this is going to be pretty easy because we have the internet here and we have all of this data.”
“so I think um when I did American Cosmic which is the first book about UFOs again which I never thought I'd be studying I encountered this man Tyler”
“so a lot of people would call the ufo narrative today like uh and this is what i talk about in my book like a myth right the ufo myth”
“um i liked in american cosmic i attained the status of full professor so i was like okay i can pretty much write this book like i want to do it and i did”
“and they believe that they were also in contact with these non-human intelligences and they were getting what they called downloads of information and creating sometimes with tyler d in my book creating technologies that were real and they were selling them on nasdaq for you know a lot of money like you know say a hundred million dollars or”
“so i was at a conference and it was a small conference um of very interesting people in california on the pacific ocean and jacques was there and um this is actually opens my book this is the book this is the i go i the preface to my book i go on this ride he takes me through silicon”
“so i published my book with oxford which is an academic press and you don't get paid with an academic press”
“now what's fascinating is that i begin my book by going out to a crash site in new mexico i have to get blindfolded with um my well to tell you the truth the story is that i'm with tyler who's an invisible and he wants to show me a place in new mexico where a crash happened”
“they spoke the vedas which were the sacred traditions of india they wanted off”