Person
Every book Jeffrey Wasserstrom recommended on podcasts
Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s most recommended books
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley
- Among the Braves by Shibani Mahtani
- Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng
- No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit
- The Media and Allegations of Sexual Misconduct by Margaret Ann Bull Kovera
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Jeffrey Wasserstrom appears on expert interview programs such as the Lex Fridman Podcast, establishing himself as a knowledgeable scholar of modern Chinese history, politics, and social movements. Throughout his discussion, Wasserstrom weaves together historical analysis with thoughtful book recommendations that shed light on censorship, authoritarian governance, and long-term political resistance. To illustrate how modern governments manipulate information, he recommends Margaret Roberts's work on Chinese censorship and her framework of fear, friction, and flooding. He also praises Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin's Among the Braves for its insightful look at Hong Kong, and highlights Emily Feng's reporting in Let Only Red Flowers Bloom for examining political transformations under Xi Jinping. For readers seeking perspective on social movements, Wasserstrom points to Rebecca Solnit's essay collection No Straight Road Takes You There as a guide to understanding the non-linear, long-term trajectory of political struggles. Furthermore, Wasserstrom situates contemporary authoritarian dynamics within a broader literary context, noting that classic dystopian and political texts such as George Orwell's 1984, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and Hannah Arendt's studies on totalitarianism remain accessible and relevant for understanding state control.
Books recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
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1984
George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 depicts a totalitarian society characterized by perpetual war, government surveillance, and the complete eradication of individual truth and freedom.
Discussed“You can buy '1984' in a Chinese bookstore, you've been able to since 1985. You can buy again, it's not about China, and actually for some people within China in the mid 1980s, where they focused on the part of 1984, that's like the two minutes of hate...”
Where to get it
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Brave New World
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a classic dystopian science fiction novel that depicts a technologically advanced future society controlled through engineered reproduction, psychological conditioning, and constant superficial pleasure.
Discussed“But he had criticized 'Brave New World' in reviews this like not having imagined a world of capitalism run wild like before...”
Where to get it
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Brave New World Revisited
Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley is a nonfiction essay collection in which the author evaluates whether contemporary society is hurtling closer to the dystopian nightmare he previously forecasted in his famous novel.
Discussed“But you know, there was a kind of, it's not exactly a sequel, but Huxley did write something called 'Brave New World Revisited.' - Yes, he did.”
Where to get it
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Among the Braves
Among the Braves is a compelling and deeply reported book by Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin that examines the turbulent political landscape and struggles for freedom in Hong Kong.
Recommended“I should give credit for that insight, Shibani Mahtani, who's co-wrote a very good book on Hong Kong, 'Among the Braves,' she was talking about that...”
Where to get it
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Let Only Red Flowers Bloom
Let Only Red Flowers Bloom is a notable book by NPR journalist Emily Feng that investigates political shifts, governance, and daily life in modern China.
Recommended“One is called 'The Xi Jinping Effect,' which was just a bunch of scholars, an academic volume sort of looking at take this topic, and that topic, how much is Xi Jinping as a person really affected it? And they come up with all kinds of answers. But there's a book I really like, Emily Feng of NPR has a”
Where to get it
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No Straight Road Takes You There
No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain is a thought-provoking collection of essays by acclaimed writer and activist Rebecca Solnit that reflects on resistance, endurance, and social change.
Recommended“So Rebecca Solnit, he's got a new book, 'No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain.' And she's talking about taking a longer view of some struggles...”
Where to get it
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The Media and Allegations of Sexual Misconduct
The Media and Allegations of Sexual Misconduct by Margaret Ann Bull Kovera is a scholarly work that examines how journalistic reporting shapes public perception and legal outcomes regarding allegations of misconduct.
Recommended“My favorite book about, one of my favorite books about Chinese censorship, Margaret Roberts, where she talks about there are three different ways that the government can control the stories.”
Where to get it
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Animal Farm
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a classic allegorical novella that uses a farmyard setting to satirize the corruption of socialist ideals and the rise of totalitarianism following the Russian Revolution.
Discussed“And then there's 'Animal Farm in 1984' is a second book.”
Where to get it
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Neuromancer
Neuromancer by William Gibson is a seminal 1984 cyberpunk science fiction novel that popularized the concept of cyberspace and heavily influenced modern ideas about the internet and digital technology.
Discussed“So the other line besides best of worst internet, I always like is William Gibson who wrote one of the other important dystopian novels of the present, 'Neuromancer.'”
Where to get it
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The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale is Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel about a totalitarian society where women's rights are stripped away and a select few are forced into reproductive servitude.
Discussed“there's a clarity to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," similarly the construction of the elements.”
Where to get it
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The Origins of Totalitarianism
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt is a foundational political science text that examines the historical roots, psychosocial conditions, and structural mechanisms that allowed Nazism and Stalinism to rise in the twentieth century.
Discussed“You can read all sorts of things in China about totalitarian, you can read Hannah Arendt's book on totalitarianism, which would be the kind of thing you just, you know, you're not supposed to be able to read that in a somewhat totalitarian state or a dictatorial state, or anything.”
Where to get it
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Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt is a foundational historical and political analysis examining the origins, mechanisms, and societal conditions that give rise to authoritarian regimes and totalitarian control.
Discussed“You can read all sorts of things in China about totalitarian, you can read Hannah Arendt's book on totalitarianism, which would be the kind of thing you just, you know, you're not supposed to be able to read that in a somewhat totalitarian state or a dictatorial state, or anything.”
Where to get it
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We
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a pioneering dystopian novel set in a highly regimented glass city governed by the One State, heavily influencing later classics like George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
Discussed“And it's a box set where you have Zamyatin's 'We', that inspired both Orwell and Huxley to some extent. That's one book.”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| #466 – Jeffrey Wasserstrom: China, Xi Jinping, Trade War, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mao | Lex Fridman Podcast | 2025-04-24 | 18 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And then there's "Animal Farm in 1984" is a second book.”