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Walter Isaacson's book recommendations
Across 5 podcasts. Every show Walter Isaacson appears on, in one place — not just one.
Walter Isaacson’s most recommended books
- The Double Helix by James D. Watson
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville
- Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Tell me how long the train's been gone by James Baldwin
- The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
- Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
Walter Isaacson is an American journalist who has written biographies of Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Jennifer Doudna, and Elon Musk. He is a professor at Tulane University and an interviewer for the PBS and CNN news show Amanpour & Company. During podcast appearances, Isaacson has shared several book recommendations and discussed works that resonated with him. He mentioned James Watson's "The Double Helix" as an inspirational book given to Jennifer Doudna in her youth. He named Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" and Homer's "The Odyssey" as favorites centered around the theme of a great journey, comparing them also to Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Isaacson discussed Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" to illustrate approaches to team leadership and creative tension. Additionally, he mentioned recently reading James Baldwin's novel "Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone" and named Walker Percy's "The Moviegoer" among his favorite books because it centers on a person's journey through life.
Books recommended by Walter Isaacson
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Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is an acclaimed biography that chronicles the tumultuous life, visionary innovations, and relentless drive of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs through extensive interviews with the subject and those who knew him.
Discussed“People have never been in business or never been entrepreneurs and generally older people. You know, their first reaction, especially to the first half of the book, is, boy, he was kind of a jerk and he was hard to deal with.”
Where to get it
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The Double Helix
The Double Helix by James D.
Recommended“So her father drops a book on her bed called the "Double Helix," the book by James Watson on the discovery of the structure of DNA...”
Where to get it
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The Code Breaker
The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson and Kathe Mazur is a compelling biography of CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna that explores the revolutionary world of gene editing.
Discussed“The way Jennifer Doudna, the heroine of my book The Code Breaker, the one who helped invent CRISPR technology, in her lab and in her companies, if they're going to hire somebody new, even a graduate student to be in, you know, working with the pipettes and the test tubes, they make sure the whole team meets that person.”
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“and not only will that increase the inequality in our society it will encode it permanently in our species which would just be a eugenic horror show like brave new world of the movie gattaca we don't want that to happen”
Where to get it
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The Odyssey
The Odyssey by Homer is an epic ancient Greek poem that follows the arduous ten-year journey of Odysseus as he attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, encountering mythical creatures, divine wrath, and numerous trials along the way.
Recommended“and so is the odyssey”
Where to get it
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Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a classic American novel chronicling a journey down the Mississippi River and exploring deep moral questions through the relationship between Huck and the runaway slave Jim.
Recommended“speaking of great journeys um moby dick i think uh you could pick huck finn but moby dick is the same sort of thing”
Where to get it
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Moby Dick
Moby Dick by Herman Melville is a classic 19th-century novel exploring the obsessions of Captain Ahab and the dramatic whaling voyage of the Pequod.
Recommended“um moby dick”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is an epic American novel that chronicles the obsessive, self-destructive quest of Captain Ahab to hunt down the giant white whale that maimed him.
Recommended“speaking of great journeys um moby dick i think uh you could pick huck finn but moby dick is the same sort of thing”
Where to get it
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Team of Rivals
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin is an acclaimed historical biography examining Abraham Lincoln's extraordinary political leadership and his strategic decision to appoint his fiercest opponents to his presidential cabinet.
Recommended“if you read doris kearns goodwin's team of rivals or about franklin roosevelt or steve jobs they often like to have more creative tension within the team”
Where to get it
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Tell me how long the train's been gone
Tell me how long the train's been gone is a powerful and sweeping novel by James Baldwin that explores the life of an aging Black actor named Leo Proudhammer as he recovers from a heart attack and reflects upon his tumultuous past, political activism, and experiences with racism in America.
Recommended“i did just read for the you know recently james baldwin i've gotten into and tell me how long the train's been gone”
Where to get it
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The Moviegoer
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy is a classic philosophical novel about a young stockbroker in New Orleans grappling with alienation, routine, and a search for authenticity.
Recommended“the moviegoer by walker percy because it's about like any great book including non-fiction it's about a person goes on a journey and we're all on a journey”
Where to get it
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Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama is an introspective memoir chronicling the future president's early life, family history, and journey toward self-discovery.
Discussed“Barack Obama wrote in his memoir, "Every successful man is either trying to live up to his father's expectations or live down his father's sins." This is especially relevant for Elon, who had a violent and troubled childhood, with a psychologically complex father.”
Where to get it
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Lyndon Johnson and the American dream
Discussed“And when she was going for tenure at the university, she wrote a biography of 'Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.' They denied her tenure because it was beneath the dignity of the academy to write history through one person.”
Where to get it
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Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare is a complex dramatic play exploring themes of justice, morality, and human flaw.
Discussed“You want to take away his phone so he doesn't tweet at 3:00 a.m. You want to say, "Quit being so crazy." But then you realize there's a wonderful line of Shakespeare in "Measure for Measure" at the very end.”
Where to get it
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is a beloved comedic science fiction classic that satirizes bureaucracy, existentialism, and the absurdities of the universe.
Discussed“One of my theories on Elon, a minor theory, is that he read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" once too often.”
Where to get it
Books by Walter Isaacson
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Steve Jobs
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Einstein
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The Code Breaker
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Leonardo da Vinci
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Kissinger
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Benjamin Franklin
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The wise men
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American sketches
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Elon Musk
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Profiles in Leadership
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A Benjamin Franklin Reader
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THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND JUDAISM
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Greatest Sentence Ever Written
Appearances
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Just like in brave new world or gattaca”