Person
Yuval Noah Harari books: every book Yuval Noah Harari wrote and recommended
Across 4 podcasts. Every show Yuval Noah Harari appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Yuval Noah Harari
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Sapiens
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
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Nexus
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Unstoppable Us, Volume 1
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Unstoppable Us Volume 2
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Special Operations in the Age of Chivalry, 1100-1550 (Warfare in History) (Warfare in History)
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Animal Liberation Now
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Renaissance Military Memoirs
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Clean Meat
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Homo Deus A Brief History of Tomorrow
Yuval Noah Harari’s most recommended books
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Sources of the Self by Charles Taylor
- 1984 by George Orwell
- How to Read the Bible by James L. Kugel
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- The Mishnah by Herbert Danby
- The New Testament: an Introduction for the General Reader by Oscar Cullmann
- The Talmud by Jacob Neusner
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual, and popular science writer. He is a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his published work examines themes of free will, consciousness, intelligence, happiness, suffering, and the role of storytelling in human evolution. On podcasts, Harari discussed several of his own works, including Sapiens, Homo Deus, and various religious commentaries and historical texts. He explained his mindset when writing Sapiens, noting that he did not take the project too seriously at first because he did not expect it to reach such a wide audience, and he discussed how rapidly artificial intelligence has progressed since he wrote Homo Deus in 2016. In addition, Harari drew analogies between blockchain technology and the evolutionary structure of biblical texts, mentioning works such as The Mishnah, The Talmud, The New Testament, and James L. Kugel's How to Read the Bible. He also recommended Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self as a major personal influence, though he warned that it is a difficult read, and he praised Aldous Huxley's Brave New World as the most prophetic book of the twentieth century and a profound discussion of modern Western philosophy's view of happiness.
Books recommended by Yuval Noah Harari
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Brave New World
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a chilling dystopian masterpiece that envisions a technologically advanced future society sustained by pharmacological distraction, engineered conformity, and the systematic eradication of deep human emotion and critical thought.
Discussed“i mean the aldous huxley and brave new world yeah brave the world i i it really had really really deep impact on me”
Where to get it
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Sapiens
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari is a sweeping exploration of how Homo sapiens evolved, dominated the planet, and constructed complex imaginary orders like religion, money, and nations.
Discussed“At least when I wrote Sapiens, I didn't take myself or the project too seriously because I didn't think that many people would read it. It came out of this university course.”
Where to get it
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Sources of the Self
Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity is a monumental philosophical study by Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor that traces how modern notions of personal identity, inwardness, and morality have evolved from ancient and medieval roots into contemporary secular frameworks.
Recommended“yeah so i mean charles taylor the canadian philosopher really influenced me a lot his book the sources of the self is i think one of the most important books i read in life”
Where to get it
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1984
George Orwell's classic dystopian novel 1984 presents a chilling vision of a totalitarian society characterized by perpetual surveillance, historical denial, and severe psychological manipulation.
Discussed“there is no need of a secret police concentration camps or a Ministry of love Allah Orwell's 1984”
Where to get it
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Homo Deus A Brief History of Tomorrow
Yuval Noah Harari's thought-provoking book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow investigates the trajectory of humanity as science and technology increasingly target mortality, happiness, and divinity.
Discussed“When I wrote say Homodos in 2016, I didn't think we would reach this this point so quickly where we are at 2023.”
Where to get it
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How to Read the Bible
How to Read the Bible by James L.
Discussed“so with the Bible you have a first block of text uh the Hebrew Bible which um is copied and lots of people around the world”
Where to get it
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams's comedic science fiction masterpiece "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" follows the absurd interstellar travels of Arthur Dent after Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
Discussed“hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy i also great i also list it as a philosophy book um you know i think that and it had an impact on not just on on my thinking but on my on on how i write or work”
Where to get it
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The Mishnah
Discussed“so at a certain point in time they quantify what they believe is the correct interpretation of the Bible into a new holy book which is the mishnah”
Where to get it
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The New Testament: an Introduction for the General Reader
The New Testament: an Introduction for the General Reader by Oscar Cullmann is a foundational text and scholarly overview providing historical and theological context for the Christian scriptures.
Discussed“because the Christians did not accept the mishnai the talmud they added to the first block of text the Hebrew Bible a different block of text a different block of information the New Testament”
Where to get it
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The Talmud
The Talmud by Jacob Neusner is a foundational and complex rabbinic text exploring Jewish law, ethics, and lore through centuries of rigorous debate and commentary.
Discussed“but then again people start immediately arguing about the correct interpretation of the mishnah and eventually when they reached some consensus they create a third Block in the chain which is the talmud”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (8: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I wrote Nexus so I go from podcast to podcast from TV station to TV station to talk about my book”
“without the focus and clarity provided by this practice i could not have written sapiens and homo deus”
“without the focus and clarity provided by this practice i could not have written sapiens and homo deus”
“i don't think as i wrote in this that passage you read i don't think i could have written sapiens or homo deus or any of these other books without the practice of meditation”
“i don't think as i wrote in this that passage you read i don't think i could have written sapiens or homo deus or any of these other books without the practice of meditation”
“after I published sapiens in Hebrew and it became a best-seller in Israel I thought it would be easy to publish an English translation of it I translated it and sent it to various publishers but all rejected it out of hand”
“without the focus and clarity provided by this practice I could not have written sapiens and Homo Deus”
“without the focus and clarity provided by this practice I could not have written sapiens and Homo Deus”