Jasmine Sun
Writer and former Substack product manager; publishes essays on technology, culture and China at jasmi.news.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Um and then finally, uh Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering, cuz I do think that the relational stuff is going to become a lot more important than it always was, and I do think that book has helped me become a better host.
on a podcast · 4 Aug 2026 · Report
The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut
Ooh, um so I think the first one is really relevant to this conversation, which is uh Ben Yemin Labatut's The Maniac, um which includes a sort of lightly fictionalized biography of John von Neumann, the story of AlphaGo. I think it's very much a sort of halfway novel, halfway non-fiction book about how intelligence is incredibly awe-inspiring and something worth respecting and at the same time can lead people to some very dark realities.
on a podcast · 4 Aug 2026 · Report
The Technology Trap by Carl Benedikt Frey
Um my second book is The Technology Trap from Carl Benedikt Frey, which I think is very much about how people's attitudes towards technology and automation depend on to what extent the benefits, the economic growth, is shared, to what extent they feel like they're getting a piece of the pie.
on a podcast · 4 Aug 2026 · Report
Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future by Dan Wang
Breakneck is also worth reading because it's fun: it's a political economy book with chutzpah, as China letter aficionados will expect.
on jasmi.news · 2 Aug 2025 · Report
Close to the Machine by Ellen Ullman
Ellen Ullman's Close to the Machine is a memoir I couldn't believe I hadn't read earlier. Many of her observations about engineering culture feel as relevant today as when she was a programmer in the 1980s
on jasmi.news · 2 Aug 2025 · Report
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