Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

BOOK: The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better, by Tyler Cowen. This 15,000-word pamphlet by a renowned economist makes arguments that parallel Thiel’s theories about the slowdown in American innovation. Cowen also has written several other books on economics for a general audience.

ARTICLE: “Inside the New Right, Where Peter Thiel Is Placing His Biggest Bets.” In this long-form Vanity Fair article, writer James Pogue visits the National Conservatism Conference, where he chats with young thought leaders who belong to what he terms “America’s New Right.” The article makes connections to Peter Thiel and his sponsorship of that movement. (Content warning: minor use of swearing.)

ARTICLE: “Peter Thiel explains how an esoteric philosophy book shaped his worldview.” This short interview with Thiel, conducted by Richard Feloni for Business Insider, outlines the connections between Zero to One and René Girard’s mimetic theory of destructive competition. Included are Thiel’s suggestions about the best Girard books to read.