The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi)

This book by Hermann Hesse has been genuinely recommended 2 times across 2 different shows: Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman. The people who vouched for it on air: Lex Fridman, Rick Doblin. It comes up in conversations about consciousness, depression & mood, fasting, psychedelics, trauma & ptsd. The earliest recommendation we indexed is from Mar 2025 and the most recent from May 2025. Every quote below is verbatim, attributed, and linked to the exact second it was said. Sourced expert opinion, not medical advice.

• “There's a book that I'd um recommend for people um by Herman Hess, and it's called The Glass Bead Game. Magister Ludy, the glass bead game.”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “a book that I'd recommend for people”
  Rick Doblin · The Joe Rogan Experience · May 202501:38:46

  Said during "Joe Rogan Experience #2319 - Rick Doblin". The episode features Rick Doblin: Founder of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), which he started in 1986 to make MDMA-assisted therapy a legal medicine. A leading figure in the psychedelic research movement for nearly 40 years. MAPS founder Rick Doblin walks Joe Rogan through four decades fighting to turn MDMA and psychedelics into legal medicine.

• “"Siddhartha" throughout your life, especially in moments of crisis, and "The Glass Bead Game" if you want to take on Hesse's magnum opus”

  Why it counts as a recommendation: “I would recommend to read ... "The Glass Bead Game" if you want to take on Hesse's magnum opus”
  Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · Mar 202503:15:12

  Said during "Narendra Modi: Prime Minister of India - Power, Democracy, War & Peace | Lex Fridman Podcast #460". The episode features Narendra Modi: Prime Minister of India, leader of the world's largest democracy of 1.4 billion people, who rose from extreme childhood poverty in Gujarat to win three terms as PM. A former RSS volunteer and spiritual seeker who spent years wandering the Himalayas before entering public life. Narendra Modi reflects on poverty, spirituality, fasting, peacemaking, democracy, AI, and India's civilizational identity with Lex Fridman.