Reading list · 12 books
David Heinemeier Hansson's reading list
Creator of Ruby on Rails and co-founder/CTO of 37signals (Basecamp, HEY), co-author of "Rework" and "It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work." DHH is an outspoken writer whose reading recommendations skew toward politics, economics, media criticism, and literature.
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01
Jason Hickel
DHH says reading it was "like opening your eyes after getting unplugged from the matrix," reframing his view of global inequality.
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02
Matt Stoller
He cites it as the well-researched, documented case on monopoly power, calling antitrust a real and studied problem.
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03
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
John Carreyrou
He recommends the Theranos exposé as an indictment of Silicon Valley's hype culture.
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04
Matt Taibbi
He recommends it for understanding how the media manufactures outrage and division.
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05
George Orwell
He praises Orwell's reporting on worker exploitation, drawing parallels to the modern gig economy.
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06
Matthew Stewart
He recommends it for exposing the shaky intellectual foundations of "scientific management" and the consulting industry.
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07
Leon Festinger
He cites the classic study of how believers double down when their predictions are disproven.
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09
Franz Kafka
Another of the novels he names as essential to how he sees bureaucracy and power.
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10
William Irvine
A recommended Stoicism title (a philosophy he and Fried both cite).
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12
W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
A recommended business-strategy title on creating uncontested market space.
More on David Heinemeier Hansson's picks
DHH surfaces books mainly through Twitter/X threads and his writing, often tied to a political or economic argument he's making (antitrust, labor, media). He has also named the handful of novels he thinks about regularly. His recommendations are opinion-driven and frequently contrarian.
The recommendations below are drawn from David Heinemeier Hansson's public talks, interviews, podcast appearances, and posts; each book links to where it surfaced.
