Lex Fridman Podcast
#395 – Walter Isaacson: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Da Vinci & Ben Franklin
10 Sep 2023
Walter Isaacson is an author of biographies on Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and many others. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lexpod to get 15% off - NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour - BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off - ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod to get 3 months free - Shopify: https://shopify.com/lex to get $1 per month trial Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/walter-isaacson-transcript EPISODE LINKS: Walter's Twitter: https://twitter.com/WalterIsaacson Walter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/walter_isaacson Walter's Website: https://isaacson.tulane.edu Walter's Books: Elon Musk: https://amzn.to/48aWSZC The Code Breaker: https://amzn.to/3EAa0cU Leonardo da Vinci: https://amzn.to/3RlFICB The Innovators: https://amzn.to/45R8gs4 Steve Jobs: https://amzn.to/3P9Ak2B American Sketches: https://amzn.to/45LM4PN Einstein: https://amzn.to/3r6Ttu6 Benjamin Franklin: https://amzn.to/44NobWW Kissinger: https://amzn.to/3RdTA1u The Wise Men: https://amzn.to/45LQDJX PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (10:42) - Difficult childhood (27:47) - Jennifer Doudna (30:44) - Einstein (36:02) - Tesla (53:07) - Elon Musk's humor (57:17) - Steve Jobs' cruelty (1:00:41) - Twitter (1:12:50) - Firing (1:15:35) - Hiring (1:24:38) - Time management (1:32:22) - Groups vs individuals (1:36:08) - Mortality (1:39:40) - How to write (2:00:38) - Love & relationships (2:05:33) - Advice for young people
Full Episode
The following is a conversation with Walter Isaacson, one of the greatest biography writers ever, having written incredible books on Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Jennifer Doudna, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Kissinger, and now a new one on Elon Musk. We talked for hours on and off the mic. I'm sure we'll talk many more times.
Walter is a truly special writer, thinker, observer, and human being. I highly recommend people read his new book on Elon.
I'm sure there will be short-term controversy, but in the long term, I think it will inspire millions of young people, especially with difficult childhoods, with hardship in their surroundings or in their own minds, to take on the hardest problems in the world and to build solutions to those problems, no matter how impossible the odds.
In this conversation, Walter and I cover all of his books and use personal stories from them to speak to the bigger principles of striving for greatness in science, in tech, engineering, art, politics, and life. There are many things in the new Elon book that I felt are best saved for when I speak to Elon directly again on this podcast, which will be soon enough.
Perhaps it's also good to mention here that my friendships, like with Elon, nor any other influence like money, access, fame, power, will ever result in me sacrificing my integrity, ever. I do like to celebrate the good in people, to empathize and to understand. But I also like to call people out on their bullshit with respect and with compassion.
If I fail, I fail due to a lack of skill, not a lack of integrity. I'll work hard to improve. And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast.
We got Masterclass for learning, NetSuite for business stuff, BetterHelp for mental health, ExpressVPN for security and privacy, and Shopify for, well, buying and selling whatever on the internet. Choose wisely, my friends. Also, if you want to work with our team, our amazing team, we're always hiring. Go to lexfriedman.com slash hiring. And now onto the full ad reads.
As always, no silly ads in the middle. I try to make these interesting, but if you must skip them, friends, please still check out our sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too. This show is brought to you by Masterclass. You can pay just a little bit of money and learn from the best people in the world at doing whatever it is they do. There's many ways to learn a thing. One is by doing.
Another is by reading. or watching other people give tutorials on how to do the thing. And the other is to observe the people that do the thing at a world-class level, or who are the best in the world at doing that thing. And I think, well, while it's not the only thing you should be doing, that is as good as it gets. That's the advice I've always been given, and I've given.
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