Lex Fridman Podcast
#461 – ThePrimeagen: Programming, AI, ADHD, Productivity, Addiction, and God
22 Mar 2025
ThePrimeagen (aka Michael Paulson) is a programmer who has educated, entertained, and inspired millions of people to build software and have fun doing it. Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep461-sc See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. CONTACT LEX: Feedback - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama Hiring - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring Other - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact EPISODE LINKS: ThePrimeagen's X: https://twitter.com/ThePrimeagen ThePrimeagen's YouTube: https://youtube.com/ThePrimeTimeagen ThePrimeagen's Twitch: https://twitch.tv/ThePrimeagen ThePrimeagen's GitHub: https://github.com/theprimeagen ThePrimeagen's TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@theprimeagen ThePrimeagen's Coffee: https://www.terminal.shop/ SPONSORS: To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: Invideo AI: AI video generator. Go to https://invideo.io/i/lexpod Shopify: Sell stuff online. Go to https://shopify.com/lex NetSuite: Business management software. Go to http://netsuite.com/lex BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. Go to https://betterhelp.com/lex AG1: All-in-one daily nutrition drinks. Go to https://drinkag1.com/lex OUTLINE: (00:00) - Introduction (10:27) - Love for programming (20:00) - Hardest part of programming (22:16) - Types of programming (29:54) - Life story (39:58) - Hardship (41:29) - High school (47:15) - Porn addiction (57:01) - God (1:12:44) - Perseverance (1:22:40) - Netflix (1:35:08) - Groovy (1:40:13) - Printf() debugging (1:46:35) - Falcor (1:56:05) - Breaking production (1:58:49) - Pieter Levels (2:03:19) - Netflix, Twitch, and YouTube infrastructure (2:15:22) - ThePrimeagen origin story (2:30:37) - Learning programming languages (2:39:40) - Best programming languages in 2025 (2:44:35) - Python (2:45:15) - HTML & CSS (2:46:05) - Bash (2:46:45) - FFmpeg (2:53:28) - Performance (2:56:00) - Rust (3:00:48) - Epic projects (3:14:12) - Asserts (3:23:26) - ADHD (3:31:34) - Productivity (3:35:58) - Programming setup (4:11:28) - Coffee (4:18:32) - Programming with AI (5:01:16) - Advice for young programmers (5:12:48) - Reddit questions (5:20:20) - God PODCAST LINKS: - Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast - Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 - RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ - Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 - Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips
Full Episode
The following is a conversation with Michael Paulson, better known online as The Primogen. He is a programmer who has entertained and inspired millions of people to have fun building stuff with software, whether you're a newbie or a seasoned developer who has been battling it out in the software engineering trenches for decades.
In short, The Primogen is a legendary programmer and a great human being with an inspiring rollercoaster of a life story. And now, a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It is, in fact, the best way to support this podcast. We got InVideo AI for video generation, Shopify for selling stuff online, NetSuite for your business, BetterHelp for your health,
and AG1 for delicious nutrition. Choose wisely, my friends. Also, if you want to work with our amazing team or get in touch with me for whatever reason, go to lexfriedman.com slash contact. And now, on to the full ad reads. As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make this interesting, but if you must skip them, please still check out the sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too.
This episode is brought to you by InVideo AI, a video generating app that allows you to create full length videos using just text prompts. I have been using it more and more myself and trying to figure out how can I integrate it into the visual presentation of the podcast or some of the other videos so that we can kind of add to the experience of what the person is talking about.
It's a real challenge because when you generate, even in a simple overlay image, You know, you don't want to interfere with the imagination of the listener. Me as a fan of a bunch of podcasts and obviously a fan of film, I think part of the experience is the Hitchcock thing. Say less, show less, and allow the viewer, the listener, to fill in the gaps with their imagination.
For me, I think imagination is such a limitless world that somehow has deep roots in the subconscious of the individual person that I think you don't want to rob them of the chance to use their imagination.
And so the challenge with AI and the possibility with AI is to be a catalyst for the imagination, to add material for the imagination to flourish versus a thing that adds constraints and reduces it down to where it's an interference to the imagination.
Anyway, you can try InVideo AI for free, saving you lots of time and money you'd otherwise spend on editing, animating, and other production costs. Go to invideo.io slash i slash lexpod. That's invideo.io slash i slash lexpod. This episode is also brought to you by Shopify, a platform designed for anyone to sell anywhere with a great looking online store.
I think of the digital marketplace that Shopify creates as a kind of cognitive interface between the seller and the buyer, economic interface too. It's a mind meld, a network plugged in into the collective intelligence of our species, the wants and desires.
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