What is it like to shadow Elon Musk for two years? To sit courtside as he builds a rocket? Or tears apart an engineer? Or couch surfs at the homes of billionaires? And how on earth do you make sense of it all? Walter Isaacson is the biographer of giants: DaVinci, Franklin, Doudna, Jobs...and now Musk, former enfante terrible, rocket launcher, electric car innovator, and Twitter—er, X—disruptor, to put it gently. In this four part series, author Evan Ratliff (Mastermind, Longform Podcast) sits down with Isaacson to draw out the behind-the-scenes stories of this epic biography, and what the writer has learned as an outsider inside Silicon Valley.  

What is it like to shadow Elon Musk for two years? To sit courtside as he builds a rocket? Or tears apart an engineer? Or couch surfs at the homes of billionaires? And how on earth do you make sense of it all? Walter Isaacson is the biographer of giants: DaVinci, Franklin, Doudna, Jobs...and now Musk, former enfante terrible, rocket launcher, electric car innovator, and Twitter—er, X—disruptor, to put it gently. In this four part series, author Evan Ratliff (Mastermind, Longform Podcast) sits down with Isaacson to draw out the behind-the-scenes stories of this epic biography, and what the writer has learned as an outsider inside Silicon Valley.

On Musk with Walter Isaacson

Introducing: On Musk with Walter Isaacson

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b26923c9-4995-474a-8524-b0b5016c8e4b/transcript

Which of Musk’s efforts will mark his legacy? Will it be Starship and his work bringing Americans back into orbit, or will it be X and his amplifications of the worst of humanity? Isaacson wrestles with his time in Silicon Valley, and relays a comparison of Jobs and Musk that’s sure to stay with you. 

Which of Musk’s efforts will mark his legacy? Will it be Starship and his work bringing Americans back into orbit, or will it be X and his amplifications of the worst of humanity? Isaacson wrestles with his time in Silicon Valley, and relays a comparison of Jobs and Musk that’s sure to stay with you.

Biographer Walter Isaacson discusses the future of Musk's legacy and whether or not he's burning it all down.

Episode Four: What is Musk’s Legacy?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/722109ef-772e-4d71-9c71-b0d50143fc57/transcript

Be a storyteller, not a preacher. That was novelist Walker Percy’s legendary advice to a young Walter Isaacson. One he takes to heart in his work as a journalist at Time and CNN, and as a biographer of creative genius across the centuries—and in trying to capture someone as volatile as Elon Musk. He reflects on the challenges of holding the complexity of a character in his mind—and the minds of readers—in the modern age, when everyone just wants to know if the emerald mines were real.

Be a storyteller, not a preacher. That was novelist Walker Percy’s legendary advice to a young Walter Isaacson. One he takes to heart in his work as a journalist at Time and CNN, and as a biographer of creative genius across the centuries—and in trying to capture someone as volatile as Elon Musk. He reflects on the challenges of holding the complexity of a character in his mind—and the minds of readers—in the modern age, when everyone just wants to know if the emerald mines were real.

Biographer Walter Isaacson reveals the his own origins and the way it shaped how he approached Elon Musk's story.

Episode Three: Storytelling and Hot Takes

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d70f0f67-75f3-4b9d-b23b-b0d5014306f4/transcript

What kind of titan of industry has a "giddy mode"? Or a "demon mode"? The two aspects of Musk’s personality are forces that drive his choices and behavior at work—and vectors Isaacson finds critical to understanding how Musk operates. From ripping out servers on Christmas Eve on a whim to buying Twitter against better wisdom, and reaming out staff members left right and center, we stare into the darker parts of Musk as chronicled by Isaacson.

What kind of titan of industry has a "giddy mode"? Or a "demon mode"? The two aspects of Musk’s personality are forces that drive his choices and behavior at work—and vectors Isaacson finds critical to understanding how Musk operates. From ripping out servers on Christmas Eve on a whim to buying Twitter against better wisdom, and reaming out staff members left right and center, we stare into the darker parts of Musk as chronicled by Isaacson.

Biographer Walter Isaacson reveals the secrets behind Elon Musk's demons and his erratic behavior.

Episode Two: Demons

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d01dc772-abbd-4ff3-8885-b0d50141e503/transcript

Introducing: On Musk with Walter Isaacson

In 1 playlist(s)

On Musk with Walter Isaacson

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips