Neal Stephenson is a sci-fi writer (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and new book Termination Shock), former Chief Futurist at Magic Leap and first employee of Blue Origin. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Neal’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nealstephenson
Neal’s Website: https://www.nealstephenson.com/
Termination Shock (book): https://amzn.to/3HhmDKi
Snow Crash (book): https://amzn.to/3H7yFFW
Cryptonomicon (book): https://amzn.to/3C01HDF
The Diamond Age (book): https://amzn.to/3wxUF83
Seveneves (book): https://amzn.to/3kkhveg
The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1 (book): https://amzn.to/3koMW7n
Innovation Starvation (article): https://bit.ly/3mYLSJ2
PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
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Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
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YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips
SUPPORT & CONNECT:
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– 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
(08:34) – WWII and human nature
(17:20) – Search engine morality
(21:58) – Space exploration
(38:59) – Aliens and UFOs
(47:21) – SpaceX and Blue Origin
(54:43) – Social media
(59:11) – Climate change
(1:11:00) – Consequences of big ideas
(1:15:42) – Virtual reality
(1:38:50) – Artificial intelligence
(1:53:49) – Cryptocurrency
(2:06:26) – Writing, storytelling, and books
(2:29:05) – Martial arts
(2:38:23) – Final thoughts
#430 – Charan Ranganath: Human Memory, Imagination, Deja Vu, and False Memories
#429 – Paul Rosolie: Jungle, Apex Predators, Aliens, Uncontacted Tribes, and God
#428 – Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens
#427 – Neil Adams: Judo, Olympics, Winning, Losing, and the Champion Mindset
#426 – Edward Gibson: Human Language, Psycholinguistics, Syntax, Grammar & LLMs
#425 – Andrew Callaghan: Channel 5, Gonzo, QAnon, O-Block, Politics & Alex Jones
#424 – Bassem Youssef: Israel-Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, Middle East, Satire & Fame
#423 – Tulsi Gabbard: War, Politics, and the Military Industrial Complex
#422 – Mark Cuban: Shark Tank, DEI & Wokeism Debate, Elon Musk, Politics & Drugs
#421 – Dana White: UFC, Fighting, Khabib, Conor, Tyson, Ali, Rogan, Elon & Zuck
#420 – Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy
#419 – Sam Altman: OpenAI, GPT-5, Sora, Board Saga, Elon Musk, Ilya, Power & AGI
#418 – Israel-Palestine Debate: Finkelstein, Destiny, M. Rabbani & Benny Morris
#417 – Kimbal Musk: The Art of Cooking, Tesla, SpaceX, Zip2, and Family
#416 – Yann Lecun: Meta AI, Open Source, Limits of LLMs, AGI & the Future of AI
#415 – Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War
#414 – Tucker Carlson: Putin, Navalny, Trump, CIA, NSA, War, Politics & Freedom
#413 – Bill Ackman: Investing, Financial Battles, Harvard, DEI, X & Free Speech
#412 – Marc Raibert: Boston Dynamics and the Future of Robotics
#411 – Omar Suleiman: Palestine, Gaza, Oct 7, Israel, Resistance, Faith & Islam
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