#78 – Ann Druyan: Cosmos, Carl Sagan, Voyager, and the Beauty of Science

Natalya Bailey is a rocket propulsion engineer from MIT and now CTO of Accion Systems. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Munk Pack: https://munkpack.com and use code LEX to get 20% off – Four Sigmatic: https://foursigmatic.com/lex and use code LexPod to get up to 60% off – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium – Sun Basket: https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off EPISODE LINKS: Natalya’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/natalya926 Accion Systems: https://accion-systems.com/ 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (06:51) – Intelligent life in the universe (10:52) – Life in our solar system (12:57) – Humans on Mars (16:31) – Robots vs human in space exploration (17:25) – AI in space (21:30) – How rocket engines work (26:47) – How ion engines work (31:10) – How colloid engines work (40:07) – Material science (42:57) – Nuclear powered rocket engines (47:56) – Electric propulsion out in space (51:23) – Satellites (56:17) – Photo of Earth from the Moon (57:55) – Humans on Mars (1:00:17) – Propulsion without fuel (1:08:12) – How to build a rocket company (1:15:10) – SpaceX and commercial spaceflight (1:19:42) – Advice to startup founders (1:26:18) – Book recommendations (1:34:36) – Meaning of life

1 Feb 20211h 39min

Tim Dillon is a comedian and podcaster. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil – Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off – Rev: https://rev.ai/lex to get 7-day free trial EPISODE LINKS: Tim’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimJDillon Tim’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timjdillon Tim’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4woSp8ITBoYDmjkukhEhxg Tim’s Website: https://www.timdilloncomedy.com Tim’s Merch: https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-tim-dillon-show/ 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (08:00) – Tim Dillon’s tombstone (09:55) – The horrible people are the most fun (14:06) – Charles Bukowski (19:46) – Robots (22:56) – YouTube algorithm (29:04) – Parler and Amazon (33:32) – Social media (36:09) – Alex Jones (54:42) – OJ Simpson (59:22) – Politics (1:05:52) – Donald Trump (1:13:09) – Humor (1:20:44) – QAnon (1:27:13) – Conspiracy theories (1:32:50) – Bill Gates (1:35:20) – Elon Musk (1:37:35) – Jeffrey Epstein (1:40:14) – Ghislaine Maxwell (1:47:55) – Greatest comedians of all time (1:57:53) – Love (2:01:24) – Fear (2:04:38) – Mom (2:08:10) – Mortality (2:10:13) – Advice for young people (2:16:47) – Moving to Austin (2:24:40) – Meaning of life

29 Jan 20212h 29min

Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Brooklinen: https://brooklinen.com and use code LEX to get $25 off + free shipping – Indeed: https://indeed.com/fridman to get $75 credit – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – Theragun: https://theragun.com/lex to get 30 day trial 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (06:37) – Will AGI suffer from depression? (11:14) – Love is an escape from the muck of life (17:14) – What questions would you ask an alien? (25:58) – How to pivot careers to computer science (33:06) – What will robots look like in the future? (35:54) – Disagreement with Einstein about happiness (41:50) – How I pick podcast guests (51:26) – How to stay optimistic about the future (59:09) – Major topics I changed my mind on (1:06:39) – Benefits of keto diet (1:16:02) – Darkest time in my life

27 Jan 20211h 19min

Max Tegmark is a physicist and AI researcher at MIT. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – The Jordan Harbinger Show: https://www.jordanharbinger.com/lex/ – Four Sigmatic: https://foursigmatic.com/lex and use code LexPod to get up to 60% off – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free EPISODE LINKS: News Project Explainer Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRLF17Pb6vo News Project Website: https://www.improvethenews.org/ Max’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tegmark Max’s Website: https://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/ Future of Life Institute: https://futureoflife.org/ Lex Fridman Podcast #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi8LUnhP5yU 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (08:15) – AI and physics (21:32) – Can AI discover new laws of physics? (30:22) – AI safety (47:59) – Extinction of human species (58:57) – How to fix fake news and misinformation (1:20:30) – Autonomous weapons (1:35:54) – The man who prevented nuclear war (1:46:02) – Elon Musk and AI (1:59:39) – AI alignment (2:05:42) – Consciousness (2:14:45) – Richard Feynman (2:18:56) – Machine learning and computational physics (2:29:53) – AI and creativity (2:41:08) – Aliens (2:56:51) – Mortality

18 Jan 20213h 8min

Avi Loeb is an astrophysicist at Harvard. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Zero Fasting: https://go.zerofasting.com/s/lex-promo to get 30% off annual subscription – LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack – Sun Basket: https://sunbasket.com/lex and use code LEX to get $35 off – Pessimists Archive: https://pessimists.co/ EPISODE LINKS: Extraterrestrial (book): https://amzn.to/39xdnkT Avi’s Website: https://astronomy.fas.harvard.edu/people/avi-loeb 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (10:08) – Are we alone in the universe? (14:23) – Consciousness (19:01) – Sending digital copies of humans to space (23:38) – Oumuamua (45:42) – Alien space junk (49:41) – What do aliens look like? (1:06:58) – Drake equation (1:08:00) – Industrial polution from aliens (1:19:52) – UFO sightings (1:27:48) – How long will human civilization last? (1:30:28) – Radio signal from Proxima Centauri (1:33:49) – Breakthrough Starshot project (1:36:49) – Space race (1:42:00) – Human space exploration (1:47:15) – Social media is a threat to society (1:52:04) – Are humans ready for discovering an alien civilization? (1:56:15) – Mayans used astrology to wage war (1:57:31) – Black holes (2:16:20) – Stephen Hawking (2:19:59) – Grigori Perelman (2:24:24) – Theory of everything (2:31:23) – Dark matter (2:34:06) – Advice for young people (2:37:10) – Memories of my father and mother (2:41:38) – Existentialism (2:43:52) – Mortality (2:46:27) – Meaning of life

14 Jan 20212h 51min

Dmitry Korkin is a professor of bioinformatics and computational biology at WPI. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Brave: https://brave.com/lex – NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour – Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off – Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings EPISODE LINKS: Dmitry’s Website: http://korkinlab.org/ Dmitry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmkorkin 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (07:21) – Proteins and the building blocks of life (14:23) – Spike protein (21:11) – Coronavirus biological structure explained (26:09) – Virus mutations (32:39) – Evolution of proteins (42:25) – Self-replicating computer programs (50:02) – Origin of life (57:34) – Extraterrestrial life in our solar system (59:31) – Joshua Lederberg (1:05:30) – Dendral (1:08:24) – Why did expert systems fail? (1:10:35) – AlphaFold 2 (1:32:13) – Will AI revolutionize art and music? (1:39:12) – Multi-protein folding (1:43:39) – Will AlphaFold 2 result in a Nobel Prize? (1:46:10) – Will AI be used to engineer deadly viruses? (2:01:17) – Book recommendations (2:11:00) – Family (2:13:38) – A poem in Russian

11 Jan 20212h 18min

Dan Gable is one of the greatest Olympic athletes and wrestling coaches of all time. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Tryolabs: https://tryolabs.com/lex – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – Grammarly: https://grammarly.com/lex to get 20% off premium – SimpliSafe: https://simplisafe.com/lex and use code LEX to get a free security camera EPISODE LINKS: Dan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dannygable Dan’s Website: https://dangable.com/ Dan’s Books: https://amzn.to/2VK5nbn 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (09:31) – Russian wrestling (11:09) – Coaching the science, art, and toughness of wrestling (18:05) – The pain of defeat and the tattoo of a hawk clawing out the heart (21:04) – Roger Bannister and the 4 minute mile (24:09) – The dream of becoming an Olympic champion (26:38) – The day in 1972 of the Olympic final (30:10) – Sauna story (31:39) – Match against the Russian (37:13) – The role of fear in wrestling (42:14) – The line between physical wrestling and anger (46:53) – Tragic loss of Dan’s sister (54:21) – The role of family in wrestling (59:43) – Wrestling being voted out of the Olympics (1:04:26) – To beat the best you must study the best (1:09:39) – The role of luck (Old Man and the Sea)

9 Jan 20211h 16min

Dan Kokotov is VP of Engineering at Rev.ai, an automatic speech recognition company. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium – Business Wars: https://wondery.com/business-wars/ – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Rev: https://www.rev.com Rev.ai: https://www.rev.ai 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/LexFridmanPage – 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 (09:17) – Dune (12:34) – Rev (18:33) – Translation (25:22) – Gig economy (34:02) – Automatic speech recognition (44:53) – Create products that people love (53:02) – The future of podcasts at Spotify (1:14:41) – Book recommendations (1:16:02) – Stories of our dystopian future (1:19:45) – Movies about Stalin and Hitler (1:24:59) – Interviewing Putin (1:30:56) – Meaning of life

4 Jan 20211h 34min