#485 – David Kirtley: Nuclear Fusion, Plasma Physics, and the Future of Energy

Manolis Kellis is a computational biologist at MIT. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Grammarly: https://grammarly.com/lex to get 20% off premium – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Manolis Website: http://web.mit.edu/manoli/ Manolis Twitter: https://twitter.com/manoliskellis Manolis YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkKlJ5LHrE3C7fgbnPA5DGA 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 (06:48) – Music and life (46:21) – The number 42 (52:22) – The question about the meaning of life (55:02) – Are humans unique in the universe? (1:00:46) – Human civilization (1:12:52) – Mars (1:14:45) – Human mind and the abstraction layers of reality (1:25:38) – Neural networks and intelligence (1:32:55) – Ideas as organisms (1:42:19) – Language (1:53:34) – Legacy (2:08:25) – Poems SONGS MENTIONED: [1] Dwros Gewrgiadis – An imoun plousios https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akZoEQv6jI [2] Grigoris Bithikotsis – Ftoxologia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyGR24O0KQ8 [3] Sto perigiali to kryfo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-GBPx_GXQw [4] Michael Jackson – Man in the Mirror https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqe5NP86OCc [5] George Michael – Careless Whisper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ [6] Gainsbourg with Isabelle Adjani – Pull Marine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7MwHGHWgLk [7] Georges Moustaki – Le meteque https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV8fGf-N06A [8] Jacques Brel – Ne me quitte pas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bq5mStroM [9] Sting – Englishman In New York https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d27gTrPPAyk [10] Sting – Fragile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB6a-iD6ZOY [11] Pink Floyd – The Wall (When the Tigers Broke Free) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9b9UhFe6Eg [12] Pink Floyd – The Wall (One Of My Turns) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOay-7aqLks [13] Sting – Russians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHylQRVN2Qs [14] Joni Mitchell – Both sides now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnf46boC3I [15] Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOnXe8ttmjY [16] Alison Krauss & Union Station – The Lucky One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcRZ_J_VgNc

30 Nov 20200s

Erik Brynjolfsson is an economist at Stanford. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Vincero: https://vincerowatches.com/lex to get up to 25% off + free shipping – Four Sigmatic: https://foursigmatic.com/lex and use code LexPod to get up to 60% off – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Erik’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/erikbryn Erik’s Website: https://www.brynjolfsson.com/ The Second Machine Age (book): https://amzn.to/33f1Pk2 Machine, Platform, Crowd (book): https://amzn.to/3miJZ76 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 (08:23) – Exponential growth (12:51) – Elon Musk exponential thinking (15:08) – Moore’s law is a series of revolutions (20:31) – GPT-3 (22:09) – Autonomous vehicles (29:11) – Electricity (33:40) – Productivity (38:47) – Why is Twitter and Facebook free? (49:03) – Dismantling the nature of truth (52:24) – Nutpicking and Cancel Culture (58:39) – How will AI change our world (1:04:40) – Existential threats (1:06:33) – AI and the nature of work (1:12:39) – Thoughts on Andrew Yang and UBI (1:18:30) – Economics of innovation (1:24:37) – Effect of COVID on the economy (1:33:50) – MIT and Stanford (1:38:23) – Book recommendations (1:41:28) – Meaning of life

25 Nov 20201h 45min

Lisa Feldman Barrett is a neuroscientist, psychologist, and author. 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 – Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get $200 off – MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex to get 15% off annual sub – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off EPISODE LINKS: Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain (book): https://amzn.to/2Sp5ar9 How Emotions Are Made (book): https://amzn.to/2GwAFg6 Lisa’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LFeldmanBarrett Lisa’s Website: https://lisafeldmanbarrett.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 (07:27) – Falling in love (25:10) – Love at first sight (39:49) – Romantic (43:48) – Writing process (54:32) – Evolution of the human brain (1:08:41) – Nature of evil (1:17:23) – Love is an evolutionary advantage (1:21:59) – Variation in species (1:27:41) – Does evolution have a direction? (1:45:19) – Love with an inanimate object (1:49:37) – Just be yourself is confusing advice (1:59:49) – Consciousness (2:06:26) – Book recommendations

20 Nov 20202h 21min

Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist at Stanford. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get $200 off – SEMrush: https://www.semrush.com/partner/lex/ to get a free month of Guru – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Andrew’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Andrew’s Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_D._Huberman Andrew’s Website: http://www.hubermanlab.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 (06:24) – Fear (14:36) – Virtual reality (18:20) – Claustrophobia (20:08) – Skydiving (21:43) – Overcoming fears (26:43) – Optimal performance (29:57) – Deep work (45:22) – Psychedelics (49:08) – Deep work (1:02:48) – Everything in the brain is an abstraction (1:10:06) – Human vision system (1:21:42) – Neuralink (1:49:12) – Science of consciousness (2:04:00) – David Goggins (2:21:04) – Science communication (2:28:36) – Man’s Search for Meaning

16 Nov 20202h 36min

Yaron Brook is a objectivist philosopher, podcaster, and author. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium – ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Yaron’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yaronbrook Yaron Brook Show (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/user/ybrook Free Market Revolution (book): https://amzn.to/32H0oLb Equal is Unfair (book): https://amzn.to/32K3NsC 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 (06:28) – Principles of a life well lived (14:35) – Free will (20:50) – Nature of reality (29:28) – Ayn Rand (1:01:11) – Objectivism (1:26:29) – Godel Incompleteness Theorem (1:31:36) – Capitalism (2:01:22) – Virtue of selfishness (2:11:27) – Win-win (2:17:31) – Anarchy (2:36:24) – Tribalism and division (2:40:42) – Objectivism and Jordan Peterson on personal responsibility

13 Nov 20202h 53min

Alex Filippenko is an astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at Berkeley. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Neuro: https://www.getneuro.com and use code LEX to get 15% off – BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off – MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex to get 15% off annual sub – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Alex’s Website: https://astro.berkeley.edu/people/alex-filippenko/ 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 (06:36) – Universe expansion (08:00) – Dark energy (15:28) – Scientific revolutions (27:18) – Asteroid hitting Earth (30:50) – Giant solar flares and the power grid (37:50) – Elon Musk and space exploration (42:41) – Exoplanets (50:03) – Traveling close to the speed of light (52:13) – Traveling faster than the speed of light (1:00:39) – Intelligent life in the universe (1:04:14) – Fermi Paradox (1:13:52) – Finding alien life would be bad news (1:18:49) – UFO sightings (1:31:58) – Universe expansion speed (1:36:42) – The universe is infinite (1:40:58) – What happened before the Big Bang? (1:45:14) – Roger Penrose (1:48:48) – Nobel Prize for the accelerating universe (2:10:23) – Supernova (2:21:47) – The greatest story ever told (2:25:44) – Richard Feynman (2:32:37) – Meaning of life

8 Nov 20202h 40min

Dan Carlin is a historian, political thinker, and podcaster. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get free vitamin D – SimpliSafe: https://simplisafe.com/lex and use code LEX to get a free security camera – Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get free shipping – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Dan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/hardcorehistory Dan’s Website: https://www.dancarlin.com/ Hardcore History podcast: https://apple.co/2HX7hAA Common Sense podcast: https://apple.co/3mM6WPZ 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 (07:53) – Nature of evil (14:50) – Is violence and force fundamental to human civilization? (19:58) – Will we always have war? (29:38) – The Russian front in World War II (37:32) – Ideologies of the US, the Soviet Union, and China (50:15) – Putin (1:02:50) – Journalism is broken (1:10:16) – Genghis Khan (1:24:36) – Greatest leader in history (1:32:21) – Could Hitler have been stopped? (1:49:21) – Hitler’s Antisemitism (1:55:12) – Destructive power of evil (2:04:26) – Will human civilization destroy itself? (2:16:31) – Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX (2:24:53) – Steering around the iceberg – wow do we avoid collapse of society? (2:47:00) – Advice on podcasting (2:50:12) – Joe Rogan, Spotify, and the future of podcasting (3:05:19) – Future episodes of Hardcore History podcast (3:20:21) – Is Ben real? (3:21:05) – Meaning of life

3 Nov 20203h 26min

Charles Isbell is the Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: – Neuro: https://www.getneuro.com and use code LEX to get 15% off – Decoding Digital: https://appdirect.com/decoding-digital – MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex to get 15% off annual sub – Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10 EPISODE LINKS: Charles’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/isbellHFh Charles’s Website: https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~isbell/ 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 (07:16) – Top 3 movies of all time (13:26) – People are easily predictable (19:08) – Breaking out of our bubbles (30:54) – Interactive AI (37:26) – Lifelong machine learning (45:53) – Faculty hiring (53:27) – University rankings (1:00:55) – Science communicators (1:10:20) – Hip hop (1:19:20) – Funk (1:20:44) – Computing (1:36:35) – Race (1:52:40) – Cop story (2:01:01) – Racial tensions (2:10:23) – MLK vs Malcolm X (2:13:44) – Will human civilization destroy itself? (2:18:14) – Fear of death and the passing of time

2 Nov 20202h 28min