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Helen Lewis: The Dark Side of Genius
Posted
June 4, 2025
Views
5,197
Likes
138
Comments
72
Engagement
4.04%
June 4, 2025
5,197
138
72
4.04%
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1:35:14Now PlayingIn "The Genius Myth", the journalist delivers a sharp, funny takedown of our obsession with "brilliant" men, showing that behind every so-called genius is a crowd and a big PR machine.
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Today's guest is Helen Lewis, a British journalist and podcaster who is a staff writer for The Atlantic. Her new book is The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea, and it explores how the definition of what it means to be a genius has changed radically over the centuries, how it became linked to all sorts of weird biological theories, and how Elon Musk has come to personify genius in our time (and whether his failure at the Department of Government Efficiency spells the end of his genius moment). Lewis and Reason's Nick Gillespie also talk about The Beatles; William Shockley, who turned to racial science after winning a Nobel Prize for helping to invent the transistor; and her notorious 2018 interview with Jordan Peterson for British GQ, which has racked up over 70 million views.
Video editor: Ian Keyser
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