I just discovered Lex Fridman’s podcast series. (Update: And after he did Kanye, I quickly un-discovered)
Lex is a Russian-Ukrainian who went to MIT and his field is AI and robotics. He is like the understated thinking man’s Joe Rogan. He is also, incidentally, the penultimate kind of person who joined the brain drain from Russia to the West.
Lex’s impressive guest list is like a modern Charlie Rose’s, with lots of science and tech in particular, such as Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb recently.
I enjoyed this one of Stephen Kotkin very much for its insight as to the inflection point we’re in right now in history.
So many gems here:
The multipolar world is a myth.
Japan is an Asian country, but it’s Western. Russia is a European country but it’s not part of the West.
Overseas American embassies are known for two things: they always have protests outside, and a huge line to apply for visas.
The Ukrainian resistance and sacrifice has been a gift to the West: to reunify, to revive, to rediscover its power.
The early days of the invasion was all set to be another Afghanistan rout – Biden even offered Zelenskyy a ride out. But one man’s courage changed everything..
A crystal clear explanation of the invasion is at 49:14. The West let Putin get away with murder without pushback for decades.
