In case you didn’t get enough of Elon Musk in “Elon Musk,” the 688-page authorized biography of the tech mogul penned by Walter Isaacson, here comes a new podcast from Isaacson talking about his experience spending two years shadowing the world’s richest person to research the book.
The “On Musk” podcast, produced by iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope, premieres Dec. 12 on the iHeartPodcast Network (at this link) and all major podcast platforms, with all four episodes available at launch. “While the book tells Musk’s story, I hope listeners will gain valuable insight into what it was like to be an outsider, stepping into his world, and what it feels like to reflect upon that experience since the book was released,” Isaacson said in a statement.
Isaacson is joined on the podcast by journalist Evan Ratliff (author of “The Mastermind,” host of “Longform Podcast” and “Persona”). The duo discuss behind-the-scenes stories from the biography, such as Isaacson describing what it was like to sit in as Musk oversaw the construction of a rocket and watching Musk rip into his engineers.
Among other things, Isaacson says on the podcast he believed Musk’s decision to acquire Twitter was “idiotic,” as Musk demonstrates a lack of empathy.
When Musk was making his bid for the social network, “I’m thinking it’s idiotic to buy Twitter, because he doesn’t have a fingertip feel for social, emotional networks,” Isaacson says. “It’s like rocket engines were simpler to him than human emotions.” Musk begrudgingly closed a $44 billion deal to take Twitter private in October 2022. A year later, Musk valued the company, now called X, at $19 billion.
Isaacson tells Ratliff that he wishes Musk hadn’t bought Twitter because “I’m not somebody who loves conflict and controversy” and “I’m not somebody who likes writing about people who people really, really hate, because it makes it more difficult” — however, Isaacson concedes, the Musk’s Twitter takeover “certainly makes for a better story.”
In the podcast’s first episode, Isaacson also says, “Musk has also a playful side, an inspirational side, and he often jokes about toys or things he loves… Even though people sometimes feel burned out or attacked by Musk, those moments where he turns out to be inspirational and right keep them going.”
Isaacson also relates what it was like to hear Musk wax rhapsodic about journeying to Mars and talk about couch-surfs at the homes of fellow-billionaires like Google co-founder Larry Page.
Ratliff, in the intro to “On Musk,” calls the book’s subject “one of the richest and most polarizing men on the planet” and said he wanted to find from Isaacson what makes Musk tick and what it was like to produce the tome. Musk “at times seems determined to scorch his own legacy by encouraging and even embracing the online hate machine,” Ratliff says. “You know, antisemitism, conspiracy memes, or whatever he happens to post about this week.” (Musk over the weekend reinstated the X account of radical conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a five-year ban.)
Separately, a film adaptation of the Isaacson book on Musk is in the works at A24, with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky on board to direct. There’s been no word on who might be cast to play Musk.
Isaacson, former CEO of CNN and editor of Time magazine, previously has written sweeping biographies of such figures as Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci and pioneering biologist Jennifer Doudna.
Isaacson’s book on Musk, published Sept. 12, contained a number of buzzy details. Among them: Endeavor chief Ari Emanuel allegedly told Musk he would run Twitter for $100 million (an offer Musk’s financial rep rejected as “insulting,” “demeaning” and “insane”), and Larry David’s confrontation of Musk at a wedding about voting Republican and demanding, “Do you just want to murder kids in schools?”
Listen to “On Musk”:
