X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

3.9 (130)
BUSINESS
WEEKLY SERIES

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The story of Elon Musk, the way it's often told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or, especially lately, a supervillain. As the world's richest man, the US President’s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he’s possibly the world’s most powerful man. Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fueled his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk’s sense of destiny? Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. A lot has happened in the four years since. So she’s gone back in to bring the story up to date. “X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story” is a production of the BBC and distributed by Pushkin Industries.

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Jill Lepore

Host

3.9

out of 5

130 Ratings

Fair and somewhat balanced

12/29/2021

HVAC CXer

Ms Lepore generally covers the brand that is Musk. She covers the good briefly and the bad more extensively. She makes some tenuous ties to science fiction which is interesting but not necessarily truthful. I found some of the statements rather strained. Generally good though as it brings up things that Musk has said and done that are less optimal. Musks vision does seem to be limited by mot including the poor and marginalized. Hopefully he will broaden his vision to include the entire human race not just those that can afford to go to Mars.
Terrible

Mar 29

ShaolinPlex

Don’t waste your time with this podcast it’s terrible. just another leftist calling Elon a n*zi. Stop spreading hate and do something positive for the world.
Not to be rude but…

04/29/2022

Tracyhmv

This is one of the worst podcasts I’ve ever heard. I gave it a couple episodes too. Podcasts are 100% a good place to express opinions, but when you do it under the guise of history and fact, it comes off as either ignorant or evil. Obviously, there are some facts given, about Elon (whether in general or specific) but from there they play that game from Office Space….. jump to conclusions.
A Lepore Bore

04/19/2022

Apartstar

Thankfully, Jill appeared on the The World radio program to advertise this podcast and gave us a preview of the academy gobbledygook it will contain. Her loathing of Mr. Musk is clear and personal, and her conclusions and “isms” are absurd. And yes, she even coined an insult for those who might disagree. Glad I won’t have to waste my time.

The story of Elon Musk, the way it's often told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or, especially lately, a supervillain. As the world's richest man, the US President’s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he’s possibly the world’s most powerful man. Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fueled his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk’s sense of destiny? Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. A lot has happened in the four years since. So she’s gone back in to bring the story up to date. “X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story” is a production of the BBC and distributed by Pushkin Industries.