X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

3.7 (173)
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.

8 Episodes

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Jill Lepore

Host

3.7

out of 5

173 Ratings

Enjoyed the series with a dose of salt

5d ago

Listenerrrr😁

The writing is really fantastic and speaking engaging. Love the research that is done and connecting the dots. Seems like there is a biased against people with influence. Reason I say that is because she does mention the good and bad, but dwells on the bad.
Very one sided

3d ago

Andydabossupinhere

I was hoping for a life review with facts from both sides. Her distaste for Elon shines through and skips most of historical information
Thoughtful and fair

Apr 12

scunns

As someone who sees extremism on both sides of the aisle, I appreciate that the host explicitly says she is tired of the N*zi accusations, and that she does not think that of Elon. She also later says she too sees the extremism Elon is worried about. The show certainly takes a literary perspective and I’d quibble with certain word choices and sentences, but overall I found it really interesting. While it does take a more critical position of Musk, it actually could have been much more harsh by looking at his many lies and unfulfilled promises in service of his businesses. So, it really can’t be called a hit piece.
Musk needs to be sent back to SA.

6d ago

CarieSky

A superhero? Disgusting. Lots of lies here

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.