avatar
Lex Fridman
4,351,113 Twitter followers
Follow
Host of Lex Fridman Podcast. Interested in robots and humans.
Posts
avatar
Lex Fridman
03-12
Thread
Here's my conversation with Jeff Kaplan, a legendary Blizzard game designer of World of Warcraft and Overwatch, which are two of the biggest, most influential games ever made. Jeff is one of the most genuine & awesome human beings I've ever met: kind, thoughtful, hilarious, and still & forever a gamer through and through. This was a truly fun & inspiring conversation. We talk about it all: the lows, the highs, the memes, the details of the game design process, and the new game he's been secretely working on: The Legend of California. I got a chance to play the game with Jeff, and it's incredibly beautiful (and fun). You can wishlist it on Steam now. I can't wait to play it with all of you! Conversation is here on X in full and is up everywhere else (see comment). Timestamps: 0:00 - Episode highlight 1:27 - Introduction 4:07 - Early games: Pac-Man, Zork, Doom, Quake 18:33 - Writing career - 170 rejection letters 34:06 - EverQuest obsession 47:04 - Getting hired at Blizzard 1:02:32 - Lowest point in Jeff's life 1:08:37 - One of Us 1:12:54 - Early Blizzard culture 1:32:36 - Building World of Warcraft 1:50:20 - How WoW changed video games 2:07:42 - Single-player vs Multi-player 2:28:35 - How Blizzard made great video games 2:54:25 - Online toxicity 3:01:59 - Why Titan failed 3:19:09 - Overwatch in six weeks 3:46:07 - Best Overwatch heroes 3:54:37 - The challenge of matchmaking 3:58:01 - Rust 4:08:22 - Why Jeff left Blizzard 4:30:35 - Diablo IV 4:32:03 - Getting back to making video games 4:40:59 - The Legend of California 4:54:44 - Greatest video game of all time 5:02:51 - AI and future of video games
GMR
1.23%
avatar
Lex Fridman
02-06
Also, I really need help with podcast team/hiring 😰 For example, I'm currently editing, translating the Khabib podcast & training footage, and jungle video with Paul. I've been terribly slow on hiring, allocating no time to it. My resolution for 2026 is to actually make time to look through applications & interview people. So if you're a great editor, videographer, translator, or someone who can help make sure stuff runs on time as team manager/assistant please apply: lexfridman.com/hiring Some context: We have a tiny team, and I do all the prep, guest comms, production myself. I'm fine doing all that (it's more raw & human that way), but the post-production I can definitely use help with. Among other things, it's just more fun to work on creative projects with a team. Also, outside of hiring, if you just want to hang out, have guest suggestions, or questions, go to: lexfridman.com/contact
JUNGLE
0%
avatar
Lex Fridman
12-13
Thread
Here's my conversation with Irving Finkel, a scholar of ancient languages and Mesopotamian history. He specializes in deciphering cuneiform tablets from Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian contexts. He became widely known for studying a tablet with a Mesopotamian flood story that predates the biblical Noah narrative. We talk about ancient writing & language, controversial theories about ancient civilizations, Noah's Ark, flood myths, Göbekli Tepe, and much more. It's here on X in full and is up everywhere else (see comment). Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:58 - Origins of human language 7:04 - Cuneiform 14:17 - Controversial theory about Göbekli Tepe 25:29 - How to write and speak Cuneiform 30:48 - Primitive human language 32:31 - Development of writing systems 33:25 - Decipherment of Cuneiform 45:57 - Limits of language 50:56 - Art of translation 56:06 - Gods 1:01:31 - Ghosts 1:11:19 - Ancient flood stories 1:21:26 - Noah's Ark 1:32:49 - The Royal Game of Ur 1:45:48 - British Museum 1:53:13 - Evolution of human civilization
NOAH
0%
loading indicator
Loading..