All episodes

Biggest Mysteries in Physics: Antimatter, Dark Energy & ToE - Don Lincoln | Lex Fridman Podcast #497

May 29, 2026 · 2:53:43

Particle physicist Don Lincoln joins Lex Fridman to unravel the biggest mysteries in physics, from antimatter and dark energy to the search for a theory of everything. Lincoln traces the history of unification from Newton to the electroweak force, explains the 2012 Higgs boson discovery, and dives into the baffling problems of why the universe has more matter than antimatter and why empty space's predicted energy is off by 120 orders of magnitude. He argues that practical progress—testing dark matter, measuring neutrino oscillations, and probing quantum gravity—will outpace grand theoretical leaps like string theory.

FFmpeg: The Incredible Technology Behind Video on the Internet | Lex Fridman Podcast #496

May 6, 2026 · 4:18:22

Jean-Baptiste Kempf (VLC lead) and Kieran Kunhya (FFmpeg contributor) trace the evolution of video codecs from H.264 to AV1, revealing how handwritten assembly in projects like Dav1d achieves 62x speedups over C. They recount reverse-engineering GoToMeeting's codec, the 2011 FFmpeg-Libav split, and the burnout crisis in open-source, arguing that security researchers must contribute patches, not just CVEs. The pair also explain VLC's zero-trust parsing, the importance of archival codecs, and why assembly remains essential for real-time video at scale.

Vikings, Ragnar, Berserkers, Valhalla & the Warriors of the Viking Age | Lex Fridman Podcast #495

Apr 9, 2026 · 2:03:24

Historian Lars Brownworth explores the Viking Age, from the terror of Lindisfarne to the pragmatism of Ragnar Lothbrok, the blood eagle, and the religion of Valhalla. He explains how Viking longships and speed enabled raids, how the Great Heathen Army conquered England, and how Rollo founded Normandy. The conversation also covers Viking explorers reaching North America and the Varangian Guard in Constantinople.

Jensen Huang: NVIDIA - The $4 Trillion Company & the AI Revolution | Lex Fridman Podcast #494

Mar 23, 2026 · 2:25:59

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, explains how extreme co-design of GPU, CPU, networking, memory, and power enables AI scaling laws to continue, with pre-training, post-training, test-time, and agentic scaling driving demand for compute. He recounts the risky decision to put CUDA on GeForce, which nearly bankrupted the company but built an irreplaceable install base. Huang argues intelligence is being commoditized, while human character and purpose remain irreplaceable, and predicts AI will create more jobs by elevating roles like radiologists and programmers.

Rick Beato: Greatest Guitarists of All Time, History & Future of Music | Lex Fridman Podcast #492

Mar 1, 2026 · 2:33:48

Lex Fridman and Rick Beato explore Beato's musical journey, from learning guitar solos like Hey Joe to his son Dylan's perfect pitch and his legendary interviews with David Gilmour and other icons. Beato argues that bebop and Bach underpin great music, shares his top guitar solos, and critiques AI-generated music as fundamentally boring, while championing authenticity and the struggle of learning. The episode also delves into the business of music, copyright battles, and the evolution of music production.

Khabib vs Lex: Training with Khabib | FULL EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE

Feb 25, 2026 · 22:09

Lex Fridman trains with legendary UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, experiencing his suffocating pressure and grappling dominance. Khabib explains his philosophy of constant pressure and never stopping, revealing how he mentally breaks opponents by making them work. Lex compares it to shooting hoops with Michael Jordan, feeling the weight of a champion's relentless drive.