| I think it's because he's genuinely interested in what they have to say, and busy people like Zuckerberg / Musk actually have 2-3 hours of content/ideas they want to get out to the world. They could go on a crappy cable news show for 5 minutes, but they'd rather talk about it for 3 hours in depth. BTW I believe Joe Rogan popularized this format (with some influence from Howard Stern and others, yes Howard Stern changed). For example, Rogan's interview with Snowden is quite good. He just lets him talk for 3 hours. Where else is Snowden going to get that? (in addition to the big audience, the format is a draw) (Joe Rogan has been controversial recently, but consider the asymmetry of him considering a subject publicly for 3 hours, while his attackers are posting 30 second clips on Twitter. Not saying he's right or wrong about anything, just that there's a huge asymmetry, and that people who are genuine and have decent attention spans should notice.) There are of course the more basic reasons like having a book to promote, and the fact that Lex tends not challenge them on controversial issues. Also, many of the guests have watched 3 hour interviews by others, and probably learned something, and want to do the same. There's definitely a viral / network effect to booking guests. ----- I really liked this interview by a farmer, chef, and CEO of meat raised holistically: Anya Fernald: Regenerative Farming and the Art of Cooking Meat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew8U43IXTfk It's very technical and practical. And I think it shows he is spreading interesting ideas independent of whether the person is well known. So the well known people who have ideas are attracted to that. ----- Actually this reminds me that I remember there was a good podcast by a guy in Silicon Valley who was just getting started, and had a pretty strong Indian accent? Nevertheless he was genuine and James Gosling and several other well known folks went on. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? It was probably 2-3 years ago. I'd like to find that podcast again. As far as I remember it was mostly on a website. |