What does it mean to be a genius? Journalist Helen Lewis is the author of the new book The Genius Myth, which offers a provocative analysis of how we put brainiacs on a pedestal. In this episode, Helen and Adam unpack our cultural myths about geniuses and explore the dangers of treating them like demigods. They also discuss what Helen learned from the wives of male geniuses and how child prodigies can avoid struggling as adults.
Follow
Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/)
Guest: Helen Lewis (Website: theatlantic.com/author/helen-lewis/)
Links
Subscribe to TED
Instagram: @ted
YouTube: @TED
TikTok: @tedtoks
LinkedIn: @ted-conferences
Website: ted.com
Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts
ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.
For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts
Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.