"- There are no right answers for anything involved in art. We're all trying experiments to find a way. And even for the things that I work on, I don't have a set way that I do anything. I come to ever..."

"This is the "Lex Fridman Podcast." To support it, please check out our sponsors in the description. And now, dear friends, here's Rick Ruben. Are you nervous? - I'm not shaky, but I would say I feel u..."

"Maybe poetry or maybe certain abstract forms can get us there, but there's something about music that really can get us there quickly. - But it's also the time, the place, the history. There's somethi..."

"didn't really resonate with me until I spent time on the West Coast, Eagles being an example. When I lived in New York, the Eagles didn't really speak to me. ZZ Top didn't really speak to me. And then..."

"The Eagles, what song of the Eagles connects with you? Are we talking about, like, "Take It Easy," or are we talking more like "Hotel California"? - I'm thinking "Take It Easy," but both are great. - ..."

"In some ways, the best art is open enough where the artist gets to have their experience when they make it, and then the audience gets to have their experience when they listen, and they don't have to..."

"yeah, and all of that in a car. (laughs) - Yeah, driving also serves another purpose in, it's one of the things that we can do that we have to pay attention enough not to crash but typically can essen..."

"- You know, I'm kind of jealous of people that found that in painting, for example. They'll be drawing or painting and listening to, so that's the small task you do. You're coloring in the lines. It's..."

"And after that, maybe mile four, it's like, "Fuck it." You just run, run with wind, at a very slow pace but with the wind. And then you can think, so it's the footsteps, the physical activity. But the..."

"And it's all for nothing, (laughs) except for the journey that you took to get there. And no one understands. Speaking of which, back to Nietzsche, these questions are ridiculous. So you're gonna have..."

"I would say there're definitely certain artists with certain temperaments when you're around them, it feels like you can finish each other's sentences, you know, just see the world the same way, comed..."

"at the right moment in life and risking destroying each other in the process, but maybe something beautiful will come of it. Do you think that's a toxic relationship, (laughs) or does some of that mov..."

"It's like, if we make something that an artist likes, and I don't like, or that I like, and they don't like, we haven't gone far enough. - Hmm, in terms of lineage, the ones that seek destruction and ..."

"listening and not thinking about what you're gonna say next, or what your opinion is, or, you know, not, basically being a recorder and just hearing what comes in, and then once you hear what comes in..."

"because I can describe to you an idea and you can think, "That's a terrible idea. Let's not do that." And then I can play you the idea. And then you can say, "Oh, that's really good." And it's complet..."

"but it turned out to be a really powerful idea. Can you maybe talk about the simplicity, how to find simplicity, why you find simplicity is beautiful? It does appear to be beautiful. What is that? - Y..."

"- Can I ask you, like, a therapy session question? You mentioned somewhere that one way to kind of think about music, to get into music is to look at the top, like, hundred albums of all time, and jus..."

"I never thought if it's, I always thought it's his father directly. - Yeah, I don't get that. It could be, but I don't, I feel like it's a more masculine spirituality. - Like a father figure or just b..."

"When you're that, what is it? We were just listening. "The only man who could ever reach me was the son of a preacher man." So it's like that early love or something, or partially sexual or whatever, ..."

"- I mean, that felt, so that's the opposite of acapella, I would say. - Yes. - Because there's layers. And maybe, I don't know if you remember, but if memory serves me correct here, he produces this o..."

"to represent the human species, that's the way I think, (laughs) to the aliens. - So I think it's a very personal decision. I think you can make your choice to represent the human species, and I'll ma..."

"That one of your favorites? - On the "Pet Sounds" album? - [Lex] "Pet Sounds." - The opening track. - Do you mind if I play it? - Please. - It's too fun. (laughs) - That's part of their trip, though. ..."

"to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is my favorite song. - Spectacular, spectacular song. - Anything George Harrison, honestly, "Something," "Something in the way she moves." What would you classify tha..."

"That's the voice. - [Lex] That's the- - It's overwhelming. - Is it inspiring, or is it, like, 'cause sometimes when you have, and I've gotten a chance to meet, I mean, I love people in general. Like, ..."

"- I think we are all capable of being big fish. I don't think that there are special people. I don't think it's like that. - I would make a case. So the variety of artists that you worked with and bro..."

"- [Lex] It's being broadcast by whatever the source is. - Whatever the source is. - Yeah, I tend to see humans as not quite special in that way. Yeah, it's different kinds of antennas walking around l..."

"live in the most beautiful way. What is that? I feel like that's a good exercise to think about 'cause it's also liberating to think that you can do anything. I mean, more and more, I suppose that's k..."

"doing these silly podcasts, like... - I have a question I have to ask. - Sure. - 'Cause you brought up the suit. - Yeah. - Do you wear the suit, is this your daily uniform outside of podcasting? - So ..."

"It's easy to be like, "I'm always right," you know, just kind of staking your ground. But if you wanna be, like, vulnerable, if you wanna connect with people and just wear your heart on your sleeve, t..."

"- It certainly was. It wasn't an intentional creative act, but I had a lot of energy. And I just, a series of events happened. I read a book. At the time that I was my heaviest, I weighed about 318 po..."

"He's the first person when I, you know, talk about heart-rate training, him and other endurance athletes he influenced, he gave me permission to, like, run slower. (laughs) - [Rick] Yeah. - (laughs) I..."

"And I try to be deliberate about making choices after which you will not be the same person. And so I'm nervous about, like, the ultra marathon running world. - [Rick] Mm-hmm. - I have to talk to you ..."

"And it was incredible. It was a celebration of a really special musician. And it's a totally new kind of celebration. "Hurt" is just one of the songs that's an amazing celebration of Johnny Cash. But ..."

"When you're looking back over your life at the end of your life with regret, it's brutal. - Yeah. - It's brutal. So that was the initial spark of doing it. And then when we recorded it, I believe it w..."

"I hear almost anger and frustration. ♪ I will make you hurt ♪ ♪ If I could start again ♪ ♪ A million miles away ♪ ♪ I would keep myself ♪ ♪ I would find a way ♪ - And then it just rings out- - Yeah. -..."

"I think even in the Beatles you'll see, like, there are very heavy lyrics, middle- to late-era Beatles, which is still, you know, they're in their you know, early 20s, I guess. - Wow, that's hard to t..."

"♪ I want you, you, you ♪ - This is a 22-year-old Tom Waits. ♪ All I want is you, you, you ♪ ♪ All I want is you ♪ ♪ Give you the stars above ♪ ♪ Sun on the brightest day ♪ ♪ Give you all my love ♪ ♪ I..."

"Is there ways that you like to highlight the voice, the lyrics, or there's no one rule? So what is the thing that makes music special? Is it the rhythm, the melody, or, ultimately, the lyrics are alwa..."

"♪ In a castle dark ♪ ♪ Or a fortress strong with chains around my feet ♪ (Lex laughs) ♪ You know that ghost is me ♪ ♪ And I will never be set free ♪ ♪ As long as there's a ghost that you can't see ♪ -..."

"And yet probably you didn't even think of that. You probably thought of it as its role in the culture here in the United States, like, in terms of musically, but it just- - I was, you know, 20, 21 yea..."

"I mean, maybe now that I'm more mature or maybe a little bit more mature, I realize, like, that was kind of the longing for freedom. It felt like, at least at the time, if this is allowed, then anythi..."

"It's like, it really is that. I like things that make me laugh, you know? I like ridiculous things. - [Lex] It's the same person still? - I think so. - Is it strange just how many incredible- - I mean..."

"- I would say there are aspects of me that have changed for sure, but I can't say that it's necessarily better. It's different. I would say, at that time, I was more confident than I am now. And I'm v..."

"what was the darkest moments of your life? What took you there? How did you get out? - It was triggered by a person making a comment about something to do with work that didn't matter. You know, it wa..."

"or partier in any way. And I found a psychopharmacologist who was a psychic, but because she was a psychic, I was okay to see her 'cause, like, I'll listen to a psychic. But I'm not gonna listen to a ..."

"- I think it's more that because of the way that I grew up, I never had to deal with much controversy. - [Lex] Ah. - And when I was challenged, I didn't have any ability to deal with it. It's like, yo..."

"And it's sad to see. (laughs) - [Rick] Yeah. - It's really heartbreaking to see 'cause you know how much trampling there's going on. - It's one of the main jobs. My job as a record producer is to keep..."

"And you know, I won't mention why, 'cause this happens to everybody, and I have a large amount of leverage at MIT now, but even I get a little bit of pressure in such stupid ways, like, "Be careful. B..."

"both avoiding the voices getting in the way and having a trusted group of, you know, a sangha, a group of people who can say, you know, "I don't know if that's as good." And you can still, you know, s..."

"You know, there's nothing else to be solved. I mean, that's a defining characteristic of any age is like, "We've solved all the problems there are. We have the final answers, and our parents are all s..."

"and accidental at times, or incidental where you're trying many things, and all of a sudden something works, and you don't know why. And it's okay not to know why. It doesn't really matter why as long..."

"- It just happens, and often the things that end up breaking through don't break through in the way we thought or turn out to be a third iteration of something that we thought was an entirely differen..."

"- One of the things that I like is to not feel like there is any stakes or almost that it's not happening. Like, the fact that when I came in, you were setting up cameras made it less good for me. I k..."

"and then the tape starts rolling, and they can't play it. And we're all to some degree like that. - When you were with Paul McCartney, I mean, were you cognizant of cameras? - We had the room black. E..."

"I'm usually there, and an engineer is there technically making it happen. If anyone else is in the room, it's different because then it goes from this moment where the person's doing a performance to ..."

"I mean, that third person can be, like, a really special, so having an audience when it's a friend or somebody that has that love in them- - It depends on the performer. I'll tell ya. - Right. - Yeah,..."

"through the control room after a particularly great performance. And the engineer said, "Wow, that solo was really great." And the person who heard this said, "Please don't say that," and walked away...."

"So you just have to do that. (laughs) So it matters what you say. It matters how you look. It matters. So there's, like, these generic compliments, not generic, but they sound in the way an outside wo..."

"And when you show up into Joe Rogan's studio, the legend creates an aura. And he, I think, subconsciously or consciously, uses it to, like, somehow it's nervous, nervous, nervous, and then you realize..."

"It doesn't matter. - I would say I felt maybe in the last 15 minutes I was less aware of anybody else being in the room or any equipment here. - Yeah. - But it took that long. - That's so interesting...."

"But you love it? You love talking? You love the podcast and just that- - I- - Why did you dive into that? Like why? - It was a strange occurrence. My friend Malcolm said he wanted to start doing a pod..."

"because you don't ask people about themselves when you're just, you know, workmates (laughs) or friends. - (laughs) I do this sometimes. I'll just set up microphones, and I'll record a thing for priva..."

"see, that's the pushback. There's something about this microphone, or maybe it's just the deliberate nature of sitting down, and let's just talk. There is something about the microphone that, for me, ..."

"- (exhales) As the wind blows again, do you have advice for young people? You're, have a fascinating life journey. Is there advice you can give to people in high school and college about how to have a..."

"- So what does success feel like? Are you grateful? Are you proud of the work you've done in the past, or is there some engine of constant dissatisfaction, like self-criticism of I could have done bet..."

"- Yeah, and anything I can do to keep the channel open to allow what wants to come through to come through, I'm a willing channel. - It's so interesting 'cause I'm extremely self-critical. So you don'..."

"- That's funny 'cause, like, think of it as a diary entry. It's hard to look back at a diary entry and say, you know- - "I did it wrong." - "I did it wrong." - It's impossible. - Yeah, and even if it'..."

"- I mean, you see it with garbage. You see the, like, mountains of garbage. It's like, it doesn't really go anywhere. Even when it breaks up- - Yeah. - it disintegrates, but it's never really gone, sa..."

"of the things that I didn't eat for so long. - I have to ask you. I almost forgot. So there's an "SNL" skit with Will Ferrell that he wrote about "Don't Fear the Reaper," where Bruce Dickinson is the ..."