#461 – ThePrimeagen: Programming, AI, ADHD, Productivity, Addiction, and God


Episode Artwork
1.0x
0% played 00:00 00:00
Mar 22 2025 330 mins   3.9k 4 0

ThePrimeagen (aka Michael Paulson) is a programmer who has educated, entertained, and inspired millions of people to build software and have fun doing it.

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep461-sc

See below for timestamps, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.


CONTACT LEX:

Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey

AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama

Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring

Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact


EPISODE LINKS:

ThePrimeagen’s X: https://twitter.com/ThePrimeagen

ThePrimeagen’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/ThePrimeTimeagen

ThePrimeagen’s Twitch: https://twitch.tv/ThePrimeagen

ThePrimeagen’s GitHub: https://github.com/theprimeagen

ThePrimeagen’s TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@theprimeagen

ThePrimeagen’s Coffee: https://www.terminal.shop/


SPONSORS:

To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:

Invideo AI: AI video generator.

Go to https://invideo.io/i/lexpod

Shopify: Sell stuff online.

Go to https://shopify.com/lex

NetSuite: Business management software.

Go to http://netsuite.com/lex

BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling.

Go to https://betterhelp.com/lex

AG1: All-in-one daily nutrition drinks.

Go to https://drinkag1.com/lex


OUTLINE:

(00:00) – Introduction

(10:27) – Love for programming

(20:00) – Hardest part of programming

(22:16) – Types of programming

(29:54) – Life story

(39:58) – Hardship

(41:29) – High school

(47:15) – Porn addiction

(57:01) – God

(1:12:44) – Perseverance

(1:22:40) – Netflix

(1:35:08) – Groovy

(1:40:13) – Printf() debugging

(1:46:35) – Falcor

(1:56:05) – Breaking production

(1:58:49) – Pieter Levels

(2:03:19) – Netflix, Twitch, and YouTube infrastructure

(2:15:22) – ThePrimeagen origin story

(2:30:37) – Learning programming languages

(2:39:40) – Best programming languages in 2025

(2:44:35) – Python

(2:45:15) – HTML & CSS

(2:46:05) – Bash

(2:46:45) – FFmpeg

(2:53:28) – Performance

(2:56:00) – Rust

(3:00:48) – Epic projects

(3:14:12) – Asserts

(3:23:26) – ADHD

(3:31:34) – Productivity

(3:35:58) – Programming setup

(4:11:28) – Coffee

(4:18:32) – Programming with AI

(5:01:16) – Advice for young programmers

(5:12:48) – Reddit questions

(5:20:20) – God


PODCAST LINKS:

– Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast

– Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr

– Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8

– RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/

– Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4

– Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/lexclips