The myth of genius with Helen Lewis
ReThinking
TED
4.7 • 626 Ratings
🗓️ 19 August 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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.
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Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/)
Guest: Helen Lewis (Website: theatlantic.com/author/helen-lewis/)
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Transcript
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| 1:45.1 | The way that we talk about exceptional achievement is often not actually grounded in reality. |
| 1:50.6 | I think it's healthier to talk about acts of genius than people as geniuses. |
| 1:54.4 | Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. |
| 1:58.8 | Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast with Ted on the Science of What Makes Us Tick. |
| 2:01.7 | I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking. |
| 2:10.7 | My guest today is journalist Helen Lewis. She's a provocative writer whose work makes me think |
| 2:15.6 | even when I disagree with her. |
| 2:21.8 | With her new book, The Genius Myth, she challenges our attachment to the idea of genius and warns us about the risks of putting so-called geniuses on a pedestal. |
| 2:32.0 | You titled your book The Genius Myth. |
... |
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