Elon Musk’s origin story keeps changing. First, he was Tony Stark, or Iron Man. Not too long ago, he compared himself to Batman. Arguments started online over whether or not Musk is a real-life Bruce Wayne. In this episode, Jill Lepore looks at the original ‘Caped Crusader’, created back in 1939. Batman’s origin story is bound up with fascism. And every time Musk is compared to Batman it raises a very old question about the Dark Knight: is Batman fighting fascism, or is Batman — a brooding, fabulously wealthy vigilante — somehow, himself a fascist?See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Elon Musk’s origin story keeps changing. First, he was Tony Stark, or Iron Man. Not too long ago, he compared himself to Batman. Arguments started online over whether or not Musk is a real-life Bruce Wayne. In this episode, Jill Lepore looks at the original ‘Caped Crusader’, created back in 1939. Batman’s origin story is bound up with fascism. And every time Musk is compared to Batman it raises a very old question about the Dark Knight: is Batman fighting fascism, or is Batman — a brooding, fabulously wealthy vigilante — somehow, himself a fascist? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elon Musk’s origin story keeps changing. First, he was Tony Stark, or Iron Man. Not too long ago, he compared himself to Batman. Arguments started online over whether or not Musk is a real-life Bruce Wayne. In this episode, Jill Lepore looks at the original ‘Caped Crusader’, created back in 1939. Batman’s origin story is bound up&nbsp;with fascism. And every time Musk is compared to Batman it raises a very old question about the Dark Knight: is Batman fighting fascism, or is Batman — a brooding, fabulously wealthy vigilante — somehow, himself a fascist?See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="noopener noreferrer">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Episode 1: The Dark Knight

The story of Elon Musk, the way it's often told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero &ndash; or, especially lately, a supervillain. As the world's richest man, the US President&rsquo;s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he&rsquo;s possibly the world&rsquo;s most powerful man.&nbsp;
Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fueled his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk&rsquo;s sense of destiny?&nbsp;
Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. A lot has happened in the four years since. So she&rsquo;s gone back in to bring the story up to date.
&ldquo;X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story&rdquo; is a production of the BBC and distributed by Pushkin Industries.

Business

Technology

The story of Elon Musk, the way it's often told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or, especially lately, a supervillain. As the world's richest man, the US President’s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he’s possibly the world’s most powerful man.  Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fueled his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk’s sense of destiny?  Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. A lot has happened in the four years since. So she’s gone back in to bring the story up to date. “X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story” is a production of the BBC and distributed by Pushkin Industries.

The story of Elon Musk, the way it's often told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or, especially lately, a supervillain. As the world's richest man, the US President’s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he’s possibly the world’s most powerful man.&nbsp;
Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fueled his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk’s sense of destiny?&nbsp;
Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. A lot has happened in the four years since. So she’s gone back in to bring the story up to date.
“X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story” is a production of the BBC and distributed by Pushkin Industries.

Share Episode 1: The Dark Knight

Sign up to save your podcasts

Episode 1: The Dark Knight

Episode 1: The Dark Knight

More shows like X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

Fresh Air

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

Reveal

The New Yorker Radio Hour

Revisionist History

The Daily

Radio Atlantic

Shadow Kingdom

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Throughline

Solvable

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Go and See

Making a Killing with Bethany McLean

The Last Archive

Deep Cover

Hearing with Tali Farhadian Weinstein

Fiasco

The Ezra Klein Show

Bad Women: The Blackout Ripper

Backstage Pass with Eric Vetro

What's Your Problem?

Not Lost

Car Show! with Eddie Alterman

Hot Money: Agent of Chaos

The Interview

Come As You Are

The Loudest Girl in the World

Started from the Bottom

The Best Audio Storytelling 2022

Where's Dia?

The New York Times Narrated

Charlie's Place