Kimbal Musk: The Art of Cooking, Tesla, SpaceX, Zip2, and Family | Lex Fridman Podcast #417

1. 0:00 – 1:02

   Introduction

   1. KMKimbal Musk0:00

      For me, cooking is an art.

   2. LFLex Fridman0:01

      What's your favorite ingredient to cook with?

   3. KMKimbal Musk0:03

      There isn't one. It's more like when there is one, it really is one. You know, like those peaches on the- on the cover of this cookbook. Those peaches, those were in August, Colorado peaches. It just doesn't get any better than that.

   4. LFLex Fridman0:16

      On that day, at that moment, that was the best ƒ ingredient, yeah? (laughs)

   5. KMKimbal Musk0:18

      That was the be- But that only lasts for a week.

   6. LFLex Fridman0:20

      (laughs) Yeah.

   7. KMKimbal Musk0:21

      And then they don't taste so great.

   8. LFLex Fridman0:22

      Yeah. (laughs)

   9. KMKimbal Musk0:24

      (laughs) But damn, are they so good in that moment, and you just can't stop wanting to use that ingredient.

   10. LFLex Fridman0:33

       The following is a conversation with Kimbal Musk, a longtime entrepreneur and chef, and author of a new cookbook called The Kitchen Cookbook: Cooking For Your Community. You should check it out. It is, in fact, the first cookbook I've ever owned. I've already made stuff from it, and it's delicious. This is the Lex Fridman Podcast. To support it, please check out our sponsors in the description. And now, dear friends, here's Kimbal Musk.

2. 1:02 – 13:32

   Growing up in South Africa

   1. LFLex Fridman1:02

      Growing up in South Africa, you said it was a violent place. What are some formative moments that you remember from that time?

   2. KMKimbal Musk1:09

      South Africa was... So I grew up in, uh, ap- apartheid South Africa, but more specifically, the fall of apartheid. So it was- it was the '80... I was a teenager in the '80s. And, uh, our community would- would, um... Part of our social life, frankly, was the anti-apartheid protests and to go be with white people, Black people, kind of mix- mixing it all together. The most formative experiences, frankly how much I appreciate a place like America where we have value for human life. So there was a country where- where bl- li- human life was not valued. It was a... it's a weird thing to come from that to here where- where we- we take it so seriously if someone dies in a war or something like that. And, um, we just didn't take it seriously in South Africa that people died, that people were killed. I saw someone killed in front of me. Um, was, uh, was getting off a train, and it's a very violent train, known- known for violence. We were stupid kids. We didn't really listen to our parents. We went on this train, and, uh, the doors opened, and I had people trying to get off the train. And in front of me, uh, two Black people, one Black guy just stabbed this knife in the side of this other Black guy's head. And you're like, "What the fuck?" And you just... I've- I'm tr- I feel, I gotta get off the train.

   3. LFLex Fridman2:44

      How old were you at this time?

   4. KMKimbal Musk2:45

      Probably 16 or 17. And I gotta get off the train, and everyone is trying to get me to get off because, you know, they're all behind me. So I step off, and I step into the pool of blood with one foot, and then I just walk for about 100 paces while the stickiness of the blood just kind of on my sneakers just on one foot just, like, leaves a footprint behind me. And you just walk on. You just walk on.

   5. LFLex Fridman3:12

      Did the others-

   6. KMKimbal Musk3:12

      Go to the concert.

   7. LFLex Fridman3:13

      ... walk on as well?

   8. KMKimbal Musk3:13

      Everyone walked on.

   9. LFLex Fridman3:15

      That's an interesting point you make. Underlying the violence is a kind of philosophy that human life is disposable, that individual life is disposable. I mean, that underlies many ideologies. You know, I grew up in the Soviet Union. The value of human life was lower there than-

   10. KMKimbal Musk3:33

       Yeah.

   11. LFLex Fridman3:33

       ... in the United States. The value of the individual in the United States is really high.

   12. KMKimbal Musk3:37

       Yeah.

   13. LFLex Fridman3:37

       There's probably an index you can put together, like-

   14. KMKimbal Musk3:39

       Yeah. Right. Exactly.

   15. LFLex Fridman3:41

       (laughs) Per- per- per nation that... That's a really interesting way to put it because violence is much easier on a mass scale. Suffering, causing suffering on a mass scale is much easier when you don't value the human life.

   16. KMKimbal Musk3:56

       I've heard this before where, which I think I agree with, is when someone is killed, someone is, is, uh, someone's taken from our lives, the- the vacuum that it creates, the social vacuum-

   17. LFLex Fridman4:06

       Mm-hmm.

   18. KMKimbal Musk4:06

       ... is extraordinarily painful. And- and it truly is true. I mean, if someone o- uh, in my community passes away, it's ve- very-really sad for me. And when you go to a place where- where, uh, you know, live or grow up in a place where- where that human life is not valued, there's a- there's something about the... There's a little bit l- little less of the social vacuum created because everyone is kind of expecting everyone to potentially be taken out at any moment. Um, but then there's also a beauty to it because there's a much more of a celebra- celebratory exp- uh, element. When we- my- my cousin Russ and I, we... again, we were stupid kids. We shouldn't be doing this, but we'd go into the townships where all of, a lot of the violence would be happening. And we really didn't see, uh, most of the violence there. It was in- in these more protests and- and so forth. But- but the- the- there's a joy that also comes from lower value of human life. There's a real joy. Like, everyone is like, "Well..." I mean, it's beautiful as h- uh, we would- we'd have dinner with Black, uh, friends, you know, friends with their family. We were still pretty young. And, um, and there was just a real joy to it.

   19. LFLex Fridman5:21

       When you accept mortality-

   20. KMKimbal Musk5:23

       Yeah. (laughs)

   21. LFLex Fridman5:23

       ... you can- you can really enjoy life more rhythmically.

   22. KMKimbal Musk5:24

       You can really enjoy life. I mean, I think that's actually that's a, yes, a quite a nice insight.

   23. LFLex Fridman5:27

       (laughs) .

   24. KMKimbal Musk5:28

       I- I've never really put it that way, but I think that's right actually. I think you- you just chill out a bit.

   25. LFLex Fridman5:32

       Mm-hmm. 'Cause-

   26. KMKimbal Musk5:32

       Take things a little less seriously.

   27. LFLex Fridman5:34

       'Cause life does end for everybody.

   28. KMKimbal Musk5:35

       It does. (laughs) Right.

   29. LFLex Fridman5:37

       And if you just head on accept that fact-

   30. KMKimbal Musk5:40

       Yeah.
3. 13:32 – 36:18

   Cooking

   1. KMKimbal Musk13:32

      each other.

   2. LFLex Fridman13:33

      You just came out with a cookbook. By the way, thank you for giving me my first cookbook. I feel legit.

   3. KMKimbal Musk13:39

      (laughs) I love that it's your first cookbook.

   4. LFLex Fridman13:41

      I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep it...

   5. KMKimbal Musk13:42

      (laughs)

   6. LFLex Fridman13:43

      I'm gonna keep it on the counter and it's gonna give me legitimacy-

   7. KMKimbal Musk13:45

      (laughs)

   8. LFLex Fridman13:46

      ... when anyone comes over. Hey listen, I'm basically a chef now.

   9. KMKimbal Musk13:49

      That's right.

   10. LFLex Fridman13:50

       (laughs)

   11. KMKimbal Musk13:51

       Exactly.

   12. LFLex Fridman13:51

       Uh, when did you first fall in love with cooking?

   13. KMKimbal Musk13:54

       I started cooking when I was 11 years old. Um, my mom, uh, is just, she's a w- she's wonderful, but she, she's self-admittedly a, a, a bad cook. But, but at the time it was a, it was... And I think anyone with kids ha- goes through this. There... Your kids just want like something that... Like s- so spaghetti bolognese or a burger or, or something. And my mom would do brown bread, plain yogurt, and boiled squash. You know?

   14. LFLex Fridman14:22

       (laughs)

   15. KMKimbal Musk14:22

       Like the absolute most disgusting things that a child could imagine eating. And so I, I said-

   16. LFLex Fridman14:27

       Yeah.

   17. KMKimbal Musk14:27

       ... "Can I cook?" And she said, "Yeah. Sh- if you wanna cook. No problem." So I went to the grocery store and I, I've, I've, um, uh... Back in those days, the butcher separated to the grocery store, and I went to the butcher, and I said, you know, "What can I cook?" And h- uh, he pic- pulled out a chicken and he said, "This is a... This is the easiest recipe for you. Just put it on a pan in an oven, a hot oven..." 'Cause back then, the ovens weren't necessarily like 400 degrees or 450 or whatever. "And put it in a hot oven for one hour and enjoy." That was it. And, uh, so I, I went home and, uh... Actually I also brought some french fries. I'll tell you that as well. So I was like, "I'm gonna..." I mean, I'm, I'm a kid. Of course I want french fries. So, the roast chicken with french fries. And the chicken came out, and it was just fantastic.

   18. LFLex Fridman15:16

       It was.

   19. KMKimbal Musk15:16

       Absolutely fantastic.

   20. LFLex Fridman15:18

       That's incredible, by the way.

   21. KMKimbal Musk15:19

       Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

   22. LFLex Fridman15:20

       You didn't screw it up the first time.

   23. KMKimbal Musk15:21

       First of all, I think that's also kicks off the magic.

   24. LFLex Fridman15:23

       Yeah.

   25. KMKimbal Musk15:23

       Okay? Like you... If you screw it up, then you're like, "Oh, maybe this is not for me."

   26. LFLex Fridman15:27

       Yeah.

   27. KMKimbal Musk15:27

       So for me, it really did, did kick it off.

   28. LFLex Fridman15:29

       (laughs) Yeah. You started, uh...

   29. KMKimbal Musk15:31

       (laughs)

   30. LFLex Fridman15:31

       You started out on a high note. (laughs)
4. 36:18 – 43:23

   Ingredients

   1. LFLex Fridman36:18

      What's your favorite ingredient to cook with?

   2. KMKimbal Musk36:20

      For me, cooking is an art, right? So, it'd be like asking me what's my favorite, favorite paint color to use or s- it doesn't, it's not that it, there isn't like, um, there isn't one. It's more like when there is one, it really is one. You know?

   3. LFLex Fridman36:34

      Mm-hmm.

   4. KMKimbal Musk36:34

      Like those peaches on the, on the cover of this cookbook. Those peaches, that, those were in August.

   5. LFLex Fridman36:39

      Mm-hmm.

   6. KMKimbal Musk36:39

      Colorado peaches. It just doesn't get any better than that.

   7. LFLex Fridman36:44

      On that day at that moment, that was the best ............................

   8. KMKimbal Musk36:46

      That was the be- but that only lasts for a week.

   9. LFLex Fridman36:49

      (laughs) Yeah.

   10. KMKimbal Musk36:49

       And then they don't taste so great.

   11. LFLex Fridman36:50

       Yeah. (laughs)

   12. KMKimbal Musk36:52

       (laughs) But damn were they so good in that moment, and you just can't stop wanting to use that ingredient.

   13. LFLex Fridman37:00

       They look really good.

   14. KMKimbal Musk37:01

       They're so good.

   15. LFLex Fridman37:02

       What's your favorite, uh, fruit? I'm a, I love veggies and fruit. What's your favorite fruit?

   16. KMKimbal Musk37:07

       I love a smoothie bowl, so I do sort of, uh, berries, raspberries, uh, but I, but, but I use fruit more in the form of a smoothie bowl than I eat-

   17. LFLex Fridman37:17

       Hmm.

   18. KMKimbal Musk37:17

       ... fruit that often. I like an, I like an apple or a banana, but for most pa- part, I prefer, like, the blended...

   19. LFLex Fridman37:22

       Not me. I love... The way you casually said, "I like an apple," for me-

   20. KMKimbal Musk37:26

       (laughs)

   21. LFLex Fridman37:26

       ... for me-

   22. KMKimbal Musk37:26

       A good apple is pretty great. (laughs)

   23. LFLex Fridman37:28

       For me, it's a problem, I think.

   24. KMKimbal Musk37:29

       (laughs)

   25. LFLex Fridman37:30

       Well, I'll, probably cherry's number one. Probably, uh, what are they called? Granny Smith apple's number two.

   26. KMKimbal Musk37:37

       Oh yeah, those are great. But try it when, sometime, come to Colorado in August and when you try those peaches, it is like heaven has arrived in your mouth.

   27. LFLex Fridman37:48

       Mm-hmm.

   28. KMKimbal Musk37:48

       It is so ridiculously good. (laughs)

   29. LFLex Fridman37:52

       (laughs) But just for a week in August.

   30. KMKimbal Musk37:53

       Uh, just for a week. You can't have it all year long. (laughs)
5. 43:23 – 45:38

   Anthony Bourdain

   1. KMKimbal Musk43:23

   2. LFLex Fridman43:23

      You wrote in the book that Anthony Bourdain was one of your heroes.

   3. KMKimbal Musk43:27

      Mm-hmm.

   4. LFLex Fridman43:28

      Uh, can you speak to what inspired you, uh, about him?

   5. KMKimbal Musk43:33

      Yeah. He wrote a book called Kitchen Confidential in the '90s. I was in cooking school at the time. It was so... He romanticized the kit- cooking in the restaurant so well. His writing is great. Uh, he kind of got me into, like, "Oh, that's cool. I- I kinda wanna do that." That was... It was, it was, it was cool. Uh, and so I, you know, got into cooking school, got more, uh, engaged in it. And I, and I was like this... Had this FOMO feeling of I wanted to experience what it's like to be in, in the back of a... When you're in cooking school, you are, you are in the back of a... They had a restaurant where you would serve people, but it's not the same thing as actually being in a, like a cook, a real restaurant. It's like you're in a submarine with, with, you know, your, your teammates-

   6. LFLex Fridman44:16

      Mm-hmm.

   7. KMKimbal Musk44:16

      ... and you gotta win tonight.

   8. LFLex Fridman44:17

      Mm-hmm.

   9. KMKimbal Musk44:18

      Like it's a real, it's a real energy. And so that, that was a big inspiration. I folded him over. It was so sad that he, he, he chose to end his life. But I also had met with him a few times, not, not like one-on-one over dinner or anything, but just like met with him and, and, um, I just felt this love for, for food and truly, just love for food.

   10. LFLex Fridman44:41

       He gave the advice of don't be afraid, get excited, and cook with love.

   11. KMKimbal Musk44:45

       Yeah.

   12. LFLex Fridman44:46

       (laughs)

   13. KMKimbal Musk44:46

       I've used that phrase, especially the cook with love one. I mean, whenev- you know, one of the things about... Which we talked about this earlier, where you get quick tangible feedback from a customer-

   14. LFLex Fridman44:56

       Mm-hmm.

   15. KMKimbal Musk44:56

       ... when you're in the restaurant. Um, I know when I didn't put love into that dish. I know when one of my line cooks did not put love into that part of the dish. I know when that export person did not put love into looking and double checking a dish before putting it on the table.

   16. LFLex Fridman45:13

       Mm-hmm.

   17. KMKimbal Musk45:14

       I, I... You just know. And, and cook with love is, uh, whether you do it for your family... Oh actually, especially when you do it r- for your family, the food isn't... doesn't have to be perfect, but you're cooking with love.

   18. LFLex Fridman45:27

       That's why you love scrambled eggs.

   19. KMKimbal Musk45:29

       I do that. It's-

   20. LFLex Fridman45:30

       That's in the book, Kimbal's scrambled eggs.

   21. KMKimbal Musk45:32

       Yes.

   22. LFLex Fridman45:33

       You promised to make me scrambled eggs. I'm gonna hold you to it.

   23. KMKimbal Musk45:35

       That's great.

   24. LFLex Fridman45:36

       (laughs)

   25. KMKimbal Musk45:37

       (laughs)

   26. LFLex Fridman45:37

       Uh, uh,

6. 45:38 – 1:01:58

   Cooking school

   1. LFLex Fridman45:38

      cooking school, you mentioned. The French Culinary Institute. I heard it was a, a bit of a rough experience in parts.

   2. KMKimbal Musk45:47

      I would call it... It's, it's not a rough experience in that...

   3. LFLex Fridman45:50

      In a beautiful way.

   4. KMKimbal Musk45:51

      Y- yeah. It's... Exactly. It's not like I'm a victim of it. It's-

   5. LFLex Fridman45:53

      Yeah.

   6. KMKimbal Musk45:53

      It's, uh, it's rough in that they intentionally make it rough.

   7. LFLex Fridman45:59

      Mm-hmm.

   8. KMKimbal Musk45:59

      So, the, the school costs the same price as Harvard to go to. You show up. You have to... It's an 18 month program. You are allowed to drop out at any time. You don't get your money back. 25 people started. 6 people graduated. And the people-

   9. LFLex Fridman46:18

      Wow.

   10. KMKimbal Musk46:18

       ... who graduated... I graduated. But man, it was... There were times when I'm like, "I- I- I can't handle this." I mean, I would literally say to, to my friends, "Oh, I gotta go to cooking school. I'm gonna go get screamed at for the next-"

   11. LFLex Fridman46:28

       (laughs)

   12. KMKimbal Musk46:29

       "... six or seven hours."

   13. LFLex Fridman46:30

       Yeah.

   14. KMKimbal Musk46:31

       And I had this, uh, little French chef who was my, uh, nemesis.

   15. LFLex Fridman46:35

       Does he still live in your head somewhere?

   16. KMKimbal Musk46:37

       He still lives in my head. (laughs)

   17. LFLex Fridman46:38

       Yeah?

   18. KMKimbal Musk46:38

       Exactly. No, because-

   19. LFLex Fridman46:40

       This is great. (laughs)

   20. KMKimbal Musk46:40

       ... he's like 5'2" or something.

   21. LFLex Fridman46:43

       (laughs)

   22. KMKimbal Musk46:43

       And, uh, and I remember him screaming so much at me, at this... He's like this short guy. I'm 6'5". The spittle would land on my face.

   23. LFLex Fridman46:52

       Nice.

   24. KMKimbal Musk46:54

       And I would just have to sit there, or stand there, and take it. It was a very humbling experience. I did learn, though, that it is... That's, it's intentionally rough. So I, I took a little bit of the, um, edge off it one day when that same chef had come over to me and said, "Move over a little bit." And then I moved over. And he took my carrots, whatever, and started just chopping everything.

   25. LFLex Fridman47:20

       Mm-hmm.

   26. KMKimbal Musk47:20

       And like perfectly. And then he said, "Okay, now, you just can come back." And then he went over to someone else and started screaming at them, saying that, "Look, even Kimbal can do this, and you can't do this."

   27. LFLex Fridman47:32

       Hmm.

   28. KMKimbal Musk47:32

       And I was like, "This whole thing's like a psych- psycho game." (laughs)

   29. LFLex Fridman47:37

       Uh, yeah.

   30. KMKimbal Musk47:37

       So it did take the edge off when I realized there was-
7. 1:01:58 – 1:16:02

   Life-threatening accident

   1. LFLex Fridman1:01:58

      In 2010, you had a life-threatening accident, uh, that changed the way you see life, the world. Also, the way you see food and cooking. Uh, can you tell me the story of it?

   2. KMKimbal Musk1:02:12

      Yeah. Uh, so 2010, I was 37. I had opened the restaurant, uh, in 2004, and I had loved the restaurant world. Loved it. But it, I didn't really wanna grow a restaurant company. That wasn't my, my goal. And so I got, went back into technology, and I had, uh, I had gone from something that I love to something that I like. For me, it was like, it was like chewing sawdust every day. I just couldn't believe that I had gone from, that had changed my life, but had gone back into technology, and i- now I do do work in technology and I, I, I do love it, but I found a better relationship with it, but-

   3. LFLex Fridman1:02:56

      (laughs)

   4. KMKimbal Musk1:02:56

      ... I was really, really unhappy. Um, from the outside, I was a sort of CEO of a hot startup. But from the inside, I was just, just very unhappy. And I, um, was in Jackson Hole, and I was doing these very aggressive snowboard runs, and I'm, at the time a, a pretty, pretty good and aggressive snowboarder. And I remember saying to myself, "Look, I've got kids. I need to chill on this." I'm a... The next day was Valentine's Day, so the next day's, tomorrow's Valentine's Day, I'm just gonna have a nice day with the family and, and my, my wife at the time, and... And, um, we went to a children's run, to do the inner tube run, and, uh, the tubes are small but everyone uses the same tube. So I'm six foot five and, uh, the, my kids are four years old, and everyone uses the same size tube. There should've been a, a message to me not, not to get on this thing. But I went and got on it, and on the first run, and I went down, and you're going super fast, 35 miles an hour, and the tube hit the braking mats, and it stopped. The little tube just stopped where it, where it was, it just threw me. I was... My, my head was, uh, facing downhill, so that's created the wrong center of gravity, so it fl- instead of braking, it just threw me. I landed on my head. My head went into my chest, like compression into my chest-

   5. LFLex Fridman1:04:13

      Like down...

   6. KMKimbal Musk1:04:14

      ... like that. I ruptured my spine at C6 and C7, and in like the blink of a second, I was paralyzed. I was like, like, like, "What?" You know, just like, impossible to, impossible to comprehend. And the, they take me, put this, they put this big thing on my, like halo on my head and they take me to the hospital, which was more of a medical clinic. And I'm just like, "W- what is going on here?"

   7. LFLex Fridman1:04:47

      Do you remember your thoughts from the moment it happened to, like, the way to get to, got to the hospital?

   8. KMKimbal Musk1:04:52

      I remember being... So this is, uh, one of the things that actually the doctor said caused the most damage, was, um, I was thrown from the tube and I, and I heard this big crunch sound in my body, and I knew that I was hurt, but I didn't feel any pain. Which is also, that's, that's also... Look, why, why wouldn't you feel pain? 'Cause, I mean, when you're paraly- you don't feel pain. And so I'm, and I'm face down on the, on the snow, and the snow is burning my face 'cause, you know, you can't, you can't do that. You need something... And I found a way to turn myself around so that my face wouldn't be on the ground, but I knew I couldn't move, and, um, uh, that they said actually caused more damage than... Well, that obviously the accident created the opening, but once, once you move your body-

   9. LFLex Fridman1:05:43

      Yeah.

   10. KMKimbal Musk1:05:44

       ... the blood goes into the spinal column at a faster rate, and that, that is what-

   11. LFLex Fridman1:05:48

       Hmm.

   12. KMKimbal Musk1:05:48

       ... caused my paralysis. But I remember that, and I, um, I remember getting into the, into the, the ambulance, um...

   13. LFLex Fridman1:06:00

       Did you think you were gonna die at that, like in those seconds, minutes?

   14. KMKimbal Musk1:06:05

       It's a different feeling, yeah, th- it was just more... It was more of a, "What is going on here?" Like I just was, it was more like, "I can't make sense of what's going on." It was, uh, uh... There was, it was a moment when I got to the hospital and they, they did this MRI, and the doctor comes up to me and says, "Look, we've, we done this MRI and," uh, so, so I'm now, now I'm in the hospital and I'm like ca- I can't move. Right? But also I don't feel any pain, so I'm like, "It's very confusing." Your body looks like you can move it. Like, look, see how I'm moving my hand? Like, it looks like you could do that, and then it just doesn't move.It doesn't, there's no, there's no, there's no feedback loop that it's not moving. Your brain even thinks it's moving, but it's not moving. It's like the worst, like most hor- terrifying thing. So the doctor says, "Look, way, the way you broke your neck was really at a zero degree angle. That is so rare, but as a result, there is no twisting of the sp- of the spine. We think that we can get the blood out of your- of your spinal column and you should get, uh, some or maybe all of your movement back." And, um, uh, I was like, "Oh, okay. I think I'm gonna be fine. I guess I'm gonna be fine." And then I realized I had tears just streaming down the side of my face, and I was like, "Whoa, man. I have no idea what's going on."

   15. LFLex Fridman1:07:39

       So this kind of intense state of confusion, I wonder if it's like a weird psychological defense mechanism of like-

   16. KMKimbal Musk1:07:47

       I think so.

   17. LFLex Fridman1:07:47

       ... taking you away from the obvious possibility of death.

   18. KMKimbal Musk1:07:52

       Yeah. It was a, for sure all the defense, all of the defenses were up. (laughs)

   19. LFLex Fridman1:07:56

       (laughs)

   20. KMKimbal Musk1:07:56

       I don't know how else to describe it, but there was, there was denial.

   21. LFLex Fridman1:08:00

       Yeah.

   22. KMKimbal Musk1:08:00

       There was, uh, uh, this i- there was this curiosity of like, "Why is there no pain?"

   23. LFLex Fridman1:08:09

       Mm-hmm.

   24. KMKimbal Musk1:08:10

       Like that's, that, when they did actually f- repair me and fix me, it was three days later, the pain was indescribable how much pain I was in. But there was no pain for three days. (laughs)

   25. LFLex Fridman1:08:23

       (laughs) The human body is fascinating.

   26. KMKimbal Musk1:08:26

       Man.

   27. LFLex Fridman1:08:27

       Wow. So they were able...

   28. KMKimbal Musk1:08:31

       Yeah, so they did the surgery, but I had this, I had this very clear voice in my head that, uh, I've kind of determined that it's God. I'm not religious, but I don't know how else to describe the voice. And this voice was very clear. Uh, "You're gonna work with kids and food," look, "Okay, well, where did that come from? I'm like tech CEO, I have a restaurant." And we were working with some kids in schools with like some, you know, helping out at a local nonprofit. And he's like, "No, you're just gonna work on kids and food." Uh, uh, and my good friend Antonio and my brother were in the hospital, and I was like, "I'm gonna work on kids and food." You know, 'cause they were like, "He's crazy. He's lost his mind." But not, not, not that they were arguing, no one was arguing with me.

   29. LFLex Fridman1:09:18

       Okay.

   30. KMKimbal Musk1:09:18

       But I was like, "I'm just going to do that. I need to say it out loud." And I remember resigning from my, my job as, as CEO from the hospital, and, um, that was it. It was, it was just clear. It was a clear voice. Wasn't for a moment, wasn't like a flash of light or anything. It was probably two weeks of clear voice.

Episode duration: 1:47:08