Sarma Melngailis: Bad Vegan, Fraud, Prison, and Sociopathy | Lex Fridman Podcast #288

Sarma Melngailis is a chef and restauranteur who was the subject of the Netflix documentary Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Mailgun: https://lexfridman.com/mailgun - BiOptimizers: http://www.magbreakthrough.com/lex to get 10% off - Notion: https://notion.com/startups to get up to $1000 off team plan - BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off - Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings EPISODE LINKS: Sarma's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarma Sarma's Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarmamelngailis Sarma's Website: https://sarmaraw.com Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (book): https://amzn.to/3G9pMvs Party of One (book): https://amzn.to/3NtcH2n Beautiful Ruins (book): https://amzn.to/38Cfgkc Darkness Visible (book): https://amzn.to/3tdxoYL Projections (book): https://amzn.to/38DrRDJ Confessions of a Sociopath (book): https://amzn.to/3sM39Ys On Love (book): https://amzn.to/3sS3Orj Dear Reader (book): https://amzn.to/39JPE4M PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 1:30 - Childhood 6:33 - Films 17:03 - Gifts 26:07 - Favorite food creations 32:18 - Leon: The Pitbull 44:26 - Bad Vegan 56:27 - Abusive relationship 1:01:10 - Remorse for employees 1:07:05 - Sociopathy 1:17:30 - How Sarma met Anthony Strangis 1:39:29 - Retrospection 1:52:11 - Johnny Depp and Amber Heard 2:00:04 - Is Anthony Strangis a sociopath? 2:04:11 - What Bad Vegan got wrong 2:21:26 - Darkest personal discovery 2:32:08 - Road trip from hell 2:39:23 - Wild stories 2:48:20 - Prison 2:58:00 - Ghislaine Maxwell 3:13:31 - Running restaurants 3:27:13 - Last meal 3:31:36 - Relationships 3:40:48 - Advice for young people 3:46:03 - Regrets 3:49:48 - Mortality 4:05:51 - Love SOCIAL: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman