Episode
#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
Description
Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) is founder and editor-in-chief of Vox, an explanatory news organization that now reaches more than 100 million people each month through articles, videos, newsletters, and podcasts. Previously, he was a columnist and editor at The Washington Post, a policy analyst at MSNBC, and a contributor to Bloomberg. He was named one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington by GQ. He's written for The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books, and his primary podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, is a long-form interview show where he talks to the smartest people he can find, including past guests like Bill Gates, Rachel Maddow, Andrew Sullivan, Atul Gawande, Slack founder Stewart Butterfield, The Daily Show's Trevor Noah, and more. He also co-hosts The Weeds, a weekly policy podcast with his colleagues Matt Yglesias, and Sarah Kliff. In this episode, we discuss: Influencing the rules of the game by which this country is run (overall politics -- not partisan) How Ezra lost 60 pounds Ezra's ascension into the ranks of the most respected media companies in the world And much, much more Please enjoy my conversation with Ezra Klein! Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the #1 cloud bookkeeping software, which is used by a ton of the start-ups I advise and many of the contractors I work with. It is the easiest way to send invoices, get paid, track your time, and track your clients. FreshBooks tells you when your clients have viewed your invoices, helps you customize your invoices, track your hours, automatically organize your receipts, have late payment reminders sent automatically and much more. Right now you can get a free month of complete and unrestricted use. You do not need a credit card for the trial. To claim your free month and see how the brand new Freshbooks can change your business, go to FreshBooks.com/Tim and enter "Tim" in the "how did you hear about us" section. This podcast is also brought to you by Four Sigmatic. I reached out to these Finnish entrepreneurs after a very talented acrobat introduced me to one of their products, which blew my mind (in the best way possible). It is mushroom coffee featuring chaga. It tastes like coffee, but there are only 40 milligrams of caffeine, so it has less than half of what you would find in a regular cup of coffee. I do not get any jitters, acid reflux, or any type of stomach burn. It put me on fire for an entire day, and I only had half of the packet. People are always asking me what I use for cognitive enhancement right now, this is the answer. You can try it right now by going to foursigmatic.com/tim and using the code Tim to get 20 percent off your first order. If you are in the experimental mindset, I do not think you'll be disappointed.***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Visit tim.blog/sponsor and fill out the form.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapters
In this episode, Tim Ferriss discusses ways to connect with top performers and get them to participate in your podcast, online course or blog.
00:00 - 01:19 (01:19)
Summary
In this episode, Tim Ferriss discusses ways to connect with top performers and get them to participate in your podcast, online course or blog. He shares his strategy of finding common ground, making a thoughtful approach and providing a win for both parties.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Get your daily dose of nutrition with athletic greens' all-in-one formula and free vitamin D supplement, containing 75 whole food sourced ingredients for added immune support, gut health and energy.
01:19 - 07:58 (06:38)
Summary
Get your daily dose of nutrition with athletic greens' all-in-one formula and free vitamin D supplement, containing 75 whole food sourced ingredients for added immune support, gut health and energy.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the vital role that context plays in determining students' academic success.
07:58 - 16:23 (08:25)
Summary
In this podcast episode, the speaker discusses the vital role that context plays in determining students' academic success. He shares personal experiences of how changing his context led to a transformation in his academic performance, highlighting how different contexts can either be adaptive or maladaptive depending on individual strengths and weaknesses.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The goal of a liberal arts education is to make you a well-rounded human being and to equip you with meta-skills, rather than to prepare you for a specific trade.
16:23 - 20:09 (03:45)
Summary
The goal of a liberal arts education is to make you a well-rounded human being and to equip you with meta-skills, rather than to prepare you for a specific trade. Education provides opportunities for second chances that allow people to choose their path and strive for success in their own way.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Kevin found his passion in blogging when he realized he cared more about his 35 daily readers than anything else.
20:09 - 25:09 (05:00)
Summary
Kevin found his passion in blogging when he realized he cared more about his 35 daily readers than anything else. Writing for a small audience gave him a space to process information and led him to explore more of what he was interested in.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The host shares his personal experience with taking care of his health and the guest talks about his learning preferences during high school and college.
25:09 - 30:22 (05:13)
Summary
The host shares his personal experience with taking care of his health and the guest talks about his learning preferences during high school and college.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
This transcript features a busy professional who shares that he absorbs a lot of information through podcasting while doing other things, and recommends several podcasts, including You Made it Weird, Reply All, Rico Decode, The Axe Files, Death, Sex & Money, and Exponent by Ben Thompson.
30:22 - 35:23 (05:00)
Summary
This transcript features a busy professional who shares that he absorbs a lot of information through podcasting while doing other things, and recommends several podcasts, including You Made it Weird, Reply All, Rico Decode, The Axe Files, Death, Sex & Money, and Exponent by Ben Thompson.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
This podcast discusses the philosophical and ethical reasons for choosing to consume meat or not.
35:24 - 40:18 (04:53)
Summary
This podcast discusses the philosophical and ethical reasons for choosing to consume meat or not. From reducing the number of animals killed to minimizing carbon emissions, each perspective is explored, and the potential for lab-grown meat to change the future is discussed.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker suggests that people can make moves that are not that painful but can have a big impact on reducing suffering.
40:18 - 45:31 (05:12)
Summary
The speaker suggests that people can make moves that are not that painful but can have a big impact on reducing suffering. Being too strict on oneself can result in identity collapsing effect, so it's important to be reasonable.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The period from 9/11 to the election of Trump brought American politics to the forefront of people's lives and created a new era for the nation.
45:31 - 53:00 (07:29)
Summary
The period from 9/11 to the election of Trump brought American politics to the forefront of people's lives and created a new era for the nation.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The concept of talking about politics in a language that wasn't formal and structured was one of the significant contributions of blogging.
53:00 - 58:39 (05:38)
Summary
The concept of talking about politics in a language that wasn't formal and structured was one of the significant contributions of blogging. The blogosphere brought about experimentation with languages and laid an informal tone, which was not previously seen in political writing.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The host discusses their background working in politics before realizing they were more interested in policy and expanding the audience for policy coverage.
58:40 - 1:07:06 (08:26)
Summary
The host discusses their background working in politics before realizing they were more interested in policy and expanding the audience for policy coverage. They also discuss how they ended up interning for the Howard Dean campaign.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
A discussion about how the techniques, ideas, and sensibilities of blogging were merged with the processes and skills of journalism in the early stages of the guest's career, and how this approach provided deep knowledge and expertise on subjects such as healthcare policy.
1:07:06 - 1:13:44 (06:37)
Summary
A discussion about how the techniques, ideas, and sensibilities of blogging were merged with the processes and skills of journalism in the early stages of the guest's career, and how this approach provided deep knowledge and expertise on subjects such as healthcare policy.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker wants to understand the basic functioning of democracy and how our government works.
1:13:45 - 1:20:16 (06:31)
Summary
The speaker wants to understand the basic functioning of democracy and how our government works. Vox's approach to journalism is focused on a reporter's body of knowledge, rather than just new information.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The podcast discusses how writing styles in media have changed over the last few years and investing in underrepresented issues can change American politics, citing examples such as raising the salience of the filibuster and talking about city-level policies.
1:20:18 - 1:30:23 (10:05)
Summary
The podcast discusses how writing styles in media have changed over the last few years and investing in underrepresented issues can change American politics, citing examples such as raising the salience of the filibuster and talking about city-level policies.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Investing and participating in city and state politics is crucial as it is an opportunity to access decision-makers and initiate change.
1:30:23 - 1:38:27 (08:03)
Summary
Investing and participating in city and state politics is crucial as it is an opportunity to access decision-makers and initiate change. National impact can be achieved by starting at the state level rather than Congress.
Episode#208: Ezra Klein -- From College Blogger to Political Powerhouse
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
FreshBooks is a cloud accounting software used by over 10 million self-employed professionals worldwide for invoicing, tracking time, and getting paid quickly.
1:38:27 - 1:39:51 (01:24)
Summary
FreshBooks is a cloud accounting software used by over 10 million self-employed professionals worldwide for invoicing, tracking time, and getting paid quickly. The platform has been recently relaunched to emphasize simplicity and speed.