Simone Giertz: Queen of Sh*tty Robots, Innovative Engineering, and Design | Lex Fridman Podcast #372

Proud of you, Lex.

You are both hilarious in this interview, and I love it. Thank you for having Simone on; she's a treasure!

I can't imagine anyone better to interview Simone, well done! I am smiling all the way through!

3 podcasts in 6 days??? is this the way Lex is fighting against AI in productivity category? Thank you Lex!!

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex to get 15% off - InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex to get 1 month of fish oil 2:06 - Early creations 18:58 - Sh*tty Robots 33:56 - Robots and human connection 36:11 - Dating AI 39:30 - Proud parent machine 41:21 - Creative process 42:47 - Bubble wrap music box 48:09 - Education 53:43 - Difficult projects 55:13 - TED talk 1:01:29 - Brain tumor 1:10:07 - Fear of death 1:14:31 - Mass production 1:29:56 - Truckla 1:34:46 - Weapons 1:38:45 - Consciousness 1:40:49 - MMA 1:44:53 - China, Kenya, and USA 1:49:45 - Advice for young people 1:53:38 - Meaning of life

perfect guest, absolutely in your element with a peer

Such charming chemistry when two people passionate about the same subjects have a chat.

Great interview! Lex, you’ve been killing it with your lineup — please have (even) more female badasses on your podcast. Simone is *such* a character — powerful creative spirit with a rad sense of humor. Her Trucla project blew my mind when I first saw it years ago, and made me happy to know that rockstar babes like her exist. Given how far she has come as a creative leader (even with the time gap of healing from the brain tumor), it was good to hear her speak out about having had to mold her personality to “camouflage” within a hardcore male-dominated manufacturing design industry. That’s stressful AF and immensely courageous (and frankly, also often fun) to need to be just enough witty, smart, pretty etc self to be accepted and taken seriously, but not too much of those things + self-deprecating, so not to appear threatening or be sexualized. It’s a mad annoying cage to twist oneself into …just to exist in an environment and try to thrive in it. Major kudos to Simone for rocking it! It was such a relief to hear a female leader describe this tightrope as a struggle she had to grow through. It’s important to talk about, so others don’t feel so alone on a similar path (and oh man, it *is* lonely — we make it look easy, but it’s hard to imagine the strength it takes, dear lads). Simone, thanks for being such a bright light, for talking candidly about your process, and sharing your story.

Wow, I didn't know Simone built a virtual guitar. It sounds similar to the Wiiolin virtual violin I made.

"Just because something is boring doesn't mean it's important" -Simone Giertz Wowwwww that is beautiful