The Builders

About The Builders

Whose imagination do you want to live in? In this new series, bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson sits down with the most consequential names in AI and tech to understand the futures they're racing to build. Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Fei-Fei Li, Dario and Daniela Amodei, and more open up about their ambitions, what frightens them, how they think about humanity, and what drives them to build so big and so fast. The conversations are intimate, charming, and sometimes chilling. But mostly, they're impossible to dismiss. Because whether or not you agree with them, it's their imagination we're all starting to live in. ABOUT THE HOST Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Elon Musk, Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane University and previously served as CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair and CEO of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023. IN THIS SEASON Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, xAI) Peter Thiel (Founders Fund, PayPal, Palantir) Mustafa Suleyman (Microsoft AI, DeepMind) Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei (Anthropic) and more!

Publisher

iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope

Category

society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episode

30 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

11 of 11 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   30 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   After The Builders: On Dario & Daniela Amodei and Mustafa Suleyman

   Walter Isaacson interviews Dario and Daniela Amodei, and Mustafa Suleyman, exploring AI safety debates and competing visions for the future of artificial intelligence.

2. 

   29 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Mustafa Suleyman: AI Should Serve Humanity, Not Replace It

   Walter Isaacson interviews Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, about harnessing AI for societal benefit while safeguarding humanity from its potential threats.

3. 

   27 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Dario & Daniela Amodei: "This Is Gonna Determine the Fate of Nations and the Future of Humanity”

   Walter Isaacson interviews Anthropic co-founders Dario and Daniela Amodei about their human-centered AI approach and its ethical challenges.

4. 

   23 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   After The Builders: On Musk and Thiel

   Host Oz Woloshyn interviews journalists Max Chafkin and Faiz Siddiqui about their insights into Elon Musk and Peter Thiel's public personas and philosophies.

5. 

   22 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Peter Thiel: “We Need to Hit the Accelerator as Hard as Possible” on AI

   Walter Isaacson interviews Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, about accelerating AI development and his philosophy on choosing founders.

6. 

   20 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Elon Musk: "Humans Won't Be in Control" When AI Becomes Smarter Than Us

   Walter Isaacson interviews Elon Musk about AI's future, robots solving debt, and living in a simulation, revealing the contradictions of a visionary shaping our future.

7. 

   17 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   ON MUSK Episode Four: What is Musk's Legacy?

   Walter Isaacson explores Elon Musk's potential legacy, comparing his ventures and contrasting him with Steve Jobs in this interview.

8. 

   16 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   ON MUSK Episode Three: Storytelling and Hot Takes

   Walter Isaacson shares insights on crafting the Elon Musk biography, discussing storytelling and capturing complex characters in this interview.

9. 

   15 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   ON MUSK Episode Two: Demons

   Walter Isaacson, biographer, explores Elon Musk's "giddy" and "demon" modes, revealing the driving forces behind his controversial decisions and behaviors in this interview.

10. 

    14 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

    ON MUSK Episode One: Genius

    Author Walter Isaacson interviews himself about his insights into Elon Musk's genius and engineering prowess, revealing the man behind groundbreaking technologies.

11. 

    6 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

    Coming Soon! The Builders

    Bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson interviews AI and tech leaders like Elon Musk to explore the ambitious futures they are building.

Who has been a guest on The Builders

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Sebastian Mallaby
• Nitasha Tiku
• Mustafa Suleyman
• Dario Amodei
• Daniela Amodei

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact The Builders

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about The Builders