I had to return to US from the Middle East to collect my thoughts for a few weeks before possibly heading off to Eastern Europe for a few more tough conversations.

I didn't anticipate how challenging all this would be psychologically, but I'm working hard (reading, learning, thinking) and keeping my head up. Life is beautiful.

Here's my conversation with John Mearsheimer, one of the most influential and controversial thinkers in the world on the topics of power, war, peace, and international relations. We discuss Israel-Palestine, Russia-Ukraine, China, NATO, and the future of US as a superpower.

This episode will be challenging to some, as previous episodes have been to others. To emphasize what I say in the introduction: I will talk to everyone, on all sides, with compassion, with empathy, and with backbone. My goal is to do whatever small part I can to decrease the amount of suffering in the world by trying to reveal our common humanity. I will get attacked. I accept this. I love you all ❤️

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4wLXNydzeY

Kрасота спасет мир
Beauty will save the world
- Dostoevsky

I will sometimes post in both Russian and English, given that half of you speak Russian.

Thanks for your feedback. We'll keep the channel in English but might sometimes provide translation in Russian. The reason for this is we will be publishing Russian language content more and more.

Here's my conversation with Ivanka Trump, a businesswoman, real estate developer, and former senior advisor to the President of the United States. We talk about politics, architecture, philosophy, fashion, music, parenting, martial arts, and much more.

I've gotten to know Ivanka well over the past 2 years. We first connected over our mutual love of reading and discussing books (for example by Marcus Aurelius, Joseph Campbell, Alan Watts, etc). She is a truly kind, compassionate, and thoughtful human being, and I'm honored to be able to call her a friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oxdDKHdcM8

Arrest of Pavel Durov is a disturbing attack on free speech and a threat not just to Telegram but to any online platform.

Governments should not engage in censorship. This is a blatant and deeply troubling overreach of power.

This happened. Podcast out tomorrow (Tue) at 1pm EDT.

I'm back.
Я вернулся.

New group, please join:
Новая группа. Присоединяйтесь:
https://xn--r1a.website/lexfridman_group_chat

PS:
I will post in both English and Russian languages.
Я буду писать посты на английском и русском языках.

But PLEASE try to speak in English in the group.

————————

I speak fluent English and Russian. I will try to post in both languages. Please share this channel and group with everyone you know who cares about Eastern Europe.

Я свободно говорю на английском и русском языках. Я буду стараться писать посты на обоих языках. Пожалуйста, поделитесь этим каналом и группой со всеми, кому небезразлична Восточная Европа.

Channel: https://xn--r1a.website/lexfridman

Group: https://xn--r1a.website/lexfridman_group_chat

В связи с предстоящими интервью на русском языке, давайте сделаем русский основным языком этого канала. Мы будем переводить на английский (а иногда на украинский по запросу).

Due to upcoming interviews, conducted in Russian language, let us switch this channel to Russian language as the primary language. We will translate to English (and sometimes Ukrainian if people ask for it).

Приходите пообщаться с нами в группе:
Come chat with us in the group:
https://xn--r1a.website/lexfridman_group_chat

Спасибо всем за ваши добрые слова ❤️
Thank you everyone for your kind words ❤️

Я в Киеве, чтобы взять интервью у президента Зеленского, и попытаться внести свою небольшую лепту в установление мира.

На этом фото я вчера в Бабьем Яру, месте, где в 1941 году многие мои родственники были убиты нацистами. Их обещали «переселить», и приказали собраться с ценными вещами, но потом заставили лечь в этом овраге поверх тел других людей и расстреляли. Всего за 2 дня так было убито более 30 000 человек.

Я написал длинный пост в X (Твиттере), где подробнее рассказал о своем предыдущем посещении Украины в 2022 году, но к сожалению он превышает лимит символов в Телеграме. Пожалуйста, прочтите его здесь: https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1872175249199898935

Я благодарен за эту жизнь и за всех вас.

Счастливых праздников. Люблю вас всех ❤️

I'm in Kyiv to interview President Zelenskyy, trying to do my small part in pushing for peace.

This photo is of me visiting Babi Yar yesterday, a place where many in my family were slaughtered by Nazi forces in 1941. They were ordered to gather with valuables with the promise they'd be "resettled", and then forced to lay down in this ravine on top of other people's bodies and were shot. Over 30,000 people were slaughtered in this way in just 2 days.

I wrote a lengthy post on X adding more context about my previous visit to Ukraine in 2022 that exceeds the character limit of Telegram. Please read it there: https://x.com/lexfridman/status/1872175249199898935

I am grateful for this life and for all of you.

Happy Holidays. I love you all ❤️