# What motivates great Americans with Ron Chernow

An episode of [ReThinking](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1554567118), 8 Jul 2025, 36 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/675858676d1777b3683ec351/e/6865975231a42ee04efdb80c/media.mp3

Ron Chernow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer whose work has deepened our understanding of the men who made history in America, and even inspired Lin Manuel Miranda to write his musical about Alexander Hamilton. In this episode, he and Adam discuss Ron’s new book on Mark Twain, analyze what fuels outsized accomplishments, and dig into what it takes to uncover new insights into the lives of historical figures. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Ron Chernow (Website: ronchernow.com/) Links Mark Twain by Ron Chernow Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith. For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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