# The myth of genius with Helen Lewis

An episode of [ReThinking](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1554567118), 19 Aug 2025, 33 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/675858676d1777b3683ec351/e/689e226baabbc2ace340543a/media.mp3

What does it mean to be a genius? Journalist Helen Lewis is the author of the new book The Genius Myth, which offers a provocative analysis of how we put brainiacs on a pedestal. In this episode, Helen and Adam unpack our cultural myths about geniuses and explore the dangers of treating them like demigods. They also discuss what Helen learned from the wives of male geniuses and how child prodigies can avoid struggling as adults. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Helen Lewis (Website: theatlantic.com/author/helen-lewis/) Links The Genius Myth 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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