Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin

George Saunders is an author known for his inventive short stories and the Booker Prize–winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. His works include the collections Tenth of December and Liberation Day and the craft book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. This week, he released Vigil, a new novel that follows his trademark blend of imagination, compassion, and dark humor as it explores life, death, and moral...

Dr. Mary Talley Bowden is an ear, nose, and throat physician and founder of BreatheMD, a direct-care ENT clinic that emphasizes transparent pricing and outpatient airway care. She completed her residency at Stanford University, and she is board-certified in otolaryngology and sleep medicine, focusing her practice on sinus, sleep, and allergy disorders. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bowden beca...

Barry Diller is a media executive and entrepreneur whose career has shaped modern television, film, and digital media. He helped redefine entertainment by innovating network programming at ABC, leading Paramount Pictures during a period of major commercial success, and later launching the Fox Broadcasting Company, establishing the United States’ fourth major television network. He expanded his inf...

Joseph Nguyen is the author of the #1 international bestselling book Don't Believe Everything You Think, translated into more than forty languages worldwide. His other titles include Beyond Thoughts: an exploration of who we are beyond our minds and workbooks such as The Overthinker's Guide to Making Decisions. Across these works, he uses philosophy, spirituality, and psychology to offer practical...

Mike White is a writer, director, producer, and actor best known as the creator of HBO’s acclaimed series The White Lotus. He began his career writing and producing TV shows, including Dawson’s Creek and Freaks and Geeks, and later wrote and acted in films such as School of Rock and Nacho Libre. Premiering in 2021, The White Lotus has received widespread critical acclaim across its seasons with nu...

Daron Malakian returns to continue his conversation in Part Two. Composer, guitarist, vocalist, and record producer Daron Malakian, a founding member of System of a Down, reflects on his lifelong relationship with heavy metal. Using music as a guide to discuss how different styles, sounds, and eras shaped his identity as an artist, he talks through what he listens for in metal, including riffs, mo...

Composer, guitarist, vocalist, and record producer Daron Malakian, a founding member of System of a Down, returns to Tetragrammaton to  reflect on his lifelong relationship with heavy metal. Using music as a guide to discuss how different styles, sounds, and eras shaped his identity as an artist, he talks through what he listens for in metal, including riffs, mood, aggression, and atmosphere, and...

Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States by trading volume and users. He launched Coinbase in 2012 after working as a software engineer at Airbnb, where he experienced firsthand the frictions of global payment systems. Under his leadership, Coinbase grew into a publicly traded company on Nasdaq in 2021 and now serves over 100 m...

Mike Cessario is the founder and CEO of Liquid Death, one of the fastest-growing non-alcoholic brands and healthy beverage platform built on comedy. An advertising veteran-turned-entrepreneur, he has grown Liquid Death into the #2 most-followed beverage brand on social media through viral, entertainment-first campaigns. Scaling across categories including mountain water, soda-flavored sparkling wa...

Dan Brown is the bestselling author of the Robert Langdon thriller series, including The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, The Lost Symbol, Inferno, and Origin. His novels have sold 250 million copies worldwide. Brown’s work has defined a modern genre of high-concept, research-driven thrillers that fuse art, history, religion, and science, and several of his books have been adapted into major featur...

Nick Broomfield is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has made acclaimed films on subjects ranging from serial killer Aileen Wuornos and the deaths of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, to Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Whitney Houston, and South African politics. He later expanded into what he calls “Direct Cinema,” using non-actors in scripted...

Legendary music producer Jimmy Iovine returns to Tetragrammaton to reflect on the pivotal moments that shaped his path from young engineer to industry visionary. He recounts early lessons learned while working with John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen, and the creative spark that led to the founding of Beats with Dr. Dre, which redefined headphone culture worldwide. This journey inspired the model be...

Rupi Kaur is a globally acclaimed poet, performer, and artist. Rising to prominence with her debut collection Milk and Honey in 2014, which she self-published at 21 years old, Kaur became one of the best-selling poets of the 21st century, expanding her voice through later works, including The Sun and Her Flowers and Home Body. Kaur’s achievements extend beyond publishing, with sold-out internation...

Gavin de Becker is a security specialist and author whose work focuses on predicting and preventing violence. He founded Gavin de Becker & Associates in 1978, a firm that advises and protects some of the world’s most high-profile figures and organizations, and has developed widely used threat assessment tools such as MOSAIC for governmental agencies including the U.S. Marshals Service and Central...

Mike Gordon is the bassist and a founding member of Phish. Since the band’s formation at the University of Vermont in 1983, he has been responsible for writing and co-writing several of Phish’s key tracks, including “Mike’s Song,” “Simple,” and “Contact,” while also collaborating on a variety of instruments beyond bass, such as banjo, accordion, and guitar. Outside of Phish, Gordon has released mu...

Woody Allen is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, and comedian. Beginning in stand-up and television before turning to film, Allen became a defining voice of 1970s cinema with Annie Hall, the romantic comedy that earned him four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Over his six decade career, he has written and directed more than 50 films exploring themes of love, irony, and e...

Mollie Engelhart is a chef, restaurateur, and regenerative farmer whose career spans the culinary and agricultural worlds. She co-founded Sage Regenerative Kitchen and previously ran several Los Angeles restaurants, including Sage Vegan Bistro and KindKreme. After years in the plant-based restaurant industry, she shifted her focus to regenerative agriculture, founding Sovereignty Ranch in Texas, w...

Tyler Cowen returns to continue his conversation in Part Two. Tyler Cowen is a leading economist, author, and professor, currently holding the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University, where he also serves as chairman and faculty director of the Mercatus Center. Widely recognized for his influential economic ideas, Cowen co-authors the long-running blog Marginal Revolution w...

Tyler Cowen is a leading economist, author, and professor, currently holding the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University, where he also serves as chairman and faculty director of the Mercatus Center. Widely recognized for his influential economic ideas, Cowen co-authors the long-running blog Marginal Revolution with Alex Tabarrok, and together they have also created Margina...

M.I.A. is a music artist, producer, and creative force, known for blending electronic, hip-hop, and world music. Hailing from London with Sri Lankan roots, she gained international recognition with her debut album Arular and breakthrough hits like “Galang” and “Paper Planes.” Her later albums, including Kala and Matangi, continued to explore themes of identity, globalization, and politics through...

David Whyte returns to continue his conversation in Part Two. David Whyte is a celebrated Irish poet, philosopher, and speaker whose career spans nearly forty years. Known for ten volumes of poetry and multiple best-selling prose collections, Whyte’s latest collection, Consolations II, which contains 52 new essays, continues his trademark exploration of ordinary words and the profound choices that...

David Whyte is a celebrated Irish poet, philosopher, and speaker whose career spans nearly forty years. Known for ten volumes of poetry and multiple best-selling prose collections, Whyte’s latest collection, Consolations II, which contains 52 new essays, continues his trademark exploration of ordinary words and the profound choices that frame our lives. His writing continues to illuminate the conn...

Tony Hawk is a professional skateboarder widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the sport’s history. Rising to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, he became known for pioneering tricks like the 900 and for pushing skateboarding into the mainstream through competitions, video games, and media appearances. He became a household name through victorious X Games performances, and his...

Dr. Andrew Huberman returns to continue his conversation in Part Two. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and tenured professor of neurobiology, psychiatry, and behavior sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. His research centers on brain development, neural plasticity, and how vision and respiration shape human performance and cognitive function. Beyond his work in academia, Huberman is the...

Dr. Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and tenured professor of neurobiology, psychiatry, and behavior sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. His research centers on brain development, neural plasticity, and how vision and respiration shape human performance and cognitive function. Beyond his work in academia, Huberman is the creator and host of the Huberman Lab podcast, the world’s leading hea...