ThePrimeagen: Programming, AI, ADHD, Productivity, Addiction, and God | Lex Fridman Podcast

ThePrimeagen (aka Michael Paulson) is a programmer who has educated, entertained, and inspired millions of people to build software and have fun doing it.
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep461-sb
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.

Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/theprimeagen-t...

CONTACT LEX:
Feedback - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
AMA - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
Other - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact

SMALL CORRECTION NOTE:
When Prime talks about how grateful he is for his amazing wife and family, we show an incorrect photo, so I blurred it. Here's some correct ones:
https://x.com/ThePrimeagen/status/158...
https://x.com/ThePrimeagen/status/177...

EPISODE LINKS:
ThePrimeagen's X:   / theprimeagen  
ThePrimeagen's YouTube:    / theprimetimeagen  
ThePrimeagen's Twitch:   / theprimeagen  
ThePrimeagen's GitHub: https://github.com/theprimeagen
ThePrimeagen's TikTok:   / theprimeagen  
ThePrimeagen's Coffee: https://www.terminal.shop/

SPONSORS:
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
Invideo AI: AI video generator.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/invideoai-ep...
Shopify: Sell stuff online.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep46...
NetSuite: Business management software.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/netsuite-ep4...
BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/betterhelp-e...
AG1: All-in-one daily nutrition drinks.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/ag1-ep461-sb

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
0:42 - Love for programming
10:15 - Hardest part of programming
12:31 - Types of programming
20:08 - Life story
30:12 - Hardship
31:44 - High school
37:30 - Porn addiction
47:16 - God
1:02:59 - Perseverance
1:12:55 - Netflix
1:25:23 - Groovy
1:30:27 - Printf() debugging
1:36:49 - Falcor
1:46:19 - Breaking production
1:49:04 - Pieter Levels
1:53:34 - Netflix, Twitch, and YouTube infrastructure
2:05:36 - ThePrimeagen origin story
2:20:52 - Learning programming languages
2:29:55 - Best programming languages in 2025
2:34:50 - Python
2:35:30 - HTML & CSS
2:36:20 - Bash
2:37:00 - FFmpeg
2:43:42 - Performance
2:46:15 - Rust
2:51:03 - Epic projects
3:04:27 - Asserts
3:13:41 - ADHD
3:21:49 - Productivity
3:26:13 - Programming setup
4:01:43 - Coffee
4:08:47 - Programming with AI
4:51:31 - Advice for young programmers
5:03:03 - Reddit questions
5:10:35 - God

PODCAST LINKS:
Podcast Website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
Podcast Playlist:    • Lex Fridman Podcast  
Clips Channel:    / lexclips  

SOCIAL LINKS:
X: https://x.com/lexfridman
Instagram:   / lexfridman  
TikTok:   / lexfridman  
LinkedIn:   / lexfridman  
Facebook:   / lexfridman  
Patreon:   / lexfridman  
Telegram: https://t.me/lexfridman
Reddit:   / lexfridman