Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk

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The 32nd Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA Presents Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk

In Conversation with Gail Evans, Former Executive Vice President, CNN and Bestselling Author

Author Talk, Q & A & Book Signing

PRESENTED BY GREENBERG TRAURIG

Community Partner: The Breman Museum

From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies comes the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—Elon Musk, a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.

At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground.

For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Walter Isaacson is the bestselling author of biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein. He is a professor of history at Tulane and was CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2023.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Gail Evans is CNN’s first female executive vice president, and is responsible for creating many of CNN’s most successful shows. She is the recipient of numerous awards and appointments, and has appeared on many major national television shows. She currently lectures around the country, mentoring and teaching women of all ages and business backgrounds on how to get ahead in today’s corporate world.

Additional books will be available for purchase on the evening of the event from our partner bookseller, A Cappella Books!