Lorne Michaels
The Catalyst
Ideas with a spark, energy, range and the ability to start things.
Lorne Michaels reads as The Catalyst because for five decades he has done what catalysts do best, creating the conditions for other people's brilliance to ignite. Saturday Night Live was never about Michaels performing. It was about identifying raw, unconventional talent, building a live format that thrived on creative risk, and sustaining collective energy across generations of writers and performers.
“The most forgiving, I think, of the mistakes that we are bound to make as people because you're gonna screw up. He knows you're gonna screw up. You're gonna be too magnanimous or not courageous enough or too generous or whatever. And he sort of says like, that's okay. You're going to blow it.”
“And I made a mistake, and I should immediately apologize and try to heal this little wound. I don't think I'm succeeding at least 100% or even 50% at being that person, but I think I'm better than I used to be. And it's not easy. And I'm very, very Understanding of people who have a hard time doing it.”
“Like philosophy, or could be anything. It could be music or academia or whatever, that you're not necessarily a professional, but you at least are qualified, I think. You're qualified to talk about the subject in some long-form way.”
“That's the reason I wanted to write it. It's that the exact thing that you're pointing out, which is I think there's a tremendous amount to be gained from engaging with the basic ideas that a lot of these philosophers put out there.”
The David Rubenstein Show: “Lorne Michaels”
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