Jared Diamond on Leaders, Luck, and Irreplaceability

Is leadership overrated? That's one simple reading of what Jared Diamond argues in his new book. Asked by Tyler to name the least replaceable leader in human history, Jared declines to name one — not Christ, the Roman Empire having had prophets to spare — and observes that even Genghis Khan happened to be born at an auspicious moment for a conqueror of the steppes. Conditions ripen; somebody turns up. So which leaders do make a difference? Tyler and Jared debate that question, including conditions what a religious founder needs to succeed, whether destructive leaders matter more than constructive ones, why individual leaders have mattered so little in Papua New Guinea, whether we undervalue preventers, how much Rachel Carson and the Resnicks really mattered, whether Botswana's success will endure, Jared's own place in intellectual history, and what he'd tell an ambitious 25-year-old about how to become consequential. They go on to cover whether New Guineans are smarter, his reasons for why the Industrial Revolution started in England, what he learned from Jim Robinson about natural experiments, why he's more optimistic about the environment than when he wrote Collapse, what he'd do about nuclear risk, the 189 bird species on his street in Los Angeles, why the MacArthur "genius grant" left him depressed for a week, why he's listening to one Bach cantata a week, what he hopes to work on as he enters his nineties, and more. Read a transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video on YouTube. Recorded August 21st, 2026. Other ways to connect Follow us on X and Instagram Follow Tyler on X Sign up for our newsletter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:11 - On whether any leader is irreplaceable 00:21:35 - On his own replaceability 00:24:55 - On the decline of face-to-face skills 00:29:02 - On intelligence and genetics 00:32:57 - On why the Industrial Revolution began in England 00:36:38 - On environmental optimism 00:41:11 - On nuclear risk and the Dvorak keyboard 00:42:55 - On birdwatching 00:44:07 - On writing and productivity 00:47:06 - On what his parents gave him 00:49:51 - On what comes next 00:51:36 - Outro