#288 – Sarma Melngailis: Bad Vegan

Lex Fridman Podcast

Sarma Melngailis is a chef and restauranteur who was the subject of the Netflix documentary Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Sarma’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarma
Sarma’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarmamelngailis
Sarma’s Website: https://sarmaraw.com
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (book): https://amzn.to/3G9pMvs
Party of One (book): https://amzn.to/3NtcH2n
Beautiful Ruins (book): https://amzn.to/38Cfgkc
Darkness Visible (book): https://amzn.to/3tdxoYL
Projections (book): https://amzn.to/38DrRDJ
Confessions of a Sociopath (book): https://amzn.to/3sM39Ys
On Love (book): https://amzn.to/3sS3Orj
Dear Reader (book): https://amzn.to/39JPE4M

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:44) – Childhood
(12:46) – Films
(23:17) – Gifts
(32:20) – Favorite food creations
(38:31) – Leon: The Pitbull
(50:39) – Bad Vegan
(1:02:41) – Abusive relationship
(1:07:24) – Remorse for employees
(1:13:19) – Sociopathy
(1:23:44) – How Sarma met Anthony Strangis
(1:45:43) – Retrospection
(1:58:24) – Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
(2:06:17) – Is Anthony Strangis a sociopath?
(2:10:24) – What Bad Vegan got wrong
(2:27:40) – Darkest personal discovery
(2:38:22) – Road trip from hell
(2:45:36) – Wild stories
(2:54:33) – Prison
(3:04:13) – Ghislaine Maxwell
(3:19:44) – Running restaurants
(3:33:26) – Last meal
(3:37:50) – Relationships
(3:47:02) – Advice for young people
(3:52:16) – Regrets
(3:56:01) – Mortality
(4:12:04) – Love