Why people recommend it
Free Solo is a documentary chronicling Alex Honnold's historic free solo climb of El Capitan, exploring the immense psychological and physical challenges of climbing without ropes. The film was discussed across multiple popular podcasts by prominent figures. On the February 18, 2019 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan and guest Andy Stumpf talked about Honnold's incredible achievement. Rogan remarked that he had watched the documentary multiple times in a row, marveling at the tension despite already knowing that the climber survived. Stumpf and Rogan also discussed the extreme risks taken by the world-class camera crew who had to hang thousands of feet in the air over nothing just to capture the shots. Later, on November 16, 2020, Andrew Huberman appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast and brought up the documentary to analyze human psychology. Huberman pointed to the film to explain how extreme heights evoke an intense visceral fear response in viewers, even when they intellectually know the subject is safe. Together, these podcast discussions highlighted how the documentary transcended sports entertainment to become a profound psychological puzzle for audiences everywhere.
Who recommended it
- Andrew Huberman Discussed
- Joe Rogan Discussed
- Andy Stumpf Discussed
Andrew Huberman — 1 mention
“and I if people want to challenge me on this I I like to point to that movie free solo which was wild because you know it's incredible movie but I think a lot of its popularity can be explained by a puzzle”
Joe Rogan — 1 mention
“as I see oh my god Honnold I want maybe three times in a row and here's the thing I know he's alive”
Andy Stumpf — 1 mention
“the team that I think they put together was like 5 to 7 world-class guys but there's a movie of him called yeah no thanks what is that what is that guy doing he's hanging probably 3,000 foot over nothing focusing on capturing the shot”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Can't Hurt Me
- Deep Work
- How to Change Your Mind
- Man's Search For Ultimate Meaning
- Man's Search for Meaning
- Tribe
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“he's the guy who they made that movies free solo about he's the the guy who climbs all these mountains with no ropes”