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The Elon Musk Show review: Searching for the man who is Elon Musk

As Elon Musk becomes wealthier and more powerful, we need to know more about the man whose projects are transforming the world. But as a new documentary shows, it is hard grappling with the reality of someone with such disparate labels as hero, villain, or superhuman genius

By Elle Hunt

13 October 2022

91av. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The Elon Musk Show

BBC/72 Films/Todd Anderson

BBC2 and iPlayer (UK only)

In the new BBC2 series The Elon Musk Show, aerospace engineer Jim Cantrell recalls being approached by Elon Musk, then an entrepreneur interested in space, about his “ultimate goal of making humanity a multiplanetary species”.

At the time, the ex-NASA employee was privately dismissive, as he effectively conveys on camera with an onanist hand gesture. Cantrell recalls, with a rueful chuckle, mishearing his name: “‘Ian Musk’ is what I thought he said.”

It is easy to feel wistful for a simpler time: ignorance…

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