Daniel Yergin

And they said, you could ask the first question.

And so I said, you know, when it was going to be about something we were talking about before, their over-dependence on oil and gas revenues, I mentioned the word shale and he erupted and kind of said, it's barbaric, it's terrible.

And he got really angry.

And this is in front of 3000 people.

So it's rather uncomfortable in that position.

But I realized there were two reasons.

One, he was worried about shale gas competing with Russian gas.

And two, he saw that shale revolution would augment the position and influence of the United States because the US would no longer be energy independent.

And he was very prescient.

He was right about both of them.

I think when he invaded Crimea, I don't think he ever imagined that if he cut off the gas to Europe, that Europe could survive.

Europe survived.

I think that's the best way to communicate.

I like writing about people and not just about abstractions.

You know, it's funny when I was like writing the prize or writing these books, I almost, it's strange to say, I almost see it like a movie when I'm writing.

You know, I see what's happening and that makes it more vivid for me.

And I also think that...

there are more and more things you're competing with.

If you're a writer, you're competing with TikTok, you're competing with YouTube and everything.

Podcasts.