Jimmy Wales: Co-founder of Wikipedia, the volunteer-written free encyclopedia that became one of the most visited and influential websites in the world. He also founded the for-profit wiki company Fandom and is writing a book on trust.
What this episode covers
Jimmy Wales tells the origin story of Wikipedia, from the failed seven-stage-review predecessor Nupedia to the wiki model that got more done in two weeks than two years. He digs into how the community handles notability, neutrality (NPOV), undue weight, biographies of living people, and accusations of political bias. The conversation ranges across large language models and their tendency to fabricate, the toxicity and business models of social media (Facebook, Twitter, his own WT Social), and the loss of public trust in institutions and media during the pandemic. Wales explains Wikipedia's charity model and refusal to run ads, its hardcore stance against government censorship, and closes with advice for young people and reflections on AI, translation, and the meaning of life.
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
The Sopranos
HBO
“you know what Sopranos isn't for everybody Sex in the City isn't for everybody but between the two shows we've got something for everybody”— Jimmy Wales
Sex and the City
HBO
“Sopranos isn't for everybody Sex in the City isn't for everybody but between the two shows we've got something for everybody”— Jimmy Wales
Succession
HBO
“the last couple of weeks maybe succession a big finale of succession might lead you think oh let's put succession on the front page”— Jimmy Wales
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
“obviously a shout out to The Hitchhiker's Guide and all that”— Jimmy Wales
Big reveals from this episode
- One of Nupedia's earliest articles, passed through a seven-stage academic review, had to be pulled days later for plagiarism nobody caught.
- Launched as a side project, Wikipedia got more done in two weeks than Nupedia had in nearly two years.
- Wales addresses on-air the false claim that he was never at MIT, confirming he is a research scientist there since 2015.
- Recounts reporting tweets falsely accusing him of pedophilia and being told twice by Twitter they didn't violate the rules.
- States Wikipedia received zero requests from the FBI or any government agency to change content.
- Debunks the viral claim that Wikipedia changed the definition of recession under Biden pressure; an editor merely moved a paragraph.
- Says he thinks Larry Sanger doesn't get enough credit, but maintains 'co-founder' is not the right title for him.
- On not being a billionaire: 'I wouldn't trade my life for theirs at all.'
Worth remembering
- As of May 2023, English Wikipedia had 6.66 million articles, 4.3 billion words, and 58 million total pages.
- Early links used CamelCase, then double square brackets, which were missing from German keyboards yet German Wikipedia still thrived.
- 'Citogenesis' describes how a Wikipedia error gets cited by a lazy journalist, then that article becomes the 'source.'
- A magazine falsely claimed Wales plays chess as a hobby, traced to Wikipedia vandalism; he was later invited to a World Chess Championship first move.
- The world's computer time zones rely on a file maintained largely by one unpaid volunteer.
- Wikipedia's first fundraiser in 2003 aimed for $20,000 in a month but raised nearly $30,000 in 2-3 weeks.
- Wikipedia formally assessed humans as a species of 'least concern' in 2008.
- 'Octopolis' and 'Octlantis' are real underwater settlements built by gloomy octopuses off Australia.
- The 'friendship paradox' (1991): on average, your friends have more friends than you do.
- Wikipedia 'deprecated' the Daily Mail / Mail Online as a source rather than banning it.