Ben Wilson

The podcast Biography released an episode about his life on June 8, 2025; its description states that he nearly failed out of high school and skipped SAT preparation to play basketball, that in college he double-majored in political science and economics, and that he ran a “scrappy but successful” campaign for student body vice president.⁠[1]

The description goes on to say that he then spent several years in consulting and marketing roles and that his spark faded. Speaking in a 2026 interview about the consulting work at the start of his career, he said that it was not exactly the coal mines but that he did not love it.⁠[1][2]

A chapter title of the Biography episode refers to his “idyllic childhood.” The show notes of an interview on The Jennifer Kamara Podcast list chapters on his upbringing and his path to podcasting and on two formative experiences, given in the chapter title as “Latter-Day Saints and a basketball tournament.”⁠[1][3]

In a 2026 interview he recalled that he was reading Andrew Roberts’s biography of Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and statesman who was first consul of the French Republic from 1799 to 1804 and emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814 and again in 1815. In 1803 he sold the Louisiana territory to the United States, and in 1804 he promulgated the French Civil Code.Open the full entry and found himself extremely inspired; he was listening at the time to Tim Ferriss’s podcast, which had run three or four interviews in a row that did not interest him, so he asked himself whom he wished Tim Ferriss would interview, realized that it was Napoleon, and hit on the idea of being “Tim Ferriss for dead people.” He said that he searched at once for a show that already did this and would have been content simply to listen to it; finding none, he decided to make it himself.⁠[2][2][4][5][6]

The About page of the show’s website states that within a week he developed the concept, designed the brand and logo, composed the intro music, and produced the first episode. A customer case study that Supercast published in October 2024 quotes him as saying that he read a few books on Napoleon, threw together a script, and recorded the first episode with equipment he happened to have, and that the podcast was live a couple of weeks later.⁠[4][5]

He said that he made the intro music himself, messing around in music software, and that working out the beat, settling on the vocal tone, and pulling a few quotes took 60 minutes in all; early on, people tried to hire him to make intro music for other podcasts, and he found that he could not do it.⁠[2][2][2]

The show’s RSS feed dates its three earliest episodes to December 29, 2017: one on Napoleon Bonaparte and two on Steve JobsSteve JobsSteve Jobs (1955–2011) was a technology entrepreneur, Apple co-founder, NeXT founder, and investor and former CEO of Pixar. His career spanned personal computing, digital music, smartphones and animated films, with an emphasis on product design, user experience and multidisciplinary teams.Open the full entry; the episode list on the show’s website gives the same dates. The About page of the show’s website and the Supercast case study likewise place the start of the show in 2017; in the 2026 interview he gave the year as 2018, the show’s Apple Podcasts page displays 2018 as its first year, and the description of the Biography episode places the morning on which the idea came to him in 2018.⁠[7][8][4][5][2][9][1]

He said that he decided to call the show How to Take Over the World but did not want listeners to think that it was only about conquerors, so the Napoleon episode was followed by one on Steve Jobs, and the formula for the next eight years of his life was set.⁠[2][2]

The feed shows two episodes on Vladimir Putin and four on Julius Caesar between January and June 2018; two episodes on the Rothschild family and two mini-episodes in 2019; and, between April and July 2020, three episodes on Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Edison (1847–1931) was an American inventor and entrepreneur who received 1,093 U.S. patents in his lifetime. He invented or improved the phonograph, the practical incandescent lamp and its supporting electric power system, motion picture camera and viewing equipment, and the alkaline storage battery, among other things, and established industrial research laboratories at Menlo Park and West Orange, and is regarded as one of the pioneers of the modern industrial research and development model.Open the full entry, a mini-episode on the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, and one episode each on Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass (1818–1895) was an American abolitionist, orator, newspaper publisher and author. Born into slavery, he escaped in 1838 and became a leading figure of the abolition movement, best known for his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself; in later life he served as U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia and as U.S. minister to Haiti, among other posts.Open the full entry and Mansa Musa. After the Mansa Musa episode of July 28, 2020, the next episode is Philip the Great, dated July 13, 2021.⁠[7][8]

The Supercast case study describes the show as having begun as a passion project; asked when it started making money, he answered, “It took me about five years to start making anything.”⁠[5]

Under the heading “2021,” the About page of the show’s website states that Sam ParrSam ParrSam Parr is an American entrepreneur and podcast host who founded The Hustle, a business newsletter and media company, and sold it to HubSpot in 2021; he co-hosts the business podcast My First Million with Shaan Puri, and in 2023 he and Joe Speiser launched Hampton, a membership community for founders of high-growth companies.Open the full entry, co-host of the business podcast My First Million, saw the show’s potential early on, championed it publicly, and eventually hired him as a full-time producer.⁠[4]

In 2021 My First Million carried several of the show’s series in its own feed: “SPECIAL: Thomas Edison (Part 1)” on September 18, whose notes call it a special release of the three-part Thomas Edison series from How to Take Over the World; “SPECIAL: The Rothschilds (Part 2)” on November 30; and “SPECIAL: Steve Jobs (Part 1)” on December 17, the notes of both describing a special release of a two-part series from How to Take Over the World with Ben Wilson.⁠[10][11][12]

The team page of The Classical Society’s website states that he was formerly Head of Content at Caspian Studios and content director at The Mission and, most recently, producer of My First Million; the same biography says that he has worked in the podcasting industry for seven years.⁠[13]

In the 2026 interview he said that early on he needed money in order to keep podcasting and therefore took on work such as intro music and production for other people’s shows; David SenraDavid SenraDavid Senra is the founder and host of the Founders podcast, on which he reads biographies of entrepreneurs to discuss starting and running businesses and making personal decisions. He began producing the show in 2016, partnered with Colossus in 2022, and in 2025 launched David Senra, a long-form interview show under his own name.Open the full entry remarked in the same exchange that My First Million was how he had found him.⁠[2]

On October 6, 2021, he carried in his own feed an interview that Jim Huffman had conducted with him for the podcast “If I Was Starting Today”; the episode notes list topics that include how he came up with the show’s name and concept, the energy of the people who are the best in their fields, and an unexpected trait that leaders have in common.⁠[7]

A KSL.com article of July 2026 states that he did not grow up in UtahUtahUtah is a U.S. state bordered by Idaho to the north, Wyoming to the northeast, Colorado to the east, Arizona to the south and Nevada to the west, with its capital at Salt Lake City. It was admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896, as the 45th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 3,271,616 residents.Open the full entry and that he and his family moved there in 2022; the article carries the dateline Orem.⁠[14]

On December 14, 2022, Danny Miranda published episode 288 of The Danny Miranda Podcast, with him as the guest, on his YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel; the video description calls him a podcaster and entrepreneur, the host of How to Take Over the World and also the producer of My First Million, and lists podramp.io as his website. The episode’s chapter titles include “Becoming Friends With MrBeastMrBeastMrBeast, born James Stephen Donaldson and commonly known as Jimmy Donaldson, is an American video creator, television producer and entrepreneur. He began running a YouTube channel in 2012, later founded Beast Industries and the snack brand Feastables, and launched several charitable fundraising campaigns. In June 2026, his main channel became the first individual creator’s YouTube channel to reach 500 million subscribers.Open the full entry,” “Producing My First Million,” “PodRamp,” “Managing 5 Projects,” and “Parenting Advice.”⁠[15]

The Jennifer Kamara Podcast released its episode 30, with him as the guest, on February 15, 2023; the show notes introduce him as the creator of How to Take Over the World, producer of My First Million, and founder and CEO of PodRamp. The notes say that he discussed why PodRamp was fulfilling to him, how he would help MrBeast start a podcast, and the impact that Walt Disney and Sam Parr had had on him; the chapter list names Walt Disney as the person he was then looking up to, and the last chapter covers his goals for 2023 and beyond.⁠[3]

PodRamp’s website, which carries the name Podramp, Inc., says that the company partners with businesses to produce podcasts, with services that include mailing recording gear and drawing up a launch plan, giving hosts a recording guide, editing and uploading episodes, and showing clients how to repurpose episodes into clips and blog posts; the page’s copyright year is 2023.⁠[16]

In the 2026 interview he said that he ended up shutting his agency down.⁠[2]

The About page of the show’s website states that in April 2023, after six years of work, the podcast reached its first million downloads.⁠[4]

On the 13th of that month Bryant Ferate published a post about episode 27 of his podcast, on which he was the guest; the post says that he chooses whom to research by asking whom he wishes Tim Ferriss would interview, dead or alive, and lists “Who Are You Trying To Be?” as the first of three takeaways from the conversation.⁠[17]

Under the heading “2024,” the About page of the show’s website states that, working with Alex Petkas of the podcast Cost of Glory, he hosted an exclusive summit at Hacienda Zuleta in Ecuador, which it describes as an estate owned by the family of a former president. The Supercast case study quotes him as saying that this was his first How to Take Over the World event and that 31 people attended.⁠[4][5]

The episode list on the show’s website dates episode 64, “MrBeast (Interview),” to February 8, 2024, followed a week later, on February 15, by a free preview of “MrBeast Endnotes.” The About page states that MrBeast has supported the show and quotes a post of his, “Shut up & Only watch HTTOTW”; it calls his appearance the only interview done on the show to date, whereas episode 37 in the episode list is titled as an interview with John Turner and later episodes also feature guests.⁠[8][4]

A customer case study that Supercast published on October 10, 2024, states that nine months after he launched a paid subscription on the platform his subscription revenue passed $50,000, which had been his goal for the first year. It quotes him: “At this point my Supercast revenue pays for my life and everything else can be gravy.” The case study adds that the revenue pays for his mortgage and groceries and that he regards it as reliable where advertising fluctuates.⁠[5]

The case study says that, acting on feedback from subscribers, he changed the format of his bonus episodes and moved the “takeaways” to the end of each one; in his words, “Podcasting is not YouTube,” since without a comment section feedback is hard to come by. His advice to other creators is not to wait until the end of an episode to promote a subscription but to do it right at the beginning. The case study adds that subscriptions have opened up the possibility of things like group chats and in-person events and that he is excited to continue building that community.⁠[5]

Under the heading “2025,” the About page of the show’s website states that How to Take Over the World has grown into a top 100 podcast and that this growth has allowed him to work on it full time and to earn a reliable income from premium subscriptions. The KSL.com article of July 2026 likewise states that the show has become a top 100 podcast and that it became his full-time job the year before.⁠[4][14]

In the 2026 interview he said that as time went on he realized that he had to stop producing other people’s podcasts, and that he eventually let My First Million know that he needed to leave and focus on his own show and to stop launching side businesses.⁠[2][2]

In the same interview David Senra recalled a night when he and Cliff Weitzman spent about 90 minutes talking with him about his business and his podcast; David Senra said that both of them were great admirers of the show and urged him to concentrate on that one thing.⁠[2][18]

The episode list on the show’s website dates episode 110, “‘You Couldn’t Pay Me to Stop’ — David Senra on Obsession and Great Founders,” to April 29, 2025. In the 2026 interview David Senra said that the two of them had been texting each other book recommendations for years.⁠[8][2]

On July 3, 2026, he released in the show’s feed an episode of about 16 minutes titled “The Cancer Episode”; its notes list three subjects, namely his diagnosis and prognosis, what this means for How to Take Over the World, and a few thoughts on death, and link to a GoFundMe page raising money for his treatment.⁠[7]

The KSL.com article states that a few months earlier he noticed that he was tiring much faster than usual on his walks and had aches and pains; in his words, “I’m the kind of guy who avoids going to the doctor.” A doctor ordered a CT scan for the following Monday; at a family dinner on the Sunday before it he was still saying, “I don’t feel like I have cancer.” The article states that the scan led to a diagnosis of stage 4 high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma, an aggressive cancer that had already spread to his brain, bones, lungs, and liver, that subsequent scans found tumors in his spine and brain, and that he was given about a year to live.⁠[14][2]

In an interview of October 2026 he gave his own account of the same events: he was feeling terrible and losing weight without explanation, had no regular doctor, and went to see a primary care doctor whom he was meeting for the first time; she pressed a spot near his liver, asked what it was, and sent him to be scanned right away. He said that oncologists later asked how he had kept functioning normally and why he had not come in earlier, and that his answer was that every ache and pain in his life had always gone away, so that it took months before he thought something was really not normal.⁠[2][2][2]

He said that he was still putting it off as things got worse and then entered his symptoms into an AI assistant, which answered, in substance, that this was not something to see to the following week when he had a chance but something to go in for right now, and to go to an emergency room if he could not be seen at once; that answer, he said, was right.⁠[2]

He said in the interview that in a world without cancer treatments he would probably have been dead within a few months; he had lost 40 pounds, and the survival statistics that he looked up for his type of cancer and degree of spread gave a five-year survival rate of 0 percent. He described the disease as stage 4 metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma that began in the lungs as a not very aggressive cancer, then spread to his liver, became metastatic, mutated, and turned very aggressive; the liver was the main site, followed by the lungs, the spine, and the brain, and the brain was the biggest problem at the time.⁠[2][2][2][2][2]

The GoFundMe page raising money for him was organized by Jeremy Nef; it shows the date July 3, 2026, gives the organizer’s location as North Salt Lake, Utah, and sets a goal of $360,000. Jeremy Nef writes on the page that the two met in college, where they became roommates and close friends, that the first round of chemotherapy had already begun, and that a genetic test on the liver biopsy had found a marker likely to respond to a drug called Tarlatamab; the funds are to pay for that treatment and other ongoing medical expenses.⁠[19]

On July 18, 2026, KSL.com published an article by Cassidy Wixom. It states that the show’s community of listeners gave almost $400,000 within a matter of days through a GoFundMe page set up by a close friend of the family, and that the money is to pay for Tarlatamab, a medication that his insurance did not cover and that, in the article’s words, “helps extend survival rates by a year or two.” The article says that this treatment would not begin for another six weeks, because he first had to complete his first four rounds of chemotherapy, and that some drug companies had contacted the family to help lower the cost.⁠[14]

The article records his response to the help he received: “It restores your faith in humanity.” He mentioned people who brought meals and helped watch the children, and said, “if you have to go through it somewhere, Utah is not a bad place to be.” The article states that the episode in which he made his illness public drew hundreds of comments and posts expressing support and that he is grateful for his medical team. He said that he was now thinking about how to give back, and he asked supporters to consider donating instead to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, to help everyone going through the fight against cancer.⁠[14]

On why he made his illness public, he said, “People are expecting to hear from you when you put yourself in the public eye.” Of the podcast he said that “the show goes on,” while making no hard promises about how many episodes he would put out, and that “It’s still a form of therapy for me.” He also said that he had had a great career before but that there is a big difference between working and feeling as though one is not working, and that he now gets to do what he loves every single day.⁠[14]

The show’s feed lists an episode released on July 15, 2026, “Steve Jobs in Exile,” on the years that Steve Jobs spent at NeXT; its notes give Geoffrey Cain’s book of the same title as the source.⁠[7]

On October 14, 2026, David Senra published a conversation with him on his YouTube channel under the title “Lessons from History’s Greatest Leaders & Conquerors | Ben Wilson.” In the opening David Senra said that he had invited him to talk about his work on How to Take Over the World and about dealing with cancer at so young an age, and that he was asking viewers to help with medicine, introductions, or donations; he called him a close friend.⁠[2][2]

David Senra said during the episode that, in place of advertisements, his partners RampRampRamp is a corporate financial technology company founded in 2019 by Eric Glyman, Karim Atiyeh and Gene Lee. It provides corporate cards, expense reimbursement, bill payments, procurement and finance automation. Glyman and Atiyeh became co-CEOs in June 2026.Open the full entry, AppLovin, and Deel were donating to his guest’s GoFundMe fundraiser.⁠[2][20]

In order, the first part of the conversation covered zeal as the ancient Greeks understood it, which he explained through their definition as the pain felt on seeing someone like oneself who has achieved what one has not, with the story of Thomas Edison staying up all night over the biography of an earlier inventor; why he feels closer in temperament to Walt Disney than to Leonardo da Vinci; Isaac Newton’s “waste book” and his own notebooks; how he started the show; the different trade-offs that Steve Jobs made at NeXT and after his return to AppleAppleApple is a public technology company founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Its business includes the iPhone, Mac, iPad, wearables, and services such as digital content, payments, and cloud storage. The company builds its product system through in-house hardware, operating systems, and services.Open the full entry, and the judgment of Wilbur WrightWilbur WrightWilbur Wright (1867–1912) was an American inventor and aviation pioneer who invented the airplane with his brother Orville Wright; in 1903 the brothers made the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight.Open the full entry that the hard problem of flight was control and not lift; saying no; and the three things that he finds in leaders of every kind, namely vision, communication, and focus.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2]

The conversation then turned to the resemblances between Thomas Edison and Elon MuskElon MuskElon Musk is an entrepreneur who founded SpaceX and has long served as chief executive of Tesla; he also took part in creating PayPal, OpenAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI. He acquired Twitter in 2022, and his businesses span spaceflight, electric vehicles, energy, artificial intelligence, and social media.Open the full entry; the observation that many historical figures ate very little and what he concludes from it about obsession; Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-born actor, former professional bodybuilder and politician who served as California’s 38th governor.Open the full entry’s autobiography; making oneself easy to help; the religious figures on whom he has made episodes, Joan of Arc, Brigham Young, and Jesus; why he finds conquerors the most fascinating; the books he rereads every year; sincerity of belief; and the difference between his own emphasis on story and David Senra’s on insights. From the 57th minute on, the conversation dealt with his illness, his treatment, and his outlook.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2][2]

He said that the story of Leonardo da Vinci, remarkable as it is, does not give him that sense of zeal, because the man’s mind is so different from his own that it is like studying an alien, whereas reading about Walt Disney makes him think that he could accomplish something similar. Walt Disney, he said, was curious about things that never were and could be created, and Leonardo da Vinci about things as they are in the world, and he himself leans toward the former.⁠[2][2][2]

He said that helping people find that feeling has become something like his life’s mission: by telling the stories of many different people on the show he hopes that each listener will come across one whose character resembles their own and draw motivation from it. He likened himself to a sherpa who connects other people to great leaders.⁠[2][2][2][2]

Asked which single category of people he would study if he could choose only one, he chose the conquerors. His reasoning was that life is made up of hierarchies, that the hierarchy of violence sits above all the others, that conquerors are the people who can most effectively channel violence, and that artists, merchants, and founders ultimately have to be responsive to politics.⁠[2][2][2]

On the difference between their two shows, he said that David Senra believes in the insights while he believes in the power of the story, and that neither approach is wrong; the lessons, he said, are learned quickly, but the same lesson framed through a different person in a different setting is what can make it click for a listener at a particular time.⁠[2][2]

Of his treatment he said that chemotherapy had pushed back some of the cancer, that he had finished chemotherapy for the time being and felt far better than at the start, and that he was about to begin Tarlatamab as a second-line drug. He said that the drug was first approved for small cell lung cancer, in which it extended life expectancy by six months to a year, and that a subset of patients with his type of cancer had been on it for two years with the drug still working. He said that it was at first not covered by his insurance but that a new study had produced a positive indication that month, so that it would now be covered; he was also looking at a custom mRNA vaccine to enhance it and, if Tarlatamab stopped working, at clinical trials aimed at another marker in his cancer.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][14]

He said that he has to live in two worlds at once, preparing his family for the possibility that he will not be there while also living as though he had twenty years ahead of him. Anyone who studies history, he said, comes to see how fortunate such a life is: he has a wife and children whom he loves, he has found his vocation, and he wakes up every day excited about what he gets to do; if his life ends early he will still regard it as a very fortunate one, and he would choose this life over again. He added that it is not always easy when he is in pain and that he has bad moments.⁠[2][2][2][2]

At the end of the conversation he said that he is alive in part because of Jon Huntsman, a billionaire from Utah who chose to use his money to found a world-class cancer institute there. He said that he first went through the medical system outside it and has had remarkable care since being placed in that institute. He added that many people who are just as good as he is have neither his resources nor his audience, and he asked listeners to think as well of others in their lives who could use the help more than he could and to think about donating to the Huntsman Cancer Institute or to other cancer research. The institute’s website states that it was founded in 1995 by Jon M. Huntsman Sr. and his wife, Karen.⁠[2][2][2][21]

David Senra recounted in the interview how he learned the news: he had long been trying, without pay, to bring advertisers to the show, and when he called shortly before recording another episode to ask about ad inventory, his friend first said that something was going on with the podcast and then said, “I have cancer.” David Senra said that the episode his guest then made for his own feed, “the cancer episode,” was one of the most profound podcast episodes he had ever heard.⁠[2][2]

The show’s feed lists an episode on Elon Musk released on October 29, 2026, whose notes name Walter IsaacsonWalter IsaacsonWalter Isaacson is an American biographer and journalist, born in New Orleans in 1952, and a history professor at Tulane University. He formerly led TIME magazine, CNN and the Aspen Institute. His biographies cover figures including Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Jennifer Doudna and Elon Musk. He received the National Humanities Medal in 2023.Open the full entry’s biography as its source; the show’s Apple Podcasts page gives its length as 2 hours 37 minutes.⁠[7][9]

The next item in the feed, dated October 31, is an episode of about 17 minutes titled “Cancer Update”; its notes describe it as an update on his cancer situation and thank all of his listeners, “and especially” David Senra.⁠[7][9]

As of November 11, 2026, the GoFundMe page for his treatment showed $837,159 raised from about 2,500 donations.⁠[19]

As of November 11, 2026, the show’s Apple Podcasts page listed 162 episodes of How to Take Over the World in the History category, with a rating of 4.9 out of 5 from 915 ratings; his profile on The Classical Society’s website gives the figures as more than 160 episodes and more than 1 million downloads.⁠[9][22]

His LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry profile carries the name Benjamin Wilson and gives his location as Orem, Utah. The education it lists is a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics from Utah State University, attended from 2006 to 2013, with a minor in Spanish and, under activities and societies, Huntsman Scholar, Order of Omega and Sigma Phi Epsilon; before that, Monte Vista High School.⁠[23]

The experience it lists, in order: deputy field director of David Harmer’s congressional campaign from May to November 2010; intern in the office of Senator Orrin G. Hatch from May to August 2012; executive vice president of the Associated Students of Utah State University from April 2012 to May 2013; analyst at Cicero Group from August 2013 to January 2016; director of marketing and brand strategy at ITN International from December 2015 to August 2018; director of marketing content at Mission.org from August 2018 to March 2020; head of content at Caspian Studios from March 2020 to November 2021; founder and host of How to Take Over the World since November 2017 and founder of Takeover Media since November 2021.⁠[23]

His wife is Kaitie, and they have four children.⁠[14][19]

In the 2026 interview he said that he is a Latter-day Saint and that Brigham Young is his great-great-grandfather; a chapter in the show notes of The Jennifer Kamara Podcast likewise describes him as a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young.⁠[2][2][3]

He has made three episodes on Brigham Young: the first, released on September 9, 2022, is described in its notes as the story of how Brigham Young rose from abject poverty to lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; the second was released on February 3, 2023, and the third, released the next day, is an interview with John Turner. He said that his main lessons from Brigham Young were to find something to believe in and to act unceasingly, and that many of Brigham Young’s followers were a lot smarter than their leader, who was nevertheless unbelievably determined and relentless.⁠[24][8][2][2]

He said that he keeps many notebooks: a journal, which he has kept in great detail since his cancer diagnosis, and creative notebooks in which he draws, by his own account very poorly, plans episodes, and writes paragraph-long essays on historical figures and how they relate to his own life, from which he draws some of the best insights that end up in his scripts.⁠[2][2]

He said that he rereads Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Education of a Bodybuilder every year, because it was written in the middle of the author’s obsession and not in retrospect; that he reads the novel Ender’s Game every year for fun; and that he has reread The Mind of Napoleon every year since he discovered it.⁠[2][2][2][2][7][6]

The website of The Classical Society describes it as a fraternal network of accomplished and ambitious men dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. Under “Meet the Founders” it presents two founders: Alex Petkas, host of the podcast Cost of Glory, who holds a PhD in Classics from Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry, and Ben Wilson, whom it describes as the founder of Takeover Media and host of How to Take Over the World and as having spent seven years examining how ambitious men actually operated.⁠[22]

The membership activities listed on the site include monthly cohort meet-ups of 5 to 10 people facilitated by a moderator, quarterly regional retreats for members and special guests, and a SlackSlackSlack is a team communication and collaboration platform developed from an internal tool at Tiny Speck. It organizes work through channels, direct messages, searchable history and integrations, with features including Huddles, Clips, Canvas and AI assistance. Its paid service launched in February 2014, and Salesforce completed its acquisition in July 2021.Open the full entry community open around the clock; members are expected to attend at least 8 of their 10 cohort meetings. The site’s “Founding Team” page lists Alejandro Laplana alongside the two founders. The footer carries the year in Roman numerals, MMXXVI (2026).⁠[22][13]

He and Alex Petkas had worked together several times before: on February 7, 2023, he carried the first part of Cost of Glory’s Sulla series in his own feed, and on March 2 he released a conversation with Alex Petkas; on June 2, 2024, and July 15, 2025, the two appeared together in the episodes “Washington vs Cato” and “Scipio Africanus.” The About page of the show’s website invites readers to join The Classical Society.⁠[8][4]

The My First Million website carries an episode titled “Coaching Our Producer To Make $5000/Hour With Consulting,” whose notes say that Sam Parr and Shaan Puri talk with their producer, Ben Wilson, about his unique opportunity with a high-net-worth individual and about how to monetize his podcasting business.⁠[25]

Another episode on the My First Million website, dated July 19, 2022, says in its notes that the two hosts talked with their producer about a surprise phone call that he received from MrBeast, which the episode title puts at 90 minutes.⁠[26]

The feed’s description of the show reads, “Anyone who has achieved greatness has, in part, patterned themselves after those who came before,” and says that the podcast analyzes the lives of some of the greatest men and women who ever lived by examining their strategies, tactics, mindset, and work habits. The examples given on the About page of the show’s website are Napoleon’s obsession with Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar’s with Alexander the Great, and that of Steve Jobs with Edwin Land. The feed gives the author as Ben Wilson and the owner as Benjamin Wilson; the provider line of the show’s Apple Podcasts page likewise reads Benjamin Wilson.⁠[7][4][9]

The episode list on the show’s website shows that his subjects from 2022 to 2024 included Elizabeth II, Joan of Arc, William Randolph Hearst, Leonardo da Vinci, Horatio Nelson, J. Robert OppenheimerJ. Robert OppenheimerJ. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967) was an American theoretical physicist and science administrator who directed the Los Alamos laboratory that developed the atomic bomb during World War II.Open the full entry, Genghis Khan, the brothers Wilbur Wright and Orville WrightOrville WrightOrville Wright (1871–1948) was an American inventor and aviation pioneer who, with his brother Wilbur Wright, invented the airplane, and in 1903 piloted the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight.Open the full entry, Rasputin, John D. RockefellerJohn D. RockefellerJohn D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 1870 he and his partners founded Standard Oil, which through mergers and the trust form of organization grew into one of the earliest large trusts in the United States, and its business methods and organizational form drew wide controversy. After withdrawing from day-to-day management in 1896, he turned to organized philanthropy on a large scale, founding institutions including the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, the General Education Board and The Rockefeller Foundation.Open the full entry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ernest Shackleton, George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington (1732–1799) was the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Earlier he commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787.Open the full entry, Alexander HamiltonAlexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757–1804) was an American statesman, lawyer, and the first Secretary of the Treasury. He took part in founding the Bank of New York, co-wrote The Federalist Papers with James Madison and John Jay, and promoted policies on public credit, a national bank, and the development of manufacturing. In 1804, he died after being wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr.Open the full entry, Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinBenjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was a printer, publisher, scientist, diplomat, and statesman of colonial North America and the founding era of the United States, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. In Philadelphia he ran the Pennsylvania Gazette and published Poor Richard’s Almanack, founded the first lending library in North America, and proposed the school that later became the University of Pennsylvania; known for his electrical experiments and inventions such as the lightning rod, he served as the first Postmaster General of the United States, took part in drafting the Declaration of Independence, signed the treaty between the United States and France while in France, and signed the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.Open the full entry, Picasso, Steve Prefontaine, the basketball player Jordan, Phil KnightPhil KnightPhil Knight (Philip Hampson Knight, born 1938) is an American businessman who co-founded Nike, served as its chief executive from 1964 to 2004, and became chairman emeritus after stepping down as chairman in 2016.Open the full entry, John Wooden, Jesus, Constantine the Great, Augustus, Vlad the Impaler, John Williams, and Lee Kuan Yew, with a return to Napoleon along the way; before them came two episodes on Alexander the Great in late 2021 and two on Walt Disney in early 2022.⁠[8][7]

His subjects in 2025 and 2026 included Charlemagne, Isaac Newton, Niccolo MachiavelliNiccolò MachiavelliNiccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was an official, diplomatic envoy and political thinker of the Florentine Republic. He served in the republic’s Second Chancery for fourteen years and was dismissed after the Medici returned to power in 1512; he then wrote works including The Prince, the Discourses on Livy and the Florentine Histories. He is known for discussing politics separately from traditional moral judgment, and his ideas have provoked controversy since the sixteenth century.Open the full entry, Captain Cook, Donald TrumpDonald TrumpDonald Trump (born 1946) is an American politician and businessman, a Republican who ran the real estate company the Trump Organization and starred in the television series The Apprentice. He served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and has been the 47th president since 2025.Open the full entry, Coco Chanel, Edwin Land, J.S. Bach, Hannibal, Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. He had earlier been governor of Virginia, minister to France, secretary of state and vice president.Open the full entry, Roger Federer, Arminius, Friedrich Nietzsche, Cleopatra, Andrew CarnegieAndrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie (1835–1919) was a Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and, after retiring from business, became known for large-scale giving and the foundations he created.Open the full entry, Adolf Hitler, and Miyamoto Musashi, as well as Peter ThielPeter ThielPeter Thiel is an American entrepreneur and investor, a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, and the first outside investor in Facebook. He is a partner at the venture capital firm Founders Fund and founded the Thiel Fellowship, which funds young people to leave college and build new things; his public skepticism of higher education, his support for Trump in 2016, and his funding of litigation against Gawker Media have drawn controversy.Open the full entry’s book Zero to One.⁠[8][7]

In the 2026 interview David Senra described it as a solo history podcast. The episode list also contains occasional interviews and film reviews, such as the interview with Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityStanford University is a research university in California founded by Leland and Jane Stanford in 1885 and opened in 1891.Open the full entry, released on February 19, 2026, and the “Napoleon Movie Review” of November 28, 2023.⁠[2][8][7]

The Premium page of the show’s website describes his mission as uncovering the strategies, decisions, and habits of history’s greatest leaders and sharing them freely with the world, and states, “That mission will always remain free.” The paid Premium subscription costs $7 a month or $70 a year and includes “Endnotes” episodes, “Ask Me Anything” episodes, mini-episodes, and other bonus content, and, as listed in the page’s FAQ, ad-free listening and full transcripts; the subscription is hosted on Supercast, and students can request a scholarship for Premium. The show’s Apple Podcasts page also lists a subscription at $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year.⁠[27][9]

The site also offers one-on-one coaching with him: a single 30-minute call costs $600; a membership costs $1,000 a month (the Premium page also lists $10,000 a year) and includes biweekly 30-minute calls and a one-year Premium subscription; and an Executive tier for leaders of large organizations is priced on request. The coaching page says that the service draws on his eight years of studying history’s greatest builders, naming Napoleon, Rockefeller, Jobs, and Genghis Khan, and sets out “The Classical Leadership Framework” in three steps: Clarify the Vision, Map the Road, and Strategic Assistance.⁠[18][27]

One of the testimonials on the coaching page is from Jeremy Nef, whom the page identifies as the founder of Happy Tooth and Stack Athletics and who calls him a great friend, host, and coach. The page also carries testimonials attributed to Wouter Teunissen, founder of Open Rates, and Ryan Cook, founder of Ghostbird.⁠[18]

He recommends that everyone keep a “waste book” of the kind Isaac Newton kept, a place for unrefined thoughts, because it takes away the pressure of having to produce anything polished or insightful (video at 8:42).⁠[2]

He says that the introduction is the hardest part of a script, so he writes a deliberately poor one in order to get into the body of the episode and get going, and returns to it later; if he lets himself get stuck there, nothing good comes of it (video at 10:52).⁠[2]

He holds that the most important realizations are negative ones, about what not to do and what not to focus on, and that until one can say that one thing is more valuable than another and make the trade-off, nothing really matters (video at 13:05 and 20:43).⁠[2][2]

He sums up what great leaders in every field have in common as three things: they have a vision, they can communicate it to many people, and they are able to focus and shut out everything else (video at 24:01).⁠[2]

He says that a good test of whether one is truly obsessed with something is whether one forgets to eat because of it (video at 31:37).⁠[2]

He endorses the principle of making oneself easy to help, which he ties to having a very clear vision: once the vision is clear, it feels as though people are conspiring to assist (video at 36:28).⁠[2]

He says that no one accomplishes great things without a genuine, sincere belief at the heart of what they do (video at 50:14).⁠[2]

Drawing on his own delay in seeing a doctor, he urges people, men especially, to get checked when something feels off (video at 58:56).⁠[2]

How to Take Over the World: Official website: https://www.takeoverpod.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

Caspian Studios: Official website: https://www.caspianstudios.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

The Mission: Official website: https://mission.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[29]

My First Million: Official website: https://www.mfmpod.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[25]

PodRamp: Official website: https://www.podramp.io/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

The Classical Society: Official website: https://theclassicalsociety.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[22]

Huntsman Cancer Institute: Official website: https://healthcare.utah.edu/huntsmancancerinstitute/ (opens in a new window).⁠[21]

X: Public account: https://x.com/BenWilsonTweets (opens in a new window).⁠[7][13][14]

LinkedIn: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benwilson325/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

YouTube: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TakeOverPod (opens in a new window).⁠[7][13][30]

Instagram: Public account: https://www.instagram.com/thebenwilson/ (opens in a new window).⁠[4]

SpotifySpotifySpotify is an audio streaming subscription service offering on-demand music, podcasts, and audiobooks through a free ad-supported service and a paid Premium subscription. Its parent company, Spotify Technology S.A., is incorporated in Luxembourg, has its principal operations in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker SPOT). It helped move the recorded-music business from buying and owning music to on-demand streaming and is one of the largest audio streaming subscription services by users.Open the full entry: Show page of How to Take Over the World: https://open.spotify.com/show/1gqvQ7h7BxNSVoQVTnwihr (opens in a new window).⁠[13]

Apple Podcasts: Show page of How to Take Over the World: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1333158713 (opens in a new window).⁠[9]

GoFundMe: Fundraiser for his treatment: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ben-fight-cancer-support-his-treatment (opens in a new window).⁠[19][7]