#288 – Sarma Melngailis: Bad Vegan

Sarma Melngailis is a chef and restauranteur who was the subject of the Netflix documentary Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Mailgun: https://lexfridman.com/mailgun - BiOptimizers: http://www.magbreakthrough.com/lex to get 10% off - Notion: https://notion.com/startups to get up to $1000 off team plan - BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off - Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings EPISODE LINKS: Sarma's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarma Sarma's Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarmamelngailis Sarma's Website: https://sarmaraw.com Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (book): https://amzn.to/3G9pMvs Party of One (book): https://amzn.to/3NtcH2n Beautiful Ruins (book): https://amzn.to/38Cfgkc Darkness Visible (book): https://amzn.to/3tdxoYL Projections (book): https://amzn.to/38DrRDJ Confessions of a Sociopath (book): https://amzn.to/3sM39Ys On Love (book): https://amzn.to/3sS3Orj Dear Reader (book): https://amzn.to/39JPE4M PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (07:44) - Childhood (12:46) - Films (23:17) - Gifts (32:20) - Favorite food creations (38:31) - Leon: The Pitbull (50:39) - Bad Vegan (1:02:41) - Abusive relationship (1:07:24) - Remorse for employees (1:13:19) - Sociopathy (1:23:44) - How Sarma met Anthony Strangis (1:45:43) - Retrospection (1:58:24) - Johnny Depp and Amber Heard (2:06:17) - Is Anthony Strangis a sociopath? (2:10:24) - What Bad Vegan got wrong (2:27:40) - Darkest personal discovery (2:38:22) - Road trip from hell (2:45:36) - Wild stories (2:54:33) - Prison (3:04:13) - Ghislaine Maxwell (3:19:44) - Running restaurants (3:33:26) - Last meal (3:37:50) - Relationships (3:47:02) - Advice for young people (3:52:16) - Regrets (3:56:01) - Mortality (4:12:04) - Love