Mike White is a writer, director, producer, and actor best known as the creator of HBO’s acclaimed series The White Lotus. He began his career writing and producing TV shows including Dawson’s Creek and Freaks and Geeks, later writing and acting in films such as School of Rock and Nacho Libre. Premiering in 2021, The White Lotus has received widespread critical acclaim across its seasons with numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for drama series, writing, directing, and acting categories. His career, spanning three decades, is defined by a consistent focus on character, tone, and social observation across film and television. 00:00:00 Mike White 00:00:24 Past Lives as Storytelling Metaphor 00:01:43 Thinking About Death and Endings 00:02:32 Losing People Slowly 00:03:03 Meeting Shirley MacLaine 00:03:50 Beginning the Past Lives Experiment 00:04:48 Skepticism Inside Spiritual Curiosity 00:05:18 Childhood Memories and Emotional Openness 00:06:13 Turning Unusual Experience Into Art 00:06:59 Identity Beyond a Fixed Self 00:07:55 Art, Time, and Shared Recognition 00:08:48 Emotional Truth Over Belief 00:09:34 Falling Out of Love With Watching Films 00:10:34 Movies on Repeat as a Child 00:11:47 Faith, Morality, and Film 00:12:49 Discovering Writing Early 00:13:50 Loving Words for Their Own Sake 00:14:49 Reading, Isolation, and Inner Life 00:15:45 Adoption, Family, and Difference 00:16:44 What Makes The White Lotus Different 00:17:55 Paradise as a Pressure Cooker 00:26:09 AG1 00:28:23 Writing Versus Directing 00:31:07 Power, Leadership, and Responsibility 00:41:29 Athletic Nicotine 00:43:13 Acting in His Own Work 00:45:23 Reality TV, Survivor, and Human Behavior 00:57:55 Squarespace 01:01:10 Philosophy Over Plot 01:04:20 Boredom, Repetition, and Growth 01:10:27 LMNT Electrolytes 01:12:30 Letting the Work Be Enough 01:16:40 Trusting Taste Over Ambition 01:20:10 Closing Reflections