Ian Leslie on McCartney, Lennon, and the Greatest Creative Partnership of All Time

Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. Learn more at Mercatus.org. For a full transcript of every conversation, enhanced with helpful links, visit conversationswithtyler.com. Hello everyone and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. Today I'm delighted to be chatting with Ian Leslie.

He has a new book out which I just loved. It is called John and Paul, a love story and songs, and if you know anything about Ian or about me, you will know that John and Paul is John Lennon and Paul McCartney, namely a big part of the Beatles. Ian in fact has many other accomplishments and writings, but today is not Generalist Day. Today is Beatles Day. So Ian, welcome to the show.

Hello, Tyler. It is an honor to be here. I have so many questions. How is it that John got to be such a great songwriter so quickly? If you look at the early songs, like If I fell, not a second time, please please me, it won't be long, all I've got to do.

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