Breaking Math Podcast
Breaking Math is a deep-dive science, technology, engineering, AI, and mathematics podcast that explores the world through the lens of logic, patterns, and critical thinking. Hosted by Autumn Phaneuf, an expert in industrial engineering, operations research and applied mathematics, and Gabriel Hesch, an electrical engineer (host from 2016-2024) with a passion for mathematical clarity, the show is dedicated to uncovering the mathematical structures behind science, engineering, technology, and the systems that shape our future.
What began as a conversation about math as a pure and elegant discipline has evolved into a platform for bold, interdisciplinary dialogue. Each episode of Breaking Math takes listeners on an intellectual journey—whether it’s into the strange beauty of chaos theory, the ethical dilemmas of AI, the deep structures of biological evolution, or the thermodynamics of black holes. Along the way, Autumn and Gabriel interview leading thinkers and working scientists from across the spectrum: computer scientists, quantum physicists, chemists, philosophers, neuroscientists, and more.
But this isn’t just a podcast about equations—it’s a show about how mathematics influences the way we think, create, build, and understand. Breaking Math pushes back against the idea that STEM belongs behind a paywall or an academic podium. It’s for the curious, the critical, the creative—for anyone who believes that ideas should be rigorous, accessible, and infused with wonder.
If you've ever wondered:
* What’s the math behind machine learning?
* How do we quantify uncertainty in climate models?
* Can consciousness be described in AI?
* Why does beauty matter in an equation?
Then you’re in the right place.
At its heart, Breaking Math is about building bridges—between disciplines, between experts and the public, and between the abstract world of mathematics and the messy, magnificent reality we live in. With humor, clarity, and deep respect for complexity, Autumn and Gabriel invite you to rethink what math can be—and how it can help us shape a better future.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Website: https://breakingmath.io [https://breakingmath.io/]
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/breakingmathmedia
Email: [email protected]
- Update frequency
- every 10 days
- Average duration
- 40 minutes
- Episodes
- 157
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
13: Math and Prison Riots (Interview with Frank Salas)
Frank Salas is an statistical exception, but far from an irreplicable result. Busted on the streets of Albuquerque for selling crack cocaine at 17, an age where many of us are busy honing the skills …
12: Math Factory (Algorithms)
11: A Culture of Hacking (Hacker Culture)
10: Cryptomath (Cryptography)
9: Humanity 2.0 (Transhumanism)
Humanity, since its inception, has been nebulously defined. Every technological advancement has changed what it means to be a person, and every person has changed what it means to advance. In this sa…
Minisode 0.4: Comin' Up Next
---
This episode is sponsored by
· Anchor: The easiest way to…
Minisode 0.3: Lights, Camera, Action!
---
This episode is sponsored by
· Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anc…
8: Evolution and Engineering (Genetic Algorithms)
Computation is a nascent science, and as such, looks towards the other sciences for inspiration. Whether it be physics, as in simulated annealing, or, as now is popular, biology, as in neural network…
Minisode 0.2: What's Up, Bangalore?
---
This episode is sponsored by
· Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this …
7: QED? Prove it. (Proofs)
Proofs are sometimes seen as an exercise in tedium, other times as a pure form of beauty, and often as both. But from time immemorial, people have been using mathematics to demonstrate new theorems, …
Minisode 0.1: Hypercubes and Other Stranger Things
---
This episode is spons…
6: Word (Linguistics)
Mathematics has a lot in common with language. Both have been used since the dawn of time to shape and define our world, both have sets of rules which one must master before bending, both are natural…
5: Language of the Universe (Relationship Between Physics and Math)
1948. A flash, followed by an explosion. Made possible by months of mathematical computation, the splitting of the atom was hailed as a triumph of both science and mathematics. Mathematics is seen by…
4: Digital Evolution (Digital Computing)
We live in an era of unprecedented change, and the tip of the spear of this era of change is currently the digital revolution. In fact, in the last decade we’ve gone from an analog to a digitally dom…
3: TMI (Information Theory)
2: Wreaking Chaos (Chaos Theory)
The void has always intrigued mankind; the concept of no concept defies the laws of human reasoning to such a degree that we have no choice but to pursue it. But ancient Assyrian, Norse, Judeo-Christ…
1: Forbidden Formulas (Elitism in Math)
From Pythagoras to Einstein, from the banks of the Nile to the streamlined curves of the Large Hadron Collider, math has shown itself again and again to be fundamental to the way that humans interact…