Intellectually Curious
Intellectually Curious is a podcast by Mike Breault featuring over 1,200 AI-powered explorations across science, mathematics, philosophy, and personal growth. Each short-form episode is generated, refined, and published with the help of large language models—turning curiosity into an ongoing audio encyclopedia. Designed for anyone who loves learning, it offers quick dives into everything from combinatorics and cryptography to systems thinking and psychology.
Inspiration for this podcast:
“Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It's shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad'Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
Note: These podcasts were made with NotebookLM. AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 12 minutes
- Episodes
- 1394
- Years Active
- 2024 - 2025
OEIS A000159: The Ménage Problem
A deep dive into the ménage problem (A000159): counting circular seating arrangements of n couples with alternating sexes where no one sits next to their partner. We trace the data (3 couples → 12 ar…
00:09:58 |
Tue 11 Mar 2025
OEIS A000158: Partitions into Non-Integral Powers and a Statistical-Mechanics Connection
We explore A000158, which counts representations of n as sums of terms x^(2/3). We trace how Agarwala and Alok's 1951 work casts these partitions in the language of statistical mechanics, using q-ser…
00:21:19 |
Mon 10 Mar 2025
On Time at Sea: Prescribed-Time Control for Unmanned Surface Vehicles
In this episode, we unpack a groundbreaking control scheme for USVs that guarantees prescribed-time arrival even under currents, wind, and model uncertainties. Learn how disturbance observers, an eve…
00:17:37 |
Sun 09 Mar 2025
OEIS A000157: Boolean functions of n variables
We explore A000157, the count of Boolean functions of n variables (2^(2^n)), and show how these functions can be represented by algebraic normal forms over GF(2). We’ll see how the Mobius transform t…
00:09:56 |
Sun 09 Mar 2025
Edge to the Grill: How McDonald's Is AI-Transforming Fast Food
A deep dive into McDonald’s bold AI push—from edge computing in-store hubs with Google Cloud to smarter drive-thru NLP, computer-vision QA, and a “virtual manager.” We break down how these technologi…
00:10:57 |
Sun 09 Mar 2025
The Science of Artificial Turf: From Chemgrass to Crumb Rubber
A deep dive into the history, design, and debates surrounding artificial turf. From its 1960s origins in the Astrodome to modern infill materials and safety concerns, we explore how turf changes the …
00:11:54 |
Sun 09 Mar 2025
OEIS A000156: Representations of integers as the sum of 24 squares
In this episode we dive into OEIS A000156, the number of ways to express an integer as the sum of 24 squares. We unpack how these counts connect to deep ideas in number theory, including modular form…
00:16:55 |
Sat 08 Mar 2025
CAMEL Deep Dive: Building and Studying Emergent AI Societies
A deep dive into CAMEL, a modular framework for simulating millions of communicative AI agents. Learn about its agent and agent-society modules, real-time interactions, data handling, and the ability…
00:18:18 |
Sat 08 Mar 2025
Matters Computational: Bits, Permutations, and the Power of Algorithms
Three hosts dive into Matters Computational to unpack the practical math and clever algorithms behind modern software. From fast arithmetic tricks and bit-twiddling to gray codes, multi-sets, and con…
00:13:46 |
Sat 08 Mar 2025
Bolt Preload Unlocked: From Mechanistic Models to Gaussian Processes
In this episode we dive into a research paper that tackles predicting bolt preload—the clamping force when you tighten a bolt—by marrying a physics-based mechanism model with data‑driven Gaussian pro…
00:15:58 |
Sat 08 Mar 2025
To Be or Not To Be? B-trees with Optimistic Lock Coupling — A CedarDB Deep Dive
Join us as we unpack why B-trees remain a database workhorse: their cache-efficient, cache-oblivious design; fine-grained lock coupling for concurrency; optimistic locking with per-node sequence numb…
00:11:17 |
Sat 08 Mar 2025
Tiny Structures, Big Power: A Dive into Succinct Data Structures
Join us as we unpack succinct data structures—bit vectors, rank and select, and wavelet matrices—that store data compactly without sacrificing speed. We explore real-world heroes like the FM index an…
00:11:10 |
Fri 07 Mar 2025
OEIS A000155: Rounding the Modified Bessel Function K_1 to Integers
An accessible tour of A000155—the nearest integer to the modified Bessel function K_1(n). We unpack what “modified Bessel” means, why rounding a continuous function yields a discrete sequence (with e…
00:09:22 |
Fri 07 Mar 2025
Instinct Unpacked: From Fixed Action Patterns to Human Nature
Science Corner dives into what 'instinct' really means, unpacking fixed action patterns, releasers, and the surprising ways instinct shapes behavior—from gray lag geese to brood parasitism. We explor…
00:13:50 |
Fri 07 Mar 2025
OEIS A000153: A bead-and-necklace counting recurrence
In this episode we unpack A000153, the recurrence a(n) = n a(n−1) + (n−2) a(n−2) with a(0)=0 and a(1)=1. We’ll explore its rapid growth and a bead-on-necklace interpretation with two indistinguishabl…
00:15:16 |
Thu 06 Mar 2025
OEIS A000152: Number of representations of n as a sum of 16 squares
We dive into A000152, the sequence counting how many ways an integer can be written as the sum of 16 squares. From the first terms (1, 32, 480, 4480, 29152) to the generating function built from the …
00:12:48 |
Thu 06 Mar 2025
The AI Benchmark: Do PhD-Level Tests Really Measure Intelligence?
In this episode we dissect a rigorous study that puts large language models through the GPQA Diamond Dataset—a suite of PhD‑level questions across physics, chemistry, and biology—to see how “smart” t…
00:10:41 |
Thu 06 Mar 2025
OEIS A000151: Oriented rooted trees
A deep dive into A000151, the enumeration of oriented rooted trees. We explore what distinguishes oriented rooted trees from ordinary trees, the two-color representation of edge directions, and the g…
00:12:36 |
Tue 04 Mar 2025
Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback Guide
Learn about Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback Guide
Note: These podcasts are AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
Sponsored by Ember…
00:26:45 |
Tue 04 Mar 2025
Google Engineering Practices
Learn about Google Engineering Practices
Note: These podcasts are AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
Sponsored by Embersilk LLC
00:29:14 |
Tue 04 Mar 2025
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