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 A000077: Representations by x^2 + 6y^2
We explore OEIS A000077, the sequence counting how many integers up to 2^n can be written as x^2 + 6y^2. We'll look at a concrete example, examine the first terms, and see how a simple quadratic form…
00:09:58 |
Fri 20 Dec 2024
Policy Gradient Made Easy: From Bikes to Language Models
A friendly, intuition‑first tour of the policy gradient theorem in reinforcement learning. We use bike‑riding analogies, simple explanations, and practical Python code to show how log-probabilities, …
00:11:12 |
Fri 20 Dec 2024
The Year in Computer Science: Busy Beavers, Quantum Codes, and AI Grokking
A deep dive into Quanta's Year in CS: how citizen scientists cracked the 5-rule Busy Beaver number, the push and limits of error-correcting codes, breakthroughs in quantum modeling and entanglement, …
00:13:11 |
Fri 20 Dec 2024
Spherical Trigonometry: Triangles on a Sphere
A concise, engaging tour of spherical trigonometry—from cosine and sine rules and polar triangles to Napier's rules for right triangles, spherical excess, and real-world uses in navigation and geodes…
00:14:59 |
Fri 20 Dec 2024
The Year in Physics 2024: Dark Energy to Quantum Frontiers
A concise, insight-packed look at Quanta Magazine’s The Year in Physics (2024). We unpack big stories—from a possible weakening of dark energy and the WIMP sensitivity frontier to the new bullet clus…
00:21:05 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
2024 A Year in Biology
Learn about 2024 A Year in Biology
Note: These podcasts are AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
Sponsored by Embersilk LLC
00:23:43 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
La Tomatina: The Tomato-Tossing Tale of Buñol
Join us for a playful, fact-filled dive into La Tomatina, the world’s biggest food fight. We trace its surprising origins in the 1940s, the ban and tomato funeral, the rise to international fame thro…
00:18:56 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
Deep Dive: A000006 — Squares, Boundaries, and the OEIS
We explore A000006 from the OEIS, decoding the quadratic form 4x^2 + 4xy + 5y^2. Using Bert Dobbeler's completing-the-square trick to rewrite it as (2x + y)^2 + 4y^2, we count how many integers are r…
00:11:42 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
The Astonishing World of Octopuses
Learn about The Astonishing World of Octopuses
Note: These podcasts are AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
Sponsored by Embersilk LLC
00:23:22 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
Selim the Grim: The Eight-Year Rise that Reshaped the Muslim World
A focused dive into Selim I's eight-year reign, from ruthless power consolidation to decisive campaigns against the Safavids and Mamluks. Explore the battles of Chaldiran, Marj Dabiq, and Ridaniya, t…
00:13:05 |
Wed 18 Dec 2024
Sidron Cave: Bones, Genes, and the Neanderthal Family
A deep dive into Sidron Cave in Spain, where the Tunnel of Bones held at least 13 Neanderthals. We explore their lives and deaths, from the growth of El Sidron J1 to DNA from bones and dirt, the FOXP…
00:17:25 |
Wed 18 Dec 2024
The Army of Chalons: France’s Desperate Drive to Sedan
A deep dive into the improvised Army of Chalons formed in August 1870 during the Franco‑Prussian War. We trace its rushed assembly, the failed relief of Metz, the Beaumont disaster, and the decisive …
00:11:29 |
Wed 18 Dec 2024
OEIS A000075: Representations by the quadratic form 2x^2 + 3y^2 up to 2^n
We explore A000075, the count of integers ≤ 2^n that can be written as 2x^2 + 3y^2 with integers x and y. For n = 3, there are four such integers: 2, 3, 5, and 8. Along the way we connect this to the…
00:13:08 |
Wed 18 Dec 2024
The Shape of the Cosmos: Geometry, Topology, and the Universe
A guided tour from Euclidean intuition to general relativity, exploring how curvature, density, and global topology shape the universe. We’ll unpack the cosmic microwave background clues, the omega p…
00:10:14 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
OEIS A000074: Odd numbers ≤ 2^n expressible as the sum of two squares
A concise exploration of A000074: the number of odd integers up to 2^n that can be written as a sum of two squares. We unpack Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares, its connection to primes congrue…
00:09:36 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
Antikythera Mechanism
Learn about Antikythera Mechanism
Note: These podcasts are AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.
Sponsored by Embersilk LLC
00:28:09 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
Babylonian Math: Clay Tablets, Base-60, and the Seeds of Modern Calculation
A deep dive into ancient Mesopotamian mathematics—from sexagesimal arithmetic and ready-made tables to quadratic methods and the Pythagorean triples on Plimpton 322. We'll explore their astronomical …
00:13:58 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
Sphere Packing: From Kepler to E8 — A Deep Dive into Dense Arrangements
Join us as we trace the history of sphere packing, from Kepler's 1611 conjecture and Gauss's lattice results to Hales's computer-assisted proof, and explore Maryna Viazovska's breakthroughs in eight …
00:14:04 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
2024 Math Breakthroughs: Langlands, AI, and the Shape of the Unknown
A dive into 2024’s most impactful mathematical advances—from the long-awaited geometric Langlands proof and AI-driven proofs to new insights in sphere packing, topology, and number theory. We explore…
00:18:19 |
Tue 17 Dec 2024
Ashes 2023: Baz Ball, Brilliance, and the Battle for the Urn
A deep-dive into England vs Australia in the 2023 Ashes. From Baz Ball’s attacking renaissance to five razor-thin Tests, we unpack the drama, controversy, and standout performances—Khawaja’s record r…
00:18:36 |
Mon 16 Dec 2024
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