Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you’ve come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 99 minutes
- Episodes
- 391
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
49 | Nicholas Christakis on Humanity, Biology, and What Makes Us Good
It’s easy to be cynical about humanity’s present state and future prospects. But we have made it this far, and in some ways we’re doing better than we used to be. Today’s guest, Nicholas Christakis, …
01:54:29 |
Mon 03 Jun 2019
48 | Marq de Villiers on Hell and Damnation
If you’re bad, we are taught, you go to Hell. Who in the world came up with that idea? Some will answer God, but for the purpose of today’s podcast discussion we’ll put that possibility aside and loo…
01:11:04 |
Mon 27 May 2019
47 | Adam Rutherford on Humans, Animals, and Life in General
Most people in the modern world — and the vast majority of Mindscape listeners, I would imagine — agree that humans are part of the animal kingdom, and that all living animals evolved from a common a…
01:38:15 |
Mon 20 May 2019
46 | Kate Darling on Our Connections with Robots
Most of us have no trouble telling the difference between a robot and a living, feeling organism. Nevertheless, our brains often treat robots as if they were alive. We give them names, imagine that t…
01:06:44 |
Mon 13 May 2019
45 | Leonard Susskind on Quantum Information, Quantum Gravity, and Holography
For decades now physicists have been struggling to reconcile two great ideas from a century ago: general relativity and quantum mechanics. We don’t yet know the final answer, but the journey has take…
01:13:35 |
Mon 06 May 2019
44 | Antonio Damasio on Feelings, Thoughts, and the Evolution of Humanity
When we talk about the mind, we are constantly talking about consciousness and cognition. Antonio Damasio wants us to talk about our feelings. But it’s not in an effort to be more touchy-feely; Damas…
01:12:26 |
Mon 29 Apr 2019
43 | Matthew Luczy on the Pleasures of Wine
Some people never drink wine; for others, it’s an indispensable part of an enjoyable meal. Whatever your personal feelings might be, wine seems to exhibit a degree of complexity and nuance that can b…
01:46:20 |
Mon 22 Apr 2019
42 | Natalya Bailey on Navigating Earth Orbit and Beyond
The space age officially began in 1957 with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite. But recent years have seen the beginning of a boom in the number of objects orbiting Earth, as satellite tracking an…
00:59:37 |
Mon 15 Apr 2019
41 | Steven Strogatz on Synchronization, Networks, and the Emergence of Complex Behavior
One of the most important insights in the history of science is the fact that complex behavior can arise from the undirected movements of small, simple systems. Despite the fact that we know this, we…
01:14:35 |
Mon 08 Apr 2019
40 | Adrienne Mayor on Gods and Robots in Ancient Mythology
The modern world is full of technology, and also with anxiety about technology. We worry about robot uprisings and artificial intelligence taking over, and we contemplate what it would mean for a com…
01:03:19 |
Mon 01 Apr 2019
39 | Malcolm MacIver on Sensing, Consciousness, and Imagination
Consciousness has many aspects, from experience to wakefulness to self-awareness. One aspect is imagination: our minds can conjure up multiple hypothetical futures to help us decide which choices we …
01:19:33 |
Mon 25 Mar 2019
38 | Alan Lightman on Transcendence, Science, and a Naturalist’s Sense of Meaning
Let’s say, for sake of argument, that you don’t believe in God or the supernatural. Is there still a place for talking about transcendence, the sacred, and meaning in life? Some of the above, but not…
01:16:35 |
Mon 18 Mar 2019
37 | Edward Watts on the End of the Roman Republic and Lessons for Democracy
When many of us think “Ancient Rome,” we think of the Empire and the Caesars. But the Empire was preceded by the Roman Republic, which flourished for a full five centuries. Why, after such a long and…
01:31:27 |
Mon 11 Mar 2019
36 | David Albert on Quantum Measurement and the Problems with Many-Worlds
Quantum mechanics is our best theory of how reality works at a fundamental level, yet physicists still can’t agree on what the theory actually says. At the heart of the puzzle is the “measurement pro…
01:42:32 |
Mon 04 Mar 2019
35 | Jessica Yellin on The Changing Ways We Get Our News
Everything we think about the world outside our immediate senses is shaped by information brought to us by other sources. In the case of what’s currently happening to the human race, we call that inf…
01:08:52 |
Mon 25 Feb 2019
34 | Paul Bloom on Empathy, Rationality, Morality, and Cruelty
Within every person’s mind there is on ongoing battle between reason and emotion. It’s not always a battle, of course; very often the two can work together. But at other times, our emotions push us t…
01:10:43 |
Mon 18 Feb 2019
33 | James Ladyman on Reality, Metaphysics, and Complexity
Reality is a tricky thing. Is love real? What about the number 5? This is clearly a job for a philosopher, and James Ladyman is one of the world’s acknowledged experts. He and his collaborators have …
01:07:03 |
Mon 11 Feb 2019
32 | Naomi Oreskes on Climate Change and the Distortion of Scientific Facts
Our climate is in the midst of dramatic changes, driven largely by human activity, with potentially enormous consequences for humanity and other species. That’s why science tells us, anyway. But ther…
01:10:24 |
Mon 04 Feb 2019
31 | Brian Greene on the Multiverse, Inflation, and the String Theory Landscape
String theory was originally proposed as a relatively modest attempt to explain some features of strongly-interacting particles, but before too long developed into an ambitious attempt to unite all t…
01:11:38 |
Mon 28 Jan 2019
30 | Derek Leben on Ethics for Robots and Artificial Intelligences
It’s hardly news that computers are exerting ever more influence over our lives. And we’re beginning to see the first glimmers of some kind of artificial intelligence: computer programs have become m…
01:28:32 |
Mon 21 Jan 2019
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