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Sean Carroll's Mindscape Podcast

Tesseract

Banned



Sean Michael Carroll (born October 5, 1966) is a theoretical physicist specializing in quantum mechanics, gravity, and cosmology. He is a research professor in the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics in the California Institute of Technology Department of Physics[1] and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute.[2] He has been a contributor to the physics blog Cosmic Variance, and has published in scientific journals such as Nature as well as other publications, including The New York Times, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist.

He has appeared on the History Channel's The Universe, Science Channel's Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Closer to Truth (broadcast on PBS),[3] and Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Carroll is the author of Spacetime And Geometry, a graduate-level textbook in general relativity, and has also recorded lectures for The Great Courses on cosmology, the physics of time, and the Higgs boson.[4] He is also the author of four popular books: From Eternity to Here about the arrow of time, The Particle at the End of the Universe about the Higgs boson, The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself about ontology, and Something Deeply Hidden about the foundations of quantum mechanics. He began a podcast in 2018 called Mindscape, in which he interviews other experts and intellectuals coming from a variety of disciplines, including "science, society, philosophy, culture, arts, and ideas" in general.[5]

I'm interested in how the world works at the deepest levels, which leads me to do research in physics and philosophy. My current interests include quantum mechanics, gravitation, cosmology, statistical mechanics, and foundations of physics, with occasional dabblings elsewhere. My most recent book, Something Deeply Hidden, is about quantum mechanics, Many Worlds, and the emergence of spacetime. I host a podcast, Mindscape, where I interview smart people about all sorts of interesting ideas.

My official titles are Research Professor of Physics at Caltech and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. I live in Los Angeles with my lovely wife, writer Jennifer Ouellette.

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Tesseract

Banned

Mindscape 131 | Avi Loeb on Taking Aliens Seriously​


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The possible existence of technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations — not just alien microbes, but cultures as advanced (or much more) than our own — is one of the most provocative questions in modern science. So provocative that it’s difficult to talk about the idea in a rational, dispassionate way; there are those who loudly insist that the probability of advanced alien cultures existing is essentially one, even without direct evidence, and others are so exhausted by overblown claims in popular media that they want to squelch any such talk. Astronomer Avi Loeb thinks we should be taking this possibility seriously, so much so that he suggested that the recent interstellar interloper `Oumuamua might be a spaceship built by aliens. That got him in a lot of trouble. We talk about the trouble, about `Oumuamua, and the attitude scientists should take toward provocative ideas. Abraham (Avi) Loeb received his Ph.D. in plasma physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is currently the Frank B. Baird Jr. professor of science at Harvard University. He served as the Chair of Harvard’s Astronomy department from 2011-2020. He is Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Founding Director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative. He is chair of the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative. His new book is Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.
 
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Ballthyrm

Member
I really like Sean Carroll Podcast as he usually ask questions coming from a Scientist PoV which he is also.
As long as him and Lex don't interview the same people too much I'm Happy.

They tend to have the same interview style even if Lex is more free wheeling with his questions.
Another good podcast like this is Event Horizon on youtube





Sean did a really good podcast recently about democracy with David Stasavage
 
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Tesseract

Banned

Mindscape 132 | Michael Levin on Information, Form, Growth, and the Self​


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As a semi-outsider, it’s fun for me to watch as a new era dawns in biology: one that adds ideas from physics, big data, computer science, and information theory to the usual biological toolkit. One of the big areas of study in this burgeoning field is the relationship between the basic bioinformatic building blocks (genes and proteins) to the macroscopic organism that eventually results. That relationship is not a simple one, as we’re discovering. Standard metaphors notwithstanding, an organism is not a machine based on genetic blueprints. I talk with biologist and information scientist Michael Levin about how information and physical constraints come together to make organisms and selves. Michael Levin received his Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University. He is currently Distinguished Professor and Vannevar Bush Chair in the Biology department at Tufts University, and serves as director of the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. His work on left-right asymmetric body structures is on Nature’s list of 100 Milestones of Developmental Biology of the Century.
 
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Ballthyrm

Member
I'm sad he hasn't had more game designers on (I think he had one, way way back), or Designers in general. He interview a lot of specialists and not a lot of generalists.
Jack of all trades like designers, architects, artists would have a lot to offer him I think.
 
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Romulus

Member
It's cool to be on the foundation of taking this seriously. But I can't help but think how much time we've lost with disinformation campaigns and stupid people actually believing that billions of galaxies are void of intelligent life, while having almost no knowledge of them to begin with.
 
His series on "The Biggest Ideas in the Universe" is top notch quality material, and long form. No guests, just him spilling his wonderful brain matter upon the ignorant masses. It's a must listen.

Yes, all of it.

Here's the playlist:


Also, not his podcast, but if you want to listen to him go on about time travel(again), there is this. It's long form as well, and no guest.
 
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