Autumn Phaneuf & Noah Giansiracusa
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 Noah Giansiracusa , a mathematician and leading voice in algorithmic literacy and technology ethics, the show is dedicated to uncovering the mathematical structures behind science, technology, and the systems shaping our future. What began as a conversation about math as a pure and elegant discipline has evolv...
Author
Autumn Phaneuf & Noah Giansiracusa
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Jul 10, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
The Intersection of Mathematics and Democracy 09.07.2024 1:02:01
This discussion Autumn and Gabe delves into Ismar Volic's personal background and inspiration for writing the book, “ Making Democracy Count ” as well as the practical and theoretical aspects of voting systems. Additionally, the conversation explores the application of voting systems to everyday decision-making and the use of topological data analysis in understanding societal polarization. The co...
Math Lounge: Celebrating 101 Episodes 02.07.2024 47:41
In this conversation, Gabe and Autumn celebrate the 101st episode of Breaking Math and discuss the evolution of the podcast. They highlight the importance of creativity in teaching mathematics and share their plans to expand Breaking Math into Breaking Math Media. They also discuss the history of physics and the big questions that inform the podcast. The hosts express their desire to collaborate w...
Minisode: Absolutely Nothing 18.06.2024 19:32
In this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Gabe explore the concept of nothingness and its significance in various fields. They discuss the philosophical, scientific, mathematical, and literary aspects of nothingness, highlighting its role in understanding reality and existence. They mention books like 'Incomplete Nature' by Terence Deacon and 'Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea' by Charles...
Can We Survive on Mars? Hot Tips with Zach Weinersmith (Part 2) 28.05.2024 34:11
In this conversation, Autumn Phaneuf interviews Zach Weinersmith, a cartoonist and writer, about the feasibility and implications of space settlement. They discuss the challenges and misconceptions surrounding space colonization, including the idea that it will make us rich, mitigate war, and make us wiser. They explore the potential of the moon and Mars as settlement options, as well as the conce...
Can We Survive on Mars? Hot Tips with Zach Weinersmith 21.05.2024 32:44
In this conversation, Autumn Phaneuf and Zach Weinersmith discusses his new book, A City on Mars, which takes a humorous look at the challenges of building a Martian society. He explores the misconceptions and myths surrounding space settlement and the feasibility of colonizing Mars. He argues that space is unlikely to make anyone rich and that the idea that space will mitigate war is unsupported....
What's the Use? Interview with Professor Ian Stewart 14.05.2024 44:01
Welcome to another engaging episode of the Breaking Math Podcast! Today's episode, titled "What is the Use?," features a fascinating conversation with the renowned mathematician and author, Professor Ian Stewart. As Professor Stewart discusses his latest book "What's the Use? How Mathematics Shapes Everyday Life," we dive deep into the real-world applications of mathematics that often go unnoticed...
Bayes' Theorem Explains It All: An Interview with Tom Chivers 07.05.2024 49:18
Tom Chivers discusses his book 'Everything is Predictable: How Bayesian Statistics Explain Our World' and the applications of Bayesian statistics in various fields. He explains how Bayesian reasoning can be used to make predictions and evaluate the likelihood of hypotheses. Chivers also touches on the intersection of AI and ethics, particularly in relation to AI-generated art. The conversation exp...
Interview with Steve Nadis, Co-author of 'Gravity of Math' 30.04.2024 52:40
Summary **Tensor Poster - If you are interested in the Breaking Math Tensor Poster on the mathematics of General Relativity, email us at BreakingMathPodcast@gmail.com In this episode, Gabriel Hesch and Autumn Phaneuf interview Steve Nadis, the author of the book ' The Gravity of Math .' They discuss the mathematics of gravity, including the work of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, gravitational w...
The 10,000 Year Problem (feat. David Gibson of Ray Kitty Creation Workship) 23.04.2024 34:44
Summary : The episode discusses the 10,000 year dilemma, which is a thought experiment on how to deal with nuclear waste in the future. Today's episode is hosted by guest host David Gibson, who is the founder of the Ray Kitty Creation Workshop . (Find out more about the Ray Kitty Creation Workshop by clicking here ). Gabriel and Autumn are out this week, but will be returning in short order with 3...
The Mathematical Heart of Games Explored with Prof. du Sautoy 16.04.2024 1:14:35
An interview with Prof. Marcus du Sautoy about his book Around the Wold in Eighty Games . . . .a Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the World's Greatest Games . Topics covered in Today's Episode: 1. Introduction to Professor Marcus du Sautoy and the Role of Games - Impact of games on culture, strategy, and learning - The educational importance of games throughout history 2. Differences in gaming...
Brain Organelles, AI, and Other Scary Science - An Interview with GT (Part 2) 04.04.2024 31:05
Summary Brain Organelles, A.I. and Defining Intelligence in Nature- In this episode, we continue our fascinating interview with GT, a science content creator on TikTok and YouTube known for their captivating - and sometimes disturbing science content. GT can be found on the handle ‘@bearBaitOfficial’ on most social media channels. In this episode, we resume our discussion on Brain Organelles - whi...
LEAN Theorem Provers used to model Physics and Chemistry 16.03.2024 47:26
This episode is inspired by a correspondence the Breaking Math Podcast had with the editors of Digital Discovery, a journal by the Royal Society of Chemistry. In this episode the hosts review a paper about how the Lean Interactive Theorem Prover, which is usually used as a tool in creating mathemtics proofs, can be used to create rigorous and robust models in physics and chemistry. Also - we have...
Brain Organelles, AI, and the Other Scary Science - An Interview with GT (Part 1) 05.03.2024 30:02
This conversation explores the topic of brain organoids and their integration with robots. The discussion covers the development and capabilities of brain organoids, the ethical implications of their use, and the differences between sentience and consciousness. The conversation also delves into the efficiency of human neural networks compared to artificial neural networks, the presence of sleep in...
Can OpenAi's SORA learn and model real-world physics? (Part 1 of n) 27.02.2024 34:22
This is a follow up on our previous episode on OpenAi's SORA . We attempt to answer the question, "Can OpenAi's SORA model real-world physics?" We go over the details of the technical report, we discuss some controversial opinoins by experts in the field at Nvdia and Google's Deep Mind. The transcript for episode is avialable below upon request. Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links be...
OpenAi SORA, Physics-Informed ML, and a.i. Fraud- Oh My! 20.02.2024 36:55
OpenAI's Sora, a text-to-video model, has the ability to generate realistic and imaginative scenes based on text prompts. This conversation explores the capabilities, limitations, and safety concerns of Sora. It showcases various examples of videos generated by Sora, including pirate ships battling in a cup of coffee, woolly mammoths in a snowy meadow, and golden retriever puppies playing in the s...
Math, Music, and Artificial Intelligence - Levi McClain Interview (Final Part) 18.02.2024 28:02
Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Try out ZenCastr w/ 30% Discount Use my special link to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Patreon YouTube Transcripts are available upon request. Email us at BreakingMathPodcast@gmail.com Follow us on X (Twitter) Follow us on Social Media Pages (Linktree) Visit our guest Levi McClain's Pages: youtube.com/@LeviMcClain le...
Math, Music, Neuroscience, and Fear - an Interview with Musician Levi McClain 13.02.2024 33:29
We are joined today by content creator Levi McClain to discuss the mathematics behind music theory, neuroscience, and human experiences such as fear as they relate to audio processing. For a copy of the episode transcript, email us at BreakingMathPodcast@gmail.com. For more in depth discussions on these topics and more, check out Levi's channels at: Patreon.com/LeviMcClain youtube.com/@LeviMcClain...
Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning - an Interview with Brit Cruise(Part 2) 06.02.2024 45:35
Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Start YOUR podcast on ZenCastr! Use my special link ZenCastr Discount to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Visit our Patreon Part 2/2 of the interview with Brit Cruise, creator of the YouTube channel "Art of the Problem," about interesting mathematics,, electrical and computer engineering problems. In Part 1, we explore...
Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning-An Interview with Brit Cruise - Part 1 of 2 30.01.2024 36:37
In this episode (part 1 of 2), I interview Brit Cruise, creator of the YouTube channel 'Art of the Problem.' On his channel, he recently released the video "ChatGPT: 30 Year History | How AI learned to talk." We discuss examples of intelligence in nature and what is required in order for a brain to evolve at the most basic level. We use these concepts to discuss what artificial intelligence - such...
A.I. and Materials Discovery - an Interview with Taylor Sparks 21.01.2024 17:36
Transcripts of this episode are avialable upon request. Email us at BreakingMathPodcast@gmail.com. In this episode Gabriel Hesch interviews Taylor Sparks, a professor of material science and engineering, about his recent paper on the use of generative modeling a.i. for material disovery. The paper is published in the journal Digital Discovery and is titled 'Generative Adversarial Networks and Diff...
In Memory of Sofia Baca, Cofounder and cohost of Breaking Math 11.01.2024 48:15
In October of 2023, Sofia Baca passed away unexpectedly from natural causes. Sofia was one of the founders and cohosts of the Breaking Math Podcast. In this episode, host Gabriel Hesch interviews Diane Baca, mother of Sofia Baca as we talk about her passions for creativity, mathematics, science, and discovering what it means to be human. Sofia lived an exceptional life with explosive creativity, a...
Correct. Now Try Again (Multiple Approaches to the Same Problem) 24.07.2023 37:38
Join Sofía Baca and her guests, the host and co-host of the Nerd Forensics podcast, Millicent Oriana and Jacob Urban, as they explore what it means to be able to solve one problem in multiple ways. This episode is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. For full text, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ [Featuring: Sofía Baca; Milli...
Physical Dimension (Dimensional Analysis) 26.06.2023 35:36
The history of mathematics, in many ways, begins with counting. Things that needed, initially, to be counted were, and often still are, just that; things. We can say we have twelve tomatoes, or five friends, or that eleven days have passed. As society got more complex, tools that had been used since time immemorial, such as string and scales, became essential tools for counting not only concrete t...
79: 1 2 3 (Counting) 08.06.2023 47:17
Help Support The Podcast by clicking on the links below: Try out ZenCastr w/ 30% Discount Use my special link to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan Patreon YouTube Breaking Math Website Email us for copies of the transcript! Join Sofia Baca and Nerd Forensics co-host Jacob Urban as they discuss all things counting! Counting is the first arithmetic concept we learn, and we typi...
78: Perpetual Notion (Entropy and Thermodynamics) 09.05.2023 31:55
As you listen to this episode, you'll be exerting mental effort, as well as maybe exerting effort doing other things. The energy allowing your neurons to continually charge and discharge, as well as exert mechanical energy in your muscles and chemical energy in places like your liver and kidneys, came from the food you ate. Specifically, it came from food you chewed, and then digested with acid an...
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