Closer To Truth

Roger Penrose—mathematician, physicist, philosopher—was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics. We speak with Roger about our favorite, fundamental questions. What things exist? What is math and why does it work? What’s fundamental in the cosmos?   All episodes of Season 22 are available now on our website: https://bit.ly/3QwMzIA   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for free today: https://...

Mathematics describes the real world of atoms and acorns, stars and stairs, with remarkable precision. So is mathematics invented by humans-like chisels and hammers and pieces of music? Or is mathematics discovered-always out there, somewhere, like mysterious islands waiting to be found?   Featuring interviews with Roger Penrose, Mark Balaguer, Gregory Chaitin, Stephen Wolfram, and Frank Wilczek....

Consider three powers of probability: refining data, assessing theories, probing ultimate reality. Watch how these work in cosmology: confidence in precise measurements; assessing competing models; revealing how quantum fluctuations became galactic structures.   Featuring interviews with Ivan Corwin, Licia Verde, Sabine Hossenfelder, David Wallace, and Aaron Clauset.   For access to subscriber-onl...

Robert Lawrence Kuhn speaks with Martin Rees—Astronomer Royal and co-founder of Centre for the Study of Existential Risk—about the James Webb Space Telescope, black holes, existential risk, and more.   Martin Rees is an astrophysicist and cosmologist, and the UK's Astronomer Royal. He is based at the University of Cambridge where he has been Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Institute of...

What does brain damage do to people? By observing strange behaviors in brain-impaired patients, scientists discern how normal brains work. For example, what happens to “the self”?   Featuring interviews with Barry Smith, Donald Hoffman, Susan Greenfield, and Christopher Evans.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for a free membership today: https://rb.gy/5japji

Why the astonishing claim that Jesus is God? Not like God. Not representing God. But literally God? One need not be a Christian, or even a theist, to appreciate the arguments.   Featuring interviews with Sarah Coakley, N.T. Wright, Oliver Crisp, Eleonore Stump, C. Stephen Evans, and Ian McFarland.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for a free membership at closertotruth.com .

Freeman Dyson, visionary extraordinaire, was one of the most inventive thinkers of our age: discovering new mathematics, challenging fundamental physics, colonizing space, searching for signatures of alien civilizations, imagining the far future of intelligence.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for a free membership today: www.closertotruth.com .

There is more to our mental lives than the current content of our awareness. Our subconscious affects what we sense, think, feel and do. How does the subconscious work its magic?   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for free at www.closertotruth.com .

Call mathematics the purest form of knowledge, universal messaging anyone, anywhere, can understand. For math to advance, there must be breakthroughs, which may seem like magic. What are mathematical breakthroughs? How do they happen? How do they work?     Featuring interviews with Karen Uhlenbeck, Edward Witten, Michael Hopkins, Ivan Corwin, Gregory Chaitin, and Paul Davies.     For subscriber-on...

Neuroanthropologist and co-chair of the N2 Conference Terrence Deacon discusses the noosphere, biological evolution, and the upcoming N2 conference hosted by scientific multimedia non-profit organization Human Energy to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Noosphere. For subscriber-only exclusives, register for free at closertotruth.com .

Why are we here? What's the point of existence? Philosopher and consciousness researcher Philip Goff tackles these questions and more in this discussion of his new book, Why? The Purpose of the Universe . Goff argues that it's time to move on from both God and atheism and instead look to cosmic purpose to understand the universe.   Philip Goff is a philosophy professor at Durham University, UK who...

Does mathematics have two transcendent attributes: truth and beauty? What makes math true? What makes math beautiful? Are there different kinds of mathematical existence? How can math combine idealized perfection and explanatory simplicity?   Featuring interviews with Robbert Dijkgraaf, Edward Witten, Max Tegmark, Sabine Hossenfelder, and Jim Holt.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for fr...

Do I disappear at death? My body? Sure, it's gone. But my awareness? Does my consciousness end forever? What could be more frightening! Is there any hope here?   Featuring interviews with Charles Tart, Richard Swinburne, Robert Park, James Tabor, and Keith Ward.   Register for a free membership today at closertotruth.com .

Creativity generates art. How to discern the creative process in order to inform the nature of art? Conversely, how to discern art in order to inform the nature of the creative process?   Featuring interviews with Aaron Rosen, Antonius Roberts, Alfonse Borysewicz, Murray Watts, and Carl Plantinga.   Register for a free-membership at closertotruth.com to receive subscriber-only exclusives today.

Everything I know -- everything! -- comes from my brain. Consciousness, our private sense of inner awareness, is the one big question to which we might find answers.   Featuring interviews with Arnold Scheibel, John Mazziotta, Christof Koch, Joseph LeDoux, and Stephen Chorover.   Register today for free for subscriber-only exclusives: www.closertotruth.com .

Philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett discusses his new memoir, I've Been Thinking , about the dominant themes of twentieth-century philosophy and cognitive science—including language, evolution, logic, religion, free will, consciousness, and AI.   Dennett's book, I've Been Thinking , is available for purchase now.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for free at closertotruth.c...

Cosmologist and physics professor Will Kinney discusses his latest book, An Infinity of Worlds: Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe . Kinney considers what happened before the primordial fire of the Big Bang. What is the origin of structure in the cosmos? Can we come to terms with the possibility that our entire observable universe is one of infinitely many, forever hidden from our...

Einstein showed that space and time are essentially the same thing-a single entity, space-time. But space and time seem so radically different. How could space and time be literally the same thing?   Featuring interviews with Max Tegmark, J. Gott, Juan Maldacena, Fotini Markopoulou, and John Leslie.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for a free membership at closertotruth.com .

In honor of Rosh Hashanah, this week's podcast presents the arguments for, and against, the existence of God in Judaic history. From pogroms to the Holocaust, how to deal with the Problem of Evil — with respect to the existence of God and attributes of God? From a Jewish Orthodox perspective, do all religions worship the same God? Samuel Lebens is an academic philosopher and an ordained Orthodox r...

What exists? Lots of things exist. But what’s truly fundamental? The challenge is to discern the minimum number of basic categories that explains the entirety of existence.   Featuring interviews with Sean Carroll, David Wallace, David Chalmers, and Don Page.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for free at closertotruth.com .

Throughout history, dreams have fascinated and mystified. Messages from God? Images of the subconscious? Much about dreams is myth. What's real?   Featuring interviews with Robert Stickgold, Deirdre Barrett, Christopher Isham, and Patrick McNamara.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for free at closertotruth.com .

To appreciate Time is to touch the texture of reality. Does Time differ from our common perceptions of it? Is Time fixed or flexible? What is time, really?   Featuring interviews with Huw Price, Julian Barbour, David Albert, Jeff Tollaksen, and John Polkinghorne.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for a free membership at www.closertotruth.com .

Many theologians take angels and demons seriously. Why? Do most human beings believe in angels and demons? Certainly, such nonphysical beings, in one form or another, populate most of the world's religions. Featuring interviews with J.P. Moreland, Thomas Flint, Dean Radin, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, and James Tabor.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for a free membership at www.closertotru...

Astrobiologist Dr. Aomawa Shields discusses her latest book, Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe . The book charts her life as an astronomer, classically-trained actor, mother, and Black woman in STEM, searching for life in the universe while building a meaningful life here on Earth. Dr. Shields studies the universe outside our Solar System, researching and uncoveri...

Deception pervades all life, up and down the phylogenetic tree. Deceptions have a "purpose" - the well-being, often the survival, of the deceiver. But deceptions need not be done "on purpose". In the tool-kit of evolution, what is the workload of deception?   Featuring interviews with Robert Trivers, Jennifer Mather, Daniel Chamovitz, and Max Tegmark.   For subscriber-only exclusives, register for...