Podcast Episodes

Steven Pinker on Rationality and Common Knowledge

Episode 329

Getting along in society requires that we mostly adhere to certainly shared norms and customs. Often it's not enough that we all know what the rules are, but also that everyone else knows the rules, …

Published on 8 hours ago

Mary Roach on Replacing Parts of Our Bodies

Episode 328

Like any machine, bodies occasionally break down, and it's natural to go in search of a replacement part. Ancient societies featured simple prosthetics for teeth, noses, and limbs, while modern medic…

Published on 1 week ago

AMA | September 2025

Welcome to the September 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by …

Published on 2 weeks ago

Cass Sunstein on Liberalism

Episode 327

"Liberalism," divorced from its particular connotations in this or that modern political context, refers broadly to a philosophy of individual rights, liberties, and responsibilities, coupled with re…

Published on 3 weeks ago

Natalie Batalha on What We Know and Will Learn About Exoplanets

Episode 326

In a relatively short period of time, exoplanets (planets around stars other than our Sun) have gone from an intriguing conjecture to an active field of scientific study, with over 5,000 confirmed di…

Published on 4 weeks ago

Alvy Ray Smith on Pixar, Pixels, and the Great Digital Convergence

Episode 325

The world is becoming pixelated. As computers and other digital devices become ubiquitous, human knowledge and communication and information is gradually being converted into, and manipulated as, str…

Published on 1 month ago

Elizabeth Mynatt on Universities and the Importance of Basic Research

Episode 324

It is not manifestly obvious that universities should be where most scholarly research is performed. One could imagine systems that separated out the tasks of "teaching students" and "generating new …

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

AMA | August 2025

Welcome to the August 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Pat…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Jacob Barandes on Indivisible Stochastic Quantum Mechanics

Episode 323

The search for a foundational theory of quantum mechanics that all physicists can agree on remains active. Over the last century a number of contenders have emerged, including Many-Worlds, pilot-wave…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Philip Pettit on Language, Agency, Politics, and Freedom

Episode 322

When we think of the capacities that distinguish humans from other species, we generally turn to intelligence and its byproducts, including our technological prowess. But our intelligence is highly c…

Published on 2 months ago