Podcast Episodes

Eric Topol on the Changing Face of Medicine and Aging

Episode 313

Medical science is advancing at an astonishing rate. Today we talk with leading expert Eric Topol about two aspects of this story. First, the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, especially in…

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago

AMA | May 2025

Welcome to the May 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 Patreo…

Published on 4 months, 3 weeks ago

Thomas Levenson on the Mutual History of Humans and Germs

Episode 312

The germ theory of disease is a crowning achievement of science, up there with modern physics, continental drift, and evolution via natural selection. (Even if there will always be cranky skeptics.) …

Published on 5 months ago

Annaka Harris on Whether Consciousness is Fundamental

Episode 311

Questions about consciousness range from the precise and empirical -- what neurons fire when I have some particular experience -- to the deeply profound -- does consciousness emerge from matter, or d…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

AMA | April 2025

Welcome to the April 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 Patr…

Published on 5 months, 2 weeks ago

Marc Kamionkowski on Dark Energy and Cosmic Anomalies

Episode 310

Cosmologists were, let us be honest, pretty stunned in 1998 when observations revealed that the universe is accelerating. There was an obvious plausible explanation, the cosmological constant propose…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Christof Koch on Consciousness and Integrated Information

Episode 309

Consciousness is easier to possess than to define. One thing we can do is to look into the brain and see what lights up when conscious awareness is taking place. A complete understanding of this woul…

Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago

Alison Gopnik on Children, AI, and Modes of Thinking

Episode 308

We often study cognition in other species, in part to learn about modes of thinking that are different from our own. Today's guest, psychologist/philosopher Alison Gopnik, argues that we needn't look…

Published on 6 months ago

AMA | March 2025

Welcome to the March 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 Patr…

Published on 6 months, 1 week ago

Kevin Peterson on the Theory of Cocktails

Episode 307

A lot of science goes into crafting the perfect cocktail. Balancing sweet and bitter notes, providing the right amount of aeration and dilution, getting it to just the right temperature and keeping i…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago