The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss
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Nothing and Everything: From Antiquity to today: 5000 years of human inquiry into the Universe.
2 november 2026 · 1 uur
Many of the same questions that provoke our imagination about our universe today were asked by the ancients. How did the universe begin? What is it made of? etc. What is particularly interesting is how the ancients addressed the question of how to get something from nothingness, and ultimately how the notion of the aether evolved. In this lecture I discuss the ancient greek philosophers’ ideas of the stuff of matter and the origin of the universe, and contrast that with our modern understanding. While our modern picture of the universe is vastly different than that of the ancients and we dispensed with the idea of an aether in the early 20th century, we have now replaced it with something even stranger, in which the dominant energy of the universe is contained in empty space. In some ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And the most beautiful thing of all is that the mysteries continue... Lees meer
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project YouTube.
Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe
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Physics for Everyone, Lecture 6. The Unification of Space and Time
19 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 22 min
Everything we have discussed in these lectures so far has brought us to this, the first 20th century revolution in physics. And that is the way it should be, but it is most definitely NOT the way it is normally taught in physics classes. Lees meer
One of my pet peeves about the teaching of physics is how Special Relativity is introduced in introductory physics, as if it is some insight from God that Einstein had. Instead of the Ten Commandments, Einstein was given a tablet that said: “The speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion to the source of the light” and everything followed from that.
No! Maxwell’s unification of electricity and magnetism taught us something fundamental about light, that it is an electromagnetic wave. From that, the equations of electromagnetism allowed Maxwell to derive the speed of light using only measurements of electricity and magnetism.
It was the brilliance of Einstein to realize that this result was inconsistent with the rest of classical physics, in particular the results of Galileo about the nature of motion.
And from there, Einstein was inevitably dragged to equations of special relativity.
And only after he followed through, did someone else, his former math teacher, Minkowski, realize that Einstein had discovered something deep about the connection between space and time, and they symmetries of nature.
That is the actual story I describe here. It is elegant and beautiful, and much more sensible than the “Einstein revelation” fable that is too often used in the teaching of physics.
I hope you enjoy this. The culmination of classical physics, and the beginning of the modern era.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will al…
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What's New in Science with Sabine and Lawrence | AI Dreams and Nightmares, Dark Matter Discovered? and Fake Science News.
23 september 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
There has been a lot of doom and gloom combined with excitement, if that is possible, about AI in the science news lately. Sabine and I tried to deconstruct the hype associated with the highly touted Open AI solution of one of the Millennium Problems in Mathematics, as well as explore the real concerns and imaginary concerns associated with both the recent Open AI agent hacking of Huggy Face, and the blog post by the CEO of Anthopic arguing for a pause in AI development because of the potential for disaster—a statement endorsed by both Elon Musk and Sam Altman. As usual, things are neither as bad, nor as good as they might seem. Lees meer
We also tackled two other stories of interest. A single data point might signal the discovery of particle dark matter in an underground detector! Sabine and I come at this from different perspectives—she has always been suspicious of the claimed need for dark matter, and I have not only explored and proposed a number of the prime candidates, but I also helped propose and promote the kind of technologies that led to LZ/LUX, the collaboration making the current announcement. Nevertheless both Sabine and I agree that it is premature to celebrate. And while Sabine won’t bet, I am betting that this single point will not be substantiated when more data comes in. Stay tuned.
Finally we discuss a sad development—Scientific Paper Mills. Apparently you can buy your way to a first authorship, or just an authorship, on a scientific paper that can eventually be published somewhere, even if the results might not be completely kosher. While this is a disturbing new possibility, it seems like it is just affecting science at the margins. We need to try and stamp it out, but it is not undermining the bulk of scientific research.
In any case, as they used to say on a famous TV show, after all the AI world-ending hype, happy to say: See you next time.. if there is a next time!
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Cr…
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Searching for Aliens. The Wrong Way? A dialogue with John Gertz
8 september 2026 · 2 uur 25 min
John Gertz is a Renaissance Man. One might think that the President of Zorro Productions might be the last person to talk with about the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and the last person to chair SETI’s governing board. But as is clear from our discussion, and from the material in his recent book, Reinventing SETI, John has not only mastered all of the relevant technical issues, he has thought deeply about the motivation for SETI, and the likelihood of its success. Treating the issue as a businessman rather than a scientist, he has tried to anticipate what signals other civilizations might send, and what we might listen for. He also takes a realistic view of what we might actually be able to detect. The net result of our conversations is that the prospects are not good for detecting anything out there. Distant aliens are likely not broadcasting in a way we could be sensitive to. And as he points out, we should probably do the same. His great hope is that alien civilizations have instead installed probes in other solar systems, including ours. However, this possibility too, as I emphasized with him, is also rife with difficulties. Lees meer
I have thought a lot about SETI since I wrote The Physics of Star Trek. I don’t think anyone has affected my thinking on the issue since then more than John. I was pessimistic before. Now I think the whole effort is probably misguided. Though, if someone other than the government is willing to pay for it, what the heck. As I often tell experimentalists. Do what you can do, no matter what us theorists say. We may be wrong.
I hope you find our discussion as informative and provocative as I did. I will be interested to hear if it changes your perspective on SETI as well.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical…
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Physics for Everyone, Lecture 4. The Beating Heart of Modern Physics: The Dog Who Didn't Bark in the Night.
18 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 21 min
This lecture, recorded before lecture 5, which was released a month ago, actually more naturally follows it, which is why releasing it after lecture 5, while unintended, actually makes sense. In the last lecture I described the most important unification in all of physics, the unification of electricity and magnetism, a unification into electromagnetism by James Clerk Maxwell in the 19th century. Lees meer
Because of its elegance, and its overpowering utility, the theory of electromagnetism has provided the prototype for all modern physical theories that have followed it. As I show in this lecture, the form of electromagnetism is governed by a new mathematical symmetry in nature, called gauge symmetry. It turns out the existence of this symmetry is profoundly important, and it not only governs the exact form of the theory, it turns out to govern the form of all the known forces of nature.
Before we get to gauge symmetry, I want to explore more generally what is meant by symmetry in physics, and then I want to redo elementary physics by thinking about symmetry. In my mind, the fact that basic physics is introduced without reference to the symmetries of nature is perhaps the greatest failing in the teaching of modern physics. Concepts like energy and momentum have relevance because of fundamental symmetries of space and time. The facts that energy is ‘conserved’, and momentum is ‘conserved’ in systems, which rigorously fix determine the form of Newton’s laws of motion, are often introduced as if they are dictates on high, like the ten commandments. However, once one understands that these arise from symmetries of nature, the fact that these quantities exist and are conserved, becomes immediate, as the remarkable mathematician Emmy Noether showed at the beginning of the 20th century.
Finally, as important as mathematical symmetries are in governing physical laws, it is equally striking that even if these fundamental symmetries exist in nature, they may not be manifest in par…
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What's New in Science with Sabine and Lawrence | Cosmic oddities, Black Hole normalities, Quantum Batteries, and remote-controlled cockroaches
3 augustus 2026 · 1 uur
Happy August! . Heading back to North America as we just concluded our Origin Project Adventure to Cyrpus and Greece, where we felt the heat, and avoided some wildfires while having some amazing positive experiences as well with an amazing group of 26 travelers. Please stay safe and try and stay cool this month. Lees meer
To help distract you from the heat, I hope you will enjoy this latest conversation about new discoveries in science with Sabine Hossenfelder. As always, we try and deconstruct the facts behind the headlines, and also explore new strange corners of our universe.
This episode begins with some new observations of the Bullet Cluster of galaxies. This cluster contains two galaxies that have collided, and seems to have provided evidence for exotic dark matter that has passed through the collision unscathed. Not so, says a new analysis, which claims evidence for more dark matter in the form of black holes and other less visible normal matter. There are strong reasons to be skeptical however, as both Sabine and I agree.
Speaking of black holes, a new analysis of collisions of black holes at the terrestrial gravitational wave detectors proposes a solution to the mystery of how black holes in a so-called forbidden gap between 10-20 solar masses and more than 50 solar masses have formed. They provide evidence that some of the black holes observed in collisions have been built up from earlier collisions with other black holes. This hierarchical growth could potentially explain how very large black holes in the early universe form, though it is a long way from 50 solar masses to 1 billion solar masses!
Strange goings on at the largest scales of the universe continue to be claimed, as yet another study argues for an unexpected and unexplained cosmic spatial asymmetry. It is hard to reconcile this with the observed uniformity of the universe on the largest scales we can observe via the Cosmic Microwave Background. As a result, it is too early to get excited, even if n…
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Saving a Family from Afghanistan
29 juli 2026 · 23 min
I remember when my friend, journalist Claire Berlinski, first contacted me about a tragic situation regarding a family trapped in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. She knew that I had helped a young girl interested in physics escape to the US to study years earlier and hoped that I might assist in this case. If ever one imagined a family appropriate to bring to safety, this would be the one. The mother was a women’s rights lawyer before the takeover, and the husband worked for a French firm. The Taliban had broken into the Bar Association Office and found records of lawyers, who were being sought for arrest. One older son, and five young daughters in danger of being married off if they were discovered. Lees meer
Their original escape plan was foiled when the airport was bombed just before their planned departure. Because Claire lives in Frances the older boy had reached out to her for help, and she sent out a call to her followers to provide financial assistance to help the family.
Claire contacted me because she knew I now lived in Canada, which has a well-established refugee program. In spite of this, for two years I was not able to find a single sponsoring agency who had a sufficiently large slot allocation to assist. Finally, after over a year, with five generous individuals who agreed to act as guarantors, Jewish Immigrant Aid Services in Toronto indicated they had the slots and would sponsor a refugee application for the family, provided we raised the necessary funds to guarantee support for family for their first year in Canada—a government requirement. After five months of fundraising, we achieved the goal, and the full application was submitted to the government of Canada.
I have always found it poetic that the organization in Canada that has been willing to help save this Muslim family is a Jewish organization. Perhaps, in the midst of all the horrible antisemitism that has blossomed in the world over the past years, this provide a useful example that reli…
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Physics for Everyone, Lecture 5: The Unification that Changed the World
7 juli 2026 · 1 uur 55 min
I began this lecture by saying I was daunted by what I was about to talk about. There are several reasons for this. Lees meer
First, I will lead you through the development of what was certainly most important theoretical development in the 19th century, and what could easily be considered the most important mathematical framework in all of physics. Second, this development affected our modern picture of the universe more than almost any other. Next, this development made our modern technological society possible. And finally, it allowed a calculation that ultimately unveiled the true nature of light. A calculation we will perform together during this lecture
I am going to take you through what is often taught in a whole semester course in physics. So hold onto your hats. Take it step by step. I think the reward of understanding will be worth the effort. I hope at the end of this lecture you agree with me.
This month I will be traveling with the Origins Project and a group of 27 intrepid travelers to Cyprus and Greece. So the next Origins podcast will not air until August. I hope your July is enjoyable.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project YouTube.
Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe
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What's New in Science | Cosmic Surprises, Newton Supreme, A New Collider, and Feynman Dines Out?
9 juni 2026 · 1 uur 12 min
I think this was one of my most enjoyable dialogues in our What’s new series. Maybe Sabine and I are getting more used to each other’s cadence and interests or maybe it was the subject matter. Either way, I think you will find this to be a fascinating and provocative discussion of science at the forefront, and at the not-so-forefront, because that science is interesting too! Lees meer
We began our discussion describing a new finding of a Giant Ring of galaxies billions of light years across in the sky. The key questions are: Is it real? And is it surprising? We both have slightly different takes on this.
Next we described a new measurement of the strength of gravity on scales from 80 to 800 million light years in distance. And guess what? Gravity falls off just like Newton predicted! This may seem like a big yawn, but one of the most popular models that claims to do away with dark matter would imply that Gravity would fall off differently on these scales. Does this new result kill that idea? Stay tuned.
Microsoft, which has cried wolf a number of times so far when it comes to something called Majorana qubits as the basis of a new viable quantum computer just published a new paper claiming they finally have it. Sabine and I discuss why we are both still skeptical, but why the effort is worth it.
Next, CERN, the large European particle physics laboratory, and the world particle physics community seem to have converged on plans for building a huge new accelerator in the current CERN site.. this time involving an underground ring 91 km in circumference, in which electrons and positrons would collide to explore the detailed properties of the Higgs particle. Is the effort worth it? Again, Sabine and I have slightly different takes on this.
Fusion power, which we have talked about in a number of earlier episodes, continues to tempt humanity with the promise of unlimited energy. Many people, myself included, have tended to argue that fusion seems to be 25 years in the future, a…
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Alvin Roth: Moral Economics, from Prostitution to Kidney Transplant Markets
12 mei 2026 · 1 uur 42 min
Alvin Roth is a Nobel Prizewinning Economist whose work on designing markets has had real world impacts that may have saved thousands of lives around the world, while arousing strong emotions both for and against the programs he has helped put in place. Clearly not one to shy away from controversy, he represents the best of what The Origins Project is trying to promote: applying science and reason to public policy. In short, connecting science and culture! Lees meer
Roth’s new book, which is fantastic, and comes out the same day this podcast is released deals with issues that often raise the public’s ire, from legalizing prostitution, to assisted suicide, and finally to a rational market for kidney transplants. For example, everywhere there is good date, legalizing prostitution reduces not only incidents of sexually transmitted disease, but also violent sexual assaults. It may also combat illegal human trafficking. As far as kidney transplants are concerned, in the US alone, over 130,000 kidney failures occur each year, and only 20,000-30,000 transplants are performed, because of a lack of suitable kidney donors. Roth has already helped resolve one bottleneck, connecting donors with those in need, through a kidney exchange, which is actually more complicated than it may seem due to medical incompatibilities even within closely related individuals. More generally, not only could lives be saved, but as he shows, it would save considerable money if a rational system of reimbursing prospective donors could be devised.
Beyond his remarkable work tying empirical testing to theoretical ideas, as a human being, Roth is a saint. I have direct knowledge of this. On the day this podcast was recorded, we had an amazing 3 hour dialogue… one of the best I have had. Only problem was, I forgot to press record! We lost it all. With patience and grace that I never expected, Roth agreed to re-record another podcast on the same day. A friend of mine told me was a mensch. But I never expected …
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence | Ghost Murmers, New Wires, Cosmic Questions, And AI cures?
24 april 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
I’m back with my friend and colleague Sabine Hossenfelder for another episode of “What’s New in Science”. Spending time with Sabine was a nice chance to step away from my physics lecture series for a bit. I know many of you have been enjoying the lectures, so don’t worry, they’ll be back soon. Lees meer
In this episode, we covered an incredibly wide range of science topics. Sabine opened with reported claim that the CIA used quantum magnetometry to find the downed pilot in Iran. The report, in the NY Post, looked fishy. We explain why it is. Then I described a new discovery in the physics of material that may solve perhaps the biggest problem in AI now: heat generation in computers. Sabine talked about a new claimed Big Bang Theory that might have some relevance to quantum gravity. Then I countered with a discussion of yet a new result that suggests the standard model of cosmology may have troubles, or that observers are wrong.
After that, Sabine introduced a paper describing a possible new way to measure gravitational waves. I think it is a fine piece of work, though it is not clear if it is practical. If it were, then the huge interferometers that are now being used could be replaced by ‘tabletop’ detectors. We will see.
Finally, I described an amazingly interesting news story that might have implications for the future of medicine. It also demonstrates what one person, with determination and wealth, can do to possibly cure their own maladies. Sid Sijbrandij, a billionaire tech CEO of Gitlab, was diagnosed with inoperable spine cancer, and launched an amazing program of diagnostics, AI data mining, and a group of scientists who developed vaccines specific to his genetic makeup. After implementing all the procedures, he has been cancer free for a year. While this is beyond the reach of people without these resources now, Sid’s story demonstrates the potential power of combining AI and genetic medicine in the future.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is…
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Physics for Everyone, Lecture 3: Motion, from Galileo to Dark Mysteries
14 april 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
We usually begin the study of physics with a discussion of motion, not because it is easy, or because the modern understanding of motion began with Galileo hundreds of years ago. Rather, Galileo’s groundbreaking work provides a paradigm to understand how physics is done today. Extracting out the fundamental essence of motion from all the distractions associated with what turn out to be irrelevant complexities was a monumental intellectual leap for humankind—a leap we often take for granted. Lees meer
Without the leap, for example, Newton could never have made his profound discoveries about the relationship between force and movement, nor his discovery of the Universal Law of Gravitation.
But too often we treat these remarkable achievements as something belonging in antiquity.. as if we have moved far beyond them in every way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Applying the very same ideas that Galileo and Newton developed leads us to the cusp of modern physics: the discovery of the dominant mass in the Universe, a vast invisible sea of dark matter. In this episode, we travel over 450 years of physics, from Galileo, to the threshold of our understanding of the cosmos today. Hang onto your hats.
I’m also pleased to share a quick PSA. A reminder of our 2026 Origins expedition through the Greek archipelago (July 24 to 31), with a Cyprus add-on (July 17 to 22). If you’re interested, it’s worth raising your hand early. These trips tend to fill quickly. Express interest at
https://originsproject.org/greek-adventure-2026-application/
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project YouTube.
Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe
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Katie Herzog: The Science Behind Drinking To Get Sober
23 maart 2026 · 2 uur 11 min
Alcoholism is a scourge on modern society. Every year, 178,000 American die from alcohol abuse, and it has been estimated that over 200 billion dollars is lost from the US economy due to alcoholism, includingcosts of health care, lost productivity, and costs of crime enforcement. Given this immense social cost, it is equally amazing that there is no widely accepted cure. Rather, alcoholics are told they need to abstain from taking a single drink for the rest of their lives, or they are likely to revert to their earlier states of alcohol abuse. Lees meer
Katie Herzog is a journalist whose work I have enjoyed and I was happy to have a conversation with her in general. But even more so after the publication of her recent book, Drink your Way Sober. She discusses there a fascinating science-based approach that appears to provide a ‘cure’ for many alcoholics that actually allows them to drink, if they wish, in moderation, for the rest of their lives. The idea is to use an opioid blocker, in this case something called naltrexone, that basically removes the pleasure response from drinking. A naltrexone pill can be taken a few hours before drinking, and over time, with the correct behavioral management, it has been shown to be effective for many drinking in removing the craving for alcohol.
What makes Katie’s book, and our discussion, so poignant is that Katie is not just a journalist writing about alcoholism, she was an alcoholic for most of her life, and her discovery of the work of of the so-called Sinclair Method, after the scientist David Sinclair, whose original work on naltrexone in Finland changed the field, changed her life.
Her book intersperses her own experiences with the science underlying this new treatment for alcoholism, and it is thus perfect for our podcast, which connects science and culture. It also makes for a fascinating and informative conversation that I hope will help have a positive impact on treating this international blight. I hope you find it engross…
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence | Fusion Dark Matter, String Theory in Biology, and Rapid Evolution
13 februari 2026 · 58 min
I’m back with my friend and colleague Sabine Hossenfelder for another episode of “What’s New in Science”. I think this is one of my favorite dialogues that we have had. Spending time with Sabine was a nice chance to step away from my physics lecture series for a bit. I know many of you have been enjoying the lectures, so don’t worry, they’ll be back soon. Lees meer
In this episode, we covered the kind of science news I like best: ideas you can argue about and results that make you recalibrate. Sabine opened with describing a clever proposal that future fusion reactors might double as axion dark matter factories, producing a flux of very light, weakly interacting particles through neutron-lithium reactions in the shielding. That led to a discussion about what people mean by “axions,” why particle physicists tend to be more particular about the term, and why I’m always more interested in dark matter candidates that were invented to solve an actual problem, not just to fill a cosmological gap. From there we jumped to quantum mechanics at the edge of common sense, with a Vienna experiment showing interference from a cluster of thousands of atoms, and a friendly disagreement about whether “collapse” is a real physical process or just the wrong way to talk about what quantum mechanics is doing.
We also talked about AI and math, including the recent swirl of claims about machines proving famous open problems, what was hype, what was rediscovery, and what might genuinely be changing in how mathematicians search the landscape. Then we went from equations to extinction, with a fascinating new approach using space dust and helium isotopes to argue that life may have started rebounding after the Chicxulub impact far faster than people had assumed. Sabine brought a surprising example of string theory mathematics finding a practical use in modeling biological networks, and we ended with biology proper in two very different moods: a sobering study in mice suggesting lung tumors can hijac…
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Physics for Everyone, Lecture 2: The Gestalt of Physics, Tools for Seeing
22 januari 2026 · 56 min
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as Arthur C. Clarke put it. In that spirit, the way we get closest to “magic” in physics is not by memorizing more facts or equations, but by learning a few mental tools that help us see through the illusion of complexity by extracting the wheat from the chaff. They are all simple at heart, but nevertheless quite powerful, and they form the core of what I call the Gestalt of Physics—the worldview that governs how physicists approach nature. And some of them can actually seem like magic to the uninitiated! Lees meer
I’m also pleased to share a quick PSA. We’re organizing our next Origins travel adventure: a sailing expedition through the Greek archipelago (July 24 to 31) with a possible Cyprus add-on (July 18 to 23). If you’re interested, it’s worth raising your hand early. These trips tend to fill quickly. Express interest at http://originsproject.org/greece-2026
In Lecture 1, I used powers of ten as an intellectual zoom lens, a way to escape the trap of human scale. Lecture 2 steps back and asks a more fundamental question: how do physicists consistently make progress when the world looks hopelessly complicated?
This lecture focuses on the fundamental toolkit for seeing. We will use these tools throughout the series, because they are the difference between being dazzled by nature and being able to interrogate it, and ultimately understand it.
First, order of magnitude thinking, the art of using powers of ten and rough estimates. It is how you keep your intuition tethered to reality, and how you avoid being bullied by big numbers dressed up with false precision.
Second, approximation, which is where I introduce my super cow. It is not only a spherical cow. It’s better. My super cow has exactly the features we need for the question at hand, no more, no less, and it politely agrees to ignore everything irrelevant. I introduce it with a joke, but it is also the core of how we turn messy reality into some…
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence| New Year's Edition: Big ideas, precision measurements, and prebiotic molecules.
31 december 2025 · 54 min
New Year’s Eve always comes with that familiar urge to clean the slate, toss out what didn’t hold up, and keep what actually earned its place. That’s basically the spirit of our latest “What’s New in Science” episode with Sabine Hossenfelder. Lees meer
We began with the season’s favorite shiny object: wormholes. The headlines have been everywhere, but we talked through why most of these stories quietly slide from “a speculative tool in a model” to “a virtual phenomenon that might be useful in calculations.” Traversable wormholes of course still run straight into hard constraints like negative energy and the time machine problem.
From there we moved to something much more grounded: CERN. ATLAS has now observed the Higgs decaying into muon pairs, which is exactly the kind of precise confirmation you want for the Standard Model, and while it is yet another remarkable confirmation of how well the fundamental feature of the Standard Model works, it once again sharpens the contrast with the inexplicable nature of the only feature that doesn’t seem to fit: neutrino masses. And it leaves us hanging about where to look next.
We next spent time on what the future might look like for big particle collider projects and what it says about the field’s priorities, including the signal sent by China’s latest five-year plan, which no longer features a massive circular collider proposal. We touched on a smaller CERN result as well, and used it to reflect on a broader point: some of the most stubborn, interesting physics lives in regimes that are messy rather than glamorous.
Then we took a quick detour into a quantum gravity-adjacent proposal about whether the way we average quantities in general relativity could matter for quantum corrections, and finally landed on a genuinely satisfying closer: OSIRIS-REx’s Bennu samples. Finding ribose alongside other prebiotic building blocks makes it harder to dismiss the idea that the chemistry of life might be widespread, and not a once-only cosmic …
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The Like Button, and the Strange Power of Tiny Ideas | Martin Reeves
22 december 2025 · 2 uur 25 min
On this week’s episode of The Origins Podcast, I ended up in a place I genuinely never expected to go: the humble “like” button. When the idea first landed in my inbox, my reaction was basically, why on Earth would anyone write a whole book about that? Then I spoke with Martin Reeves, and I discovered that the history of this tiny icon is a surprisingly rich window into innovation, entrepreneurship, human psychology, and the modern attention economy. Lees meer
Martin is a senior figure at BCG’s Henderson Institute, but what made the conversation especially fun for me is that he is not a consultant who wandered into science. He has a background in science, and then wandered into the world of strategy, technology, and ideas, and he approaches the “like” button the way I wish more people approached our digital world: with curiosity, skepticism, and a willingness to follow evidence across disciplines.
The central irony, of course, is that the “like” button began as an almost laughably small, practical solution. In the story Martin and his coauthor reconstructs, it is often less about a single inventor than about a messy ecosystem of micro innovations, technical constraints, and cultural accidents. Yet those small choices compound. The result is that something as simple as a handful of code became a universal signal that helped shape social media, transformed advertising, and created feedback loops that are now baked into the infrastructure of daily life.
We also dig into why it works so well on us. The mechanisms are not mysterious in the abstract, they are biological and social, but the scale is unprecedented. Approval and recognition are ancient. Industrialized approval is new. And once you start thinking that way, you notice how these same feedback dynamics are spreading into new domains, including the tools we now use to interact with AI.
This conversation surprised me, and I suspect it will surprise you too. Indeed, if you are like me, and wondered why the like-button i…
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Polarization, Powerlessness, and what We can Actually Do
29 november 2025 · 2 uur 12 min
On this week’s episode of The Origins Podcast, I am excited to release a conversation that has been sitting in our archives for more than a year. When we first recorded this discussion with conflict mediator and systems thinker Diana McLain Smith, political polarization was already a significant national and international problem. It has only gotten worse.The world seems more tribal than ever, and there is constant pressure to have to pick a side in every argument and not listen to any different opinions, or even divergent facts. In this episode, we step back from that noise and ask what our deep evolutionary wiring for in group loyalty means in a complex modern democracy, how history and culture can turn ordinary differences into hardened divides, and what it might take to reduce the space between “us” and “them” rather than accept permanent hostility as normal.Through stories that range from local communities like Billings, Montana and Lewiston, Maine to the quiet work of reform in the United States Congress, Diana draws on decades of experience with families, organizations, and civic coalitions to show that citizens are not as powerless as we often feel, especially when we resist the demand for instant certainty and allow ourselves to say, “I do not know, I have not really thought about that before. I’m not on any one side. Let me look at the evidence before I form an opinion.” Lees meer
This is the basis of much of the scientific method, and it is something that we can all learn to do too. The benefits are immediate. You approach life with more curiosity, and you are freer from assumptions and biases.
Conversations like this go to the heart of the Origins Project Foundation mission, which is to bring the habits of mind that underlie science into our shared public life. My conversations on the podcast blend serious works in physics, psychology, and history with urgent questions about how we live together, and to model what it looks like to treat ideas as hypotheses to b…
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Announcing our new 12-part series: A dozen Lessons on Physics and Reality
23 november 2025 · 1 uur 4 min
I am thrilled to introduce a significant new segment for the Origins Podcast. We are producing a fully fledged 12-part series titled “A Dozen Lessons on Physics and Reality.” Over the coming months, we will release these lectures to provide a comprehensive guide to how physicists think about the world. I’m particularly excited to share the wonder and insights that are often lost in standard textbook descriptions, while giving more detail than one might obtain in a standard 1 hour physics lecture. These will be based on lectures I have given to non-scientists at institutions I have taught, ranging from Yale University to The New College of Humanities in London. Lees meer
We begin with Lecture 1: A Tour of the Universe.
To understand the cosmos, we must abandon the linear scales of human experience. In this opening lecture, I utilize the mathematical tool of “powers of ten” to map the true playing field of physics. This tour is about perspective. It reveals how the universe operates on scales of space and time that are vastly different from our daily lives, ranging from the subatomic scales to the cosmic microwave background. It is a journey that highlights our cosmic insignificance while simultaneously celebrating the power of science to explore our origins and to change our perspective of our place in the cosmos. This tour is just the beginning. Here is the full curriculum we have planned for the series:
* A tour of the Universe
* The Gestalt of Physics: Tools for seeing
* Space, Scale, and Symmetry
* Motion, from Galileo to Einstein
* Gravity, Dark Matter, and the Expanding Universe
* Electricity and Magnetism, a repeat performance
* The Four Forces of Nature
* Quantum Mechanics 1
* Quantum Mechanics 2: Chemistry
* Quantum Mechanics in your face
* Heat worth dying for?
* The meaning of scientific truth
This initiative ties directly into our ongoing efforts at The Origins Project Foundation to expand our impact and achieve our mission of enhancing your excitem…
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(Rebroadcast) Noam Chomsky | Prescient Predictions? | Trump, Brazil, and American Fear
15 november 2025 · 2 uur 5 min
This week, I’m excited to share a special rebroadcast from the Origins Podcast archives: my original Origins Podcast conversation with Noam Chomsky. Lees meer
We recorded this dialog over six years ago, as an update to a conversation we’d held three years prior , before the political upheavals of Trump and Brexit.
Listening back now, it’s striking how much of what Noam said remains relevant, and in many cases, deeply prescient. As always, he was incisive, informative, provocative, and brilliant. We covered a huge range of topics, starting with the history of anti-intellectualism in America and the role of intellectuals during the Vietnam War , before moving into the nature of American exceptionalism.
We also dove into the pressing foreign policy issues of the day, including North Korea, Syria, Israel, Venezuela, and Brazil. While many of the underlying causes may be the same, it’s fascinating to see how some of these situations have played out in ways we might never have predicted.
From his analysis of free speech debates to his critical concerns about nuclear weapons and the environment, it’s a conversation that remains incredibly important.
I hope you enjoy revisiting this fascinating conversation.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project YouTube.
Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence
7 november 2025 · 1 uur
As we move into the end of the year, I’m excited to return to our recurring series “What’s New in Science” with my co-host Sabine Hossenfelder. In this month’s episode, we started by tackling a favorite subject: scientific hype. Sabine kicked things off by dissecting a recent, highly suspect press release claiming a million-qubit quantum computer is on the horizon. I then brought up a National Geographic article claiming that “warp drive is speeding closer to reality” , and we discussed the reasons why it actually isn’t, including the need for “negative energy,” that keep it firmly in the realm of science fiction. Lees meer
From there, Sabine steered us into the world of academic accolades, discussing the controversy around last year’s Nobel Prize in Physics for work on neural networks and the collaborative nature of science. I then introduced this year’s prize, which was awarded for the beautiful and precise experimental work on seemingly macroscopic manifestations of quantum mechanics—specifically, showing a superconducting quantum state can “tunnel” through a barrier.
Finally, we turned to cosmic mysteries. Sabine presented a report on search for “Dark Stars,” a theory that the first stars might have been powered by dark matter annihilation , which require some wishful thinking and what I think are not particularly well motivated physics. For full disclosure this is an issue I thought about in a slightly different context almost 40 years ago and have some a priori skepticism about. I closed with a much more plausible bit of exotic physics that may have been observed: new observations of long-lived gamma-ray bursts. A new model suggests these are caused by a black hole that has merged with a star and is consuming it from the inside out.
From wild hype to implausible and plausible models to Nobel-winning physics, I hope you enjoy the conversation.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions …
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Spooky Physics!
31 oktober 2025 · 40 min
In a special Halloween episode of the Origins Podcast, which I’ve have decided to call “Spooky Physics!”, I explore why you shouldn’t be afraid of the unknown, and in particular of supernatural gobbledygook. We look at the fundamental physics that debunks popular supernatural ideas. Lees meer
Take ghosts, for example. Physics is a two way street. If you can see a ghost, it must interact with light. But that very interaction, electromagnetism, is what stops you from walking through a wall. A ghost simply can’t have its cake and eat it too; it either goes through walls or you can see it. Not both.
I also confront one of the biggest misuses of physics today: the co-opting of quantum mechanics. People seize on Einstein’s “spooky action at a distance” to argue that consciousness can change the universe just by thinking. This is complete nonsense. I explain what entanglement really is and why it does not allow you to affect things remotely, no matter how much you might want to.
The moral of today’s topic is simple: don’t be afraid. And more importantly:
The real universe, with its actual quantum wonders and black holes, is far more interesting than any supernatural fantasy.
Enjoy Halloween…especially the candy.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available on the Origins Project YouTube.
Get full access to Critical Mass at lawrencekrauss.substack.com/subscribe
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Gad Saad: Final Episode of The War on Science Interviews
7 september 2025 · 27 min
As The War on Science continues to circulate and reach readers around the world, I had the privilege of closing our Origins mini series, The War on Science Interviews, with my colleague and book contributor Gad Saad. It felt fitting to end the series with a candid and provocative conversation that reflects the spirit of the project itself. Lees meer
The essays and interviews collected around this book address a wide range of concerns: the ideological corruption of science, the erosion of free speech in academia, the replacement of scholarship with activism in many disciplines, and the disruptions now spreading from mathematics to medicine. We explore how cancel culture and DEI bureaucracies weaken excellence, how biology is distorted for political ends, and how false premises about gender and sex compromise both science and medicine. The conversations are blunt and challenging, but they also aim to outline principles that can help universities recover integrity, trust, and the courage to return to embracing free inquiry.
Gad and I discussed many of these themes directly. He confronts the absurdities of modern campus culture, and his voice joins those the other contributors who have argued that ignoring these trends will not make them disappear. Many academics have hoped the problems would fade on their own. They have not. The internal culture war in academia must be confronted openly if scholarship and science are to thrive in the West.
I am hopeful the book will spark debate in universities and among the wider public. If you would like the full context for this episode, you can watch the complete War on Science Interviews mini series at this link here. In the meantime enjoy this episode now.
With this finale, Origins now returns to its regular biweekly release schedule. We have some fascinating new conversations, educational content, and science news in store that I am excited to share.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Criti…
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Karleen Gribble | The War on Science Interviews | Day 20
15 augustus 2025 · 42 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Dorian Abbot – August 12
Karleen Gribble – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Dorian Abbot | The War on Science Interviews | Day 21
14 augustus 2025 · 56 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan | The War on Science Interviews | Day 19
12 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 7 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin | The War on Science Interviews | Day 18
11 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 4 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau | The War on Science Interviews | Day 17
9 augustus 2025 · 52 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Peter Boghossian | The War on Science Interviews | Day 16
9 augustus 2025 · 44 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Roger Cohen and Amy Wax | The War on Science Interviews | Day 15
8 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Alessandro Strumia | The War on Science Interviews | Day 14
7 augustus 2025 · 47 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Geoff Horsman | The War on Science Interviews | Day 13
6 augustus 2025 · 44 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Janice Fiamengo | The War on Science Interviews | Day 12
5 augustus 2025 · 51 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Carole Hooven | The War on Science Interviews | Day 11
4 augustus 2025 · 54 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Frances Widdowson | The War on Science Interviews | Day 10
3 augustus 2025 · 1 uur
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz | The War on Science Interviews | Day 9
1 augustus 2025 · 57 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Elizabeth Weiss | The War on Science Interviews | Day 8
1 augustus 2025 · 50 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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Sally Satel | The War on Science Interviews | Day 7
31 juli 2025 · 57 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel – July 30
Elizabeth Weiss – July 31
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz – August 1
Frances Widdowson – August 2
Carole Hooven – August 3
Janice Fiamengo – August 4
Geoff Horsman – August 5
Alessandro Strumia – August 6
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax – August 7
Peter Boghossian – August 8
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau – August 9
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin – August 10
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan – August 11
Karleen Gribble – August 12
Dorian Abbot – August 13
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free spe…
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John Armstrong | The War on Science Interviews | Day 6
28 juli 2025 · 50 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel July 29th
Elizabeth Weiss July 30th
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz July 31st
Frances Widdowson August 1st
Carole Hooven August 2nd
Janice Fiamengo August 3rd
Geoff Horsman August 4th
Alessandro Strumia August 5th
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax August 6th
Peter Boghossian August 7th
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau August 8th
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin August 9th
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan August 10th
Karleen Gribble August 11th
Dorian Abbot August 12th
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free speec…
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Abigail Thompson | The War on Science Interviews | Day 5
28 juli 2025 · 51 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel July 29th
Elizabeth Weiss July 30th
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz July 31st
Frances Widdowson August 1st
Carole Hooven August 2nd
Janice Fiamengo August 3rd
Geoff Horsman August 4th
Alessandro Strumia August 5th
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax August 6th
Peter Boghossian August 7th
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau August 8th
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin August 9th
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan August 10th
Karleen Gribble August 11th
Dorian Abbot August 12th
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free speec…
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Maarten Boudry | The War on Science Interviews | Day 4
27 juli 2025 · 50 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel July 29th
Elizabeth Weiss July 30th
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz July 31st
Frances Widdowson August 1st
Carole Hooven August 2nd
Janice Fiamengo August 3rd
Geoff Horsman August 4th
Alessandro Strumia August 5th
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax August 6th
Peter Boghossian August 7th
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau August 8th
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin August 9th
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan August 10th
Karleen Gribble August 11th
Dorian Abbot August 12th
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free speec…
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Nicholas Christakis | The War on Science Interviews | Day 3
25 juli 2025 · 38 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel July 29th
Elizabeth Weiss July 30th
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz July 31st
Frances Widdowson August 1st
Carole Hooven August 2nd
Janice Fiamengo August 3rd
Geoff Horsman August 4th
Alessandro Strumia August 5th
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax August 6th
Peter Boghossian August 7th
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau August 8th
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin August 9th
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan August 10th
Karleen Gribble August 11th
Dorian Abbot August 12th
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free speec…
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Niall Ferguson | The War on Science Interviews | Day 2
24 juli 2025 · 1 uur 17 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel July 29th
Elizabeth Weiss July 30th
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz July 31st
Frances Widdowson August 1st
Carole Hooven August 2nd
Janice Fiamengo August 3rd
Geoff Horsman August 4th
Alessandro Strumia August 5th
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax August 6th
Peter Boghossian August 7th
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau August 8th
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin August 9th
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan August 10th
Karleen Gribble August 11th
Dorian Abbot August 12th
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free speec…
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The Origins Podcast: The War on Science Interviews: Day 1, Richard Dawkins
23 juli 2025 · 1 uur 2 min
To celebrate the release on July 29th of The War on Science, we have recorded 20 podcast interviews with authors from the book. Starting on July 22nd, with Richard Dawkins, we will be releasing one interview per day. Interviewees in order, will be: Lees meer
Richard Dawkins July 23rd
Niall Ferguson July 24th
Nicholas Christakis July 25th
Maarten Boudry July 26th
Abigail Thompson July 27th
John Armstrong July 28th
Sally Satel July 29th
Elizabeth Weiss July 30th
Solveig Gold and Joshua Katz July 31st
Frances Widdowson August 1st
Carole Hooven August 2nd
Janice Fiamengo August 3rd
Geoff Horsman August 4th
Alessandro Strumia August 5th
Roger Cohen and Amy Wax August 6th
Peter Boghossian August 7th
Lauren Schwartz and Arthur Rousseau August 8th
Alex Byrne and Moti Gorin August 9th
Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan August 10th
Karleen Gribble August 11th
Dorian Abbot August 12th
The topics these authors discuss range over ideas including the ideological corruption of science, historical examples of the demise of academia, free speech in academia, social justice activism replacing scholarship in many disciplines, disruptions of science from mathematics to medicine, cancel culture, the harm caused by DEI bureaucracies at universities, distortions of biology, disingenous and dangerous distortions of the distinctions between gender and sex in medicine, and false premises impacting on gender affirming care for minors, to, finally, a set of principles universities should adopt to recover from the current internal culture war.
The dialogues are blunt, and provocative, and point out the negative effects that the current war on science going on within universities is having on the progress of science and scholarship in the west. We are hoping that the essays penned by this remarkable group of scholars will help provoke discussion both within universities and the public at large about how to restore trust, excellence, merit, and most important sound science, free speec…
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence
7 juli 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
I’m excited to announce the fifth episode of our new series, What’s New in Science, co-hosted by Sabine Hossenfelder. Once again, Sabine and I each brought a few recent science stories to the table, and we took turns introducing them before diving into thoughtful discussions. It’s a format that continues to spark engaging exchanges, and based on the feedback we’ve received, it’s resonating well with listeners. Lees meer
In this month’s episode Sabine first explored the possibility that huge terrestrial accessible reservoirs of hydrogen may exist that could provide the basis for a viable hydrogen fuel economy. Then we turned to the results from the wonderful new Vera C. Rubin Telescope in Chile, and what that telescope could do for our evolving picture of the cosmos. After that Sabine introduced a discussion of a scientific paper I wrote with colleagues on implications of mathematical incompleteness theorems for the possible existence of a physical Theory of Everything. Then on to the newly released results from a muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab, which after almost 2 decades of efforts, seems to have demonstrated that predictions from the the Standard Model of Particle Physics, alas, continue to agree with experiments, showing no signs of new physics. After that, we explored a new claim by DeepMind about the abilities of AI systems to design and test new coding algorithms, which might be used to train future systems. Besides the science-fiction sounding nature of this, it could also help reduce the amount of energy needed to build and train LLMs. Finally, returning to my own interest in new results related to the cosmic origin of life, we discussed anew result showing why polycyclic hydrocarbons, which one might expect would be destroyed by radiation in space, seem to survive. This could be important for understanding how organic seeds for life managed to survive long enough to arrive on the early Earth.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available …
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Fruitful Disagreement in an Age of Division with Robert George and Cornel WestRobert George and Cornel West
12 juni 2025 · 2 uur 30 min
One of the great pleasures of hosting the Origins Podcast is talking with fascinating thinkers who challenge my perspectives and with whom I can have frank, if provocative, discussions. My recent conversation with Robert George and Cornel West was particularly enjoyable. These two distinguished intellectuals embody the spirit of respectful and meaningful dialogue that the Origins Project Foundation aims to foster. Lees meer
Robert George is a renowned conservative legal scholar and Catholic professor at Princeton University, while Cornel West is a leading progressive philosopher and Protestant scholar at Union Theological Seminary, and an academic celebrity. Together, they've authored a timely new book, Truth Matters, exploring how fruitful dialogue can bridge ideological divides even during polarized times.
In our conversation, we tackled subjects including philosophy, theology, politics, and the crucial role respectful disagreement plays in uncovering deeper truths. Joining the discussion as a scientist, atheist, and someone raised in a Jewish tradition, I brought a viewpoint to our exchange that differed from those of both Robert and Cornell, who in spite of their political differences are both Christians, and scholars in the humanities . It was especially rewarding to find common ground with Robert and Cornel despite our differing starting points. All told, I found it one of the most fascinating discussions to date, and the first with more than one person. It worked. :)
This kind of rich and thoughtful engagement is precisely what inspired me to start the Origins Podcast. Robert George and Cornel West remind us that disagreements are valuable, as they help us move closer to understanding not only each other, but also ourselves.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on t…
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence
26 mei 2025 · 50 min
I’m excited to announce the fourth episode of our new series, What’s New in Science, co-hosted by Sabine Hossenfelder. Once again, Sabine and I each brought a few recent science stories to the table, and we took turns introducing them before diving into thoughtful discussions. It’s a format that continues to spark engaging exchanges, and based on the feedback we’ve received, it’s resonating well with listeners. Lees meer
It was a bit of a slow month for science news, but we did find six stories worth examining, including what sounds like a preposterous claim, turning rain into electricity! It turns out it doesn’t violate any laws of physics, but is not likely to address our energy needs.
The Hype of the Month award goes to the claim of biosignatures on planet K2-18, which got worldwide coverage, even though experts were pretty certain it was wrong from the get go, and subsequent analysis finds no such evidence.
A claim that gravity is just a computation is examined, and dismissed, while evidence for exotic antimatter nuclei at CERN is sound science, even if it is not earth shattering. It reminds us that exotic physics must be considered in exotic locations like the early big bang, or the cores of neutron stars.
Sabine was excited about a new result regarding laser fusion, even if it is more likely to be useful for weapons production than commercial energy production, and this time, I was the one to bring up a new result in Quantum Computing, this time using ‘qu-quints’ to simulate an actual physics system, although a simple one in two dimensions.
It was another lively and thoughtful exchange, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podcast. The audio version is available free on the Critical Mass site and on all podcast sites, and the video version will also be available o…
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Neil Shubin: Science, Exploration, Patience, and Survival at the Ends of the Earth
9 mei 2025 · 2 uur 27 min
One of the best parts of hosting the Origins podcast is talking with remarkable scientists whose ideas have changed the way we understand ourselves and our world. My recent conversation with Neil Shubin was particularly enjoyable, not only because Neil is a friend whose insights I admire, but because our dialogue ranged across some of the most fascinating questions at the intersection of evolution, exploration, and human curiosity. Lees meer
Neil became widely known for discovering Tiktaalik, the fossil fish whose fins contain bones remarkably similar to the limbs of land animals, including us. He is currently the Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Service Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago and the bestselling author of Your Inner Fish and, most recently, The Ends of the Earth. But beyond his credentials, Neil embodies the careful, patient, and humble approach to discovery that value in science.
Our discussion began with the unexpected paths scientists take, including Neil's own formative experiences. He described how museum visits and planetarium shows ignited his childhood fascination, and we talked about how a single course on vertebrate evolution at Harvard redirected his career from veterinary medicine to fossil hunting. Neil recounted, and we discussed at length, the meticulous thought and considerable risk that led him and his colleague, Ted Daeschler, to choose the Canadian Arctic for their famous expedition. It took six summers of tough fieldwork before their gamble yielded Tiktaalik, transforming our understanding of how life transitioned from water to land.
But our conversation wasn't just about past discoveries. Neil and I explored broader themes about the nature of science itself: how hypotheses are formed, the patience and courage it takes to test bold ideas, and the critical importance of embracing failure. We agreed that stepping outside one's comfort zone is almost always necessary to achieve scientific breakthroughs, an…
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Stephanie Canizales on the human tragedy of undocumented and unaccompanied migrant youth in the US.
23 april 2025 · 1 uur 57 min
Six months or so ago, I had a fascinating interview/discussion with Stephanie Canizales about her book, Sin Padres, Ni Papeles, which described her five year PhD project interviewing young people who had migrated from Central America as undocumented and unaccompanied minors in pursuit of a better future. These children were sent by their parents because they had no other choice, either to protect their lives from violence or because they had no means to support them at home. Lees meer
Once these children arrived in the US they were met by either impoverished relatives who often couldn’t support them. With no access to education or any legal means of supporting themselves they were forced to take low-wage jobs just to survive.
I believe our society should be judged not by how well we keep people out, but how well we treat people when they are here. The story of these children is heart wrenching, and raises many complex issues, which may challenge previous notions you may have about such things as child welfare laws, about how we treat these young people who were driven here not out of choice, but through necessity, and who our society largely abandons once they arrive.
Because of the vicissitudes of international affairs and other unexpected factors, we were not able to release this dialogue before now. But perhaps there could be no more opportune time to address this issue. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia came to this country as a 16 year old, a minor sent by his family to protect him from local gangs. In the intervening 14 years in the United States he was never charged or convicted of a crime, just as he had never been so charged or convicted in his home country of El Salvador. He had a job, and had several children with his US citizen wife. Nevertheless, he was recently illegally deported, without any trial, back to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, leading to a vigorous public debate.
During the public discussions, Kilmar, and other illegal immigrants have been …
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What's New in Science With Sabine and Lawrence
13 april 2025 · 57 min
I’m excited to announce the third episode of our new series, What’s New in Science, co-hosted by Sabine Hossenfelder. Once again, Sabine and I each brought a few recent science stories to the table, and we took turns introducing them before diving into thoughtful discussions. It’s a format that continues to spark engaging exchanges, and based on the feedback we’ve received, it’s resonating well with listeners. Lees meer
This time, we covered a wide range of intriguing topics. We began with the latest buzz from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument suggesting that dark energy might be changing over time. I remain skeptical, but the possibility alone is worth a closer look. We followed that with results from the Euclid space telescope, which has already identified nearly 500 strong gravitational lensing candidates—an impressive yield from just the early data.
We also returned to quantum computing, comparing the hype around Microsoft’s recent claims to Amazon’s quieter but arguably more meaningful development—a chip with built-in error correction, which could mark real progress toward scalable systems. From there we went to Earth, where a team at Princeton reported a result that almost sounds like a perpetual motion machine: using the Earth’s magnetic field to generate electric current. It’s not going to power the grid, but it raises fascinating questions.
And of course, we couldn’t resist discussing a new round of exotic claims about hidden structures beneath the Pyramids of Giza, before wrapping up with a reanalysis of decade-old data from the Curiosity rover on Mars. It suggests the presence of organic compounds that might hint at life—but as always, the story is more complicated.
It was another lively and thoughtful exchange, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.
As always, an ad-free video version of this podcast is also available to paid Critical Mass subscribers. Your subscriptions support the non-profit Origins Project Foundation, which produces the podc…