I’ve decided to officially take the plunge into the world of podcasting. The new show will be called Mindscape, and will mostly consist of me talking to smart people about interesting ideas. (Occasionally it will be me talking by myself about ideas of questionable merit.) I’m a grizzled veteran at appearing on other podcasts, and it’s past time I sat in the director’s chair here.
Today I’m just releasing a short teaser podcast, in both audio (bottom of this post) and video (right here) form. Next week will be a more official launch, with several real episodes, all of which I had enormous fun recording.
FAQ:
- It won’t just be about physics, although physics will naturally appear. Indeed, the opportunity to talk about things other than physics is a large part of my motivation here. I have plans/hopes to talk to historians, psychologists, biologists, philosophers, artists, filmmakers, neuroscientists, economists, writers, theologians, political scientists, musicians, and more.
- The video above is just to lure you in. Almost all episodes will be audio-only.
- I don’t have a strict release schedule, that will depend on other obligations. I would guess one every two weeks, perhaps weekly if things start going super-well. (So if you want more episodes, encourage others to subscribe!) Typical episodes will be an hour long, at least to start, though don’t hold me to that.
- Right now you can both subscribe to the RSS feed, and/or to an email list, both available on the sidebar to the right. If you join the email list, you can choose to either get just the episodes as they are released, or just special announcements relevant to the podcast, or both.
- Soon I hope to be available on iTunes and Google Play and various other platforms, but I’m not sure how quickly that happens.
- There won’t be any ads to start, but I am planning to monetize it if things go well. These microphones don’t pay for themselves. I’m not really in it for the money, but if money starts rolling in, my incentive to keep going will be correspondingly boosted.
- Feel free to leave comments and discuss individual episodes as they appear. There is also a subreddit which might make a good conversation spot.
- Like everything else I do that isn’t physics research, this is a hobby, and might have to take a temporary back seat if things get busy. But so far it’s been a lot of fun, and I’m excited to see where it will go.
Show notes for this episode: I mention a study of the different ways in which artists and regular people look at images, which you can read about here.
And we’re ready to go! Thanks to everyone who has helped me set this up, including Gia Mora (web and technical help), Julian Morris (prodding), Cara Santa Maria (podcasting wisdom), Jason Torchinsky (art), Ted Pyne (music), Robert Alexander (gear), and Jennifer Ouellette (patience, support, wine).
Comment here if you have suggestions, for good ideas to talk about, good people to talk to, or format/technical wisdom. (As always, demands that I not talk about this or that will be summarily deleted; those are my choices to make, not anybody else’s.) Still very new at this, mistakes both technical and judgmental are practically guaranteed to happen, but I’m optimistic that it should be a fun ride.
I’m already in love with the podcast. Could you please invite David Deutsch as a guest and talk about many worlds interpretation of QM and epistemology.
Thanks for taking time and starting the podcast.
I agree – David Deutsch would be a perfect Podcast guest.
Close the curtains. 😎
Really happy that you’re starting the Mindscape podcast, Sean. Came here to ask for the exact same guest as @mizrob a. and @xasd: please, consider having David Deutsch. Would love to hear you guys talking about many worlds/the multiverse, quantum information, quantum computing, DD’s Constructor Theory and basically anything you both feel like talking. Pretty sure it would be a very special conversation.
Talking with Sabine Hossenfelder about her new book “Lost in Math” would be interesting.
Sean, this looks amazing and I loved the intro! Bravo!
I’m not sure I’ve been able to sign up for the email correctly. When I click on “Subscribe” I get the word “captcha” show up just above that button and no confirmation that I am now subscribed. Oh, wait, I was able to sign up using the “Get Podcast Updates via Email” link in the right column (rather than the “Email signup” button in the right part of the podcast player itself). I’ve now received a confirmation email.
Why can’t all the podcasts include video? Just sayin’…
Break a leg! 🙂
Sabine Hossenfelder, Steven weinberg, Jeremy England,Manjul bhargava.. Please
Pingback: Sean Carroll's New Mindscape Podcast: Episode Zero | 3 Quarks Daily
Invite Douglas Hofstadter please!
Yes, Douglas Hofstadter would be fantastic.
Yes, yes, yes to David Deutsch as a guest. However, as far as I’m
concerned any conversation you’d be interested in having is one I’d be
interested in listening to, no matter who the interviewee. Thank you
for all you do.
Thank you Sean for starting a podcast! I enjoyed episode zero and very much look forward to the official launch next week.
All the best!
…and a suggestion for a topic: eternal inflation, the inflaton field and multiple universes arising from this. Interesting questions might be: Can universes collide in this model? Is dark energy essential for this? Would quantum mechanics need to be the same throughout the multiverse? Thanks!
I’m already onboard. Would you consider making a subreddit for this podcast? It’s a great platform to cross-reference and cross-link stuff.
Sean Carroll talking with Noam Chomsky is the conversation that I need in my life.
Oh yes!
Very glad you have the bug to entertain and educate the laity, and this podcast has a real chance to be unique and special. I am very excited about it— almost as much as “Something Deeply Hidden.”
Also glad to hear to discuss rationality and biases. One recent example I saw from you was your reaction to Caplan’s “Case Against Education.” You seemed to bristle at the very thought of it, but I am sure you know he is a fairly serious scholar and Robin Hanson (who I believe you may know and respect) shares the view enough that his most recent book contained a chapter that was basically a cliff’s notes version of Caplan’s book.
Not trying to play “gotcha.” It was just nice to see you mention biases and acknowledge that you are prone to them and aware of it.
Again, very exciting to see this podcast happen. You would have been at the very top of the list of people I’d like to see start one. Almost as excited to see the list of guests as to hear the first episode.
Since other’s are throwing Deutsch’s name out there, I’ll suggest one as well: Steve Hsu on the future of engineered intelligence.
Eagerly await to podcast and the new book.
Good luck with this new endeavor. Get to the bottom of free will!
Like to hear you discuss rationality with Daniel Khaneman
I have always found you a good speaker, clear and concise, and find that, besides a sharp mind, you have a soothing voice which should lend itself well to podcasts. I would enjoy hearing you talk with Laurence Krauss about nothing (pun intended).
I have always found you a good speaker, clear and concise, and find that, besides a sharp mind, you have a soothing voice which should lend itself well to podcasts. I would enjoy hearing you talk with Laurence Krauss about nothing (pun intended).
Super excited for the podcast. Eagerly await the episodes centred around QM.
Could I also recommend you bring in some neuroscientists. (Karl Friston, Andy Clark, Rajesh Rao etc.) to talk about recent developments in theoretical neuroscience and the theory of the Bayesian brain.
You are a great speaker, very much excited to see how this goes.
Very awesome! Would love to see you have discussions with: Robert Sapolsky, Chamath Palihapitiya, Salman Khan and/or Elon Musk (and other fascinating people of course).
Congrats, Sean, on the start-up. My guest requests:
√ Steve Giddings for an in-depth discussion on how Hawking radiation works… and, maybe, his take on the black hole information paradox and how breaking entanglements creates the ‘firewall’.
√ Don Page: How the heck does being a respected physicist/cosmologist, a black hole expert, a very much professed Christian, AND an Everettian work??
√ A link up with Michael Russell and Nick Lane on life’s origins.
Thanks, and best regards!
Oh, I forgot to add: Steve Giddings as first recruit for the Sean Carroll All-Cosmos Basketball All-Stars, maybe?
I see there is another Jonathan Park (or just a slight error has occurred somewhere) who wrote:
“Jonathan Park July 4, 2018 AT 11:16 PM
I have always found you a good speaker, clear and concise, and find that, besides a sharp mind, you have a soothing voice which should lend itself well to podcasts. I would enjoy hearing you talk with Laurence Krauss about nothing (pun intended).”
But that’s all good – this Jonathan agrees with that Jonathan!
Great podcast! What’s the music of the intro? Sounds like Gentle Giant!!!