Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Science & Ideas
About
Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you've come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.
Episodes
- AMA | May 2026
In this May 2026 Ask Me Anything episode, Sean Carroll responds to questions submitted by his Patreon supporters.
- 352 | Bing Brunton on Connecting the Connectome to the Body
Bing Brunton, a neuroscientist, discusses the connectome, which is the wiring diagram of a brain. She explains how studying the connectome can help understand bodily motion.
- 351 | Peter Singer on Maximizing Good for All Sentient Creatures
Philosopher Peter Singer discusses utilitarianism, animal rights, and effective altruism. The episode covers consequentialism, ethics, and decisions at the end of life.
- 350 | J. Eric Oliver on the Self and How to Know It
J. Eric Oliver, a political science professor, discusses the concept of the "self" and how to understand it. His insights incorporate psychology, neuroscience, and the humanities, as explored in his book, "How to Know Yourself."
- AMA | April 2026
This is an Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape from April 2026. Sean Carroll answers questions submitted by Patreon supporters.
- 349 | Daniel Harlow on What Quantum Gravity Teaches Us About Quantum Mechanics
Daniel Harlow explores how quantum gravity informs our understanding of quantum mechanics. The discussion touches on black hole radiation, the wave function of the universe, and the AdS/CFT correspondence.
- 348 | Jessica Riskin on Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Life as Creative Agency
In this episode, Jessica Riskin discusses Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and his contributions to evolutionary biology. She argues that Lamarck's ideas about organisms having creative agency are still relevant.
- 347 | Andrew Guthrie Ferguson on How Your Data Will Be Used Against You
Law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson discusses the collection and use of personal data by authorities, a topic he covers in his book "Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance." This episode explores how…
- 346 | Erica Cartmill on How Human and Animal Minds Think and Play
Erica Cartmill, an anthropologist and cognitive scientist, discusses the differences in intelligence and social behaviors between human and animal minds. She explores how various species play and interact, revealing insights into their way…
- AMA | March 2026
In this March 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) episode, Sean Carroll responds to questions from his Patreon supporters. The questions are selected and sometimes grouped by topic.
- 345 | Adam Elga on Being Rational in a Very Large Universe
Adam Elga joins Sean Carroll to discuss how to be rational when faced with various forms of uncertainty. Their conversation covers uncertainty in cosmology, quantum mechanics, and predictions about the future, as well as the implications o…
- 344 | Adam Gurri on Liberal Democracy and How to Fight For It
Adam Gurri, editor-in-chief of Liberal Currents, explores the concepts of liberal democracy and its historical trajectory. He discusses challenges to liberal consensus, including nativist and authoritarian movements.
- 343 | Tom Griffiths on The Laws of Thought
Tom Griffiths discusses human thought processes, covering logical reasoning, probability, uncertainty, and cognitive limitations. He explains general principles from his book, The Laws of Thought: The Quest for a Mathematical Theory of Min…
- AMA | Feb 2026
In this February 2026 Ask Me Anything episode, Sean Carroll answers listener questions from Patreon supporters. He selects questions based on what he has interesting things to say about, sometimes grouping similar topics together. He also…
- 342 | Rachell Powell on Evolutionary Convergence, Morality, and Mind
Sean Carroll and Rachell Powell discuss evolutionary convergence, morality, and mind. They explore how random mutations and selection pressures lead to both divergence and convergence in species, from physical traits to social organization.
- 341 | Stewart Brand on Maintenance as an Organizing Principle
In this episode, Stewart Brand discusses the concept of maintenance and its role in keeping systems functional. He touches on the challenges and rewards associated with maintaining various systems.
- 340 | Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on What Matters and Why It Matters
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein discusses the concept of 'mattering' and its significance to individuals. She explores how this need can drive both positive achievements and interpersonal conflicts, drawing from her book, "The Mattering Instin…
- 339 | Ned Block on Whether Consciousness Requires Biology
Ned Block discusses if consciousness requires biology. He argues consciousness involves more than input/output functions.
- Holiday Message 2025 | The Romance of the University
Sean Carroll's holiday message for 2025 reflects on the value of higher education. He discusses the personal growth possibilities offered by a liberal arts and sciences degree.
- AMA | December 2025
In this December 2025 Ask Me Anything episode, Sean Carroll responds to questions submitted by his Patreon supporters. He also promotes the Pods Fight Poverty effort by GiveDirectly.
- 338 | Ryan Patterson on the Physics of Neutrinos
Ryan Patterson, a neutrino physicist, discusses the physics of neutrinos. He covers current and future experiments, implications for dark matter, and the abundance of particles over antiparticles in the universe.
- 337 | Kevin Zollman on Game Theory, Signals, and Meaning
Kevin Zollman joins Sean Carroll to discuss game theory. They explore its applications in various fields, including biology, human interactions, and the origin of meaning in human language.
- 336 | Anil Ananthaswamy on the Mathematics of Neural Nets and AI
Anil Ananthaswamy joins Sean Carroll to discuss the mathematics of neural networks and AI. They cover topics including the curse of dimensionality and backpropagation, as presented in Ananthaswamy's book, "Why Machines Learn: The Elegant M…
- AMA | November 2025
In this AMA episode, Sean Carroll answers questions from Mindscape's Patreon supporters. He also mentions some of his favorite TV shows.
- 335 | Andrew Jaffe on Models, Probability, and the Universe
Andrew Jaffe, a cosmologist, discusses the role of models and probability in understanding the universe, drawing from his book, The Random Universe. He explains how scientific progress involves proposing models, assigning probabilities, an…
- 334 | Daniel Whiteson on the Physics of and by Aliens
In this episode, Daniel Whiteson explores whether aliens would approach physics differently, considering the human-dependent nature of scientific understanding. He discusses this topic from his book Do Aliens Speak Physics?
- 333 | Gordon Pennycook on Unthinkingness, Conspiracies, and What to Do About Them
Gordon Pennycook discusses the concept of "unthinkingness" as a reason for people
- 332 | Dmitri Tymoczko on the Mathematics Behind Music
Dmitri Tymoczko, a composer and music theorist, speaks about the mathematics behind music. He explains how different musical scales are constructed and how mathematical relationships influence harmonious sounds.
- AMA | October 2025
This is an Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape from October 2025. Sean Carroll answers questions submitted by his Patreon supporters.
- 331 | Solo: Fine-Tuning, God, and the Multiverse
This episode explores the concept of fine-tuning in the universe, including constants of nature and initial conditions. Sean Carroll discusses various attitudes toward these apparent fine-tunings, such as the anthropic principle, the multi…
- 330 | Petter Törnberg on the Dynamics of (Mis)Information
Petter Törnberg joins Sean Carroll to discuss the dynamics of information, the development of polarization, and the potential for artificial agents to guide online communities. They explore how individual interactions within complex system…
- 329 | Steven Pinker on Rationality and Common Knowledge
Steven Pinker joins Sean Carroll's Mindscape to discuss common knowledge. The conversation explores how shared norms and understanding influence human interactions and societal dynamics.
- 328 | Mary Roach on Replacing Parts of Our Bodies
In this episode, Mary Roach discusses the replacement of body parts. She covers both ancient prosthetics and modern medical advancements in organ and microbiome replacement.
- AMA | September 2025
In this September 2025 Ask Me Anything episode, Sean Carroll addresses questions submitted by Patreon supporters. The questions are selected and grouped by topic for discussion.
- 327 | Cass Sunstein on Liberalism
Cass Sunstein discusses liberalism, viewing it as a philosophy of individual rights and responsibilities that includes figures from Ronald Reagan to Martin Luther King. He examines the philosophical foundations of liberalism and the challe…
- 326 | Natalie Batalha on What We Know and Will Learn About Exoplanets
Natalie Batalha joins Sean Carroll to discuss exoplanets, their properties, and future discoveries. They cover how exoplanets are distributed in size and distance, and the kinds of atmospheres they possess.
- 325 | Alvy Ray Smith on Pixar, Pixels, and the Great Digital Convergence
Alvy Ray Smith, co-founder of Pixar, discusses pixels, computer animation, and the "Great Digital Convergence." He shares his insights on the journey of computer animation and its future implications.
- 324 | Elizabeth Mynatt on Universities and the Importance of Basic Research
Elizabeth Mynatt, Dean of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, discusses universities and the importance of basic research. She also talks about her research in human-centered computing.
- AMA | August 2025
This episode of Mindscape is an Ask Me Anything (AMA) from August 2025. Sean Carroll answers questions submitted by his Patreon supporters.
- 323 | Jacob Barandes on Indivisible Stochastic Quantum Mechanics
Jacob Barandes presents a new quantum theory that eliminates the wave function, proposing instead real degrees of freedom with stochastic dynamics. The discussion delves into the challenges and implications of this innovative approach.
- 322 | Philip Pettit on Language, Agency, Politics, and Freedom
In this episode, Philip Pettit discusses the human capacity for language and its impact on agency, politics, and freedom. He highlights how social capacities, enabled by language, distinguish humans.
- 321 | David Tong on Open Questions in Quantum Field Theory
David Tong joins Sean Carroll to discuss open questions in quantum field theory and his series of textbooks on theoretical physics. Tong is a professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge.
- AMA | July 2025
This is the July 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape. Questions for this episode are submitted by Patreon supporters.
- 320 | Solo: Complexity and the Universe
In this solo episode, Sean Carroll explores the concept of complexity in the universe. He discusses how the universe began and is expected to end in simple states, with complexity arising in between.
- 319 | Bryan Van Norden on Philosophy From the Rest of the World
Bryan Van Norden argues for expanding the study of philosophy beyond the European tradition to include global perspectives such as Chinese, Indian, Africana, and indigenous philosophies. This discussion aims to highlight the benefits of a…
- 318 | Edward Miguel on the Developing Practice of Development Economics
Edward Miguel discusses the increasing importance of controlled, reproducible empirical studies in development economics. He talks about applying these techniques to poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa and other low- to middle-income…
- 317 | Nicole Rust on Why Neuroscience Hasn't Solved Brain Disorders
Nicole Rust joins Sean Carroll to discuss why neuroscience has not yet solved brain disorders. They explore the complexities of the human brain and the challenges in translating neuroscientific research into effective treatments, as Rust d…
- AMA | June 2025
This is the June 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape. Questions from Patreon supporters are addressed.
- 316 | Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper
In this episode, Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper discuss the Big Bang theory and cosmic origins. They explore the implications of Einstein's theory of relativity and quantum mechanics in understanding the universe's beginnings.
- 315 | Branden Fitelson on the Logic and Use of Probability
Branden Fitelson explains how an understanding of probability can help determine when new evidence confirms existing beliefs. This episode explores the relationship between probability and scientific inquiry.