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! Roth’s new book, which is fantastic, an...
May 12, 2026•1 hr 42 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. 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...
Apr 24, 2026•1 hr 8 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. With...
Apr 14, 2026•1 hr 3 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...
Mar 23, 2026•2 hr 11 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. 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 open...
Feb 13, 2026•58 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 ap...
Jan 22, 2026•56 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. 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...
Dec 31, 2025•54 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. Martin is a senior figure at BCG’s Henderson ...
Dec 22, 2025•2 hr 25 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...
Nov 29, 2025•2 hr 12 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...
Nov 23, 2025•1 hr 4 min
This week, I’m excited to share a special rebroadcast from the Origins Podcast archives: my original Origins Podcast conversation with Noam Chomsky. 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 covere...
Nov 15, 2025•2 hr 5 min
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 reas...
Nov 07, 2025•1 hr
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. 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 c...
Oct 31, 2025•40 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. 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 a...
Sep 07, 2025•27 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 14, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 14, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 11, 2025•1 hr 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 09, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 09, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 08, 2025•1 hr 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 07, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 06, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 05, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 03, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 02, 2025•1 hr
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: 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 Franc...
Aug 01, 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: 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 Franc...
Aug 01, 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: 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 Franc...
Jul 31, 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: 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 France...
Jul 28, 2025•50 min
