EdgeCast

Peter Galison - Epistemic Virtues [8.21.19]

Aug 21 • 39 min

PETER GALISON is a science historian; Joseph Pellegrino University Professor and co-founder of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University; and author of_ Einstein's Clocks and Poincaré’s Maps: Empires of Time_. The Conversation:…

George Dyson - AI That Evolves in the Wild [8.14.19]

Aug 14 • 28 min

GEORGE DYSON is a historian of science and technology and author of Darwin Among the Machines and Turing’s Cathedral. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/george_dyson-ai-that-evolves-in-the-wild

David Chalmers - The Language of Mind [8.8.19]

Aug 8 • 40 min

DAVID CHALMERS is University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at New York University. He is best known for his work on consciousness, including his formulation of the "hard…

Neil Gershenfeld - Morphogenesis for the Design of Design [7.31.19]

Jul 31 • 47 min

NEIL GERSHENFELD is the director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms; founder of the global fab lab network; the author of FAB; and co-author (with Alan Gershenfeld & Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld) of Designing Reality. The Conversation:…

Frank Wilczek - Ecology of Intelligence [7.23.19]

Jul 23 • 36 min

FRANK WILCZEK is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at MIT, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in physics, and author of A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature’s Deep Design. The Conversation:…

Tom Griffiths - Humans: Doing More With Less [7.16.19]

Jul 16 • 38 min

TOM GRIFFITHS is Henry R. Luce Professor of Information, Technology, Consciousness, and Culture at Princeton University. He is co-author (with Brian Christian) of Algorithms to Live By. The Conversation:…

Timothy Taylor - Polythetics and the Boeing 737 MAX [7.16.19]

Jul 16 • 36 min

TIMOTHY TAYLOR is a professor of the prehistory of humanity at the University of Vienna, and author of The Artificial Ape. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/timothy_taylor-polythetics-and-the-boeing-737-max

Alison Gopnik - A Separate Kind of Intelligence [7.10.19]

Jul 10 • 41 min

ALISON GOPNIK is a developmental psychologist at UC Berkeley. Her books include The Philosophical Baby and, most recently, The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and…

Robert Axelrod - Collaboration and the Evolution of Disciplines [7.1.19]

Jul 1 • 41 min

ROBERT AXELROD, Walgreen Professor for the Study of Human Understanding at the University of Michigan, is best known for his interdisciplinary work on the evolution of cooperation. He is author of The Evolution of Cooperation. The Conversation:…

Barbara Tversky - The Geometry of Thought [6.25.19]

Jun 25 • 26 min

BARBARA TVERSKY is Professor Emerita of Psychology, Stanford University, and Professor of Psychology and Education, Columbia Teachers College. She is the author of Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought. The Conversation:…

Caroline A. Jones - Questioning the Cranial Paradigm [6.19.19]

Jun 19 • 25 min

CAROLINE A. JONES is a professor of art history in the Department of Architecture at MIT and author, most recently, of The Global Work of Art. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/caroline_a_jones-questioning-the-cranial-paradigm

Freeman Dyson - The Brain Is Full of Maps [6.11.19]

Jun 11 • 25 min

FREEMAN DYSON, emeritus professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, has worked on nuclear reactors, solid-state physics, ferromagnetism, astrophysics, and biology, looking for problems where elegant mathematics could be usefully…

Andy Clark - Perception As Controlled Hallucination [6.6.19]

Jun 6 • 38 min

ANDY CLARK is professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex and author of Surfing Uncertainty: Prediction, Action, and the Embodied Mind. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/andy_clark-perception-as-controlled-hallucination

Stephen Wolfram - Mining the Computational Universe [5.30.19]

May 30 • 30 min

STEPHEN WOLFRAM is a scientist, inventor, and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research. He is the creator of the symbolic computation program Mathematica and its programming language, Wolfram Language, as well as the knowledge engine Wolfram|Alpha. He is…

Rodney Brooks - The Cul-de-Sac of the Computational Metaphor [5.13.19]

May 13 • 43 min

RODNEY BROOKS is Panasonic Professor of Robotics, emeritus, MIT; former director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL); founder, chairman, and CTO of Rethink Robotics; and…

Alexander Rose - How to Create an Institution that lasts 10,000 Years [4.24.19]

Apr 24 • 36 min

ALEXANDER ROSE is the executive director of The Long Now Foundation, manager of the 10,000 Year Clock Project, and curator of the speaking series' at The Interval and The Battery SF. The Conversation:…

Ian McEwan - Machines Like Me [4.16.19]

Apr 16 • 38 min

IAN MCEWAN is a novelist whose works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. He is the recipient of the Man Booker Prize for Amsterdam (1998), the National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award, and the Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction for Atonement…

David Chalmers, Daniel C. Dennett - Is Superintelligence Impossible? [4.10.19]

Apr 10 • 63 min

*David Chalmers *is University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and co-director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at New York University. He is best known for his work on consciousness, including his formulation of the “hard…

Michelle Gelfand - Cultural Intelligence [3.12.19]

Mar 12 • 37 min

MICHELE GELFAND is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the author of Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World. The Conversation:…

Possible Minds - Live at the Brattle Theater in Boston [2.21.2019]

Mar 4 • 88 min

Freeman Dyson - Biological and Cultural Evolution [2.19.2019]

Feb 19 • 59 min

FREEMAN DYSON, emeritus professor of physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, in addition to fundamental contributions ranging from number theory to quantum electrodynamics, has worked on nuclear reactors, solid-state physics,…

Lisa Mosconi - Alzheimer’s Prevention [2.11.19]

Feb 11 • 36 min

LISA MOSCONI is the director of the Women's Brain Initiative and the associate director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is the author of Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power. The…

Susan Schneider - The Future of the Mind [1.28.19]

Jan 28 • 27 min

SUSAN SCHNEIDER holds the Distinguished Scholar chair at the Library of Congress and is the director of the AI, Mind and Society (“AIMS”) Group at the University of Connecticut. The Conversation:…

Jonathan Rodden - The Urban-Rural Divide: Why Geography Matters [1.16.19]

Jan 16 • 49 min

JONATHAN RODDEN is a professor in the Political Science Department at Stanford and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/jonathan_rodden-the-urban-rural-divide

Elaine Pagels - The Social History of Religion [12.12.18]

Dec 12, 2018 • 36 min

ELAINE PAGELS is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She is the author, most recently, of Why Religion?: A Personal Story. The Conversation:…

Peter Galison - How Technology Changes Our Concept of the Self [11.20.18]

Nov 20, 2018 • 12 min

PETER GALISON is the Joseph Pellegrino University Professor of the History of Science and of Physics at Harvard University and Director of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments. The Conversation:…

Karl Sigmund - When the Rule of Law Is Not Working [10.11.18]

Oct 11, 2018 • 36 min

KARL SIGMUND is professor of mathematics at the University of Vienna and one of the pioneers of evolutionary game theory. He is the author of Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science. The…

Doyne Farmer - Collective Awareness [10.3.18]

Jul 17, 2018 • 36 min

J. DOYNE FARMER is director of the Complexity Economics Programme at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, professor in the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford, and an external professor at the Santa Fe…

Brian Hare - Absolute Brain Size Matters [6.28.18]

Jun 28, 2018 • 45 min

BRIAN HARE is an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University in North Carolina and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center. He is the co-author (with Vanessa Woods) of The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think.…

Andrew Barron - The Connectomic Revolution [6.12.18]

Jun 12, 2018 • 37 min

ANDREW BARRON is the Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Deputy Head of the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University. He is a neuroethologist with a particular focus on studying the neural mechanisms of honey bees. The…

Nicolas Berggruen - Bonding with Your Algorithm [6.5.18]

Jun 5, 2018 • 51 min

Investor and philanthropist NICOLAS BERGGRUEN is the chairman of the Berggruen Institute, and founder of the 21st Century Council, the Council for the Future of Europe, and the Think Long Committee for California. The Conversation:…

Martie Haselton - Sexual Double Standards [5.24.18]

May 24, 2018 • 34 min

MARTIE HASELTON is a professor of psychology and communication studies at UCLA and the Institute for Society and Genetics. She is the author of Hormonal: The Hidden Intelligence of Hormones—How They Drive Desire, Shape Relationships, Influence Our…

Murray Shanahan - The Space of Possible Minds [5.18.18]

May 18, 2018 • 28 min

MURRAY SHANAHAN is a professor of cognitive robotics at Imperial College London and a senior research scientist at DeepMind. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/murray_shanahan-the-space-of-possible-minds

Sabine Hossenfelder - Looking in the Wrong Places [4.30.18]

Apr 30, 2018 • 24 min

SABINE HOSSENFELDER is a research fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, an independent, multidisciplinary think tank dedicated to theoretical physics and adjacent fields, and author of Lost in Math. She is also a singer-songwriter whose…

Mary Catherine Bateson - How To Be a Systems Thinker [4.17.18]

Apr 15, 2018 • 42 min

MARY CATHERINE BATESON is a writer and cultural anthropologist. In 2004 she retired from her position as Clarence J. Robinson Professor in Anthropology and English at George Mason University, and is now Professor Emerita. The Conversation:…

Kai-Fu Lee - We Are Here To Create [3.26.18]

Mar 19, 2018 • 40 min

KAI-FU LEE, the founder of the Beijing-based Sinovation Ventures, is ranked #1 in technology in China by Forbes. Educated as a computer scientist at Columbia and Carnegie Mellon, his distinguished career includes working as a research scientist at Apple;…

Caroline A. Jones - A Common Sense [3.15.18]

Mar 15, 2018 • 38 min

CAROLINE A. JONES is professor of art history in the History, Theory, Criticism section of the Department of Architecture at MIT. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/caroline_a_jones-a-common-sense

George Church - Church Speaks [2.14.18]

Feb 14, 2018 • 52 min

GEORGE CHURCH is professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, director of the Personal Genome Project, and co-author (with Ed Regis) of Regenesis. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/george_church-church-speaks

John Naughton - The State of Informed Bewilderment [1.3.18]

Jan 3, 2018 • 23 min

JOHN NAUGHTON is a senior research fellow at Cambridge University's Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. He is an Internet columnist for the London Observer, and author of From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg. The Conversation:…

Daniel C. Dennett - “A Difference That Makes a Difference” [11.22.17]

Nov 17, 2017 • 25 min

DANIEL C. DENNETT is the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is the author, most recently, of _From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. _ The Conversation:…

Sandy Pentland - The Human Strategy [10.30.17]

Oct 30, 2017 • 28 min

ALEX "SANDY" PENTLAND is a professor at MIT, and director of the MIT Connection Science and Human Dynamics labs. He is a founding member of advisory boards for Google, AT&T, Nissan, and the UN Secretary General. He is the author of Social Physics, and…

Rory Sutherland - Things to Hang on Your Mental Mug Tree [7.10.17]

Oct 17, 2017 • 42 min

RORY SUTHERLAND is Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy London; Columnist, The Spectator. Rory Rory Sutherland's Edge Bio page The conversation: https://www.edge.org/memberbio/rory_sutherland

Tim O’Reilly - Reality is an Activity of the Most August Imagination [10.2.17]

Oct 2, 2017 • 33 min

TIM O'REILLY is the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc., and the author of WTF?: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/tim_oreilly-reality-is-an-activity-of-the-most-august-imagination

Tom Griffiths - Aerodynamics For Cognition [8.21.17]

Aug 21, 2017 • 48 min

TOM GRIFFITHS is a professor of psychology and cognitive science and director of the Computational Cognitive Science Lab and the Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He is co-author (with Brian Christian) of…

Brian Keating - Shut Up and Measure [10.20.17]

Aug 10, 2017 • 46 min

Professor BRIAN KEATING is an astrophysicist with the University of California San Diego’s Department of Physics. He and his team develop instrumentation to study the early universe at radio, microwave, and infrared wavelengths. He is the author of over…

Tania Lombrozo - Learning By Thinking [7.28.17]

Jul 31, 2017 • 43 min

TANIA LOMBROZO is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an affiliate of the Department of Philosophy and a member of the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences. She is a contributor to Psychology Today and the…

Daniel Goleman - Compassionate Systems [6.22.17]

Jun 22, 2017 • 26 min

DANIEL GOLEMAN is the New York Times bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence. A psychologist and science journalist, he reported on brain and behavioral research for The New York Times for many years. He is the author of more than a dozen books,…

Martin Rees - Curtains For Us All? [5.31.17]

May 31, 2017 • 51 min

LORD MARTIN REES is a Fellow of Trinity College and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He is the UK's Astronomer Royal and a Past President of the Royal Society. The Conversation:…

Venki Ramakrishnan - Soul of a Molecular Machine [5.1.17]

May 31, 2017 • 52 min

VENKATRAMAN "VENKI" RAMAKRISHNAN is a Nobel Prize-winning biologist whose many scientific contributions include his work on the atomic structure of the ribosome. He is Group Leader and Former Deputy Director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in…

Ross Anderson - The Threat [5.8.17]

May 6, 2017 • 44 min

ROSS ANDERSON is professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, and one of the founders of the field of information security economics. He chairs the Foundation for Information Policy Research, is a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal…

Jonathan Losos: Urban Evolution [3.31.2017]

Mar 31, 2017 • 40 min

JONATHAN B. LOSOS is the Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America and Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and Curator in Herpetology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He is the author of…

Chris Anderson: Closing The Loop [3.7.2017]

Mar 7, 2017 • 32 min

CHRIS ANDERSON is the CEO of 3D Robotics and founder of DIY Drones. He is the former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. Chris Anderson's Edge Bio Page The conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/chris_anderson-closing-the-loop

Dan Sperber: The Function of Reason [2.22.17]

Feb 23, 2017 • 68 min

DAN SPERBER is a Paris-based social and cognitive scientist. He holds an emeritus research professorship at the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris, and he is currently at Central European University, Budapest. He is the…

Stuart Russell: Defining Intelligence [2.7.17]

Feb 7, 2017 • 57 min

STUART RUSSELL is a professor of computer science at UC Berkeley and coauthor (with Peter Norvig) of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Stuart Russell's Edge Bio Page The conversation:…

David Chalmers: The Mind Bleeds Into the World [1.24.17]

Jan 24, 2017 • 37 min

DAVID CHALMERS is University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science and Co-Director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness at New York University. He is also Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University. David…

Brian Christian: How Should a Society Be? [12.1.16]

Dec 1, 2016 • 40 min

BRIAN CHRISTIAN is the author of The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive, and coauthor (with Tom Griffiths) of Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions. Brian Christian's Edge Bio Page The…

Laurie R. Santos: Glitches [11.21.16]

Nov 21, 2016 • 35 min

LAURIE R. SANTOS is a professor of psychology at Yale University and the director of its Comparative Cognition Laboratory. Laurie Santos's Edge Bio Page The conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/laurie_r_santos-glitches

David Rand: The Cost of Cooperationg [11.9.16]

Nov 9, 2016 • 44 min

DAVID RAND is an associate professor of psychology, economics, and management at Yale University, and the director of Yale University’s Human Cooperation Laboratory. David Rand's Edge Bio Page The conversation:…

Judea Pearl: Engines of Evidence [10.24.16]

Oct 24, 2016 • 28 min

JUDEA PEARL, professor of computer science at UCLA, has been at the center of not one but two scientific revolutions. First, in the 1980s, he introduced a new tool to artificial intelligence called Bayesian networks. This probability-based model of…

Monica L. Smith: Infrastructure As Dialogue [9.20.16]

Sep 20, 2016 • 43 min

MONICA SMITH is a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She holds the Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair in Indian Studies and serves as the director of the South Asian Archaeology Laboratory in the Cotsen Institute of…

Robert Plomin - Why We’re Different [6.29.16]

Jun 29, 2016 • 45 min

ROBERT PLOMIN is a professor of behavioral genetics at King's College London and deputy director of the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. He is the author of Blueprint: How DNA…

Molly Crockett & Daniel Kahneman - Deontology Or Trustworthiness? [6.16.16]

Jun 16, 2016 • 42 min

MOLLY CROCKETT is an associate professor of experimental psychology, fellow of Jesus College, and distinguished research fellow at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics, University of Oxford. DANIEL KAHNEMAN is the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics…

June Gruber - Misunderstanding Positive Emotion [5.25.16]

May 25, 2016 • 35 min

JUNE GRUBER is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and director of the Positive Emotion and Psychopathology Laboratory. The Conversation:…

Paul Dolan - The Social Construction of Stories

May 13, 2016 • 37 min

PAUL DOLAN is a professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Happiness by Design. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/paul_dolan-the-social-construction-of-stories

Joshua Knobe and Daniel Kahneman - A Characteristic Difference [4.26.16]

Apr 16, 2016 • 46 min

JOSHUA KNOBE is an experimental philosopher and professor of philosophy and cognitive science at Yale University. DANIEL KAHNEMAN is the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics (2002), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013). He is the Eugene…

Janna Levin - Sounds of the Skies [3.23.16]

Mar 23, 2016 • 41 min

JANNA LEVIN is a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. She is the author of How the Universe Got Its Spots; A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines; and most recently, Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space.…

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein - The Mattering Instinct [3.16.16]

Mar 16, 2016 • 47 min

REBECCA NEWBERGER GOLDSTEIN, awarded the 2014 National Humanities Medal by President Obama, is a philosopher, novelist, and professor of English and Philosophy at NYU. The Conversation:…

David Reich - The Genomic Ancient DNA Revolution

Feb 1, 2016 • 45 min

DAVID REICH is a geneticist and professor in the Department of Genetics at the Harvard Medical School. He is the author of Who We Are and How We Got Here. The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/david_reich-the-genomic-ancient-dna-revolution

Richard Nisbett - The Crusade Against Multiple Regression Analysis [1.21.16]

Jan 21, 2016 • 37 min

RICHARD NISBETT is a professor of psychology and co-director of the Culture and Cognition Program at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking; and The Geography of Thought. The Conversation:…

Gloria Origgi - What Is Reputation? [11.5.15]

Nov 5, 2015 • 51 min

GLORIA ORIGGI is a researcher at the Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and a journalist. She is a best-selling novelist in the Italian language, a respected philosopher in French, a cognitive scientist in English, and the person you…

Philip Tetlock - EDGE Master Class 2015: A Short Course in Superforecasting, Class V Part II [9.22.15]

Sep 22, 2015 • 29 min