Philosophy of Science podcasts

Sarah Crespi and Katie Langin examine assisted migration: replanting forests after wildfire with trees suited to the warmer conditions expected in coming decades. Susana Monsó, associate professor in logic, history and philosophy of science at Spain’s National University of Distance Education, then discusses how philosophical analysis contributes to scientific work, from defining concepts to formulating research questions. Produced with help from Podigy; published 17 September 2026, with a running time of 37 minutes and 28 seconds.

Hosted by Sarah Crespi

Andrea Gambarotto examines agency and intrinsic purpose in biological cognition, drawing on Hegel and contemporary theoretical biology. The conversation connects these ideas to enactivism and asks how living intelligence differs from artificial systems, including language models.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

Stuart Firestein examines why productive science depends on ignorance, unsuccessful experiments and uncertainty as well as established knowledge. The conversation considers research at the boundary of what is understood, the role of conjecture and testing, and the absence of a guaranteed method for making discoveries. It also asks how public understanding and science education can better represent the process of investigation.

Hosted by Sean Carroll

Kathryn Nave discusses how living systems acquire meaning and intelligence through organization, constraints, and active inference. The conversation connects the free-energy principle and organizational closure to questions about brains, cognition, agency, and the boundaries of intelligent life.

Science writer Matt Kaplan discusses researchers whose ideas met institutional resistance, including Ignaz Semmelweis and Katalin Karikó. Drawing on his book I Told You So!, he considers how scientific incentives and organizational structures shape acceptance of new findings, and what reforms might better support high-risk research.

Hosted by Marty Martin, Cameron Ghalambor

Mazviita Chirimuuta and Terrence Sejnowski discuss how researchers choose appropriate simplifications when constructing explanations of brain function.

Gaute Einevoll reflects on scientific practice, trust in research and the relationship between researchers and society. Solo episode in Norwegian.

Anjan Chatterjee discusses how neuroscience can investigate beauty and aesthetic experience, including what neurological changes and responses to faces reveal about perception and judgement. Shankar Vedantam then speaks with physicist Frank Wilczek about the role of beauty in scientific discovery. The episode connects empirical questions about the human response to beauty with the use of aesthetic intuitions in developing physical theories.

Hosted by Shankar Vedantam

Thomas Hylland Eriksen discusses the historical divide between the sciences and humanities and the value of dialogue across it. Conversation in Norwegian.

Vibeke Riiser-Larsen and Erik Tunstad discuss rationality, critical thinking and tools for evaluating arguments and evidence. Conversation in Norwegian.

Øystein Elgarøy discusses the anthropic principle, apparent fine-tuning of physical laws and proposals involving multiple universes. Conversation in Norwegian.

Svein Tindberg, Kjetil Bang-Hansen, Anders Kvellestad and Are Raklev discuss relationships between religion and science through the theatre production Gudspartikkelen. In Norwegian.

Anders Kvellestad discusses the success of quantum theory and the unresolved questions surrounding its interpretation. Conversation in Norwegian.

Gaute Einevoll introduces Sense and Science, the English-language selection of conversations from Vett og vitenskap. Introductory trailer in English.

Sean Carroll discusses interpretations of quantum theory and what physical explanations imply for consciousness and free will. Conversation in English.

Gaute Einevoll introduces the programme's approach to discussing science and ideas through conversations, often prompted by popular-science books. Introductory trailer in Norwegian.

Nick Bostrom discusses threats that could have consequences for humanity as a whole and his philosophical work on the simulation argument. The conversation connects the study of global catastrophic risk with questions about how to reason under deep uncertainty and about the nature of the world we inhabit.