Sean Carroll's Mindscape

Jim Al-Khalili and Sean Carroll discuss the nature of time, whether it is fundamental or emergent, and how its direction relates to physical laws and human experience. Their conversation connects the arrow of time with unresolved questions in quantum mechanics, biology and cosmology.

Hosted by Sean Carroll

Vitor Cardoso discusses how observations and theory are changing black-hole physics. The conversation covers Hawking radiation, general relativity, gravitational-wave observations and the Event Horizon Telescope, asking what these measurements reveal about black holes and what future observatories could test.

Hosted by Sean Carroll

Chandra Sripada presents his argument that language models and humans share meaningful features of cognition. Drawing on cognitive science, he and Sean Carroll examine what behavioral similarities can tell us about underlying mechanisms and how to assess the relationship between artificial and human intelligence.

Hosted by Sean Carroll

Sean Carroll explores explanations for cosmic acceleration beyond a constant vacuum energy. He discusses dynamical dark-energy models, their relationship to particle physics, possible changes to gravity and the observations that could help distinguish competing theories.

Hosted by Sean Carroll

Sean Carroll traces the cosmological constant from Einstein's equations to modern evidence for accelerated expansion. He explains why the energy of empty space is difficult to reconcile with particle physics and examines the related puzzles of its observed size and importance in today's universe.

Hosted by Sean Carroll

Sean Carroll examines quantum mechanics on its own terms and asks how the familiar everyday world emerges from its formalism. The episode explores the tension between quantum theory and classical intuition, including how competing interpretations approach measurement and physical reality.

Hosted by Sean Carroll