Probability Theory podcasts

Tom Griffiths discusses mathematical accounts of cognition through logic, neural networks and probability. The conversation draws on his book The Laws of Thought to examine how these approaches complement one another, the ideas and people behind them, and prospects for a unified theory of mind.

Codina Cotar discusses mathematical patterns associated with stochastic systems and anomalous diffusion, using entries in a science-and-art competition to explain the ideas. The conversation connects diffusion with familiar materials, quantum phenomena, movement and visual art, and examines how mathematical models inspire creative interpretations of nature.

Xaq Pitkow describes a principles-based approach to explaining cognition. Topics include inverse rational control, strategies that are rational relative to an organism’s beliefs, probabilistic computation and graph-network inference. The conversation also considers attention, constraints on neural codes and studying cognition in ecological settings.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

David Spiegelhalter discusses how to reason about chance, incomplete knowledge, risk and luck. Drawing on his book The Art of Uncertainty, the conversation moves between everyday surprises and consequential historical decisions. It examines why uncertainty can be personal and why disagreement can help people reason more carefully.

Steven Strogatz and Harvard mathematician Melanie Matchett Wood explore what counts as evidence in number theory before a rigorous proof is available. Their discussion examines how probability and randomness guide conjectures about prime numbers and infinite collections, and how probabilistic patterns can lead mathematicians toward certainty.

Hosted by Steven Strogatz