Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas Podcast By Sean Carroll cover art

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

By: Sean Carroll
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Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you've come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.© Sean Carroll 2026 Philosophy Physics Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • AMA | April 2026
    Apr 5 2026

    Welcome to the April 2026 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number -- based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good -- and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!

    Henson Shaving is offering 100 blades free with the purchase of a razor — just head to hensonshaving.com/MINDSCAPE and or use code MINDSCAPE at checkout.

    Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/04/06/ama-april-2026/

    Support Mindscape on Patreon.

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    3 hrs and 47 mins
  • 349 | Daniel Harlow on What Quantum Gravity Teaches Us About Quantum Mechanics
    Mar 30 2026

    There is something special about gravity. After decades of effort, there is still no convergence on the right way to reconcile Einstein's theory of general relativity with the framework of quantum mechanics. But a number of intriguing ideas have arisen along the way, including black hole radiation, the wave function of the universe, the AdS/CFT correspondence, and the role of quantum information theory. Theoretical physicist Daniel Harlow has made significant contributions to our understanding of information loss in black holes; in this conversation we turn those insights onto quantum cosmology, with potentially significant implications for how quantum mechanics itself works.

    Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/03/30/349-daniel-harlow-on-what-quantum-gravity-teaches-us-about-quantum-mechanics/ Support Mindscape on Patreon.

    Daniel Harlow received his Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University. He is currently an associate professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among his awards are a Packard Fellowship and the New Horizons in Physics Prize.

    • Web site
    • MIT web page
    • Google Scholar publications
    • Wikipedia
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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • 348 | Jessica Riskin on Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Life as Creative Agency
    Mar 23 2026

    "Lamarkism" is a term often attached to a seemingly discredited idea in evolutionary biology: that one organism could acquire characteristics (e.g., becoming stronger through exercise) that would then be inherited by its descendants. This is a different story than the one ultimately told by the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology, according to which inheritance passes through our genome (which doesn't know that we've been working out). In her book The Power of Life: The Invention of Biology and the Revolutionary Science of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, historian of science Jessica Riskin argues that this picture is too simple, and that Lamarck made contributions we should still pay attention to: most significantly, the idea that organisms have a creative agency of their own, in addition to the influences of the outside world.

    Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code MINDSCAPE at this link and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/mindscape #sponsored Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/03/23/348-jessica-riskin-on-jean-baptiste-lamarck-and-life-as-creative-agency/

    Support Mindscape on Patreon.

    Jessica Riskin received her Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently the Frances and Charles Field Professor of History at Stanford University. Among her awards are the Patrick Suppes Prize in the History of Science and the J. Russell Major Award for French history. Her books include The Restless Clock and Genesis Redux, and she is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books.

    • Web page
    • New York Review of Books contributor page
    • Amazon author page
    • Wikipedia
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    1 hr and 15 mins
All stars
Most relevant
Sean may not be widely popular perhaps because he dwells not in hypes and elusive ambitious statements - a trait most of his colleagues are known for. Here Professor Carroll leads the curious mind to explore many disciplines from "working" experts in the fields. No other science popularization and education podcast compares to Mindscape.

The Ultimate Podcast for the Curious

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This is the best podcast In its space!

Sean has a brilliant mind and he does an amazing job of navigating conversations with those whom he didn doesn’t agree with.

Great for fans of Skeptics Guide or Sam Harris’ Making Sense (but w/out Sam’s particular set of biases). More science and philosophy, less pushing a set agenda.

Best Podcast

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Sean Caroll is an amazing figure. He is a good moderator that is well-articulated with a sense of humor, humble that some popular science communicators lack (e.g. Neil deGrasse Tyson), not to mention his intelligence, and actively listens with a genuine sense of interest in ideas. Moreover, it seems that he can grasp the gist of ideas foreign to him in a short time, and, meanwhile, ask questions that audience a la laypeople egaer to know the answers thereof. A big bonus to me is that he loves philosophy and invites philosophers on the show. As for the content? The topic of each episode speaks for itself -interesting! No need to worry about the quality. But I don't recommend binge listening even though the series is arresting because rich and complex thoughts take time to sink in.

Foundation of ideas

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Stayed for Sean Carroll. I’m enjoying more than 70% of these podcasts. 3 more words needed.

Came here for Robert Sapolsky ...

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The very best of academia interviewed by one of the deepest thinkers of our time.

The Very Best

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