Sean Carroll · Science

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

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.

Episodes

The historical trajectory of societies results from a complex interplay between deterministic environmental factors and the agency of individual leaders. While geography and resource distribution—such as the Fertile Crescent’s agricultural head start—establish foundational constraints, specific leaders can alter outcom...

366 | Jim Al-Khalili on Time, Quantum, Biology, and Cosmology

31 Aug 2026

1h 15m

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Time functions as a fundamental, four-dimensional reality rather than a mere psychological construct or measurement tool. While fundamental dynamical equations of physics are time-symmetric, the observed arrow of time emerges from the behavior of open systems and the increase of entropy. The universe’s initial low-entr...

365 | Vitor Cardoso on Why Black Holes Are Special

24 Aug 2026

1h 5m

364 | Stuart Firestein on How Science Relies on Ignorance and Failure

17 Aug 2026

1h 16m

363 | Chandra Sripada on How LLMs and Humans are Cognitive Cousins

10 Aug 2026

1h 51m

Mindscape Ask Me Anything, Sean Carroll | August 2026

03 Aug 2026

3h 57m

362 | Luis Bettencourt on the Universal Properties of Self-Organizing Cities

27 Jul 2026

1h 20m

361 | Bonnie Bassler on How Bacteria Talk and Work Together

20 Jul 2026

1h 15m

Mindscape Ask Me Anything, Sean Carroll | July 2026

13 Jul 2026

4h 3m

360 | Marc Berman on the Science of Touching Grass

06 Jul 2026

1h 29m

359 | Solo: Theories of Dark Energy

29 Jun 2026

1h 56m

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Dark energy and the accelerating universe present fundamental challenges to modern cosmology, specifically regarding the nature of vacuum energy and the cosmological constant. While the cosmological constant fits current observational data, it fails to resolve the cosmological constant and coincidence problems, prompti...