Quanta Magazine · Science

The Joy of Why

“The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the cosmologist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time. New episodes are released every other Wednesday. Quanta Magazine is a Pulitzer Prize–winning, editorially independent online publication launched and supported by the Simons Foundation to illuminate big ideas in science and math through public service journalism. Quanta ’s reporters and editors focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences, emphasizing timely, accurate, in-depth and well-crafted articles for its broad discerning audience. In 2023, Steven Strogatz received a National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications partly for his work on “The Joy of Why.”

Episodes

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the landscape of mathematical research and education, prompting a reevaluation of what constitutes the core activity of the field. While AI models can now achieve gold-medal performance in competitions like the International Mathematical Olympiad, the true essence of m...

Are We Thinking Correctly about AI Intelligence?

20 Aug 2026

52m

How Does Touch Lead To Pain Or Pleasure?

06 Aug 2026

55m

How Fast Is the Universe Really Expanding?

23 Jul 2026

1h 4m

Will We Ever Find Alien Civilizations?

09 Jul 2026

53m

What Is the Positive Grassmannian and Why Does It Show Up Everywhere?

25 Jun 2026

51m

What’s the Future of Gene Editing?

11 Jun 2026

51m

More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’

04 Jun 2026

Do Beautiful Birds Have an Evolutionary Advantage?

21 Aug 2025

46m

Why Do We Need Error-Correcting Codes?

07 Aug 2025

39m

Why Did The Universe Begin?

24 Jul 2025

52m

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In "The Joy of Why," Janna Levin and Steve Strogatz explore the origin of the universe with theoretical physicist Thomas Hertog. Hertog, who collaborated with Stephen Hawking, discusses their work on understanding the Big Bang and the fine-tuning of the universe for life. They delve into the concept of the multiverse, ...