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PODCAST

Manifold

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Join him for wide-ranging conversations with leading writers, scientists, technologists, academics, entrepreneurs, investors, and more.

science natural sciences

All Episodes

77:00

Ted Chiang on Free Will, Time Travel, Many Worlds,...

Manifold ·

2019/09/19

Steve and Corey speak with Ted Chiang about his recent story collection “Exhalation” and his inaugural essay for the New York Times series, Op-Eds from the Future. Chiang has won Nebula and Hugo awards for his widely influential science fiction writing. His short story “Story of Your Life,” was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). Their discussion explores the scientific and philosophical ideas in Ted’s work, including whether free will is possible, and implications of AI, neuroscience,

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97:55

Rebecca Campbell on Identifying Serial Perpetrators,...

Manifold ·

2019/09/05

Dr. Rebecca Campbell is a Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University, whose research focuses on violence against women and children with an emphasis on sexual assault. Steve and Corey discuss her recent National Institute of Justice-funded project to study Detroit’s untested rape kits. Dr. Campbell describes the problem of untested kits and her work with police departments around the country to reduce the backlog. She explains how the use of the national CODIS database has led to

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57:08

Mark Moffett on the Life and Death of Human Societies...

Manifold ·

2019/08/22

Steve and Corey talk with Mark Moffett, Photographer and Research Fellow at the Smithsonian Institute, about his new book The Human Swarm: How our Societies Arise, Thrive and Fall. They discuss Mark’s view that being able walk into a cafe filled with others and not be attacked illustrates what makes human societies distinct and so successful. Mark explains why he is far more interested in questions about when war and other events occur than with traditional issues such as the genetic

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67:49

John Schulman: OpenAI and recent advances in...

Manifold ·

2019/08/08

John Schulman is a research scientist at OpenAI. He co-leads the Reinforcement Learning group and works on agent learning in virtual game worlds (e.g., Dota) as well as in robotics. John, Corey, and Steve talk about AI, AGI (Artifical General Intelligence), the Singularity (self-reinforcing advances in AI which lead to runaway behavior that is incomprehensible to humans), and the creation and goals of OpenAI. They discuss recent advances in language models (GPT-2) and whether these results

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76:23

Daniel Max on Writing a Literary non-Fiction Classic...

Manifold ·

2019/07/25

Daniel Max, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of Every Love Story is A Ghost Story, a biography of David Foster Wallace, speaks with Corey and Steve about his first book, The Family that Couldn’t Sleep. The discussion covers the emerging genre of literary non-fiction, Daniel’s process of writing The Family that Couldn’t Sleep, and how he approached and gained the trust of the family at the heart of the story. Corey probes Daniel about how he handled the complex scientific

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60:34

Stuart Firestein on Why Ignorance and Failure Lead to...

Manifold ·

2019/07/11

Steve and Corey speak with Stuart Firestein (Professor of Neuroscience at Columbia University, specializing in the olfactory system) about his two books Ignorance: How It Drives Science and Failure: Why Science Is So Successful. Stuart explains why he thinks that it is a mistake to believe that scientists make discoveries by following the “scientific method” and what he sees as the real relationship between science and art. We discuss Stuart’s recent research showing that current models of

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58:36

Joe Cesario on Political Bias and Problematic...

Manifold ·

2019/06/27

Corey and Steve continue their discussion with Joe Cesario and examine methodological biases in the design and conduct of experiments in social psychology and ideological bias in the interpretation of the findings. Joe argues that experiments in his field are designed to be simple but that in making experimental set ups simple researchers remove critical factors that actually matter for a police officer to make a decision in the real world. In consequence, he argues that the results cannot

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76:05

James Cham on Venture Capital, Risk Taking, and the...

Manifold ·

2019/06/13

James Cham is a partner at Bloomberg Beta, a venture capital firm focused on the future of work. James invests in companies applying machine intelligence to businesses and society. Prior to Bloomberg Beta, James was a Principal at Trinity Ventures and a VP at Bessemer Venture Partners. He was educated in computer science at Harvard and at the MIT Sloan School of Business.ResourcesJames ChamBloomberg BetaTranscript

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78:38

Joe Cesario on Police Decision Making and Racial Bias...

Manifold ·

2019/05/30

Corey and Steve talk with Joe Cesario about his recent work showing that, contrary to many activist claims and media reports, there is no widespread racial bias in police shootings. Joe discusses his analysis of national criminal justice data and his experimental studies with police officers in a specially designed realistic simulator. He maintains that evidence suggests that racial bias does exist in other uses force of force such as tasering but that the decision to shoot is fundamentally

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65:15

Ron Unz on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis, The Unz...

Manifold ·

2019/05/16

Ron Unz is the publisher of the Unz Review, a controversial, but widely read, alternative media site hosting opinion outside of the mainstream, including from both the far right and the far left. Unz studied theoretical physics at Harvard, Cambridge and Stanford. He founded the software company Wall Street Analytics, acquired by Moody’s in 2006, and was behind the 1998 ballot initiative that ended bilingual education in California.ResourcesThe Unz ReviewThe Myth of American Meritocracy –

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70:53

Philosopher Sam Kerstein on the Morality of Genome...

Manifold ·

2019/05/02

Corey and Steve speak with Samuel Kerstein, Professor of Philosophy and expert in Medical Ethics at the University of Maryland. They discuss the ethics of genome engineering and preimplantation embryo selection, and the inequality and narrowing of human diversity that might result from widespread adoption of these technologies. Among the topics covered: Why genome engineering at this time is immoral. Should we always pick the healthiest embryo? In the future will parents have a moral

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64:17

Sabine Hossenfelder on the Crisis in Particle Physics...

Manifold ·

2019/04/18

Hossenfelder is a Research Associate at the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies. Her research areas include particle physics and quantum gravity. She discusses the current state of theoretical physics, and her recent book Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray.ResourcesThe Uncertain Future of Particle Physics (New York Times Article)Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray (Book)Transcript

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74:52

David Skrbina on Ted Kaczynski, Technological...

Manifold ·

2019/04/04

David Skrbina is a philosopher at the University of Michigan. He and Ted Kaczynski published the book Technological Slavery, which elaborates on the Unabomber manifesto and contains about 100 pages of correspondence between the two which took place over almost a decade. Skrbina discusses his and Kaczynski’s views on deep problems of technological society, and whether violent opposition to it is justified.ResourcesDavid Skrbina’s Featured PublicationsPhotos of Ted KacynskiDavid Skrbina, Pen

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54:08

John Hawks on Human Evolution, Ancient DNA, and Big...

Manifold ·

2019/03/21

Hawks is the Vilas-Borghesi Distinguished Achievement Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He is an anthropologist and studies the bones and genes of ancient humans. He’s worked on almost every part of our evolutionary story, from the very origin of our lineage among the apes, to the last 10,000 years of our history.ResourcesJohn Hawks WeblogGhosts and Hybrids: How ancient DNA and new fossils are changing human origins (Research Presentation)Transcript

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77:05

Kaiser Kuo of Sinica on Modern China and US-China...

Manifold ·

2019/03/07

Kaiser Kuo is a host and co-founder of Sinica, a current affairs podcast originally based in Beijing. Sinica guests include prominent journalists, academics, and policy makers who participate in uncensored discussions about Chinese political, economic, and cultural affairs.ResourcesSinica PodcastPersonal Ties, Meritocracy, and China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign“MMG | Kaiser Kuo” by Meet the media Guru is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Transcript

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45:09

Ted Schultz on Ants, Emergent Behavior, and the...

Manifold ·

2019/02/21

Corey and Steve speak with Ted Shultz, research Entomologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Ted is an expert in Leaf Cutter Ant evolution and systematics. Topics discussed include evolution, systematics, the genetic basis of behavior, E. O. Wilson and small revolutions in science.ResourcesTed SchultzScience Magazine Table of Contents – December 9, 1994As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods (Seymour Benzer)The City Under the Back StepsTranscript

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68:45

Noor Siddiqui, Thiel Fellow, on Stanford and Silicon...

Manifold ·

2019/02/07

Corey and Steve interview Noor Siddiqui, a student at Stanford studying AI, Machine Learning, and Genomics. She was previously a Thiel Fellow, and founded a medical collaboration technology startup after high school. The conversation covers topics like college admissions, Tiger parenting, Millennials, Stanford, Silicon Valley startup culture, innovation in the US healthcare industry, and Simplicity and Genius.ResourcesNoor SiddiquiThiel FellowsTranscript

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75:13

Bobby Kasthuri & Brain Mapping - Episode #2

Manifold ·

2019/01/31

Corey and Steve are joined by Bobby Kausthuri, a Neuroscientist at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago. Bobby specializes in nanoscale mapping of brains using automated fine slicing followed by electron microscopy. Among the topics covered: Brain mapping, the nature of scientific progress (philosophy of science), Biology vs Physics, Is the brain too complex to be understood by our brains? AlphaGo, the Turing Test, and wiring diagrams, Are scientists underpaid? The

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22:34

CRISPR Babies — Episode #1

Manifold ·

2019/01/24

Corey and Steve discuss news of gene edited babies in China, and the future of human genetic engineering.▶️ Watch: CRISPR Babies — Episode #1ResourcesGeneration CRISPR?He did it: He Jiankui talk at HKU conference on gene editingEconomist Radio podcast interview on Genomic PredictionTranscript

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48:10

Introductions — Episode #0

Manifold ·

2019/01/24

Corey and Steve, friends for almost 30 years, introduce each other to the audience.Caltech Traditions and Prankshttp://www.admissions.caltech.edu/exp...Steve’s blog, Information Processing http://infoproc.blogspot.comman·i·fold /ˈmanəˌfōld/ many and various.In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locallyresembles Euclidean space near each point.

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160 results

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