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PODCAST

Closer To Truth

Closer To Truth

Closer To Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions in Cosmos, Life, Consciousness, and Meaning. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Seek your own answers.

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All Episodes

42:03

Stephen Wolfram on Physics and Computation

Closer To Truth ·

2025/09/24

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.Physicist and computer scientist Stephen Wolfram explores how simple rules can generate complex realities, offering a bold new vision of fundamental physics and the structure of the universe. Additionally, from the foundations of cellular automata to the discovery of surprising patterns in nature, Wolfram shows how computation reshapes our understanding of reality and

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27:17

What Does Transhumanism Foreshadow?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/09/17

If you enjoy our content, consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.Humanity’s future is now framed by artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing interventions in the body to enhance features and functions. This is transhumanism. Considering the stakes, and the dangers, a philosophical perspective is imperative. Featuring interviews with Paul Griffiths, Nathan Lents, Carol Cleland, Quayshawn Spencer,

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27:02

Can We Explore Transcendence Via Art and Mind?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/09/10

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.What is the three-way relationship among mind, art, and transcendence? What is it about art that can elicit the sense of transcendence, going beyond the self, bursting the constraining bonds of semantic language? What is it about transcendence that it can be expressed by art? What in fact is transcendence, from a momentary escape from self to a full- blown mystical

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27:17

Can Philosophy Discern Sex and Gender?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/09/03

Make a donation of any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.Sexual questions abound. What is “normal” sexual behavior in light of diverse sexual variations? LGBTQ+ issues? Is sex in animal models relevant for human sexuality? A philosophical perspective can provide clarity. Featuring interviews with Nathan Lents, Joshua Swamidass, Rachell Powell, Lisa Lloyd, and Quayshawn Spencer. Watch all of Season 27 on the Closer To Truth website now.

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28:36

Can Near-Death Experiences Affect Consciousness...

Closer To Truth ·

2025/08/27

Contribute what you can to support Closer To Truth and keep our content free without the need for paywalls.Many people believe that out-of-the-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs) are real. We do not assess the evidence and arguments, pro or con. We do explore what OBEs and NDEs would mean, if real, for theories of consciousness. This episode features interviews with Bernardo Kastrup, Etzel Cardeña, Àlex Gómez-Marín, and Liad Mudrik.

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27:02

Evolution vs. Religion: Anything New?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/08/20

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.Two kinds of questions probe evolution vs. religion. The first explores discrepancies, even contradictions, between the science of evolution and the beliefs of religion. The second examines how religion itself evolved. Featuring interviews with Richard Dawkins, Michael Ruse, Alexander Rosenberg, Helen De Cruz, Massimo Pigliucci, and Elliott Sober.

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01:29:09

Clément Vidal on Life's Biggest Questions

Closer To Truth ·

2025/08/13

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.Clement Vidal, philosopher of science and astrobiologist, discusses the idea of something rather than nothing, differing religious worldviews, fine tuning and metaphysics, and more. Watch more CTT Chats here. Dr. Clément Vidal is a philosopher with a background in logic and cognitive sciences. He is co-director of the 'Evo Devo Universe' community and founder of the 'High Energy Astrobiology'

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27:16

How did Cognition and Emotion Evolve?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/08/06

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions. What can evolution reveal about the developmental history of thinking and feeling? How did cognition and emotion (affect) co-develop over evolutionary time? Can evolution help solve the mystery of consciousness? Featuring interviews with Peter Godfrey-Smith, S. Joshua Swamidass, Rachell Powell, Denis Noble, Terrence Deacon, Paul E. Griffiths, Helen De Cruz, and John Dupré.

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42:02

Mark Bailey on AI: Consciousness, Dangers, and Morality

Closer To Truth ·

2025/07/30

Make a contribution of any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring life's deepest questions. Dr. Mark Bailey writes about the intersection between artificial intelligence, complexity, and national security. He is an associate professor at the National Intelligence University, where he is the Department Chair for Cyber Intelligence and Data Science, as well as the Director of the Data Science Intelligence Center. This Chat was made possible by MindFest 2025: "Sentience, Autonomy, and

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27:10

What is Human Nature?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/07/23

What is “human” nature? While human beings are animals, we believe we are special, radically different from other animals. Why? What traits are unique to humans? Are we sure? How to explore human nature from an evolutionary perspective?Featuring interviews with Quayshawn Spencer, Alexander Rosenberg, Massimo Pigliucci, Rachell Powell, Helen De Cruz, Paul E. Griffiths, and John Dupré. Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the

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47:36

Julia Mossbridge on AI: Is There a Soul in the Machine?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/07/16

Donate any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.How do we define a soul? Can AI become consciousness? Julia Mossbridge discusses these questions along with the main trends in parapsychology, transpersonal psychology, and ESP research over the last decade. Dr. Julia Mossbridge is an American cognitive neuroscientist, author, and educator who works on exceptional human performance including psi effects, notably on

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27:18

How do Reductionism and Emergence Dance?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/07/09

Contribute what you can to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.Two big ideas in biology: the evolution of species via mutation, fitness and natural selection; and the embryological development of individuals, from fertilized egg to whole organisms. How do these two big ideas—“Evo-Dev,” as it’s called—relate? What novel ideas emerge? Featuring interviews with Denis Noble, Richard Dawkins, Alexander Rosenberg, Philip Kitcher, Alan C. Love, and

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46:54

James Hughes on AI Consciousness: Buddhism &...

Closer To Truth ·

2025/07/02

James Hughes Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and a bioethicist and sociologist who serves as the Associate Provost for Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning for the University of Massachusetts Boston. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago, where he also taught bioethics at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Dr. Hughes is author of Citizen Cyborg and co-editor of Surviving the Machine Age.Watch

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27:11

What are Units or Levels of Selection?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/06/25

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.While evolution is how life on earth came to be, where does the evolution occur? At what level of the hierarchy of life—from genes to individuals to groups to species—does evolution work its selection magic? Is it multilevel? Featuring interviews with Richard Dawkins, Lisa Lloyd, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Paul Griffiths, Elliott Sober, and Samir Okasha.

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52:08

Zoltan Istvan on AI: Transhumanism and Deepfakes

Closer To Truth ·

2025/06/18

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.How will AI-generated deepfakes reshape truth, trust, and society? Can AI someday merge with human consciousness? Futurist Zoltan Istvan explores the disruptive power of synthetic media—from political deception to personal identity—and what it means for the future of ethics, law, and reality itself. Zoltan Istvan Gyurko, professionally known as Zoltan Istvan, is an

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27:02

How Can Philosophy Probe Evolutionary Biology?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/06/11

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRqExplore evolution—its scope and depth. How did life on earth come to be as it is, and how did humans come to be as we are? What are the deep principles driving evolution? What are evolution’s challenges and open questions? Featuring interviews with Elliott Sober, Richard Dawkins, Samir Okasha, John Dupré, Denis Noble, and Michael Ruse. Episode

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01:24:36

Chris French on the Science of Weird Shit

Closer To Truth ·

2025/06/04

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.Chris French discusses his latest book, The Science of Weird Shit, where he convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay

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27:16

What Would Alien Life & Intelligences Mean?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/05/28

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.What could life be as we don’t know it? Three transitions in astrobiology. Non-life to life. Life to intelligent life. Intelligent life to technological civilization. For alien life, would Darwinian evolution hold? Fermi’s Paradox is profound: with at least 10 22 planets in the known universe, we find no evidence of alien life, anywhere, much less alien intelligence. Is

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23:25

Jonathan Schooler on the Psychology of Artificial...

Closer To Truth ·

2025/05/21

Jonathan Schooler is an American psychologist and Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who researches various topics that intersect aspects of both cognitive psychology and philosophy such as: Belief in free will, meta-awareness, mindfulness, mind-Wandering, memory, creativity, and emotion. Schooler is also known for his sometimes controversial research on topics such as Anomalous Cognition and the decline effect.This

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01:19:50

Joseph Corabi: Could Superintelligent AI Defeat Itself?

Closer To Truth ·

2025/05/16

Can superintelligent AI destroy humanity—or will it collapse under its own philosophical doubts? Professor Joseph Corabi, Chair of Philosophy at Saint Joseph’s University, joins Robert Lawrence Kuhn at MindFest 2025 to explore the limits of artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the metaphysics of mind.Drawing from his presentation, "A Collapsing Superintelligent AI?", Corabi argues that future AI—however advanced—may become paralyzed by skeptical challenges that human minds navigate through

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