2024-Mar-27 • 34 minutes How human history shapes scientific inquiry In this episode, we examine how the course of human history has shaped our scientific knowledge, why the physics community prioritizes some questions over others, and why progress in complex systems research is especially difficult. Academia continues to operate within set boundaries and students are taught certain concepts as fundamental and to skirt others completely. However, the history of science demonstrates that such concepts aren’t always set in stone. It’s possible that blowing open the “shackles o... |
2024-Mar-13 • 34 minutes Ep 4: The physics of collectives How do groups solve problems? Are there conditions that create a pathway to innovation and groundbreaking inventions? In today’s episode, we look at the science of collectives to learn about the patterns that emerge as human societies grow, the importance of a collective structure to foster ideas and create impact, and – from collectives like ants and immune systems – the importance of veering off the beaten path to become better at exploring and discovering. |
2024-Feb-28 • 29 minutes Why is life so diverse? In the first two episodes of this season, we’ve examined how fundamental rules like scaling laws constrain evolution for all forms of life. But if everything is bound to these core rules, then why do we see exceptions? In this episode, Abha and Chris get into the incredible diversity of plants and animals on this planet, where that diversity comes from, and if it’s possible to make forecasts about the biosphere, just like we do for the weather. And, what happens when biodiversity is threatened? |
2024-Feb-14 • 34 minutes How do we identify life? In this episode, Chris and Abha explore how life originated here on earth and how we might identify it in other parts of the universe. They ask two researchers about the signature characteristics of life and what common dynamics we might see among organisms outside our planet. They’ll also delve into assembly theory, a recent concept that looks at the construction of objects as a way to universally quantify life, which has ignited debate within the scientific community. |
2024-Jan-31 • 35 minutes What can physics tell us about ourselves? Humans can live up to age 100, and not 1000 – why? Are there limits in how much our brains can think and compute? The laws of physics can help explain a lot, both about our own human bodies and how we are connected to life all around us. |
2024-Jan-29 • 3 minutes Relaunch of Complexity Podcast Trailer Trailer for Complexity: Physics of Life, from the Santa Fe Institute |
2023-Jun-30 • 99 minutes Michael Garfield & David Krakauer on Evolution, Information, and Jurassic Park |
2023-Apr-05 • 82 minutes Mason Porter on Community Detection and Data Topology |
2023-Mar-24 • 67 minutes Andrea Wulf on Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and The Invention of The Self |
2023-Mar-09 • 67 minutes Carlos Gershenson on Balance, Criticality, Antifragility, and The Philosophy of Complex Systems |
2023-Feb-24 • 60 minutes Complex Conceptions of Time with David Krakauer, Ted Chiang, David Wolpert, & James Gleick |
2023-Feb-09 • 73 minutes Paul Smaldino & C. Thi Nguyen on Problems with Value Metrics & Governance at Scale (EPE 06) |
2023-Jan-25 • 81 minutes Dani Bassett & Perry Zurn on The Neuroscience & Philosophy of Curious Minds |
2023-Jan-11 • 68 minutes Alison Gopnik on Child Development, Elderhood, Caregiving, and A.I. |
2022-Dec-22 • 73 minutes Ricard Solé on Liquid and Solid Brains and Terraforming The Biosphere |
2022-Dec-10 • 78 minutes Glen Weyl & Cris Moore on Plurality, Governance, and Decentralized Society (EPE 05) |
2022-Nov-23 • 49 minutes John Krakauer Part 2: Learning, Curiosity, and Consciousness |
2022-Nov-11 • 51 minutes John Krakauer Part 1: Taking Multiple Perspectives on The Brain |
2022-Oct-21 • 66 minutes David Wolpert & Farita Tasnim on The Thermodynamics of Communication |
2022-Oct-01 • 70 minutes Kate Adamala on Synthetic Biology, Origins of Life, and Bioethics |
2022-Sep-21 • 57 minutes Miguel Fuentes & Marco Buongiorno Nardelli on Music, Emergence, and Society |
2022-Sep-02 • 71 minutes Steven Teles & Rajiv Sethi on Jailbreaking The Captured Economy (EPE 04) |
2022-Aug-19 • 83 minutes Caleb Scharf on The Ascent of Information: Life in The Human Dataome |
2022-Aug-03 • 53 minutes Daniel Lieberman on Evolution and Exercise: The Science of Human Endurace |
2022-Jul-18 • 75 minutes Aviv Bergman on The Evolution of Robustness and Integrating The Disciplines |
2022-Jul-02 • 82 minutes Sara Walker on The Physics of Life and Planet-Scale Intelligence |
2022-Jun-18 • 85 minutes Dmitri Tymoczko on The Shape of Music: Mathematical Order in Western Tonality |
2022-Jun-04 • 68 minutes Seth Blumsack on Power Grids: Network Topology & Governance |
2022-May-21 • 81 minutes Ricardo Hausmann & J. Doyne Farmer on Evolving Technologies & Market Ecologies (EPE 03) |
2022-May-06 • 51 minutes Eric Beinhocker & Diane Coyle on Rethinking Economics for A Sustainable & Prosperous World (EPE 02) |
2022-Apr-21 • 53 minutes David Krakauer on Emergent Political Economies and A Science of Possibility (EPE 01) |
2022-Apr-08 • 74 minutes C. Brandon Ogbunu on Epistasis & The Primacy of Context in Complex Systems |
2022-Mar-26 • 54 minutes Mingzhen Lu on The Evolution of Root Systems & Biogeochemical Cycling |
2022-Mar-11 • 57 minutes The Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles with Bryant Walker Smith |
2022-Feb-25 • 74 minutes Elizabeth Hobson on Animal Dominance Hierarchies |
2022-Feb-11 • 54 minutes Hard Sci-Fi Worldbuilding, Robotics, Society, & Purpose with Gary Bengier |
2022-Jan-27 • 46 minutes Multiscale Crisis Response: Melanie Moses & Kathy Powers, Part 2 |
2022-Jan-13 • 46 minutes Fractal Inequality & The Complexity of Repair: Kathy Powers & Melanie Moses, Part 1 |
2021-Dec-22 • 71 minutes Reflections on COVID-19 with David Krakauer & Geoffrey West |
2021-Dec-13 • 58 minutes Tina Eliassi-Rad on Democracies as Complex Systems |
2021-Nov-24 • 81 minutes Simon DeDeo on Good Explanations & Diseases of Epistemology |
2021-Nov-05 • 33 minutes Lauren Klein on Data Feminism (Part 2): Tracing Linguistic Innovation |
2021-Oct-23 • 46 minutes Lauren Klein on Data Feminism (Part 1): Surfacing Invisible Labor |
2021-Oct-07 • 63 minutes W. Brian Arthur (Part 2) on "Prim Dreams of Order vs. Messy Vitality" in Economics, Math, and Physics |
2021-Sep-24 • 52 minutes W. Brian Arthur on Economics in Nouns and Verbs (Part 1) |
2021-Sep-08 • 64 minutes Tyler Marghetis on Breakdowns & Breakthroughs: Critical Transitions in Jazz & Mathematics |
2021-Aug-14 • 66 minutes Katherine Collins on Better Investing Through Biomimicry |
2021-Jul-30 • 54 minutes Deborah Gordon on Ant Colonies as Distributed Computers |
2021-Jul-16 • 66 minutes Reconstructing Ancient Superhighways with Stefani Crabtree and Devin White |
2021-Jul-01 • 46 minutes Mark Ritchie on A New Thermodynamics of Biochemistry, Part 2 |
2021-Jun-17 • 41 minutes Mark Ritchie on A New Thermodynamics of Biochemistry, Part 1 |
2021-Jun-04 • 49 minutes Andrea Wulf on The Invention of Nature, Part 2: Humboldt's Dangerous Idea |
2021-May-21 • 51 minutes Andrea Wulf on The Invention of Nature, Part 1: Humboldt's Naturegemälde |
2021-May-07 • 58 minutes Sidney Redner on Statistics and Everyday Life |
2021-Apr-23 • 61 minutes Orit Peleg on the Collective Behavior of Honeybees & Fireflies |
2021-Apr-08 • 48 minutes Jonas Dalege on The Physics of Attitudes & Beliefs |
2021-Mar-26 • 64 minutes J. Doyne Farmer on The Complexity Economics Revolution |
2021-Mar-12 • 60 minutes James Evans on Social Computing and Diversity by Design |
2021-Feb-26 • 60 minutes David Stork on AI Art History |
2021-Feb-12 • 50 minutes Alien Crash Site Invades Complexity: Tamara van der Does on Sci-Fi Science, with Guest Co-host Caitlin McShea |
2021-Jan-29 • 72 minutes Mark Moffett on Canopy Biology & The Human Swarm |
2021-Jan-15 • 72 minutes Cris Moore on Algorithmic Justice & The Physics of Inference |
2020-Dec-23 • 59 minutes Science in The Time of COVID: Michael Lachmann & Sam Scarpino on Lessons from The Pandemic |
2020-Dec-11 • 62 minutes Artemy Kolchinsky on "Semantic Information" & The Physics of Meaning |
2020-Nov-26 • 90 minutes Peter Dodds on Text-Based Timeline Analysis & New Instruments for The Science of Stories |
2020-Nov-11 • 55 minutes Scott Ortman on Archaeological Synthesis and Settlement Scaling Theory |
2020-Oct-29 • 62 minutes Helena Miton on Cultural Evolution in Music and Writing Systems |
2020-Oct-14 • 52 minutes David Wolpert on The No Free Lunch Theorems and Why They Undermine The Scientific Method |
2020-Oct-09 • 21 minutes Introducing Alien Crash Site, a new SFI Podcast with host Caitlin McShea |
2020-Sep-30 • 70 minutes Vicky Yang & Henrik Olsson on Political Polling & Polarization: How We Make Decisions & Identities |
2020-Sep-16 • 59 minutes Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West on Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World |
2020-Sep-02 • 57 minutes Natalie Grefenstette on Agnostic Biosignature Detection |
2020-Aug-12 • 67 minutes The Information Theory of Biology & Origins of Life with Sara Imari Walker (Big Biology Podcast Crossover) |
2020-Jul-23 • 63 minutes Fractal Conflicts & Swing Voters with Eddie Lee |
2020-Jul-15 • 66 minutes Fighting Hate Speech with AI & Social Science (with Joshua Garland, Mirta Galesic, and Keyan Ghazi-Zahedi) |
2020-Jul-06 • 59 minutes The Art & Science of Resilience in the Wake of Trauma with Laurence Gonzales |
2020-Jun-25 • 58 minutes Geoffrey West on Scaling, Open-Ended Growth, and Accelerating Crisis/Innovation Cycles: Transcendence or Collapse? (Part 2) |
2020-Jun-17 • 50 minutes Scaling Laws & Social Networks in The Time of COVID-19 with Geoffrey West (Part 1) |
2020-Jun-08 • 40 minutes Better Scientific Modeling for Ecological & Social Justice with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 7) |
2020-Jun-02 • 57 minutes The Future of the Human Climate Niche with Tim Kohler & Marten Scheffer |
2020-May-11 • 47 minutes Exponentials, Economics, and Ecology with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 6) |
2020-May-04 • 45 minutes Embracing Complexity for Systemic Interventions with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 5) |
2020-Apr-27 • 51 minutes Rethinking Our Assumptions During the COVID-19 Crisis with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 4) |
2020-Apr-20 • 44 minutes On Coronavirus, Crisis, and Creative Opportunity with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 3) |
2020-Apr-17 • 45 minutes Caroline Buckee on Improving COVID-19 Surveillance & Response |
2020-Apr-13 • 42 minutes COVID-19 & Complex Time in Biology & Economics with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 2) |
2020-Apr-06 • 47 minutes Rigorous Uncertainty: Science During COVID-19 with David Krakauer (Transmission Series Ep. 1) |
2020-Apr-01 • 29 minutes Sam Scarpino on Modeling Disease Transmission & Interventions |
2020-Mar-26 • 49 minutes Laurent Hébert-Dufresne on Halting the Spread of COVID-19 |
2020-Mar-19 • 36 minutes Andy Dobson on Epidemic Modeling for COVID-19 |
2020-Mar-12 • 66 minutes Nicole Creanza on Cultural Evolution in Humans & Songbirds |
2020-Mar-05 • 77 minutes Melanie Mitchell on Artificial Intelligence: What We Still Don't Know |
2020-Feb-27 • 53 minutes Albert Kao on Animal Sociality & Collective Computation |
2020-Feb-20 • 56 minutes David B. Kinney on the Philosophy of Science |
2020-Feb-13 • 66 minutes Kirell Benzi on Data Art & The Future of Science Communication |
2020-Feb-06 • 62 minutes Chris Kempes on The Physical Constraints on Life & Evolution |
2020-Jan-30 • 59 minutes Andy Dobson on Disease Ecology & Conservation Strategy |
2020-Jan-23 • 50 minutes R. Maria del-Rio Chanona on Modeling Labor Markets & Tech Unemployment |
2020-Jan-15 • 61 minutes W. Brian Arthur (Part 2) on The Future of The Economy |
2020-Jan-08 • 57 minutes W. Brian Arthur (Part 1) on The History of Complexity Economics |
2019-Dec-18 • 66 minutes Matthew Jackson on Social & Economic Networks |
2019-Dec-11 • 50 minutes Ray Monk on The Lives of Extraordinary Individuals: Wittgenstein, Russell, Oppenheimer |
2019-Dec-04 • 66 minutes Melanie Moses on Metabolic Scaling in Biology & Computation |
2019-Nov-27 • 79 minutes Mirta Galesic on Social Learning & Decision-making |
2019-Nov-20 • 64 minutes Olivia Judson on Major Energy Transitions in Evolutionary History |
2019-Nov-13 • 60 minutes Rajiv Sethi on Stereotypes, Crime, and The Pursuit of Justice |
2019-Nov-06 • 48 minutes Jennifer Dunne on Reconstructing Ancient Food Webs |
2019-Oct-30 • 46 minutes Jennifer Dunne on Food Webs & ArchaeoEcology |
2019-Oct-23 • 50 minutes Luis Bettencourt on The Science of Cities |
2019-Oct-16 • 39 minutes Sabine Hauert on Swarming Across Scales |
2019-Oct-09 • 56 minutes The Origins of Life: David Krakauer, Sarah Maurer, and Chris Kempes at InterPlanetary Festival 2019 |
2019-Oct-09 • 47 minutes David Krakauer on The Landscape of 21st Century Science |