The incomparable Stephen Fry joins Lawrence to discuss topics ranging from Greek myths and language, to AI, technology, religion, politics, and mental health. See the commercial-free, full HD videos of all episodes at www.patreon.com/originspod

Ricky Gervais

Jun 18th, 2019 1h 32m

In this episode, Lawrence talks with actor, writer and comedian, Ricky Gervais about the science of comedy, the comedy of religion, and the religion of free speech. He also gets a mind-bending, personal science lesson from Lawrence. See the exc

Martin Rees

Oct 24th, 2019 1h 23m

In London, Lord Martin Rees joins Lawrence to discuss cosmology, science writing, politics, and the role of religion (and religious figures) in modern society. See the exclusive, full HD videos of all episodes at www.patreon.com/originspodcast

Alan Stern

Jul 7th, 2019 1h 7m

In this episode, Lawrence sits down with planetary scientist Alan Stern to discuss his new book Chasing New Horizons, which chronicles his work as head of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond. Stern describes the trials and tribulat

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Oct 4th, 2019 1h 43m

Lawrence joins astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson in his office at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City to discuss Neil’s background, science communication methods, creating the perfect science sound bite, and much m

Penn Jillette

Aug 21st, 2019 1h 41m

Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) joins Lawrence at the Origins Podcast studios for a wide-ranging and colorful discussion of topics including ethics, magic, climate change, Richard Feynman, The Amazing Randi, “artistic genius”, and much more.

Brian May

Jul 8th, 2019 31m 11s

In this episode, Lawrence joins musician and astrophysicist Brian May at his studio in Surrey. May, the lead guitarist of the legendary rock band Queen, recently served as a science team collaborator on the New Horizons mission to Pluto and be

From Quarks to Galaxies: A tour through the forefront of modern physics with Frank Wilczek

2 days ago 3h 55m

I have had the privilege of working closely with Frank Wilczek for over 40 years, on and off, and we have written perhaps a dozen scientific papers together over that time. Our collaborations together were always a source of joy, and often of

(Audio) Katherine Brodsky: Speaking Out in an Age of Outrage

25 days ago 2h 22m

I first stumbled upon the journalist Katherine Brodsky, who has been a commentator and writer for various media outlets, when I heard about her new book, No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage. The title intrigued m

A Conversation with Irwin Shapiro: Scientist Extraordinaire from the Earth to the Stars, and at 94, still going strong.

Mar 16th, 2024 1h 57m

Irwin Shapiro is a remarkable human being by almost any standard. Following his education in physics at Cornell and Harvard, he had a job at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory working on various problems in planetary dynamics, and radar ranging, when he

A Dialogue with Label-Defying Journalist Jonathan Kay

Feb 16th, 2024 2h 49m

I first became aware of Jonathan Kay through his writing for the online magazine, Quillette. And for full disclosure, I got to know him better because he is one of their editors, and he has edited several of my own pieces for that magazine. B

A dialogue with Brian Keating, at the San Diego Air and Space Museum

Feb 2nd, 2024 1h 22m

In mid October the Origins Project Foundation ran two public events in California. The second event was held at the Air and Space Museum in San Diego. I had asked my colleague Brian Keating, who teaches at UCSD and is a Trustee of that museum

Greg Lukianoff: : The Canceling of the American Mind. Free Speech and Academia

Dec 27th, 2023 1h 57m

Greg Lukianoff is a First Amendment lawyer by training. During his education he began to see how, even among organizations ostensibly created to help protect free speech, how actual free speech was improperly being conflated with harassment o

Scott Aaronson: From Quantum Computing to AI Safety

Dec 15th, 2023 3h 2m

Scott Aaronson is one of the deepest mathematical intellects I have known since, say Ed Witten—the only physicist to have won the prestigious Fields Medal in Mathematics. While Ed is a string theorist, Scott decided to devote his mathematical

Dialogues with Richard Dawkins

Nov 30th, 2023 1h 19m

Richard Dawkins and I have appeared together onstage many times, been the subject of the documentary The Unbelievers, and have collaborated on various writing projects as well. Thus it may come as a surprise to you to learn that each time we g

Carlo Rovelli: From Dante to White Holes

Nov 3rd, 2023 2h 24m

Carlo Rovelli is well known as a popularizer of science. His short book, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, was an international bestseller. I have known Carlo as a physicist ever since he used to visit my Physics Department colleague, Lee Smolin

Robert Sapolsky: The Illusion of Free Will

Oct 18th, 2023 2h 58m

I have been a fan of Robert Sapolsky’s for a long time. He is a creative force, with wide ranging knowledge, from primatology to neuroscience, and he is also a wonderful expositor of science. His previous book, Behave, was a wide ranging expl

Peter Singer: From Animal Liberation to Effective Altruism

Oct 7th, 2023 2h 19m

I have felt privileged to know the remarkable scholar Peter Singer as a friend and colleague for over a decade. We first met, I believe, in the context of atheism, but our discussions have ranged far more broadly, and his impact on my own thin

Hakeem Oluseyi: An unexpected life in Science, and unpopular truths

Sep 20th, 2023 2h 37m

I confess that Hakeem Oluseyi had not really risen on my radar screen until the last year or two. I was aware of the National Society of Black Physicists, having sometimes gotten notices about is meetings, but, being generally unsupportive of

The Best of the Origins Podcast, Part 1:

Sep 1st, 2023 3h 11m

As promised at the beginning of this month, here is the first of two “Best of” selections from the Origins Podcast. I apologize that this hasn’t come out sooner, but the lazy days of August caught up with all of our production team. In any cas

Bart Ehrman: Revelations about Revelation...and more

Jul 7th, 2023 2h 10m

I have admired Bart Ehrman’s writing for more than a decade. I remember how profoundly reading Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great reminded me of how little I had really understood about the scriptures. For me, Bart Ehrman took over from t

Martin Rees: If Science is to Save Us, Part 2

Jun 9th, 2023 1h 45m

This is part two of the second podcast dialogue we are airing with renowned astrophysicist, Astronomer Royal, and former President of the Royal Society, Lord Martin Rees. The first time I sat down with Martin for the Podcast we discussed his l

Douglas Murray: From Poetry to Free Speech

May 27th, 2023 3h 7m

I have to say that Douglas Murray reminds me in several ways of my late friend Christopher Hitchens. It is not merely that they are both English, eloquent and well-read. Douglas doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and pulls no punches when necessary

Andrei Linde: Inflation, Multiverses, and all that, from Mr. Eternal Inflation

May 14th, 2023 3h

Andrei Linde is one of the world’s leading cosmological theorists, and is the father of much of Inflationary Cosmology. After Alan Guth developed the original idea of Inflation, Linde, who had been active in this area while working in Moscow,

Boldly going where no podcast has gone before: William Shatner; Wonder, Awe, and Questions, Questions...

Apr 28th, 2023 1h 34m

I first met William Shatner a little over 19 years ago when we were filming a TV inspired in part on my book, The Physics of Star Trek. The show was ultimately titled, How William Shatner Changed the World. I am not sure what I expected when