Edward Frenkel: What Mathematics Reveals About Death and the Self

I personally subscribe to The Economist. SUMMER SALE to Aug 17, 2026: 50% off the annual subscription! No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Edward Frenkel, mathematician known for work on string theory and the Langlands Program, joins us on infinity, death, and personal trauma — weaving math, philosophy, and human experience.0:00 Introduction3:40 The Langlands Program9:23 Love and Math13:09 Art as a two-way street18:28 The Weil conjectures24:53 Romantic math; TOE as process vs. state30:39 Paradoxes in math & axioms33:57 Observer problem in math39:55 Philosophy's role in science51:44 "You can't get away from infinity."1:07 41 Are computers conscious? Turing1:18 33 Limits of computation1:23 29 Blurring truth & beauty1:33 48 The terrifying question of self1:36 07 Childhood memories and personal growth1:49 30 Struggle for excellence2:17 26 Death is love exposed most bare2:19 10 Function fields in higher dimensional algebraic varieties2:25 12 Superdeterminism w/ Hossenfelder Λ Kastrup2:37 08 Human aspect in scientific theories2:39 00 Atheists reason backward from God (Hamming)2:43 02 Unfulfilled promise of string theory3:01 33 Credit and ethics in science (Weinstein)SPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqsRESOURCES:- YouTube: https://youtu.be/n_oPMcvHbAc- Love and Math (Frenkel): https://amzn.to/3ZiXyI1- From Math to Philosophy (Wang): https://amzn.to/3ZkIcTD- LOTR (Tolkien): https://amzn.to/46bZnsw- Carl Jung: https://amzn.to/44UKJF7- Marie-Louise von Franz: https://amzn.to/3sWWg9D- Bhagavad Gita: https://amzn.to/3sTfrB8- The Undecidable (Davis): https://amzn.to/48njW7u- The Emperor's New Mind (Penrose): https://amzn.to/44Zabcw- Trouble with Physics (Smolin): https://amzn.to/3sXpmG6- Lost in Math (Hossenfelder): https://amzn.to/3Pna7xy- Not Even Wrong (Woit): https://amzn.to/44XJlBx- Sabine Λ Bernardo Superdeterminism: https://youtu.be/kJmBmopxc1k- Wildberger on TOE: https://youtu.be/l7LvgvunVCM- Dror Bar Natan on TOE: https://youtu.be/rJz_Badd43c- Lex Friedman/Frenkel: https://youtu.be/Osh0-J3T2nY- Borcherds on TOE (Pt 2): https://youtu.be/U3pQWkE2KqM- Borcherds on TOE (Pt 1): https://youtu.be/xu15ZbxxnUQ- Hossenfelder on TOE: https://youtu.be/walaNM7KiYA- Kastrup on TOE: https://youtu.be/lAB21FAXCDE- Weinstein on TOE: https://youtu.be/KElq_MLO1kw- Collier on String Theory: https://youtu.be/kya_LXa_y1E- Wallace/Huxley (1958): https://youtu.be/alasBxZsb40- Frenkel's Site: https://edwardfrenkel.com- Frenkel's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/moonstein- Twitter (Frenkel): https://twitter.com/edfrenkel- YouTube (Frenkel): https://www.youtube.com/edfrenkel- Instagram (Frenkel): https://www.instagram.com/edfrenkel- Woit's Blog: https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices