Robinson's Podcast

Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. He was also the guest for Robinson’s Podcast #109 on psychoanalysis, wokeness, racism, and a hundred other topics. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also host of Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, a terrific show (that influenced the birth of Robinson’s Podcast) about science, society, philosophy, culture, arts, and ideas. Sean was one of the guests—along with David Albert of Columbia—on Robinson’s Podcast #106, which covers the Many-Worlds theory of quantum mechanics, entropy and Boltzmann Brains, and the fine-tuned universe. In this episode, Robinson, Sean, and Slavoj (though mostly Sean and Slavoj) talk about quantum mechanics, the indeterminacy of small-scale reality, cosmology and the big bang, major figures like Niels Bohr, Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, and the world of sci-fi, including movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indian Jones, and the Avengers. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute (Sean is an Honorary Fellow at the JBI), which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful. Robinson's Podcast #109 | Slavoj Žižek: Wokeness, Psychoanalysis, and Quantum Mechanics: https://youtu.be/IxmZ4AVac7U Robinson’s Podcast #106 | David Albert & Sean Carroll: Quantum Theory, Boltzmann Brains, & The Fine-Tuned Universe: https://youtu.be/U6ZtmGIhIhU Sean’s Website: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com Sean’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: https://a.co/d/dPKZ40X The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:38 Introduction 04:40 Quantum Incompleteness 15:56 A Problem with Many-Worlds? 27:08 Niels Bohr and the Copenhagen Interpretation 40:30 Ontological Indeterminacy and Quantum Physics 47:23 On Superposition, History, and Art 01:02:10 What’s The Status of the Big Bang? 01:09:57 Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Indeterminacy 01:21:13 Will Quantum Mechanics Be in a Theory of Everything? 01:27:55 Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones, and The Avengers 01:33:03 Time Travel and Killing Hitler 01:41:54 On Stephen Hawking Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

23 Jul 20231h 48min

Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. In this episode, Robinson and Anna discuss her latest, New York Times bestselling book Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021). More particularly, they talk about just what happens in the brain when someone develops an addiction, what current social and cultural conditions have led to increased rates of addiction, and how all of these factors—and addiction itself—ought to be combatted. Anna is also the author of Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins, 2016), which sounded the alarm on—and covers—various dimensions of the opioid crisis. Dopamine Nation: https://a.co/d/0AJw6Je Drug Dealer, MD: https://a.co/d/2soL324 OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:56 Introduction 04:10 Addiction and Narrative 11:18 The Role of Dopamine in Addiction 20:29 Risk Factors for Addiction 27:31 Anna’s Addiction to Romance Novels 40:39 Pain, Pleasure, and Addiction 59:11 How to Tackle Addictions? 01:15:09 Is The Hype For Medical Psychedelics Overblown? 01:21:51 Honesty, Shame, and Recovery from Addiction Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

21 Jul 20231h 28min

Massimo Pigliucci is K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York, where he specializes in both ancient philosophy and the philosophy of science. In addition to a doctorate in philosophy, Massimo has a PhD in evolutionary biology. In this episode, Robinson and Massimo discuss the vast landscape between science on the one hand and pseudoscience on the other, covering how they should be distinguished, examples galore, and the role of the public intellectual in science education. Check out Massimo’s excellent book, which ranges across these topics and more, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. Nonsense on Stilts: https://a.co/d/agrSGF4 Massimo’s Website: https://massimopigliucci.org Massimo’s Substack: https://figsinwinter.substack.com/ OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 01:22 Introduction 04:17 Massimo’s Interest in Pseudoscience 10:29 What Is Pseudoscience? 24:36 Pseudoscience and The Search For Aliens 39:43 Conspiracy Theories and Expert Selection 46:00 Should Scientists Debate Pseudoscientists and Conspiracy Theorists? 49:20 Aristotle and the Elements of Scientific Communication 59:41 The Decline of the Public Intellectual and the Rise of the Think Tank Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

19 Jul 20231h 6min

Craig Callender is Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego. Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Craig and Tim are leading philosophers of science and physics. Craig also appeared on episode 73, in which he and Robinson discussed pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. Tim was a guest on episode 46, which covered laws of nature, space, and free will, and episode 67 with David Albert, which was all about the foundations of quantum mechanics. In this episode, Craig, Tim, and Robinson delve into the philosophy of time, touching on the reality of the past, present, and future, the direction of time, its relationship to relativity and quantum mechanics, and time travel. Craig and Tim have both written on time. Check out Craig’s book What Makes Time Special? (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Tim’s book Philosophy of Physics, Volume 1: Space and Time (Princeton, 2012). If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful. Craig’s Website: https://www.craigcallender.com Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 01:12 Introduction 04:43 The A- and B-Series of Time 21:20 Presentism, Possibilism, and Eternalism 42:03 Foliations in Time 57:39 Foliations of Time in Quantum Theory 01:03:30 Superluminal Signaling 01:11:56 The Direction of Time 01:35:24 Philosophy and Time Travel 02:03:07 The John Bell Institute Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

16 Jul 20232h 5min

Eric Helms is an AUT Research Fellow at the Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand (Auckland University of Technology) in the Strength & Conditioning and Sports Physiology and Nutrition research groups. He is also the Director and Chief Science Officer of 3DMJ, an organization devoted to strength training and education centered around the same, a competitive bodybuilder, co-host of the Iron Culture podcast—which comes highly, highly recommended by Robinson—and a founding editor and reviewer for Monthly Applications in Strength Sport. Eric is also the author of two terrific books on strength training and nutrition respectively, The Muscle and Strength Pyramid: Training and The Muscle and Strength Pyramid: Nutrition. In this episode, Robinson and Eric discuss one of his areas of expertise, nutrition, covering both broad topics like various approaches to structuring one’s diet and more specific questions like how much protein you should be consuming and what supplements you should be taking. Eric’s Instagram: @helms3dmj Iron Culture: https://ironculture.libsyn.com MASS: https://massresearchreview.com 3DMJ: https://3dmusclejourney.com OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 03:36 Eric’s Academic Background 11:14 Should You Get Your Diet Advice From Bodybuilders? 18:28 The Benefits of Intuitive Eating 52:25 How to Determine Maintenance Calories 59:50 How Much Protein Should You Be Eating? 01:16:38 MASS 01:20:08 Creatine 01:30:43 Should You Take BCAAs? 01:38:33 The Role of Meta-analyses in Sports Science Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

14 Jul 20231h 58min

David Spiegel is Willson Professor of Medicine and Associate Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. He did his undergraduate work at Yale and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. David is highly regarded as one of the most creative psychiatrists in the field, and has worked on a wide array of topics within the discipline. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss his pioneering work in hypnotherapy, as David is the world’s leading hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy researcher. More particularly, they discuss the origins of hypnotherapy, its relationship to hypnosis in popular culture, how therapeutic interventions fare compare to pharmaceutical interventions for mental illness, how hypnosis treats mental disorders, and how self-hypnosis can be a useful tool in everyone’s mental health arsenal. David is also the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Reveri, which is a groundbreaking self-hypnosis application for your smartphone that can guide you through a wide variety of modules to help improve sleep, anxiety, eating habits and many other facets of life. Reveri: https://www.reveri.com Trance & Treatment: Clinical Uses of Hypnosis: https://a.co/d/0lLXoU2 OUTLINE: 00:00 Introduction 4:24 David’s Start in Hypnotherapy 10:28 Hypnotherapy’s Rising Popularity 16:46 Therapy Versus Medication? 23:50 PTSD, MDMA, and Hypnosis 30:37 What Is Hypnotherapy? 36:05 Hypnosis and Comedic Gags 39:24 Are You Hypnotizable 59:31 Is Hypnotherapy Supported by Research? 01:04:41 Can Hypnosis Treat Eating Disorders? 01:09:20 Hypnosis, Restructuring, Psychopathy, and Understanding the Self 01:15:32 Reveri and Self-Hypnosis Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

11 Jul 20231h 32min

Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among numerous other awards, Victor was presented the National Humanities Medal in 2007. In this episode, Robinson and Victor discuss his latest book, The Dying Citizen. More particularly, they talk about the Ancient Greek origin of a flourishing egalitarian society centered around the notion of citizenship, the way this history has been subverted and recast, the perils of judging the past through the lens of the present, how citizenship is threatened in the United States today, and the nature of human progress. Keep up with Victor on Twitter, through his website, and on his podcast, The Victor Davis Hanson Show.  Victor’s Website: https://victorhanson.com Victor’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/VDHanson The Victor Davis Hanson Show: https://art19.com/shows/the-victor-davis-hanson-show  The Dying Citizen: https://a.co/d/dPocUJg OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 01:18 Introduction 04:10 The Dying Classics 10:28 Ancient Greece and the Perils of Revisionist History 20:55 Don’t Judge the Past Against the Present 24:32 The Difference between Citizens and Residents 40:04 The Importance of Citizenship 47:37 On Our Obsession with Inequality 51:23 Is Humankind Making Progress? Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

9 Jul 20231h 1min

Avi Loeb is Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University, and former chair of the department. Before joining Harvard he spent fifteen years working in theoretical astrophysics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He is also the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation, the Founding Director of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard, and Head of the Galileo Project. In this episode, Avi and Robinson discuss his controversial and compelling research on—and theories about—Oumuamua, a comet that passed through the solar system in 2017, and which Avi believes was a spacecraft of extra-terrestrial origin. They also talk about the likelihood of life outside earth, Avi’s current investigations into the same, and his upcoming book Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars, which will be released on August 29, 2023. Interstellar: https://a.co/d/8Or10aM Avi on Medium: https://avi-loeb.medium.com   OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode 01:38 Introduction 04:56 Avi’s Interest in Extra-Terrestrial Life 25:04 Avi’s Background in Astrophysics 33:14 The Fermi Paradox 45:09 Was Oumuamua an Alien Spacecraft? 01:31:27 Interstellar Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.

7 Jul 20231h 50min