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First Principles is the podcast that deconstructs the complex, invisible systems shaping our modern world. Ever wonder how a social media algorithm works, how AI really thinks, or how GPS knows your e... more
FAQs about First Principles:How many episodes does First Principles have?The podcast currently has 44 episodes available.
October 23, 2025EP24 - The Chorus of Light: How Self-Driving Cars Actually SeeA self-driving car navigates a chaotic city street with a calm, superhuman precision that feels like magic. We think of it as a car with better eyes, but the truth is far stranger and more profound. How does a machine perceive the world in three dimensions, and what can its chorus of secret senses teach us about the nature of reality itself?...more29minPlay
October 20, 2025EP23 - The Three-Billion-Letter Word: Cracking the Code of DNA SequencingYou spit into a tube, and weeks later, a report reveals the secrets of your ancestry and health, all from a microscopic strand of DNA. This seems like magic, a biological scrying mirror. But how do scientists actually read a genetic code three billion letters long—a book coiled into a space smaller than a speck of dust?...more23minPlay
October 17, 2025EP22 - The Ghost in the Machine: How Recommendation Algorithms Curate Your LifeYour phone seems to know you better than you know yourself, suggesting the perfect movie or the next viral video. We treat it like magic, but what if it's just a clever trick of pattern-matching? This episode opens the black box of recommendation algorithms to reveal the simple, powerful principles that are quietly shaping your world....more32minPlay
October 16, 2025EP21 - The Electric Skin: First Principles of the Modern TouchscreenWe touch, tap, and swipe on glass screens dozens, even hundreds of times a day, manipulating the digital world with our fingertips. It feels like magic, a seamless connection between our intent and the machine. But the glass isn’t sensing pressure; it’s sensing something far more fundamental about what we are, and the secret lies in a silent, invisible orchestra of electricity....more25minPlay
October 15, 2025EP20 - The Echo in the Machine: The Surprising Illusion of Digital AudioWe press play and a universe of sound fills our ears, from the subtle notes of a symphony to the familiar voice of a loved one. But how can the rich, continuous, physical reality of a sound wave be captured in a stream of ones and zeros? This episode opens the black box of digital audio to reveal an elegant process of clever measurement and a surprising trick of human perception that makes our modern soundscape possible....more34minPlay
October 14, 2025EP19 - The Unseen Librarians: How a Search Engine Actually Builds the Library of EverythingYou type a few words into a simple box and, in a fraction of a second, you're presented with a list of the most relevant documents on planet Earth. It feels like magic, but it’s not. So how does a search engine actually navigate a library with trillions of pages to find exactly what you’re looking for, and do it faster than a blink of an eye?...more28minPlay
October 14, 2025EP18 - The Smart Grid: A Nervous System for the PlanetWe flip a switch and the lights come on. It's the most reliable magic in modern life. But our 20th-century power grid, the largest machine on Earth, is groaning under the strain of a 21st-century world. What does it take to keep the lights on, and how is a quiet revolution turning our power lines into an internet of energy?...more28minPlay
October 12, 2025EP17 - From Thought to Thunder: Deconstructing the Language of CodeWe tap an icon, and a universe of information appears. We think of software as magic, but what is it, really? This episode travels into the heart of the machine to deconstruct the most fundamental "black box" of our time: code. We'll discover how simple text written by a human is translated into the electrical commands that power our entire digital world....more26minPlay
October 11, 2025EP16 - The Blockchain and the Unbreakable Promise: A Ledger Without a KingWe buy tickets and trade digital goods with the tap of a screen, assuming a bank or corporation is making it all happen. But the blockchain proposes a world without that middleman, a system of trust built not on people or power, but on pure mathematics. How can a group of total strangers create a single, unbreakable source of truth?...more34minPlay
October 10, 2025EP15 - Tap to Pay: The Ghost in the TransactionYou wave your card, a beep confirms the payment, and you walk away. It feels like magic, an instantaneous, invisible link between plastic and machine. But what is actually happening in that split second? How does a card with no battery suddenly spring to life and speak a secret, secure language to a payment terminal?...more27minPlay
FAQs about First Principles:How many episodes does First Principles have?The podcast currently has 44 episodes available.