Robinson's Podcast

Deirdre McCloskey is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics and of History and Professor Emerita of English and of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also Isaiah Berlin Chair in Liberal Thought at the Cato Institute. Over the span of her career, Deirdre has written on economic theory, history, rhetoric, feminism, ethics, law, and more. In this episode, she and Robinson discuss her political philosophy—classical liberalism. They begin by discussing her training before delving into liberalism’s roots in the eighteen and nineteenth centuries as a celebration of freedom of speech and innovation, as well as its doctrine of equality under the law. They then compare it to competing views, such as conservatism, and address common criticisms of classical liberalism, such as its alleged inability to respond to crises like global warming or that the free market will concentrate wealth in the hands of a few.

Why Liberalism Works: https://a.co/d/hvUAtnk

Deirdre’s Website: https://www.deirdremccloskey.com

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:59 Introduction

04:09 Deirdre’s Background in Economics

17:36 What is Classical Liberalism?

33:28 The Beginning of Liberalism

51:50 The Great Enrichment

01:05:43 Free Speech

01:17:31 Conservatism and Libertarianism

01:28:36 Criticisms of Liberalism

01:43:00 Climate Change and the Free Market

01:49:57 Liberalism and Queers

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. 

Carl Wieman is Cheriton Family Professor, Professor of Physics, and Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for the production and observation of the first Bose-Einstein condensate. In addition to his extensive work in atomic and optical physics, Carl has pioneered the use of experimental techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of various teaching strategies for physics and other sciences. He also served as Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. This episode constitutes a deep dive in two directions. First, Robinson and Carl discuss the trajectory of his career and research and how it led to his work on Bose-Einstein condensates that won the Nobel Prize. Then they turn to science education, including what’s wrong with it and how it can be improved.

Improving How Universities Teach Science: https://a.co/d/5HA980y

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:02 Introduction

03:41 Getting into Physics

10:03 What is Parity Violation in Physics

16:38 How Can A Laser Trap and Cool Atoms?

25:48 What is Spin?

35:59 What is a Bose-Einstein Condensate?

45:11 The Experiment

52:57 Applications of BECs

57:22 Getting Into Education Research

01:04:43 The Science Education Initiative

01:19:31 Implementing Education Initiatives

01:25:31 What Makes for Effective Teaching?

01:31:40 Equity in Education

01:36:15 Teacher Evaluation

01:43:09 Steps of Restructuring

01:42:40 Final Thoughts

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. 

Andrew Knoll is the Fisher Professor of Natural History in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Andy’s work straddles the line between the early evolution of life on Earth and our planet’s environmental history. He has written numerous books on these subjects, most recently A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters (Custom House). In this episode, Robinson and Andy discuss when and how life arose on earth—and, just as importantly, what and how we know about it. Then they turn to some related topics, such as the diversity of microbial life on Earth and how it shaped our environment. They finish off with the possibility of life on Mars, as Andy was part of NASA’s MER mission to Mars, which examined the soil and geology of Mars’s surface through two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

A Brief History of Earth: https://a.co/d/dLrMhVz

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:51 Introduction

03:23 On Walt Whitman and The Learn’d Astronomer

11:36 Big Numbers Concerning Life and the Age of the Universe

29:47 On The Earliest Life on Earth

46:29 How Did Life Begin?

58:21 How Far Back Can We Trace Humans on the Tree of Life?

01:08:42 The Diversity of Microbial Life

01:19:43 The Branching of the Tree of Life

01:24:08 How Did Microbes Shape Our Atmosphere?

01:34:48 What Does Martian Soil Tell Us About The Life That Might Be Found There?

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. 

Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Tim is renowned as one of the leading philosophers of physics, and he also works in the philosophy of science and metaphysics. This is Tim’s fourth appearance on the show. Tim was also a guest on episode 46 (laws of nature, space, and free will), episode 67 with David Albert (the foundations of quantum mechanics), and episode 115 with Craig Callender (the philosophy of time). In this episode, Robinson and Tim dig into some of the crucial developments in the philosophy of science that took place during the 20th century. Then they move on to John Bell and the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:41 Introduction

04:56 What’s the Point of Philosophy of Science?

10:38 Carnap and Logical Positivism

26:30 Thomas Kuhn and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions

42:52 What is Scientific Realism?

01:02:44 Instrumentalism and Scientific Anti-Realism

01:06:08 Who Was John Bell?

01:20:15 Einstein, Quantum Mechanics, and Bell’s Inequality

01:45:34 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. 

Norman Naimark is Robert & Florence McDonnell Professor of East European History at Stanford University. He is also Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution and the Institute of International Studies. He has worked on a wide array of topics related to the Cold War, genocide, communism, Hitler, Stalin, and more. In this episode, Robinson and Norman talk about the world history of genocide. After discussing just what constitutes genocide, they begin with the most distant reaches of prehistory—neanderthals and beyond—before moving up through biblical times, the Mongol conquest, the crusades, the colonial period, and more modern events. 

Genocide: A World History: https://a.co/d/7o4tG25

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:55 Introduction

05:13 Norman’s Background

16:24 What’s an Archival Historian?

21:12 What is Genocide

35:59 Prehistoric and Biblical Genocide

48:20 Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Genocide

01:08:05 Were the Crusades Genocidal?

01:24:07 The Spanish Colonial Genocide

01:39:02 Race, Economics, and the Settler Genocides

01:48:02 The Genocides of Modernity

01:55:07 The Armenian Genocide

02:04:49 Is There a Genocide in Ukraine?

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. 

John Burgess is John N. Woodhull Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, where he works in mathematical and philosophical logic and the philosophy of mathematics. In this episode, Robinson and John discuss realism in the philosophy of mathematics, and while the nature of this question is itself disputed, it can be roughly described as concerning the extent to which we should be committed to the mind-independent truth of mathematical theorems, or to the existence of the objects they apparently describe. Robinson and John begin by addressing the nuances of this question, and they then turn to various developments in mathematics that have been historically associated with realism—set theory, in particular—as well as specific philosophical positions associated with realism (such as Platonism) and anti-realism (such as conventionalism). John’s most recent book is Set Theory (Cambridge, 2022).

Set Theory: https://a.co/d/cF305wf

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:22 Introduction

03:17 Mathematics or Philosophy?

08:06 What is Realism in the Philosophy of Mathematics?

14:11 Objectivity and Mathematics

24:34 What Is Set Theory?

47:29 Platonism and the Continuum Problem

01:15:42 Conventionalism

01:22:06 Finitism

01:31:17 A Cap on Infinity?

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. 

Lawrence Summers is the President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University. He also served as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration, as Director of the White House National Economic Council in the Obama Administration, and as the Chief Economist of the World Bank. In this episode, Robinson and Larry discuss two topics close to his heart and work. First, they talk about the relationship between economic research and economic policy, both at a broad, theoretical level and with respect to cases, such as the current problem of inflation and Larry’s own work on global investments in the education of women. Second, they explore free speech and the social function of the university, including its commitments to the pursuit of truth, the promotion of opportunity, and an increase in prosperity.

Larry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/LHSummers

Larry’s Website: https://larrysummers.com/

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:06 Introduction

05:19 Theory, Research, and Policy in Economics

18:15 Using Research to Debunk Theory

23:00 Investing in Women’s Education

27:33 Free Speech at Harvard

34:52 Harvard and the Purpose of the University

38:17 Why Larry Ran Harvard

41:50 The STEM Revolution

54:03 Anti-Semitism in the University

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. 

Konstantin Batygin is Professor of Planetary Science in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology, where he works on a wide variety of problems related to the formation and evolution of the solar system, the dynamical evolution of exoplanets, and physical processes that occur in planetary interiors and atmospheres. In this episode, Robinson and Konstantin discuss interstellar interlopers in our solar system, planet and satellite formation, the death of Pluto, Planet Nine, and the newest music from his band, The Seventh Season.

Konstantin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbatygin

Konstantin’s Website: https://www.konstantinbatygin.com/

The Seventh Season: https://theseventhseason.band/

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:37 Introduction

03:56 Konstantin’s Background

07:53 Was Oumuamua an Alien Spacecraft?

16:17 Planetesimals, Planet Formation, and the Size of the Solar System

25:15 Are there Extrasolar Objects in our Solar System?

35:06 How do Planets Form?

48:54 Is Our Solar System Falling Apart?

54:46 How Do Moons Form?

01:04:20 The Complexity of the Outer Solar System

01:07:12 The Death of Pluto

01:17:21 What and Where Is Planet Nine?

01:41:59 The Seventh Season

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. 

Joyce Carol Oates is the Rogers S. Berlind ’52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities at Princeton University with the Program in Creative Writing. She is among the most widely-recognized and respected writers of our time, and has written in a wide variety of media and genres, from poetry and fiction in the former category to horror and Gothic in the latter. Her work has also been adapted into various other media, from plays to film. Joyce is the recipient of two O. Henry Awards and the National Book Award, among many others. In this conversation, Robinson and Joyce talk about various dimensions of fiction and poetry. Their discussion largely centers on technique and form, and touches on the work of James Joyce, Stephen Crane, Vladimir Nabokov, and Edgar Allan Poe, in addition to Joyce’s own novels and short stories.

Errata: In the section marked “Edgar Allan Poe and James Joyce”, Joyce says “Blazes Boylan” when she intends to refer to Buck Mulligan.

Joyce’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyceCarolOates

Joyce’s Substack: https://joycecaroloates.substack.com

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:55 Introduction

05:39 On Stephen Crane and The Bitter Heart

31:22 Literature as a Distillation of Life

42:53 Repetition and other Techniques

53:07 Edgar Allan Poe and James Joyce

01:08:14 Stephen Crane’s Many Red Devils

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. 

Andrew Strominger is Gwill E. York Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature at Harvard University, where he works on some of the deepest questions in physics, including black holes and the unification of quantum field theory and general relativity in the form of string theory. In this episode, Robinson and Andy discuss the basics of string theory, including its unifying role in physics, its application to outstanding and once-intractable problems of black holes, and the conceptual difficulties of thinking about higher-dimensional spaces.

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:32 Introduction

05:03 Andy’s Entry into String Theory

20:49 The Irreconcilable Clash between General Relativity and Quantum Field Theory

47:02 String Theory, Fine-Tuning, and the Anthropic Principle

59:20 The Basics of String Theory

01:12:50 String Theory and the Reductionist Program of Physics

01:27:25 When Will We Observe the Strings of String Theory?

01:43:45 How Many Dimensions are There in String Theory?

02:12:50 Aesthetics in String Theory

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.