Mysteries of the Cosmos: Existence, Life, and Consciousness

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This episode features Dr. Todd Timberlake—our resident astrophysicist—at the center of the table. Todd walks us through three awe-inducing questions:

1. Why is there something rather than nothing? What physics can say up to the Big Bang—and why “before” may be the wrong word. Fine-tuning, multiverse ideas, and what science can (and can’t) answer.
2. How did life arise? From Miller–Urey to amino acids, to the leap toward self-replicating molecules, and the odds of life elsewhere. Todd explains why discovering life beyond Earth would reshape the conversation.
3. What is consciousness? Brains, synapses, free will, and the difference between sentience and self-awareness. Do animals share forms of consciousness unlike ours? What would alien consciousness even mean?

Michael Bailey brings philosophical heat—probing materialism, free will, shared intentionality, and whether intelligence without consciousness is possible. Dale McConkey keeps the potluck warm with wonder, humor, and the theological lens (imago Dei, purpose, and meaning).

We also play a breezy round of “Which Is Bigger?” (stars vs. sand, synapses vs. Milky Way, cells vs. galaxies, etc.), proving that big numbers make great radio. Light teasing, a fresh haircut, and a nod to Vanderbilt keep things delightfully human.

The views expressed on Church Potluck are solely those of the participants and do not represent any organization.