Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Think like a physicist. Wonder like a human. Into the Impossible is where Cosmic Conversations happen — uniting Nobel Prize winners, iconoclasts, authors, and technologists to explore reality’s deepest questions. From AI to aliens, from biophysics to the brain, from the cosmos to the multiverse, Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego covers it all. If you’ve ever asked What’s out there? or What’s next?, this is where curiosity meets clarity. Learn to think like this. 🎙 Full episodes, notes & more: briankeating.com/podcast

Episodes

June 15, 2025 83 mins
Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Brian Keating reflects on the life and legacy of Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg, the legendary physicist and writer whose influence shaped generations of scientists and thinkers. Driven by the regret of never having hosted Weinberg on the show before his passing, Brian takes listeners on a deeply personal journey—from his formative college yea...
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How are recent DESI experimental results challenging the traditional view of dark energy as a fixed cosmological constant? Are foundational assumptions in Einstein’s general relativity limiting progress in theoretical physics? And how do tensions in cosmological measurements, like the Hubble constant discrepancy, reflect deeper issues in physics? In this episode, we’ll explore these fundamental questions with none other than Eric ...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Brian Keating deep dives into the remarkable life and legacy of Carl Sagan—one of history’s greatest science communicators. In this special episode of "The Scientist," Brian explores how a kid from Brooklyn rose to become the voice of science for a generation, making the universe both vast and intimately personal for millions. This episode bl...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 ⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠ to win a meteorite 💥 In this electrifying episode, recorded live at UC San Diego, Brian pulls back the cosmic curtain to explore some of the deepest mysteries in science—and what they might mean for our understanding of everything. You'll learn how scientists use the mysterious property of light called polarization to uncover secrets from the dawn of the univ...
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In a world increasingly shaped by science and technology, how do we determine what constitutes truth? What role does society play in shaping scientific knowledge consensus? And what are the implications for the future of research and innovation?  In this episode, I sit down with Steve Fuller, a renowned sociologist of science from the University of Warwick in the UK, for a thought-provoking conversation. Steve and I explore the de...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 In this thought-provoking installment, host Brian Keating sits down with legendary evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins for an electrifying conversation that spans the wonders of science, atheism, artificial intelligence, and the tapestry of human existence. A live audience in Vancouver brings their best questions, challenging D...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 In this special bonus audio essay, Brian shares personal reflections inspired by his recent experience hosting evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins on the final North American stop of Dawkins' legendary speaking tour. After a career filled with interviewing Nobel laureates and deep thinkers—from Sam Harris to Peter Thiel's Venice conferences—...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 What if alien life is everywhere, but we’ve been looking for it in all the wrong places? We assume life needs water, carbon, a warm little pond—just like Darwin said. But what if life doesn't care about what we assume to be necessary? Today, we’re joined by Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute. Cabrol...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Can geometric unity actually solve the deepest mysteries of our universe, or will it join the many others that have tried unsuccessfully in the past to create a new unified theory? Eric Weinstein is one of the most revered thinkers of our generation. Though not an academic physicist, he proposed a unified theory of physics in 2013, which is ...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Brian Keating takes us on a journey through the fascinating life and legacy of Isaac Asimov—but not as the sci-fi visionary you might expect. Instead, Brian explores Asimov the scientist: the prolific chemist, professor, and master storyteller who wrote more nonfiction science books than anyone in history. Discover how Asimov made chemistry co...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Could a black hole erase your past? Wipe out every memory, every detail, that makes you who you are? That’s just one of the crazy questions we explore as we encounter the insane paradoxes of black holes.  Black holes don’t just trap matter. They trap information too. This is what makes them one of the greatest mysteries of our universe. The...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 This conversation explores the life and legacy of Richard Feynman, exploring his pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, his unique personality, and his innovative teaching methods. Feynman's contributions to physics and his playful approach to science are highlighted, alongside the complexities of his character and the lasting impact he has had...
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Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 What happens when a civilization begins to doubt its own foundations, dismissing facts, evidence, and even reason for not being woke enough? In an age where biology, history, warfare, and even science are increasingly shaped by ideology, what does it mean to defend truth at all? Douglas Murray, one of the most influential public intellectuals ...
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Welcome to a fascinating journey into the limits of imagination, geometry, and scientific discovery. In this premiere episode of "The Scientists," a new series on the Into The Impossible Podcast Network, host Brian Keating—Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego—dives deep into the curious world of "Flatland," Edwin Abbott Abbott's mind-bending Victorian novel. But this isn't just dusty literature; it's a ge...
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Welcome to the debut episode of "The Scientists," a captivating new series from the Into the Impossible Podcast Network, hosted by Brian Keating, Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego. Each week, Brian takes us on a journey into the extraordinary minds behind history’s greatest scientific breakthroughs—not just exploring what these giants of science discovered, but delving deep into who they were, what d...
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Consensus is the AI powered results engine I use every day in my research. Visit https://bit.ly/ConsensusApp and sign up for one year for *FREE* with code KEATING25 just for listeners of The INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast! What if the best person to solve the mystery of alien communication isn't a SETI researcher or a radio astronomer, but instead a theoretical physicist trained in the deepest notions of physical law, symmetries, and...
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Dr. Brian Keating joins Spencer Klavan to discuss one of the most brilliant, complicated, and misunderstood men in all of Western history. No, not Elon Musk. Galileo Galilei! They cover Galileo's daring philosophy of science, his contributions to human knowledge, his devout Catholic faith, and his many, many mistresses and children. Plus: what can believers learn from scientists, and vice versa? Learn more about your ad choi...
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Win Extraterrestrial Metal: join my mailing list 💥 https://briankeating.com/yt 💥 Mike is an astronomer and professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). His groundbreaking discoveries of dwarf planets like Eris, Haumea, and Makemake shook up the astronomy world and led to the controversial redefinition of what constitutes a planet. Why was Pluto actually demoted? And is there a hidden ...
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Brian Keating dives into some of the universe's biggest mysteries, from the search for extraterrestrial life and the nature of the Big Bang to cutting-edge discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope. Joined by Young and Alive, they explore how scientific beliefs are constantly evolving, how astronomers confront existential threats like asteroids, and why a sense of wonder drives the quest to understand our place in the cosmos....
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As a listener of Dr. Brian Keating, you get a special 20% off discount. 👉 Head over to The Economist's website at www.economist.com/Keating to get started. What really happened during the controversy over the discovery of Haumea? Why was Pluto actually demoted? And is there a hidden Planet Nine lurking in the outer solar system? I’m joined today by none other than the Pluto Killer himself, Mike Brown. Mike is an astronomer and ...
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