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
August 1, 2025 • 110 mins
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In this captivating conversation, we dive deep into the cosmos with renowned cosmologist, podcaster, and UC San Diego professor Dr. Brian Keating. Joined by Mike Misha and Xinghui, Brian takes us on a journey from the childhood wonder inspired by the Moon to the high-altitude peaks of Chile and the frigid expanse of the South Pole, where he's hel...
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July 30, 2025 • 61 mins
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In a sweeping conversation sparked by his new book The War on Science, Lawrence Krauss charts how well-intentioned campus DEI bureaucracies, politicized funding mandates, and “language-as-violence” taboos are eroding the core scientific virtues of open inquiry and empirical scepticism, while drawing historical parallels from Lysenkoism to tod...
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July 25, 2025 • 59 mins
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Is the universe fine-tuned for life, or is it just a lucky accident? Could the multiverse explain why our universe is so perfectly suited for life? And how much can the fundamental constants change before life becomes impossible?
Today, I’m joined by Fred Adams, a theoretical physicist from the University of Michigan. Fred works in the ...
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July 18, 2025 • 56 mins
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What if the future tech billionaires keep promising us isn’t the answer, but part of the problem?
In this episode of Into the Impossible, I talk with Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever, about the big dreams coming out of Silicon Valley—especially when it comes to AI and the future of humanity.
We take a hard look at the idea...
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July 17, 2025 • 90 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb to explore his provocative new article analyzing the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS — a visitor from beyond our solar system that might not be natural. 🛰️
We dive into his recent article on Medium https://avi-loeb.medium.com/is-the-interstellar-object-3i-atlas-alien-technology-b59ccc17b2e3 and get into:
• The strange anomalies in 3I/ATLAS’s orbit, size, and speed �...
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July 14, 2025 • 79 mins
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What drives someone to keep exploring the universe after a lifelong career in cosmology and 500 podcast episodes?
In this milestone episode, I finally take the mic solo to answer that and other questions—from the origin of the podcast during the pandemic to why I'm still obsessed with cosmology, teaching, and yes, even faculty meetings (s...
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July 13, 2025 • 28 mins
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In this episode, we’re diving into the untold story of one of science’s greatest icons: Galileo Galilei. You might know him as the father of modern astronomy—the man with the telescope who challenged the universe. But forget the dusty textbook legend. This episode peels back the curtain to reveal Galileo as a cunning innovator, unapologetic mo...
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July 9, 2025 • 58 mins
What if the Big Bang wasn’t the beginning? What if our universe is just one in a vast cosmic ocean of universes, and we have the evidence to prove it?
In this episode of Into the Impossible, I’m joined by theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton to explore one of the most provocative ideas in modern cosmology: the multiverse is not only real—it’s testable. Mersini, author of Before the Big Bang, walks us through her bold pre...
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June 30, 2025 • 75 mins
What if everything we know about the universe’s expansion is wrong?
David Wiltshire offers a radical perspective on cosmic acceleration and dark energy, proposing that both might be illusions created by the varying passage of time in different regions of the universe.
Wiltshire challenges the foundations of modern cosmology with his innovative Timescape model.
We discuss the foundations of Einstein's theory of relativity, examin...
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June 25, 2025 • 27 mins
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This episode, hosted by Brian Keating—Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego—delves into one of the most fascinating and underappreciated stories at the intersection of beauty, brilliance, and invention. Today, we step away from pure physics and astronomy to explore the remarkable life of Hedy Lamarr, an iconic Hollywoo...
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June 23, 2025 • 52 mins
In this exclusive interview, Professor Mario Jurić reveals how the Vera Rubin Observatory accidentally discovered 2,000 asteroids in just 10 hours while testing its capabilities on the distant Virgo Cluster—transforming humanity's asteroid discovery rate from 20,000 per year globally to potentially over one million annually with a single telescope. Jurić explains how VRO's revolutionary multi-messenger astronomy capabilities will d...
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June 18, 2025 • 55 mins
Is everything we thought we knew about the universe… wrong? Is the Lambda-CDM model nearing its breaking point? Could dark energy actually be evolving?
In this episode of Into the Impossible, I’m joined by Kyle Dawson and Daniel Green to discuss the latest data from the DESI experiment. These new results are making headlines, and rightfully so, as they hold the potential to transform our understanding of the universe completely.
...
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June 15, 2025 • 83 mins
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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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June 12, 2025 • 149 mins
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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June 8, 2025 • 27 mins
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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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June 5, 2025 • 50 mins
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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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June 4, 2025 • 67 mins
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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June 1, 2025 • 103 mins
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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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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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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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