Closer To Truth

Closer To Truth

Closer To Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions in Cosmos, Life, Consciousness, and Meaning. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Seek your own answers.

Episodes

November 19, 2025 35 mins

Make a donation to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

The Ruliad is a term that Stephen Wolfram developed, which he describes as the entangled limit of everything that is computationally possible, the result of following all possible computational rules in all possible ways.

 

Stephen Wolfram is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He ...
Mark as Played
This giving season, contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.     Concepts of God/deities/ultimates in diverse, non-Western religions/traditions: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, African. Is God/deities a “person?” Islam’s one transcendent God. Hinduism’s many schools: personal, impersonal, both. Buddhism’s no God but many deities.     Featuring interviews with Hamza Yusuf, Mohamm...
Mark as Played

Support the show with a tax-deductible donation of any amount so we can continue exploring the world's biggest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

When the long-awaited day dawns and the aliens finally arrive on Earth, they might eat us and destroy the planet―or, just maybe, they might share the secrets of the Universe with us. When that time comes, will we be able to cross the communication barrier to beg for our lives? If ...

Mark as Played
October 29, 2025 50 mins

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

What happens after we die? Is there life after death? If so, what kind of life? From heaven and hell to systems and cycles of reincarnation, we explore Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Chinese traditions, as well as Christianity.

 

Featuring interviews with Hamza Yusuf, Carol Zaleski, Tao Jiang, An...

Mark as Played
October 22, 2025 27 mins
Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.     How do different religions/traditions address consciousness, our inner mental awareness? Is consciousness ultimate, as in Eastern traditions, or created by God, as in Abrahamic traditions? If ultimate, what is the relationship between personal and cosmic consciousness?     Featuring interviews with Jay...
Mark as Played

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls: https://shorturl.at/OnyRq

 

In the first two installments of a brand new, six-part interview series with Nobel Laureate Sir Roger Penrose, we explore his approach to the deep nature of reality. Trace the intellectual and scientific history of each of his major contributions to the fields of science and philo...

Mark as Played
October 8, 2025 44 mins

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

Mathematics is like nothing else. The truths of math seem to be unrelated to anything else—independent of human beings, independent of the universe. The sum of 2 + 3 = 5 cannot not be true; this means that 3 + 2 = 5 would be true even if there were never any human beings, even if there were never a univ...

Mark as Played
October 1, 2025 27 mins

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

Global Philosophy of Religion seeks diverse views and fresh ways of thinking from different religions/traditions about Ultimate Questions: God, consciousness, person/self, evil/suffering, afterlife/reincarnation, world to come. It does not avoid hard differences; it celebrates them.

 

Featuring interviews ...

Mark as Played
September 24, 2025 42 mins

Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

Physicist and computer scientist Stephen Wolfram explores how simple rules can generate complex realities, offering a bold new vision of fundamental physics and the structure of the universe. Additionally, from the foundations of cellular automata to the discovery of surprising patterns in nature, Wolfram ...

Mark as Played
September 17, 2025 27 mins

If you enjoy our content, consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

Humanity’s future is now framed by artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing interventions in the body to enhance features and functions. This is transhumanism. Considering the stakes, and the dangers, a philosophical perspective is imperative.

 

Featuring interviews with...

Mark as Played
Make a donation to Closer To Truth to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.     What is the three-way relationship among mind, art, and transcendence? What is it about art that can elicit the sense of transcendence, going beyond the self, bursting the constraining bonds of semantic language? What is it about transcendence that it can be expressed by art? What in fact is transcendenc...
Mark as Played
September 3, 2025 27 mins
Make a donation of any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.   Sexual questions abound. What is “normal” sexual behavior in light of diverse sexual variations? LGBTQ+ issues? Is sex in animal models relevant for human sexuality? A philosophical perspective can provide clarity.   Featuring interviews with Nathan Lents, Joshua Swamidass, Rachell Powell, Lisa Lloyd, and Quayshawn Spencer.   W...
Mark as Played

Contribute what you can to support Closer To Truth and keep our content free without the need for paywalls.

 

Many people believe that out-of-the-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs) are real. We do not assess the evidence and arguments, pro or con. We do explore what OBEs and NDEs would mean, if real, for theories of consciousness.

 

This episode features interviews with Bernardo Kastrup, Etzel Cardeña, Àlex ...

Mark as Played
August 20, 2025 27 mins

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

Two kinds of questions probe evolution vs. religion. The first explores discrepancies, even contradictions, between the science of evolution and the beliefs of religion. The second examines how religion itself evolved.

 

Featuring interviews with Richard Dawkins, Michael Ruse, Alexander Rosenberg, Helen ...

Mark as Played

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.

 

Clement Vidal, philosopher of science and astrobiologist, discusses the idea of something rather than nothing, differing religious worldviews, fine tuning and metaphysics, and more.

 

Watch more CTT Chats here.

 

Dr. Clément Vidal is a philosopher with a background in logic and cognitive sciences. He is co-director of the 'Evo Devo U...

Mark as Played
August 6, 2025 27 mins

Contribute what you can to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions.

 

What can evolution reveal about the developmental history of thinking and feeling? How did cognition and emotion (affect) co-develop over evolutionary time? Can evolution help solve the mystery of consciousness?

 

Featuring interviews with Peter Godfrey-Smith, S. Joshua Swamidass, Rachell Powell, Denis Noble, Terrence Deacon, Paul E....

Mark as Played

Make a contribution of any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring life's deepest questions.

 

Dr. Mark Bailey writes about the intersection between artificial intelligence, complexity, and national security. He is an associate professor at the National Intelligence University, where he is the Department Chair for Cyber Intelligence and Data Science, as well as the Director of the Data Science Intelligence Center.

 

This ...

Mark as Played
July 23, 2025 27 mins
What is “human” nature? While human beings are animals, we believe we are special, radically different from other animals. Why? What traits are unique to humans? Are we sure? How to explore human nature from an evolutionary perspective?     Featuring interviews with Quayshawn Spencer, Alexander Rosenberg, Massimo Pigliucci, Rachell Powell, Helen De Cruz, Paul E. Griffiths, and John Dupré.   Make a donation to Closer To Truth to h...
Mark as Played

Donate any amount to help Closer To Truth continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.

 

How do we define a soul? Can AI become consciousness? Julia Mossbridge discusses these questions along with the main trends in parapsychology, transpersonal psychology, and ESP research over the last decade.

 

Dr. Julia Mossbridge is an American cognitive neuroscientist, author, and educator who works on excep...

Mark as Played
Contribute what you can to help us continue exploring the world's deepest questions without the need for paywalls.   Two big ideas in biology: the evolution of species via mutation, fitness and natural selection; and the embryological development of individuals, from fertilized egg to whole organisms. How do these two big ideas—“Evo-Dev,” as it’s called—relate? What novel ideas emerge?   Featuring interviews with Denis Noble, Richa...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.