Cool Worlds Podcast

Cool Worlds Podcast

Conversations between Professor David Kipping and guests, spanning astronomy, technology, science and engineering. This is the official podcast of the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia University and their popular YouTube channel ”Cool Worlds”. Podcast episodes are filmed and can be found online through our YouTube channels.

Episodes

October 9, 2025 133 mins

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Will Kinney, Professor of Physics at Buffalo University, NY. Will is the author of the fascinating book, "An Infinity of Worlds: Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe". 

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.c...

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Use code coolworldspodcast at https://incogni.com/coolworldspodcast to get an exclusive 60% off.   In this week's episode, David is joined by Matt O'Dowd, Professor of Physics at Lehman College, CUNY. Matt is the host of the phenomenally successful PBS Spacetime show and an avid communicator of science.   To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support   Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [htt...
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In this week's episode, David is joined by Colin Hill, Professor of Physics at Columbia University. Colin is a world renowned expert working at the cutting edge of modern cosmology, giving us the opportunity to do a deep dive into the state of the field.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hdkvBtRdOW4SPsnxCXOjK]

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Geraint Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics at Sydney University. Geraint is a proponent of the fine-tuning argument as evidence for a multiverse and has authored a book on the topic "A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos" [https://shorturl.at/xLyak].

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Sara Imari Walker, Professor of Earth & Space Exploration at the Arizona State University. Prof Walker has spent the last few years developing a new concept in astrobiology known as assembly theory, which we explore in this episode.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify.com/artist/...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Edwin Kite, Professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. Prof Kite is a Participating Scientist for the NASA Curiosity Rover and has devoted much of his career to the study of Mars' evolution and fate.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hdkvBtRdOW4SPsn...

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Use code coolworldspodcast at https://incogni.com/coolworldspodcast to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan.

In this week's episode, David is joined by Natalie Batalha, Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. Prof Batalha was one of the leaders of the historic NASA Kepler Mission which discovered the majority of known exoplanets, and in 2017 was one of the Time 100 most influential people.

To support ...

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Use code coolworldspodcast at https://incogni.com/coolworldspodcast to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan.

In this week's episode, David is joined by Brian Keating, host of the Into the Impossible Podcast, Professor of Cosmology at UC San Diego and popular science book author.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify....

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Use code coolworldspodcast at https://incogni.com/coolworldspodcast to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan. In this week's episode, David is joined by Nick Searra, Founder and Executive Directory of the Interstellar Foundation (https://www.interstellarfoundation.com/). The Interstellar Foundation is building updated versions of the Golden Record for the new space age - physical data storage devices that will be attached...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Nobel laureate Adam Riess, Bloomberg Distinguish Professor and Thomas J Barbar Professor of Physics & Astronomy at John Hopkins University. In this conversation, we explore the Hubble tension and recent disagreements between cosmology teams.

 

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

 

Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotif...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Prof Janna Levin, Professor of Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. Janna is an expert in the theoretical physics of black holes, an author, a communicator of science and co-founder of Pioneer Works.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

Go to https://ground.news/CWP to discover the full spectrum of truths and absurdities be...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Dr Jackie Faherty, Senior Scientist and Senior Education Manager at the American Museum of Natural History and co-founded of the BDNYC research team. Jackie is a champion of brown dwarf science, mysterious objects that aren't quite stars, and aren't quite planets.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support

Dr Faherty's research page: https://www...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by climate scientist Dr Gavin Schmidt, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) and co-founded of the RealClimate blog.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support

RealClimate: https://www.realclimate.org/

NASA GISS: https://www.giss.nasa.gov/

Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify.com/artist/1hdkvBtRdOW4SPsnxCXOjK...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Dave Spergel, Professor of Astrophysics, Chair of the NASA UAP Taskforce and President of the Simons Foundation. Dr Spergel has been a prominent leader in the field of cosmology, both intellectually and strategically.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/support

NASA UAP Report: https://smd-cms.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/uap-independent-study...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Lisa Kaltenegger, Professor at Cornell and Director of the Carl Sagan Institute. Lisa's new book, "Alien Earths", has just hit the shelves so we talk about what made her write this book, her view on the abundance of life in the cosmos, and her take on a couple of recent controversies in the field of astrobiology.

To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolworldslab.com/s...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Dr Paul Sutter, Professor at Stony Brook and a Visiting Professor at Barnard College. Paul is a theoretical cosmologist, who has had a long and productive career in research, but is better known to most for his science communication work. Having one numerous awards, written popular science books and starring in shows like "How the Universe Works", Paul has become a familiar face to many. I...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Dr Viraj Pandya, Hubble Fellow at Columbia University. Viraj's work was recently highlighted on the front page of the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/science/space/astronomy-galaxies-bananas.html) where his recent discoveries with JWST were showcased. Viraj's work suggests that early galaxy formation was far more bizarre than expected and is shaking up long standing idea...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Prof Renée Hložek from the University of Toronoto/Dunlap Institute. Renée is cosmologist studying the CMB, Type 1A Supernovae and baryonic acoustic oscillations. She's an Azrieli Global Scholar within the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, a Senior TED fellow and a Sloan Research Fellow. Our conversation spans axions, dark matter, dark energy and most importantly how astronomers can...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Prof Malena Rice from Yale University. Malena obtained her PhD from Yale University before heading to MIT for a year as 51 Pegasi fellow. She has recently returned to Yale, joining the astronomy faculty. Malena has been featured in Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 and is an expert in planetary dynamics and detection techniques. To support this podcast and our research lab, head to www.coolwor...

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In this week's episode, David is joined by Ramesh Narayan - a renowned astrophysicist whose groundbreaking research has significantly advanced our understanding of black holes and accretion processes. With a career spanning decades, Narayan's work has contributed invaluable insights into the behavior of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies and the dynamics of matter falling into these cosmic giants. He has also been ...

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