Closer To Truth

Annaka Harria on Consciousness and the Cosmos

In a follow-up to her seminal book, "Conscious", Annaka Harris' new audio original documentary offers beginners and experts alike a chance to unravel some of humankind’s most enduring puzzles. Where "Conscious"presents new questions about felt experience, Lights On seeks to find the answers.
 
Lights On: How Understanding Consciousness Helps Us Understand the Universe is available for purchase now.
 
Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of "Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind" and writer and producer of the new audio documentary series, "Lights On: How Understanding Consciousness Helps Us Understand the Universe".

Do Human Brains Have Free Will?

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Free will seems the simplest of notions. Why then is free will so vexing to philosophers? Here's why: no one knows how free will works! Science, seemingly, permits no "gaps" in which free will can operate.
 
This episode features interviews with John Searle, Rodolfo Llinas, Eran Zaidel, Roger Walsh, Mike Merzenich, Henry Stapp, Colin McGinn, and Christof Koch.

Janna Levin on Cosmology: Black Holes, the Big Bang, and More

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Astrophysicist and science visionary Janna Levin discusses all things cosmology: black holes, gravitational waves, the James Webb Space Telescope discoveries, early galaxies, and more.
 
Janna J. Levin is a theoretical cosmologist and a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College. She researches black holes, the cosmology of extra dimensions, and gravitational waves in the shape of spacetime. In addition she is the director of sciences at Pioneer Works. Her books include Black Hole Survival Guide, Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, and How the Universe Got Its Spots.

Implications of Cosmology?

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The universe is strange and wondrous—dauntingly vast, menacingly violent, infinitely complex. The origin of the universe is equally fascinating. There are explanations, but is there a final explanation?
 
Featuring interviews with Alan H. Guth, Andrei Linde, George F. Smoot III, Robert Spitzer, Jill Tarter, and Douglas Vakoch.

Philip Goff and Helen De Cruz on Finding (and Losing) Their Religion

Two notable Closer To Truth contributors—and two good friends—discuss their intellectual and spiritual journeys in what seems to be opposite directions: one toward a form of Christianity and the other away from it.
 
Philip Goff is a British author, idealist philosopher, and professor at Durham University whose research focuses on philosophy of mind and consciousness. Specifically, it focuses on how consciousness can be part of the scientific worldview. He is the author most recently of the book Why? The Purpose of the Universe.
 
 
Helen De Cruz is a Belgian philosopher and Danforth Chair of Philosophy at Saint Louis University who specializes in philosophy of religion, experimental philosophy, and philosophy of cognitive science. She is also an activist supporting the rights of EU citizens in the context of Brexit. Her most recent book is Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think.
 

Why Explore Consciousness and Cosmos?

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Cosmos and consciousness seem utterly different, the former encompassing the vast universe, the latter emerging from tiny brains. Yet consciousness founds most religions, and some cosmologists speak quietly, profoundly, about consciousness.
 
Featuring interviews with David Chalmers, Alexander Vilenkin, David Brin, Colin McGinn, and Paul Davies.

Nathan Lents on The Sexual Evolution

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Evolutionary biologist Nathan Lents argues that many of our supposedly modern ideas about gender and human sexuality are, in fact, deeply rooted in our animal ancestors. In this Chat, Lents discusses his new book, "The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships", a fascinating exploration of sexual behavior throughout the animal kingdom.
 
Nathan H. Lents is an American scientist, author, and university professor. He has been on the faculty of John Jay College since 2006 and is currently the director of the Cell and Molecular Biology program and the former head of the honors program and the campus Macaulay Honors College program.

The Ultimate Questions of Existence

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We like pushing boundaries, trying to discern existence, searching the foundations of reality, knowing all that can be known. Overly ambitious? Sophomoric? WeI don't care. We do it anyway. Here are ultimate questions.
 
Featuring interviews with Lawrence Krauss, John Leslie, Max Tegmark, and Paul Davies.

Why is the Quantum So Strange?

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What is quantum theory and why is it so strange? To know reality, one must confront the quantum. It is how our world works at the deepest level. What's the quantum? It is bizarre, defying all common sense.
 
Featuring interviews with Wojciech Zurek, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Lee Smolin, and Seth Lloyd.

Richard Swinburne on Evil, Atonement, and Evidence Against God

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Robert Lawrence Kuhn sits down with philosopher Richard Swinburne to embark on a retrospective of his views and arguments over his illustrious career. In this episode, they'll explore the problem of evil, atonement, resurrection, and more.
 
Richard Granville Swinburne FBA is an English philosopher. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years, Swinburne has been a proponent of philosophical arguments for the existence of God.