Closer To Truth

What is “nothing”?
What does it mean for nothing to exist—or for nothing to have ever existed? In this episode, Robert Lawrence Kuhn explores one of philosophy’s deepest questions: Why is there something rather than nothing? Through conversations with philosophers and physicists, the discussion examines the nature of nothingness, whether absolute nothing is possible, and how different philosophical and scientific perspectives attempt to explain the existence of the universe.
Featuring Richard Swinburne, Simon Blackburn, Robert Spitzer, Peter van Inwagen, Steven Weinberg, John Leslie, Timothy O’Connor, Victor Stenger, John Hawthorne, and Peter Forrest.
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How do natural laws shape human societies?
In this conversation, Saleem Ali discusses Earthly Order: How Natural Laws Define Human Life, exploring connections between natural systems, social organization, economics, and political order. Ali examines how concepts such as order, chaos, emergence, hierarchy, and complexity operate across scales—from physics and ecology to governance and global sustainability.
Saleem H. Ali is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware. His research focuses on environmental conflicts, sustainability, natural resources, and ecological cooperation in international relations.
 
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What can Galileo still teach us about science, truth, and discovery?
In this conversation, Mario Livio discusses Galileo’s scientific legacy, the Hubble Space Telescope, science denial, exoplanets, cosmology, and the future of life in the universe. Drawing from his book Galileo: And the Science Deniers, Livio explores Galileo’s role in the development of the scientific method and examines how scientific understanding evolves through observation, experimentation, and self-correction.
Mario Livio is an astrophysicist and author who worked for 24 years at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Do we really have free will?
In this conversation, Gregg Caruso explores the philosophy of free will, moral responsibility, determinism, compatibilism, libertarian free will, and free will skepticism. Discussing themes from Just Deserts: Debating Free Will, co-authored with Daniel Dennett, Caruso examines whether human beings possess the kind of control required for moral responsibility and how neuroscience and philosophy shape the debate.
Gregg D. Caruso is Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Corning and Honorary Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University.
 
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How do we measure the expansion of the universe?
In this conversation, Wendy Freedman discusses the Hubble constant, standard candles, redshift, and the ongoing effort to determine the age, size, and evolution of the universe. Exploring Cepheid variables, supernovae, cosmic expansion, and the tension between competing cosmological measurements, Freedman explains how increasingly precise observations are reshaping modern cosmology.
Wendy Freedman is an astronomer known for her measurements of the Hubble constant and for her leadership of the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California, and Las Campanas, Chile.
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What does evolution imply about human nature and human value?
In this conversation, Michael Ruse explores the philosophy of biology, the mechanistic view of life, human exceptionalism, and the relationship between evolution and meaning. Discussing themes from his book A Philosopher Looks at Human Beings, Ruse examines whether the world is best understood as an organism or a machine, how Darwin transformed our understanding of humanity, and whether values can exist within a mechanistic picture of nature.
Michael Ruse was a philosopher of science specializing in the philosophy of biology, evolution, science and religion, and the creation–evolution controversy. He taught at Florida State University.
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How did the universe begin—and what determines the laws of physics we observe?
In this conversation, Thomas Hertog discusses On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory, presenting a new approach to cosmology developed through years of collaboration with Stephen Hawking. Exploring quantum cosmology, the multiverse, fine-tuning, and the “no-boundary” proposal, Hertog argues for a profoundly evolutionary picture of the cosmos and our place within it.Thomas Hertog is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Leuven. His research focuses on the quantum nature of the big bang and the origins of the universe.Order Thomas Hertog's book: https://bit.ly/3ZZal1d
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Can virtual worlds be genuinely real?
In this conversation, David Chalmers explores the philosophical implications of virtual reality, simulation theory, and digital existence. Discussing themes from his book Reality+, Chalmers examines whether we could be living in a simulation, whether virtual worlds can contain real meaning and value, and how emerging digital realities challenge our understanding of consciousness, knowledge, and existence.Chalmers' book, Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy, is available for purchase: https://bookshop.org/books/reality-virtual-worlds-and-the-problems-of-philosophy/9780393635805
David Chalmers is Professor of Philosophy at New York University and Co-Director of the Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness. His work focuses on consciousness, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, epistemology, and the foundations of cognitive science.
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In this conversation, Anil Seth discusses a new scientific approach to consciousness — moving beyond the traditional “hard problem” toward explaining the actual properties of conscious experience. Robert Lawrence Kuhn and Seth explore phenomenology, neural correlates of consciousness, predictive perception, conscious selfhood, and why measuring consciousness may be essential for understanding it.
Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science. His research brings together neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, computer science, mathematics, and psychiatry to investigate the biological basis of consciousness.Seth's book, Being You: A New Science of Consciousness, is available for purchase in the UK and the US: https://amzn.to/3jI9ss7
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Why do we need philosophy to understand evolution?
Robert Lawrence Kuhn explores the philosophy of evolutionary biology — not just how evolution works, but what its core concepts really mean. Through conversations with Elliott Sober, Richard Dawkins, Samir Okasha, John Dupré, Dennis Noble, and Michael Ruse, this episode examines natural selection, common ancestry, challenges to evolutionary theory, and the deeper implications of evolution for science, religion, and human identity.
Featuring interviews with Elliott Sober, Richard Dawkins, Samir Okasha, John Dupré, Dennis Noble, and Michael Ruse.Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 
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