Closer To Truth

What do we mean when we talk about God—and how far can philosophy take us in answering the deepest questions of religion?

In this wide-ranging conversation, Alex O’Connor joins Robert Lawrence Kuhn to explore competing conceptions of God, the ground of being, religious experience and faith, the problem of evil, divine omniscience and free will, morality, the philosophica...

How can we measure the universe—and determine what it is made of?

Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist George Smoot joins Robert Lawrence Kuhn to explore precision cosmology, from measurements of the cosmic microwave background to dark matter, dark energy, and the expansion of the universe. They discuss how gravitational lensing is becoming an increasingly powerful tool for prob...

What might humanity look like decades, millennia—or even millions of years—from now?

Science-fiction author and futurist David Brin joins Robert Lawrence Kuhn to explore humanity’s possible futures. They discuss artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, space exploration, alien civilizations and the Fermi paradox, as well as consciousness, the nature o...

Could a single theory explain the fundamental workings of the universe?

Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku joins Robert Lawrence Kuhn to discuss The God Equation and the quest for a Theory of Everything. They explore string theory, the multiverse, higher dimensions, time travel, the Big Bang, and what a final theory might reveal about reality and our place in the cosmos.

This convers...

Can your theory of consciousness determine your answers to the biggest questions in philosophy, science, and religion — AI sentience, life after death, free will, personal identity? Robert Lawrence Kuhn presents his landmark taxonomy of consciousness theories — spanning materialism, quantum theories, information, panpsychism, dualism, idealism, and more — and argues that every serious question about mind and per...

Everything we know, everything we think, comes from our brain. Are brains our window to reality, seeing what truly exists? Or are we bound by brains, mental slaves of the meat in our heads? Featuring interviews with Christopher Evans, Kelsey Martin, Robert Bilder, Jared Diamond, and Rodney Brooks.

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Celia Deane-Drummond talks the evolution of wisdom, COVID-19 and the boundary between natural and moral evil, Christian theology, and redeeming sin. She also discusses her book, Shadow Sophia, the second volume in her Evolution of Wisdom series.

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Is there more than one universe? According to current cosmology, our entire gigantic universe is only one of innumerable universes, each universe like one tiny bubble in a limitless ocean of universes. What could all this mean? Featuring interviews with Max Tegmark, Anthony Aguirre, Alan Guth, Andrei Linde, and Paul Davies. Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 

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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 p...

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 governa...

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 m...

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 responsibi...

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 pre...

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 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”...

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 ...

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 understand...

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 t...

What if the boundaries between you and every other conscious being are an illusion? Philosopher Arnold Zuboff makes the case for Universalism — the radical view that first-person immediacy, not any particular body or origin, is what makes an experience yours. And if that's right, then you exist wherever consciousness exists. Arnold Zuboff is an American philosopher known for his work on personal identity, consciousness, and ...