Math Vs Machine
9 October - 31 mins explicitIn less than four years, mathematician Steve Strogatz watched AI go from flailing at basic arithmetic to solving problems that baffle the world’s best mathematicians. In September of 2026, Open AI announced it had solved a Millennium Prize Problem, one of math’s highest achievements. In short, mathematics is right now on the cusp of a reckoning that may be coming for all of us. In this episode, Steve grapples with the idea that the window might be closing on humanity’s effort to unpuzzle, or learn, or understand the world around us.
Special thanks to Ravi Vakil, Alex Kontorovich, Bob Wright.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Maria Paz Gutierrez and Soren Wheeler
Produced by - Soren Wheeler...
Series Episodes
The Smell of Hell
What if the smell of death is actually the smell of life?
43 mins
16 October Finished
A 4-Track Mind
A neurologist issues a dare to a ragtime piano player and a famous conductor, then the impossible happens.
21 mins
2 October Finished
23 Weeks 6 Days
A tiny baby, born at 23 Weeks and 6 days—roughly halfway to full term. And a whole universe of medical and moral questions.
1 hour 3 mins
11 September Finished
