Closer To Truth

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.

Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 

https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV

Join the Community:

Membership (5,000+ videos): https://closertotruth.com/register/

Audio Podcast: https://closertotruth.podbean.com

Support the Show: https://closertotruth.com/donate/

Official Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/closertotruth/

Follow Us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CloserToTruthTV/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/closertotruth/

X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth

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.

 

Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 

https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV

Join the Community:

Membership (5,000+ videos): https://closertotruth.com/register/

Audio Podcast: https://closertotruth.podbean.com

Support the Show: https://closertotruth.com/donate/

Official Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/closertotruth/

Follow Us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CloserToTruthTV/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/closertotruth/

X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth

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.

Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 

https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV

Join the Community:

Membership (5,000+ videos): https://closertotruth.com/register/

Audio Podcast: https://closertotruth.podbean.com

Support the Show: https://closertotruth.com/donate/

Official Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/closertotruth/

Follow Us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CloserToTruthTV/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/closertotruth/

X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth

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.

Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 

https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV

Join the Community:

Membership (5,000+ videos): https://closertotruth.com/register/

Audio Podcast: https://closertotruth.podbean.com

Support the Show: https://closertotruth.com/donate/

Official Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/closertotruth/

Follow Us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CloserToTruthTV/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/closertotruth/

X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth

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

Subscribe to Closer To Truth: 

https://www.youtube.com/@CloserToTruthTV

Join the Community:

Membership (5,000+ videos): https://closertotruth.com/register/

Audio Podcast: https://closertotruth.podbean.com

Support the Show: https://closertotruth.com/donate/

Official Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/closertotruth/

Follow Us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CloserToTruthTV/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/closertotruth/

X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth