#128 - Paul M. Sutter - The Universe, Consciousness & Why We Might Be Alone

The Peter McCormack Show

Peter McCormack

Technology, News, Politics, Money, Investing, Finance, Bitcoin

4.8 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2025

⏱️ 127 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Paul M. Sutter is a theoretical cosmologist, astrophysicist and author who takes the biggest questions of existence.

From the origins of the universe to the limits of human understanding. His ability to connect abstract physics with everyday curiosity turns complex science into something emotional, philosophical and unforgettable.

CONTACT PETE
› Website - http://petermccormack.com
› Feedback - https://www.petermccormack.com/contact
› Email - [email protected]
› Instagram - /mccormack555
› X/Twitter - https://x.com/petermccormack/

CONNECT WITH EWEN STEWART
› X/Twitter - https://x.com/TheGrowthComm

SPONSORS
› IREN - https://www.iren.com/
› Ledger - https://www.ledger.com/
› Gemini - https://gemini.com/
› Casa - https://casa.io/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 – Introduction
00:03:00 – What Is the Universe?
00:08:40 – Observable vs True Size
00:12:00 – The Shape of Reality
00:16:00 – The Cosmic Web
00:21:30 – Dark Matter & Evidence
00:40:00 – What Is a Particle?
00:44:00 – Quantum Fields & Reality
00:46:00 – Why Does It All Work?
00:57:00 – Are We Alone?
01:02:00 – The Goldilocks Problem
01:08:00 – The Wow Signal
01:15:00 – Biosignatures & James Webb
01:20:00 – Life Beyond Earth
01:28:00 – Getting to Mars
01:36:00 – Why Mars Is So Hard
01:48:00 – Is The Money Worth It?
01:53:00 – Alien Theories & Avi Loeb
01:58:00 – Comets vs Asteroids
02:01:00 – Science as Human Meaning
02:04:00 – Final Thoughts

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST
› Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K
› Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu
› Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM
› YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM
› Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM

FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
› https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/
› https://x.com/curttayloruk/

EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
› https://x.com/ConorM04

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What gets me is what we talked about earlier, the enormity of it, the scale of it, that I can
0:06.9	open up my computer, write a piece of software that encodes some physics and some knowledge of the
0:15.5	universe and is able to replicate the vast majority of the history of our universe at large scales.
0:21.6	Or I can write down an equation that captures it.
0:24.3	That here we are, monkeys on the surface, apes,
0:28.1	apes, sorry biologists, apes on the surface of a unremarkable planet in the corner of a spur of a spiral arm can sit here and talk about
0:41.3	supernova, interstellar visitors, traveling to Mars, the origins of the universe itself. That's what gets me.
0:50.3	This episode is brought to you by our least sponsor,
0:58.1	and Massive Legends Iron, the largest NASDAQ listed Bitcoin miner,
1:00.3	using 100% renewable energy.
1:03.1	Now, they're not just powering the Bitcoin network.
1:06.9	They're also providing cutting edge computer resources for AI,
1:09.3	all backed by renewable energy.
1:12.8	Now, my boy, Danny and I have been working with their founders,
1:17.1	Dan and Will, for quite some time now. And we've always been super impressed with their values,
1:21.9	especially their commitment to local communities and sustainable computing power.
1:44.3	So if you're interested in mining Bitcoin or harnessing AI compute power, Irond is set in the standard. And so you can find out more at iron.com, which is iran.com. That is iron.com. We're in. All right. Good clap. It's a solid clap, Mr. Spaceman. I get one clap for my entry. Usually I get more when people introduce me, but this show is just one clap. Yeah, we're a tough crowd. Let's go. Hey, everyone is excited you're back. Even my entry. Usually I get more when people introduce me, but this show is just one clock.
1:59.2	Yeah, we're a tough crowd. Hey, everyone is excited. You're back. Even my dad. Hey, dad. Did you hear your granddad last night? He was like, when's the Spaceman back on? I was like, he's on tomorrow. I was like, how did you know? He's like, no, I heard you talking about it. He listened to the last one. All right.
1:59.7	All right.
2:01.8	That's one listener confirmed.
2:02.7	We love it.
2:04.2	We all love the spaceman.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 11 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Peter McCormack, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Peter McCormack and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.