Leonard Susskind: What REALLY Happens Inside a Black Hole? (#364)

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2023

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What's really going on in a black hole? Why are there so many theories of everything? And did Leonard Susskind, the father of string theory, ever feel like an impostor? Find out in this thrilling interview with none other than Susskind himself. Susskind is an American physicist and a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University. He is also the founding director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. In 1995, Susskind was the first to give a precise string-theoretic interpretation of the holographic principle and the first to introduce the idea of the string theory landscape in 2003. In this interview, we discuss Susskind's popular science book, The Black Hole War, which covers the black hole information paradox and the related scientific dispute between Stephen Hawking and Susskind himself. We also talk about other developments in modern physics and more! Tune in! Key Takeaways: Intro (00:00) The difference between writing for broad and small audiences (05:56) Impostor syndrome (08:58) The first image of a black hole (19:33) The horizon of a black hole and the existence of a singularity (22:05) Mathematician envy (36:51) Why are there so many theories of everything? (44:07) Three things that would push him to believe in the Multiverse (48:25) Audience questions (57:06) Who would Lenny have for coffee? (1:05:33) What would he put in his ethical will? (1:10:51) Outro (1:17:34) — Additional resources: 🥗 Thanks, HelloFresh! Go to HelloFresh.com/50impossible and use code 50impossible for 50% off plus 15% off the next 2 months. 📝 With a MasterClass annual membership, you can take one-on-one classes from the world’s best for $10 a month with your annual membership, get unlimited access to every class — and even better, right now, as an Into The Impossible listener, you can get 15% off when you go to MASTERCLASS.com/impossible. 🧑‍💻 Visit LinkedIn.com/IMPOSSIBLE to post your job for free! 📚 The Black Hole War by Leonard Susskind: https://a.co/d/a9WGKAc ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1 📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list ✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/blog.php 🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast — Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to follow so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Go where your curiosity leads you. Pay no attention to what people are saying is or is not good science.
0:08.0	If you are curious and you want to understand something, follow your nose and go where your curiosity leads.
0:15.4	That's the only thing I can say.
0:17.2	All of the very, very good theoretical physicists that I know have done exactly that. technology is indistinguishable from magic.
0:35.0	Open the pod bay doors now.
0:37.0	Welcoming Lenny Suskin who is a good friend mentor to many of us.
0:41.0	Just reminder, we're gonna have Comer and Vafa, Lenny's friends, Comer and
0:45.4	Barry Barish, Ray Weiss is also coming on in the next week or so. And we'll have on Shelly Glashow,
0:51.5	who is a fellow alum of Bronx science Lenny's alma mater,
0:54.7	we're just remarking how much fun it is to do talks in your pajamas, but also missing out on the,
1:01.6	missing out on the pleasures of interacting with colleagues
1:05.6	and especially Lenny's colleague Stephen Hawking.
1:09.0	Lenny, I'm sorry, could you just say again,
1:11.2	what did Stephen mean to you personally as a FOIL he wasn't the easiest person to get along with I remember
1:17.3	hearing that for many people but but he had this magical captivating effect on all of science, so much so that if you asked any person who's the most famous scientist, they would say someone like Stephen Hawking, not me.
1:31.0	Well, there were many aspects of Stephen Hawking. First of all he was a great physicist there's no question of that.
1:38.0	Maybe it was a little bit of a stretch to say that he was Einstein or Newton but he he was a very, very important influence in physics.
1:44.9	But you know, there are other aspects to him that certainly caught people's imagination.
1:50.6	His stubbornness against overwhelming odds.
1:58.0	How he managed to not just survive,
2:02.4	but to flourish and to do great physics when he could barely move no more than his eyelash.
2:10.0	This is an incredible story, so he was in addition to being a great physicist
	...

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