Conversations at the Perimeter – Details, episodes & analysis

Neil Turok is a professor at the University of Edinburgh where he holds the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics. He acted as the director of Perimeter Institute from 2008 to 2019 and now holds the Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair in Theoretical Physics at PI.

In this episode of Conversations at the Perimeter, he talks about his recent work that describes the Big Bang, how his research has been influenced by Stephen Hawking, and why he chooses to work on theories that have the potential to be proven wrong.

He also talks about his time as director of Perimeter Institute and describes the strategies he used to create a culture and community capable of fostering breakthroughs. It's a fascinating conversation, and Neil is uniquely gifted in describing both the biggest questions in theoretical physics and the best strategies for answering them.

View the episode transcript here.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Sir Anthony Leggett, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics for his foundational contributions to superfluidity, is a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Reflecting on a lifetime in science, he shares his groundbreaking work on superconductivity, superfluidity, and quantum science with Lauren and Colin, illuminating his ideas with simple metaphors of a military parade and children running in a forest. He also discusses the human connections that have shaped his life, from doing science demonstrations for families at a farmer’s market to his experiences in England, the US, Canada, Ghana, and more. View the episode transcript here.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

The universe is expanding faster and faster all the time, and Jessie Muir wants to understand why. Muir is a postdoctoral researcher at Perimeter Institute and a member of the international Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration. She co-leads the DES analysis team that seeks to understand the mysterious dark energy driving the universe's accelerating expansion by analyzing galaxy clustering and weak lensing. In this episode, she chats with Lauren and Colin about her work at the intersection of theory and experiment – and how drawing science-themed cartoons helps her grasp and share complex topics in captivating, accessible ways. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Raymond Laflamme was the founding director of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, a position he held for 16 years, and he has been an associate faculty member at Perimeter Institute for more than two decades. He is known as one of the world’s leading experts on quantum information science, and was recently appointed as the chair of the Expert Panel on Quantum Technologies assembled by the Council of Canadian Academies. In this conversation with Lauren and Colin, Laflamme explains the incredible potential power of quantum technologies, and what drew him back to his native Canada to pursue research in the field. He shares how his life and career were influenced by his famous PhD supervisor, Stephen Hawking, and how his insatiable curiosity kept him motivated during his recent battle with lung cancer. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Hilding Neilson is an astrophysicist who works at the intersection of science, astronomy, and Indigenous knowledge. He joins co-hosts Colin and Lauren for a fascinating conversation about the ways humans make sense of the vast night sky, via telescopes, mathematics, and traditional knowledge passed through generations. Neilson – who recently started a new role as an Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland – probes the physics of stars, from the nuclear-burning cores out to the circumstellar medium where stellar winds interact with the interstellar medium. As a Mi’kmaw person, he strives to embrace and integrate Indigenous knowledges and methodologies to better understand the stars, the universe, and our place in it. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Estelle Inack is a research scientist at Perimeter Institute, working at the intersection of quantum matter and artificial intelligence as a member of the Perimeter Institute Quantum Intelligence Lab (PIQuIL). She is also the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of yiyaniQ, a quantum intelligence startup. Her research aims to develop quantum-inspired algorithms to tackle real-world optimization problems using state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. Originally from Cameroon, Inack tells Lauren and Colin about her childhood fascination with naval architecture, and the path she took to pursue a career at the forefront of quantum technology. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

François David is a mathematical physicist and a passionate educator with an infectious zest for decoding the mysteries of the universe. As a scientist based at the Institut de Physique Théorique (IPhT), he uses mathematical techniques and tools to tackle open questions in areas ranging from quantum gravity to statistical mechanics. He is also a popular lecturer among graduate physics students in his native France and at Perimeter Institute, where he has led classes in the Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) graduate program for over a decade. In this conversation, David discusses what it means to study simple complex models, ghosts that appear in quantum field theory, and how teaching young students from all over the world has energized his own passion for science. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

A postdoctoral researcher at Perimeter Institute, Meenu Kumari is an explorer at the edge of quantum science. Her research explores open questions at the meeting points of quantum information, quantum foundations, and quantum matter. In this conversation with Lauren and Colin, she explains what it means to study the realm where quantum meets classical, and how we might harness the peculiar nature of the quantum realm to better understand chaos. She shares her unlikely path toward theoretical physics from a childhood in India, where she had to overcome social pressures and doubters to pursue an early love of science. View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

Lucien Hardy is a theoretical physicist working at the intersection of the two pillars of modern physics – general relativity and quantum mechanics – in the quest for a single unifying theory: quantum gravity. Hardy joins co-hosts Lauren and Colin for a conversation about the puzzles that have driven him throughout his career, including the past 20 as a Perimeter faculty member. Hardy recalls the radio program that first sparked his childhood curiosity about the universe, describes his operational approach to big quantum puzzles, and explains the paradox that bears his name (as well as a second, somewhat-tongue-in-cheek paradox devised by his wife). View the episode transcript here.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate

On May 12, 2022, the global Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration unveiled the landmark first image of the black hole at the heart of our own Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A* (or Sgr A*). On this special episode of Conversations at the Perimeter, Lauren and Colin talk with astrophysicist Avery Broderick about the significance of this discovery. He explains how the EHT collaboration created an “Earth-sized telescope” – a network of eight radio telescopes on five continents, all focussed on a single spot on the night sky: the heart of the Milky Way, 27,000 light-years from Earth. Broderick holds the Delaney Family John Archibald Wheeler Chair at Perimeter, and is an associate faculty member jointly appointed to Perimeter and the University of Waterloo. He also leads the EHT Initiative at Perimeter Institute, which is one of the 13 partner organizations in the EHT. Although his childhood dream of voyaging through the universe on the Starship Enterprise remains out of reach, Broderick says hunting black holes (or "fire donuts," as he playfully calls them) is the next-best thing. View the episode transcript here.

For more on the news, check out our story.

We are looking for feedback about our audience’s preferences as we chart the path forward. Please take a few minutes and fill out our podcast listener survey.

Conversations at the Perimeter is co-hosted by Perimeter Teaching Faculty member Lauren Hayward and journalist-turned-science communicator Colin Hunter. In each episode, they chat with a guest scientist about their research, their motivations, the challenges they encounter, and the drive that keeps them searching for answers.

The podcast is produced by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a not-for-profit, charitable organization supported by a unique public-private model, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada. Perimeter’s educational outreach initiatives, including Conversations at the Perimeter, are made possible in part by the support of donors like you. Be part of the equation: perimeterinstitute.ca/donate