Breaking Math Podcast
By Autumn Phaneuf
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Category: Mathematics
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Subscribers: 671
Reviews: 1
Episodes: 165
Mar 31, 2022
Description
Breaking Math is a deep-dive science, technology, engineering, AI, and mathematics podcast that explores the world through the lens of logic, patterns, and critical thinking. Hosted by Autumn Phaneuf, an expert in industrial engineering, operations research and applied mathematics, and Gabriel Hesch, an electrical engineer (host from 2016-2024) with a passion for mathematical clarity, the show is dedicated to uncovering the mathematical structures behind science, engineering, technology, and the systems that shape our future.
What began as a conversation about math as a pure and elegant discipline has evolved into a platform for bold, interdisciplinary dialogue. Each episode of Breaking Math takes listeners on an intellectual journey—whether it’s into the strange beauty of chaos theory, the ethical dilemmas of AI, the deep structures of biological evolution, or the thermodynamics of black holes. Along the way, Autumn and Gabriel interview leading thinkers and working scientists from across the spectrum: computer scientists, quantum physicists, chemists, philosophers, neuroscientists, and more.
But this isn’t just a podcast about equations—it’s a show about how mathematics influences the way we think, create, build, and understand. Breaking Math pushes back against the idea that STEM belongs behind a paywall or an academic podium. It’s for the curious, the critical, the creative—for anyone who believes that ideas should be rigorous, accessible, and infused with wonder.
If you've ever wondered:
- What’s the math behind machine learning?
- How do we quantify uncertainty in climate models?
- Can consciousness be described in AI?
- Why does beauty matter in an equation?
Then you’re in the right place.
At its heart, Breaking Math is about building bridges—between disciplines, between experts and the public, and between the abstract world of mathematics and the messy, magnificent reality we live in. With humor, clarity, and deep respect for complexity, Autumn and Gabriel invite you to rethink what math can be—and how it can help us shape a better future.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Website: https://breakingmath.io
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/breakingmathmedia
Email: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
AI vs Human Intelligence: The Emergent Mind
|
Oct 25, 2025 |
|
The Giant Leap
|
Oct 21, 2025 |
|
Dinosaurs with Rachel Ignotofsky
|
Oct 14, 2025 |
|
Charlatans with Quico Toro
|
Oct 07, 2025 |
|
Economica with Victoria Bateman
|
Sep 30, 2025 |
|
Blueprints with Marcus du Sautoy
|
Sep 09, 2025 |
|
Unequal with Eugenia Cheng
|
Sep 05, 2025 |
|
Breaking Math: When Math Meets a Technology Glitch
|
Aug 28, 2025 |
|
Hate the Game
|
Aug 19, 2025 |
|
Dots and Lines: Hidden Networks
|
Aug 12, 2025 |
|
Robin Hood Math
|
Aug 05, 2025 |
|
What are Swim Training Patterns?
|
Jul 29, 2025 |
|
AI Ethics: Algorithms Go To College
|
Jul 22, 2025 |
|
Random Shuffle Isn't Random At All
|
Jul 08, 2025 |
|
Algorithms & AI Simplified - The Not So Mathy Version
|
Jul 01, 2025 |
|
What is Cryptography?
|
Jun 24, 2025 |
|
We Live in a Radioactive World: What is Dosimetry?
|
Jun 17, 2025 |
|
What is Life?
|
Jun 10, 2025 |
|
Fire Science: What are Photoacoustic Measurements?
|
Jun 03, 2025 |
|
What is Time?
|
Feb 26, 2025 |
|
What is Measurement?
|
Feb 18, 2025 |
|
How Analytics Can Revolutionize Affordable Energy
|
Nov 19, 2024 |
|
What is Chaos Theory?
|
Nov 12, 2024 |
|
AI in the Lab: How GPT-4 is Changing Molecules and Models
|
Nov 05, 2024 |
|
The Fluid Dynamics of Sheep
|
Oct 29, 2024 |
|
The Discovery of the Largest Prime Number: M136279841
|
Oct 22, 2024 |
|
Exploring GFlowNets and AI-Driven Material Discovery for Carbon Capture
|
Oct 22, 2024 |
|
Victorian Era Spooky Scientists & Paranormal Activity
|
Oct 15, 2024 |
|
Is AI Conscious?
|
Oct 08, 2024 |
|
Molecular dynamics simulation with GFlowNets: machine learning the importance of energy estimators in computational chemistry and drug discovery
|
Oct 01, 2024 |
|
Do Plants Know Math?
|
Sep 24, 2024 |
|
Mapmatics: A Mathematician's Guide to Navigating the World with Maps with Paulina Rowinska
|
Sep 17, 2024 |
|
The Intentional Engineer (with Jeff Perry)
|
Sep 10, 2024 |
|
Math for English Majors with Ben Orlin
|
Sep 03, 2024 |
|
What is Data Visualization? From the Expert Behind PolicyViz
|
Aug 27, 2024 |
|
Love Triangle and Other Maths (with Matt Parker)
|
Aug 20, 2024 |
|
The Black Hole Heist
|
Aug 16, 2024 |
|
Black Holes: The Abyss Part 3
|
Aug 13, 2024 |
|
Black Holes: The Abyss Part 2
|
Aug 06, 2024 |
|
Black Holes: The Abyss Part 1
|
Jul 30, 2024 |
|
What are Journal Rankings? The basics: a minisode.
|
Jul 23, 2024 |
|
Why Machines Learn: The Math Behind AI
|
Jul 16, 2024 |
|
The Intersection of Mathematics and Democracy
|
Jul 09, 2024 |
|
Math Lounge: Celebrating 101 Episodes
|
Jul 02, 2024 |
|
Minisode: Absolutely Nothing
|
Jun 18, 2024 |
|
Can We Survive on Mars? Hot Tips with Zach Weinersmith (Part 2)
|
May 28, 2024 |
|
Can We Survive on Mars? Hot Tips with Zach Weinersmith
|
May 21, 2024 |
|
What's the Use? Interview with Professor Ian Stewart
|
May 14, 2024 |
|
Bayes' Theorem Explains It All: An Interview with Tom Chivers
|
May 07, 2024 |
|
94. Interview with Steve Nadis, Co-author of 'Gravity of Math'
|
Apr 30, 2024 |
|
93. The 10,000 Year Problem (feat. David Gibson of Ray Kitty Creation Workship)
|
Apr 23, 2024 |
|
92. The Mathematical Heart of Games Explored with Prof. du Sautoy
|
Apr 16, 2024 |
|
91. Brain Organelles, AI, and Other Scary Science - An Interview with GT (Part 2)
|
Apr 04, 2024 |
|
90. LEAN Theorem Provers used to model Physics and Chemistry
|
Mar 16, 2024 |
|
89. Brain Organelles, AI, and the Other Scary Science - An Interview with GT (Part I)
|
Mar 05, 2024 |
|
88. Can OpenAi's SORA learn and model real-world physics? (Part 1 of n)
|
Feb 27, 2024 |
|
87. OpenAi SORA, Physics-Informed ML, and a.i. Fraud- Oh My!
|
Feb 20, 2024 |
|
86. Math, Music, and Artificial Intelligence - Levi McClain Interview (Final Part)
|
Feb 18, 2024 |
|
85. Math, Music, Neuroscience, and Fear - an Interview with Musician Levi McClain
|
Feb 13, 2024 |
|
84. (Part 2) Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning - an Interview with Brit Cruise
|
Feb 06, 2024 |
|
83. Intelligence in Nature v. Machine Learning-An Interview with Brit Cruise - Part 1 of 2
|
Jan 30, 2024 |
|
82. A.I. and Materials Discovery - an Interview with Taylor Sparks
|
Jan 21, 2024 |
|
In Memory of Sofia Baca, Cofounder and cohost of Breaking Math
|
Jan 11, 2024 |
|
81: Correct. Now Try Again (Multiple Approaches to the Same Problem)
|
Jul 24, 2023 |
|
80: Physical Dimension (Dimensional Analysis)
|
Jun 26, 2023 |
|
79: 1 2 3 (Counting)
|
Jun 08, 2023 |
|
78: Perpetual Notion (Entropy and Thermodynamics)
|
May 09, 2023 |
|
77: An Interview with Christopher Roblesz of MathNMore
|
Feb 28, 2023 |
|
76: Joule Pay for This! (Energy)
|
Jan 15, 2023 |
|
75: Existential Physics with Sabine Hossenfelder (Author Interview)
|
Oct 13, 2022 |
|
74: Lights, Camera, Action! (3D Computer Graphics: Part I)
|
Jun 19, 2022 |
|
73: Materialism: a Material Science Podcast Podcast Episode (Interview with Taylor Sparks)
|
May 28, 2022 |
|
72: The Lifestyles of the Mathematical and Famous (an Interview with Author Robert Black)
|
May 15, 2022 |
|
71: What's the Matter? An Interview with Chris Cogswell of the Mad Scientist Podcast (Material Science)
|
Apr 12, 2022 |
|
70.1: Episode 70.1 of Breaking Math Podcast (Self-Reference)
|
Mar 20, 2022 |
|
70: This Episode Intentionally Left Blank
|
Mar 19, 2022 |
|
69: An Interview with Michael Brooks, Author of "The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilization"
|
Jan 23, 2022 |
|
P12: O My God (Big O Notation)
|
Jan 04, 2022 |
|
68: LOL!!! SO RANDOM (Random Variables)
|
Dec 23, 2021 |
|
67: Wrath of Math (Mathematics Used Unwisely)
|
Dec 09, 2021 |
|
P11: Feeling Lucky? (Probability and Intuition)
|
Nov 30, 2021 |
|
66: Hayhoe, Let's Go! (An Interview With Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe)
|
Nov 21, 2021 |
|
P10: Chivalry is Dead (Knights and Knaves #1)
|
Nov 14, 2021 |
|
65: An Interview with Author Ian Stewart (Book About Everyday Math)
|
Oct 24, 2021 |
|
64: What Projection Is This? (Map Projections)
|
Sep 29, 2021 |
|
RR36: The Most Boring Episode Ever (Rerun: Math Games)
|
Sep 19, 2021 |
|
63: Broken Voting Systems (Voting Systems and Paradoxes)
|
Sep 05, 2021 |
|
62: The Atom Bomb of Information Operations (An Interview with John Fuisz of Veriphix)
|
Aug 22, 2021 |
|
61: Look at this Graph! (Graph Theory)
|
Apr 25, 2021 |
|
P9: Give or Take (Back-of-the-Envelope Estimates / Fermi Problems)
|
Apr 19, 2021 |
|
60: HAMILTON! [But Not the Musical] (Quaternions)
|
Apr 03, 2021 |
|
59: A Good Source of Fibers (Fiber Bundles)
|
Mar 21, 2021 |
|
58: Bringing Curvy Back (Gaussian Curvature)
|
Mar 03, 2021 |
|
P8: Tangent Tango (Morikawa's Recently Solved Problem)
|
Feb 25, 2021 |
|
P7: Root for Squares (Irrationality of the Square Root of Two)
|
Feb 07, 2021 |
|
57: You Said How Much?! (Measure Theory)
|
Feb 01, 2021 |
|
P6: How Many Angles in a Circle? (Curvature; Euclidean Geometry)
|
Jan 28, 2021 |
|
56: More Sheep than You Can Count (Transfinite Cardinal Numbers)
|
Jan 24, 2021 |
|
55: Order in the Court (Transfinite Ordinal Numbers)
|
Jan 14, 2021 |
|
54: Oodles (Large Numbers)
|
Dec 21, 2020 |
|
53: Big Brain Time (An Interview with Peter Zeidman from the UCL Institute of Neurology)
|
Dec 11, 2020 |
|
52: Round (Circles and Spheres)
|
Dec 05, 2020 |
|
P5: All Your Base Are Belong to Us (Fractional Base Proof)
|
Nov 26, 2020 |
|
51: Episode "-2,0,1" (Bases; Exotic Bases)
|
Nov 15, 2020 |
|
50: Episode "101" (Bases)
|
Aug 31, 2020 |
|
49: Thinking Machines II (Techniques in Artificial Intelligence)
|
May 26, 2020 |
|
48: Thinking Machines (Philosophical Basis of Artificial Intelligence)
|
May 18, 2020 |
|
P4: Go with the Flow (Conceptual Calculus: Related Rates of Change)
|
Mar 10, 2020 |
|
47: Blast to the Past (Retrocausality)
|
Feb 29, 2020 |
|
P3: Radiativeforcenado (Radiative Forcing)
|
Feb 03, 2020 |
|
46: Earth Irradiated (the Greenhouse Effect)
|
Jan 20, 2020 |
|
45: Climate Denialism and Cranky Uncles (Interview with John Cook of Skeptical Science)
|
Dec 10, 2019 |
|
44: Vestigial Math (Math That Is Not Used like It Used to Be)
|
Nov 03, 2019 |
|
P2: Walk the Dog (Calculus: Chain Rule)
|
Oct 30, 2019 |
|
43: Interview II with Author Ben Orlin (Change is the Only Constant: the Wisdom of Calculus in a Madcap World)
|
Oct 23, 2019 |
|
P1: Peano Addition
|
Sep 29, 2019 |
|
42: Maybe? (Probability and Statistics)
|
Aug 15, 2019 |
|
41: Reality Is More Than Complex (Group Theory and Physics)
|
Jul 29, 2019 |
|
39: Syntax Matters: Syntax... Matters? (Formal Grammar)
|
May 29, 2019 |
|
38: The Great Stratagem Heist (Game Theory: Iterated Elimination of Dominated Strategies)
|
Apr 23, 2019 |
|
37: The One Where They Parody Saw [audio fixed again] (Game Theory)
|
Feb 25, 2019 |
|
36: The Most Boring Episode Ever. (Math Games)
|
Nov 23, 2018 |
|
35: Please Be Discrete (Discrete Math)
|
Nov 05, 2018 |
|
34: An Interview with Mathbot.com's JW Weatherman
|
Oct 20, 2018 |
|
33: Interview with Math with Bad Drawings (Ben Orlin)
|
Oct 03, 2018 |
|
32X: Black Hole Heist (Comedy Sketch)
|
Sep 23, 2018 |
|
32: Gaze into the Abyss (Part Three; Black Holes)
|
Sep 23, 2018 |
|
31: Into the Abyss (Part Two; Black Holes)
|
Aug 23, 2018 |
|
30: The Abyss (Part One; Black Holes)
|
Aug 02, 2018 |
|
29: War
|
Jul 14, 2018 |
|
28: Bell's Infamous Theorem (Bell's Theorem)
|
Jun 19, 2018 |
|
27: Peer Pressure (Cellular Automata)
|
May 14, 2018 |
|
26: Infinity Shades of Grey (Paradox)
|
Apr 26, 2018 |
|
25: Pandemic Panic (Epidemiology)
|
Apr 13, 2018 |
|
24: Language and Entropy (Information Theory in Language)
|
Mar 07, 2018 |
|
23: Don't Touch My Circles! (Geometry)
|
Jan 15, 2018 |
|
22: Incomplet (Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid: Chapter IV Discussion)
|
Dec 23, 2017 |
|
21: Einstein's Biggest Idea (General Relativity)
|
Dec 04, 2017 |
|
20: Rational (Ratios)
|
Nov 18, 2017 |
|
19: Tune of the Hickory Stick (Beginning to Intermediate Math Education)
|
Nov 07, 2017 |
|
18: Frequency (Fourier and Related Analyses)
|
Oct 11, 2017 |
|
17: Navier Stoked (Vector Calculus and Navier-Stokes Equations)
|
Oct 05, 2017 |
|
BFNB2: Thought for Food (Discussion about Learning)
|
Sep 19, 2017 |
|
BFNB1: Food for Thought (Discussion about Learning)
|
Sep 16, 2017 |
|
Minisode 0.6: Four Problems
|
Aug 18, 2017 |
|
15: Consciousness
|
Jul 30, 2017 |
|
Minisode 0.5: ___forNon___
|
Jul 20, 2017 |
|
14: Artificial Thought (Neural Networks)
|
Jul 11, 2017 |
|
13: Math and Prison Riots (Interview with Frank Salas)
|
Jun 27, 2017 |
|
12: Math Factory (Algorithms)
|
Jun 13, 2017 |
|
11: A Culture of Hacking (Hacker Culture)
|
May 31, 2017 |
|
10: Cryptomath (Cryptography)
|
May 16, 2017 |
|
9: Humanity 2.0 (Transhumanism)
|
May 02, 2017 |
|
Minisode 0.4: Comin' Up Next
|
May 01, 2017 |
|
Minisode 0.3: Lights, Camera, Action!
|
Apr 20, 2017 |
|
8: Evolution and Engineering (Genetic Algorithms)
|
Apr 18, 2017 |
|
Minisode 0.2: What's Up, Bangalore?
|
Apr 10, 2017 |
|
7: QED? Prove it. (Proofs)
|
Apr 04, 2017 |
|
Minisode 0.1: Hypercubes and Other Stranger Things
|
Apr 01, 2017 |
|
6: Word (Linguistics)
|
Mar 21, 2017 |
|
5: Language of the Universe (Relationship Between Physics and Math)
|
Mar 07, 2017 |
|
4: Digital Evolution (Digital Computing)
|
Feb 21, 2017 |
|
3: TMI (Information Theory)
|
Feb 07, 2017 |
|
2: Wreaking Chaos (Chaos Theory)
|
Feb 07, 2017 |
|
1: Forbidden Formulas (Elitism in Math)
|
Feb 07, 2017 |