Deep Time: Infinity is Forever

Illustration by Angelo Bautista/Firefly.

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Original Air Date: 
June 07, 2025

Contemplating the infinite is a time-tested way to shrink the present down to size. But if you think about it for very long, infinity can really mess with your mind. There’s something fundamentally paradoxical about it, and beautiful.

Deep Time is a series all about the natural ecologies of time from To The Best Of Our Knowledge and the Center for Humans and Nature. We'll explore life beyond the clock, develop habits of "timefulness" and learn how to live with greater awareness of the many types of time in our lives.

The glorious mathematics of infinity

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Infinity comes in different sizes. The idea of a world with more than one kind of infinity is glorious and also incomprehensible. Can you add, subtract and divide with infinity? 

Length: 
6:55

Checking into the infinity hotel

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The Netflix documentary “A Trip to Infinity” is a wild ride, filled with animated shorts by artists from 11 different countries illustrating the concept of infinity and where to find it.

Length: 
10:30

Finding solace in the nature of space-time

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Michelle Thaller and Andrew Booth were a NASA space research power couple for 26 years. When Booth died of a rare brain cancer, Thaller turned to the universe for solace — finding comfort, meaning, and a new perspective in the infinite.

Length: 
16:43

The math and mysticism of Albert Einstein

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Albert Einstein shaped much of our understanding of the space-time continuum, but few know he had a deeply spiritual side. Einstein believed in both math and mysticism, and saw the human mind as a mirror of the infinite.

Length: 
15:23
Show Details 📻
Airdates
June 07, 2025
Guests: 

Jordan Ellenberg

Mathematician
jordanellenberg.com

Jon Halperin

Director

Michelle Thaller

Astrophysicist

Kieran Fox

Neuroscientist
kieranfox.net
hachettebookgroup.com
Categories: 
Religion and Philosophy
Science
Nature
Full Transcript 📄

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Last modified: 
June 06, 2025