In less than four years, mathematician Steve Strogatz watched AI go from flailing at basic arithmetic to solving problems that baffle the world’s best mathematicians. In September of 2026, Open AI announced it had solved a Millennium Prize Problem, one of math’s highest achievements. In short, mathematics is right now on the cusp of a reckoning that may be coming for all of us. In this episode, Steve grapples with the idea that the window might be closing on humanity’s effort to unpuzzle, or learn, or understand the world around us. Special thanks to Ravi Vakil...
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Is this episode right for you?
B2 · Upper-intermediate
Comfortable if you already follow TV news
- 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 166 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
- 121 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
Transcript
The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.
harder words (B2+)
Oh wait, you're listening. Okay. Okay. Okay.
You're listening to Radiolab. Radiolab. From WNYC. See?
Yep. This is Radiolab and I am Soren Wheeler. Hey, Soren. Hi.
That was the opening. The rest of the episode (31 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.
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