#58 The Big Bang Doesn't Prove God - Afshordi and Halper episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 13, 2025 · 1H 20M

#58 The Big Bang Doesn't Prove God - Afshordi and Halper

from The Uncertainty Podcast · host Miles K. Donahue

Astrophysicist Niayesh Afshordi and science communicator Phil Halper return to the channel to discuss their new book, Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins. We discuss inflationary theory, the BGV theorem, how space and time might not exist at the fundamental level of reality, and so much else besides. This was one of my favorite interviews so far.Follow Phil on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buy Me a Coffee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Feel free to follow me on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00:13 Does the Big Bang theory feature a bang?00:07:53 What is an FLRW spacetime? What is the Lambda-CDM model?00:18:39 Is a singularity unscientific?00:25:05 Singularity theorem #1: Hawking-Penrose00:33:04 Singularity theorem #2: Borde-Guth-Vilenkin00:39:23 What is "classical" spacetime?00:52:40 Singularity theorem #3: Generalized second law of thermodynamics00:57:54 The quantum eternity theorem01:01:10 String-theoretic models of the universe01:05:56 A fundamental limit to what we can know?01:09:10 Is a cosmic beginning scientifically unsatisfying?01:15:17 Teaching science as a story01:19:35 Embrace uncertainty Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Nov 13, 2025

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

#58 The Big Bang Doesn't Prove God - Afshordi and Halper

0:00 1:20:41

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Uncertainty Podcast?

This episode is 1 hour and 20 minutes long.

When was this The Uncertainty Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on November 13, 2025.

Can I download this The Uncertainty Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!