From First Principles
Podcast Description
We break down the week’s biggest science headlines from first principles—because understanding the world shouldn’t require a PhD.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show focuses on breaking down complex scientific topics from first principles, with episodes covering themes such as cosmic discoveries, advancements in biotechnology, and notable astronomical events. Recent episodes have explored subjects like the characteristics of the interstellar visitor 3I ATLAS, the capabilities of the Vera Rubin Observatory, and the implications of CRISPR advancements.
From First Principles is a fast, funny, and rigorous breakdown of the biggest science stories of the week, hosted by Lester Nare and physicist Krishna Choudhary, PhD. We go past headlines into the actual mechanics: what happened, why it matters, and what everyone’s missing.
Expect physics, space, AI, energy, biotech, and the occasional “wait… is that real?” story. If you’re curious, skeptical, and you like learning in public — you’re in the right place.
Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode is the second interview in our ongoing collaboration series with Carnegie Observatories. Krishna sits down with Dr. Michael Blanton, the new Director of the Carnegie Observatories, for a wide-ranging conversation on how astronomy became one of the most data-rich sciences, how the Sloan Digital Sky Survey helped change the culture around open data, what the next era of astronomical data science and AI could look like, and one of the galaxy mysteries Blanton still wants to solve: why the most massive galaxies in the universe stop forming stars.The conversation starts with Blanton’s Princeton roots and his work connected to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, then moves into the culture of public astronomical data, the NYU Value-Added Galaxy Catalog, Vera Rubin Observatory, Carnegie’s role in the future of astronomy, the Magellan telescopes, astronomical archives, MaNGA and eBOSS, galaxy formation, dark matter, and even the science behind the black hole visualizations in Interstellar.Audio note: this was one of our first out-of-studio interviews, and there are a few minor audio issues in parts of the conversation. We appreciate your patience, and we’ll be better prepared for future field interviews.Also, if you’re in Los Angeles, Krishna will be giving a talk at Exploring Physics at UCLA, hosted by UCLA’s physics outreach organization Continuum, on Saturday, June 6 at the Fowler Museum. His talk runs from 9:30–10:30 AM.Register here: https://luma.com/3al1hj5h
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