Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Andrew Strominger is a theoretical physicist at Harvard. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Andrew's website: https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/strominger
Andrew's papers:
Soft Hair on Black Holes: arxiv.org/abs/1601.00921
Photon Rings Around Warped Black Holes: arxiv.org/abs/2211.01674

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr
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Full episodes playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4
Clips playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
1:12 - Black holes
6:16 - Albert Einstein
25:44 - Quantum gravity
29:56 - String theory
40:44 - Holographic principle
48:41 - De Sitter space
53:53 - Speed of light
1:00:40 - Black hole information paradox
1:08:20 - Soft particles
1:17:27 - Physics vs mathematics
1:26:37 - Theory of everything
1:41:58 - Time
1:44:24 - Photon rings
2:00:05 - Thought experiments
2:08:26 - Aliens
2:14:04 - Nuclear weapons

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