Robinson's Podcast

Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Michael’s Seventh appearance on the show. On past episodes, including with Richard Wolff, he and Robinson have neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, the rentier economy, Marxism, and the role of economics in political history. In this episode, Michael and Robinson talk about debt and the destruction of empires. Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024). 

Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com

Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm

OUTLINE
00:00 Keeping Governments Under Control
07:01 Understanding the Church
17:27 Why Debts Grow Too Fast to Be Paid
22:57 Understanding the BRICS
26:50 How Can Countries Get Rich?
32:47 Where Is the United States’ Debt Dragging Us?
46:26 Why Michael Hudson Is Not a Mainstream Economist
48:59 The Historical Approach to Economics
01:06:01 Controlling Governments Through Tax Policy
01:23:55 How Michael Researches
01:33:31 The Myth of Economic Rent
01:38:47 The United States’ Hereditary Oligarchy
01:41:04 Why the United States Can’t Go Bankrupt
01:44:42 Closing Thoughts

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Jacob Barandes is Senior Preceptor in Physics at Harvard University, where he works widely across the philosophy of physics, with focuses on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the philosophy of spacetime, and the metaphysics of laws. In this episode, Robinson, Jacob, and David discuss Jacob’s novel Indivisibility Approach to quantum mechanics. After beginning with an introduction from David, the conversation touches on the measurement problem, completeness, scientific realism, the purpose of physics, and more. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Jacob’s Website: https://www.jacobbarandes.com

A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE
00:00 The Problem with the Wave Function
05:30 The Indivisibility Approach
17:28 What Is Indivisibility?
25:13 The Measurement Problem
32:18 The Incompleteness of Jacob’s Theory
42:20 Completing the Theory
47:12 Realism in Quantum Mechanics
01:03:13 The Fundamental Task of Physics
01:10:57 The Structure of the Indivisibility Theory
01;22:26 Summarizing and Calculating
01:40:01 The Game of Fundamental Physics
01:46:31 Can Bohmian Mechanics Work?
01:56:26 A Version Including David’s Theory
02:04:49 What Is the Wave Function?
02:15:33 Where We’ve Ended Up

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist and Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University. Paul works on quantum mechanics, astrophysics, and cosmology, with emphasis on the origin and early stages of the universe, the quantum properties of black holes and the nature of time. He is interested in the nature and origin of life – including extraterrestrial life – beyond Earth, and in complex systems. In this episode of Robinson’s Podcast, Paul and Robinson discuss the second revolution in quantum mechanics. Among other things, they dig into the origin of quantum theory, how we should interpret it, various quarks of quantum physics, such as teleportation and entanglement, quantum computing, and more. Paul’s recent book is Quantum 2.0 (Pelican, 2025).

Quantum 2.0: https://a.co/d/0ckzsWav

OUTLINE
00:00 Why Quantum Mechanics?
11:59 How Should We Interpret Quantum Mechanics?
22:22 Complexity and Quantum Theory
30:59 What Will Be the Next Quantum Revolution?
39:59 The Next Generation of Quantum Technology?
49:47 Can Quantum Teleportation Move Macroscopic Objects?
52:47 Supercomputers vs Quantum Computers
01:04:16 The Fine-Tuning Problem?
01:12:37 Do We Have a Scientific Theory of Life?

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Priyamvada Natarajan is the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics at Yale University, where she is also the Chair of Astronomy. Priya researches broadly across astrophysics and cosmology; some topics she has worked on include gravitational lensing, black hole physics, the philosophy of science, and dark matter. In this conversation, Priya and Robinson largely stick to the latter. They discuss her interest in cosmology writ large, as well as how the scientific community tackles the unknown. Priya’s most recent book is Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas that Reveal the Cosmos (Yale, 2016).

Mapping the Heavens: https://a.co/d/02HPcMB1

OUTLINE
00:00 A Paradox of Cosmology
06:16 Investigating Invisibilia
11:25 The Sociology of Astrophysics
16:52 Phenomenology in Physics
19:47 What Is the Mystery of Dark Matter?
29:07 The Problem of Dark Energy
36:38 Models and Simulations
46:17 Modifying the Standard Model to Explain Dark Matter
58:20 The Crisis in Dark Matter
01:12:22 Alternative Explanations of Dark Matter
01:19:51 Fine-Tuning and the Multiverse
01:25:24 Black Holes

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. In this episode, Robinson and Tim discuss the nature of philosophy. More particularly, they discuss philosophy’s origin, its connections to physics, what characterizes some of its well-known sub disciplines, and some of its biggest problems. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE
00:00 The Beginning of Philosophy
06:53 Where Physics and Philosophy Diverged
14:07 Quantum Gravity
18:30 Physicists and Philosophers on Space and Time
23:10 Is Metaphysics Different From Physics?
34:54 Why Don’t Universities Have Departments of Metaphysics?
49:27 Are Numbers Real?
01:07:50 What Are Continental and Analytic Philosophy?
01:14:58 The Age-Old Puzzle of the Statue and the Clay
01:28:05 What Is Epistemology?
01:38:57 Is the World Around Us an Illusion?
01:49:13 What Are the Biggest Open Problems in Philosophy?
01:57:00 A John Bell Institute Update

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.