nobelprize

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Seamus Blackley, video game designer and creator of the Xbox.
  • Carl Feynman, computer scientist and son of Richard Feynman.
  • Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman.
  • Ralph Leighton, biographer and film producer.
  • Charles Mann, science journalist and author.
  • John Preskill, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.
  • Lisa Randall, professor of theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University.
  • Christopher Sykes, documentary filmmaker.
  • Stephen Wolfram, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language.
  • Alan Zorthian, architect.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Love After Life: Nobel-Winning Physicist Richard Feynman’s Extraordinary Letter to His Departed Wife," by Maria Popova (The Marginalian, 2017).
  • Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, by Lawrence M. Krauss (2011).
  • The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman (1999).
  • Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992).
  • "G. Feynman; Landscape Expert, Physicist’s Widow," (Los Angeles Times, 1990).
  • "Nobel Physicist R. P. Feynman of Caltech Dies," by Lee Dye (Los Angeles Times, 1988).
  • “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988).
  • The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986).
  • Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985).
  • Fun to Imagine, BBC docuseries (1983).
  • "Richard P. Feynman: Nobel Prize Winner," by Tim Hendrickson, Stuart Galley, and Fred Lamb (Engineering and Science, 1965).
  • F.B.I. files on Richard Feynman.

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Curious Mr. Feynman," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

After a swarm of misinformation and gruesome images took over X following Hamas’ attack on Israel, Elon Musk is now under scrutiny by the European Commission to clean up the mess. We’ll also hear how climate change may be affecting our sense of fashion. And we hear this year’s Nobel Prize-winning economist on gender disparities in the workforce.

Here’s everything we talked about:

• • “X’s misinformation woes get worse during the Israel-Hamas conflict” from Marketplace

• • “Elon Musk’s X faces EU probe over handling of Israel-Gaza war” from The Washington Post

• • “Musk given 24 hours to address graphic images of Hamas attacks” from Politico

• • “How a hotter climate is changing consumers’ wants and needs” from Marketplace

• • “Can I be fashionable without hurting the planet?” from Marketplace

• • “Nobel Prize in economics goes to Harvard’s Claudia Goldin for her work on women in the labor market” from AP News

• • The Prize in Economic Sciences 2023-Press release from The Nobel Prize

• • “You Will Go to the Moon” from Moxy Früvous

Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap! The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We’ll have news, drinks, a game and more.

Regardless of how brilliant they may be in the lab, scientists are still only human. With Valentine's Day on the horizon, Robert and Julie recount the interactions between love and science. Tune in to learn more.

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