# The Equation That Changed How Physicists Think About Reality | Juan Maldacena Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/into-the-impossible-with-brian-keating-324783/the-equation-that-changed-how-physicists-think-about-reality-juan-maldacena Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/into-the-impossible-with-brian-keating-324783/the-equation-that-changed-how-physicists-think-about-reality-juan-maldacena.md Podcast: [Into the Impossible With Brian Keating](https://stenobird.com/podcast/into-the-impossible-with-brian-keating-324783) Published: 2026-05-07T07:37:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/BBPI4274739676.mp3 Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/BBPI4274739676.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/into-the-impossible-with-brian-keating-324783/episodes/the-equation-that-changed-how-physicists-think-about-reality-juan-maldacena Duration seconds: 2439 ## Resource Juan Maldacena is a theoretical physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study whose 1997 paper remains the most cited in the history of theoretical physics. We cover: -why wormholes and quantum entanglement may be the same thing -what actually happens to information when you throw something into a black hole -the reason Hawking radiation accidentally gave cosmologists the equation that explains why the universe has structure -whether science-fiction wormholes are ruled out by the laws of physics -the one unsolved problem Juan says matters more than black holes. The most important problem in quantum gravity is understanding the beginning of the Big Bang β€” not black holes. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 What If Einstein's Two Strangest Ideas Were One? 01:15 Juan Maldacena: The Most Cited Physicist Alive 03:25 What Would Einstein Most Want to Know Today? 07:45 The Holographic Principle Explained 09:20 What Happens When You Throw a Laptop Into a Black Hole? 11:00 Is Information Actually Lost Forever? 12:25 The Problem Juan Wants to Solve Before He Dies 13:50 Why Real Black Holes Don't Emit Hawking Radiation 15:25 How Black Hole Physics Accidentally Explained the Universe 17:00 Could Primordial Black Holes Be Dark Matter? 18:30 Real Observers Solving Imaginary Problems 21:15 Why Imaginary Numbers Keep Being Right 25:00 The Origin Story of AdS/CFT 27:05 Do We Actually Live in AdS Space? 29:00 Are Wormholes Real or Just Science Fiction? 32:10 Could AI Have Helped Einstein? 33:00 Can Science and Religion Coexist? β€”β€”β€” πŸ“¬ Get the transcript, fascinating bonus content, and my Monday M.A.G.I.C. Message: https://briankeating.com/yt 🌠 Have a .edu email and live in the USA πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ? You automatically win a meteorite: https://BrianKeating.com/edu πŸ”” Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_con… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/into-the-impossible-with-brian-keating-324783/episodes/the-equation-that-changed-how-physicists-think-about-reality-juan-maldacena/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/into-the-impossible-with-brian-keating-324783/the-equation-that-changed-how-physicists-think-about-reality-juan-maldacena.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.