{"podcast":{"title":"Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas","slug":"sean-carroll-s-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas-444522","podcast_index_feed_id":444522,"rss_url":"https://rss.libsyn.com/shows/604590/destinations/5264190.xml","website_url":"https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/b/0/6/d/b06d098337897af116c3140a3186d450/21d641ef836c48dff270cbede4360d187bdd6c56cb126be7d6f51078db34d4675527fa72e13c86bb573ec42c5d4fc493e18e7d95fec734ec77168fc379baefcf.jpeg","author":"Sean Carroll","episode_count":436,"summary":"Ever wanted to know how music affects your brain, what quantum mechanics really is, or how black holes work? Do you wonder why you get emotional each time you see a certain movie, or how on earth video games are designed? Then you've come to the right place. Each week, Sean Carroll will host conversations with some of the most interesting thinkers in the world. From neuroscientists and engineers to authors and television producers, Sean and his guests talk about the biggest ideas in science, philosophy, culture and much more.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T04:17:06.610110+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sean-carroll-s-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas-444522"},"episode":{"title":"340 | Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on What Matters and Why It Matters","slug":"340-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-on-what-matters-and-why-it-matters","published_at":"2026-01-12T14:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sean-carroll-s-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas-444522/340-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-on-what-matters-and-why-it-matters","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sean-carroll-s-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas-444522","url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/1d1ac211-8392-45fe-82db-99fa7f77076e/rebecca20goldstein.mp3","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/1d1ac211-8392-45fe-82db-99fa7f77076e/rebecca20goldstein.mp3?dest-id=5264190","summary":"At any given moment, an uncountable number of events are happening, but only some of them matter to us. What does it mean for something to matter, and more importantly, what does it mean for us to matter -- to ourselves as well as to others? The need to matter can be motivation to do great things, but it can also be a reason for people to come into conflict. Philosopher/novelist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein explores this issue in her new book The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us . Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/01/12/340-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-on-what-matters-and-why-it-matters/ S upport Mindscape on Patreon . Rebecca Newberger Goldstein received her Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University. She is the author of several novels and works of non-fiction. Among her awards are the MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Humanities Medal. Web site Amazon author page Wikipedia","meta_description":"At any given moment, an uncountable number of events are happening, but only some of them matter to us. What does it mean for something to matter, and mor…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4697,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sean-carroll-s-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas-444522/episodes/340-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-on-what-matters-and-why-it-matters/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sean-carroll-s-mindscape-science-society-philosophy-culture-arts-and-ideas-444522/340-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-on-what-matters-and-why-it-matters.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}