{"podcast":{"title":"sleepyphilosophyradio","slug":"sleepyphilosophyradio-7603911","podcast_index_feed_id":7603911,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/10aead048/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://www.sleepyphilosophyradio.com/","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/44681282/44681282-1777026987033-e668d2591b5ee.jpg","author":"slphilosophy","episode_count":54,"summary":"Long-form philosophy content for late-night listening and deep focus. We cover the big thinkers - from the Stoics and Aristotle to Camus, Nietzsche, and Dostoevsky - explained in a calm, steady voice that keeps things interesting without being overstimulating. If you want something substantial to think about during quiet hours, or just appreciate philosophy delivered at a relaxed pace, this is for you.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-19T20:17:58.150479+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sleepyphilosophyradio-7603911"},"episode":{"title":"Blaise Pascal | The Mathematician Who Found God","slug":"blaise-pascal-the-mathematician-who-found-god","published_at":"2026-05-31T20:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sleepyphilosophyradio-7603911/blaise-pascal-the-mathematician-who-found-god","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sleepyphilosophyradio-7603911","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sleepyphilo/episodes/Blaise-Pascal--The-Mathematician-Who-Found-God-e3i4k49","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO1271263115.mp3","summary":"Vote on what comes next: https://www.sleepyphilosophyradio.com/vote The man who proved that nature does not abhor a vacuum, and then wrote the most honest account ever given of why the universe terrifies us. Fall asleep to the complete philosophy of Blaise Pascal. Blaise Pascal lived only thirty-nine years, and in those years he changed mathematics, physics, probability theory, and the history of Western prose. But at the center of his life was a night in November of 1654 that he could never describe, only remember. After that night he turned from the world of scientific triumph toward a book he would never finish, a book about what it means to be a human being suspended between two infinites, looking for a God who chooses to remain hidden. This episode follows Pascal from the Paris household where he taught himself geometry in secret as a child to the small room in which he died at thirty-nine with the record of his conversion sewn into the lining of his coat. Three hours of gentle narration for deep rest. Please listen only in safe, restful contexts. (0:00:00) The Prodigy (0:17:02) The Calculator and the Vacuum (0:33:53) Probability and the Gambler (0:51:15) The Night of Fire (1:08:33) Port-Royal and the Jansenists (1:26:04) The Provincial Letters (1:43:42) The Pensees Take Shape (2:00:48) The Hidden God and the Wager (2:17:29) Reason and the Heart (2:34:12) The Thinking Reed SUGGESTED READING Blaise Pascal, Pensees, translated by A. J. Krailsheimer, Penguin Classics: https://amzn.to/4mQcqcE The Provincial Letters of Blaise Pascal: https://amzn.to/4sThlew These are affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, I earn a small commission if you purchase through them. All research and writing is done personally. Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creat…","meta_description":"Vote on what comes next: https://www.sleepyphilosophyradio.com/vote The man who proved that nature does not abhor a vacuum, and then wrote the most honest…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":10267,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sleepyphilosophyradio-7603911/episodes/blaise-pascal-the-mathematician-who-found-god/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sleepyphilosophyradio-7603911/blaise-pascal-the-mathematician-who-found-god.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}