Rephonic
Artwork for Brain Inspired

Brain Inspired

Paul Middlebrooks
Neuroscience
Artificial Intelligence
Consciousness
Cognition
Machine Learning
Complexity Science
Ecological Psychology
Computational Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Integrated Information Theory
Emergence
Computation
Dopamine
Santa Fe Institute
Neuroai
Evolution
Memory
Criticality
Cogitate Project
Neural Networks

Neuroscience and artificial intelligence work better together. Brain inspired is a celebration and exploration of the ideas driving our progress to understand intelligence. I interview experts about their work at the interface of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, and more: the symbiosis of these overlapping fields, how they inform each other, where t... more

PublishesTwice monthlyEpisodes211Founded8 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
Natural SciencesScienceTechnology

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Artwork for Brain Inspired

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The Transmitter is an online publication that aims to deliver useful information, insights and tools to build bridges across neuroscience and advance research. Visi... more

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Support the show to get full episodes, full archive, and join the Discord community.

The Transmitter is an online publication that aims to deliver useful information, insights and tools to build bridges across neuroscience and advance research. Visi... more

YouTube

Support the show to get full episodes, full archive, and join the Discord community.

The Transmitter is an online publication that aims to deliver useful information, insights and tools to build bridges across neuroscience and advance research. Visi... more

YouTube

Support the show to get full episodes, full archive, and join the Discord community.

Johannes Jaeger is Associate Faculty at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna. He's also a freelance researcher, a philosopher, and an educator. He's here today to e... more

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Recent Guests

Alison Barth
Professor, Barth Lab, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Episode: BI 243 Alison Barth: Learning as a Window to Cortex
Kathryn Nave
Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, author of A Drive to Survive, The Free Energy Principle and the Meaning of Life
University of Edinburgh
Episode: BI 242 Kathryn Nave: How Life Gets its Meaning and Intelligence
Johannes Jaeger
Associate Faculty at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna; freelance researcher, philosopher, educator
Complexity Science Hub Vienna
Episode: BI 241 Johannes Jaeger: Agency and the Cyborg Myth
Christopher Moore
Professor at the Santa Fe Institute; computation and computational complexity expert
Santa Fe Institute
Episode: BI 240 Cristopher Moore: Cognition and Computational Complexity
Nedah Nemati
Philosopher of neuroscience, Columbia University
Columbia University
Episode: BI 239 Nedah Nemati: Naturalistic Neuroscience and Lived Experience
James Harrison
Clinical hypnotist and author of Mental Foraging and the Evolution of Memory
Independent clinician/author
Episode: BI 238 James Harrison: Hypnosis as Mental Foraging
Ehud Ahissar
Lab head at the Weizmann Institute; researcher in perception and active sensing
Weizmann Institute of Science
Episode: BI 237 Ehud Ahissar: Consciousness and Perceptual Dualism
Liset de la Prida
Director of the Centro de Neurociencias Cajal at Instituto Cajal, Madrid; researcher focused on neural manifolds and sharp wave ripples
Instituto Cajal / Centro de Neurociencias Cajal, Madrid, Spain
Episode: BI 236 Liset de la Prida: Neurons, Ripples, and Manifolds
Romain Brette
Research director in computational and theoretical neuroscience
Institute of Intelligence Systems and Robotics, Paris, France
Episode: BI 235 Romain Brette: The Brain, in Theory

Host

Paul Middlebrooks
Host of Brain Inspired

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 479 ratings
  • Interesting conversations, but incoherent

    I like the selection of topics. I dislike delivery - lack of coherent question set, interruptions and digressions.

    Apple Podcasts
    2
    rrc314
    United Kingdoma month ago
  • Paul is awesome

    Paul is a great guy and extremely knowledgeable

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Nate Bond1
    United States3 months ago
  • Good Alternative to the Mainstream

    Great guests highlighting work that is outside of the typical mainstream discussions. Connects back to what we’re learning in current day AI as well. Good inspiration for alternative brain inspired ideas. While not directly applicable to implementation, it’s still an enjoyable listen and may trigger your inspiration to try something different.

    The host pours out his heart into this show. He’s very well educated and brings experience to the subjects discussed. Sometimes he dominates over the dir... more

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    andosguy
    United States4 months ago
  • Great Alternative to the Mainstream

    Great guests highlighting work that is outside of the typical mainstream discussions. Connects back to what we’re learning in current day AI as well. Good inspiration for alternative brain inspired ideas. While not directly applicable to implementation, it’s still an enjoyable listen and may trigger your inspiration to try something different.

    The host pours out his heart into this show. He’s very well educated and brings experience to the subjects discussed. Sometimes he dominates over the dir... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    andosguy
    United States6 months ago
  • Great Guests, Distracting Host

    The host keeps

    - going off topic

    - interrupting the guests

    - rambling without coherent thought

    - asking terrible questions like “do you think your field (and life’s work) is a pseudoscience? I mean that’s an insult… more rambling”

    The guests are great and try to bring the host back on topic in order to teach the listeners something valuable. I wish the host would let the guests shine instead of pulling the conversation into unprepared ramblings.

    Apple Podcasts
    2
    andosguy
    United Statesa year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Engaging debates that push beyond mainstream AI narratives.
Rigorous and insightful, though pacing can vary between episodes.
The host adds value to discussions while letting guests shine.
High-quality, deep dives into neuroscience and AI with accessible explanations.
Great guests, distracting host comments on some episodes.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

BI 240 Cristopher Moore: Cognition and Computational Complexity
Q: Does computational complexity have a practical bearing on how brains or AI systems actually operate given real-world structure?
The guest argues that while worst-case complexity is a robust theoretical lens, real-world problems often exhibit structure that can be exploited by intelligent systems, making many instances efficiently solvable even if worst-case remains hard.
BI 235 Romain Brette: The Brain, in Theory
Q: Do you think current AI could ever be truly alive or possess intrinsic goals?
I am skeptical that current AI, as a purely computational system, can be alive or have intrinsic goals; achieving true agency would likely require fundamentally new principles beyond matrix calculations and conventional programming.
BI 235 Romain Brette: The Brain, in Theory
Q: What is the core distinction between anticipation and prediction in your view?
Prediction is about forecasting a future state in advance, whereas anticipation involves proactive engagement with the environment to shape and maintain the organism's ongoing organization, not just forecasting a result.
BI 234 Juan Gallego: The Neural Manifold Manifesto
Q: How close are we to building a theory of the brain based on manifolds, and what are the main hurdles?
The speakers acknowledge that manifolds offer a powerful framework for compressed understanding and predicting outcomes of manipulations, but stress that developing a robust theory requires integrating multiple brain areas, scales, tasks, and species, and addressing whether manifolds alone can explain cognition and complex behavior across timescales.
BI 234 Juan Gallego: The Neural Manifold Manifesto
Q: Do manifolds prove that brain areas are ontologically real entities with causal power, or are they simply convenient descriptions?
Manifolds are argued to be ontologically real in the sense that they reflect invariant constraints of the system and can causally influence behavior when manipulated along the manifold, though they are also described as useful abstractions that help us understand and predict neural dynamics and behavior. The conversation emphasizes a balance between realism and practical modeling.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About Brain Inspired

What is Brain Inspired about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A technically minded podcast that brings neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science into focused, theory-driven conversations. Episodes frequently feature researchers and thinkers exploring how the brain computes, learns, and interacts with intelligent systems, often challenging conventional views with dynamical-systems, embodiment, and philosophy of mind perspectives. Listeners are likely researchers, graduate students, and practitioners who want rigorous discussions, actionable insights, and exposure to cutting-edge ideas at the interface of biology and computation. A standout trait is the consistently high level of expert guests and a willingness to push beyond mainstream AI narratives, though some listeners note room f... more

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Which podcasts are similar to Brain Inspired?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Brain Inspired:

1. Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)
2. The Joy of Why
3. Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
4. Dwarkesh Podcast
5. The Quanta Podcast

How many episodes of Brain Inspired are there?

Brain Inspired launched 8 years ago and published 211 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Brain Inspired?

Recent guests on Brain Inspired include:

1. Alison Barth
2. Kathryn Nave
3. Johannes Jaeger
4. Christopher Moore
5. Nedah Nemati
6. James Harrison
7. Ehud Ahissar
8. Liset de la Prida

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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