Membership promo placeholder

Newest

AI consciousness, its possibility or probability, has burst into public debate, eliciting all kinds of issues from AI ethics and rights to AI going rogue and harming...

video

Alex Gómez-Marín

Topic Series

8:25

Watch

Explore diverse theories of consciousness including materialism, dualism, panpsychism, idealism and diverse ways of thinking about consciousness from the perspectives of...

video

Alex Gómez-Marín

Topic Series

14:58

Watch

Why is there a world, a cosmos, something, anything instead of absolutely nothing at all? If nothing existed, there would be, well, ‘nothing’ to explain. To have...

video

Alex Gómez-Marín

Topic Series

14:31

Watch

Peter van Inwagen on the person, free will, naturalism and evolution, and eternal life.

video

What are Human Persons?

Classic Chats, CTT Chat

30:05

Watch

video

Robin Hanson

Topic Series

12:24

Watch

How does consciousness weave its magical web of inner awareness—appreciating music, enjoying art, feeling love? Even when all mental functions may be explained, the great...

video

Fred Alan Wolf

Topic Series

6:34

Watch

LISTEN

Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast

Take your favorite interviews on the road with audio versions of episodes and CTT Chats.

SHOP NOW

Recent News

Perspective

Robert Lawrence Kuhn reflects on 2025

Host Robert Lawrence Kuhn reflects on the past year with a personal message to the CTT community.

Perspective

The Grammar of Time: Ontologies and Practices Across Cultures

Watch the University of Latvia's presentation of "The Grammar of Time: Ontologies and Practices Across Cultures" featuring Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Perspective

What 350 different theories of consciousness reveal about reality

There are hundreds of coherent theories attempting to explain the origins of experience. Robert Lawrence Kuhn explores what they reveal about free will, AI, and life after death for NewScientist.

Perspective

Roger Penrose and Me

Robert Lawrence Kuhn reflects on 20 years of interviews with Sir Roger Penrose.

Perspective

John Searle (1932-2025): A Personal Reflection

Remembering philosopher John Rogers Searle (1932-2025)

Announcement

Five Questions with Blaise Agüera y Arcas

Blaise Agüera y Arcas—AI researcher and the CTO of Technology & Society at Google—spoke to Closer To Truth about artificial intelligence, his biggest influences, and more.

Curated Playlists

Some scientists claim that the universe did not have a beginning. Some theologians contend that the universe did not need a beginning. Yet the universe is expanding, and so...

playlist

Did the Universe Begin?

Topic Series

9 videos

1:16:22

Watch

Cover image for AI and Transhumanism: AI Consciousness & Virtual Immortality

Can machines become conscious? Can human minds live forever in digital form? Explore the radical frontier where artificial intelligence meets the mysteries of mind and...

playlist

AI and Transhumanism: AI Consciousness & Virtual Immortality

Curated

5 videos

1:03:21

Watch

Cover image for Death, Life After Death, Reincarnation (Part I)

What happens after we die? Is there life after death? If so, what kind of life? From heaven and hell to systems and cycles of reincarnation, we explore Hinduism, Buddhism,...

playlist

Death, Life After Death, Reincarnation (Part I)

Topic Series

6 videos

1:01:01

Watch

Cover image for Why Explore Cosmos and Consciousness?

Cosmos and consciousness seem utterly different, cosmos encompassing the vast universe, consciousness emerging from tiny brains. Yet consciousness is the basis of religion,...

playlist

Why Explore Cosmos and Consciousness?

Topic Series

1:06:30

Watch

Explore our vast universe: its size, scope, beginning, expansion, ending. How did it all happen? How does it all work? Where is it all going? We target the mysteries.

playlist

Best of Cosmology

Curated

10 videos

4:27:45

Watch

Cover image for Ultimate Questions of Existence

What is real? What is nothing? Why is there “something” rather than “nothing”? Does the nonphysical world exist? These are the ultimate questions of reality, the...

playlist

Ultimate Questions of Existence

Curated

12 videos

5:21:15

Watch

Seasons

All seasons of the acclaimed television series.

Why evil and suffering? Is there life after death? What is the world to come? Ultimate Questions from the perspectives of Global Philosophy of Religion, featuring diverse...

playlist

Season 30

Season

5 videos

2:13:50

Watch

Art delights us, but how and why? What makes art transcendent, and how does the art-transcendence nexus engage the mind? Explore art, appreciate art, with cognitive science,...

playlist

Season 29

Season

1:47:04

Watch

Consciousness, our inner awareness and felt experience, is a profound mystery. Closer To Truth goes in-depth with leaders of the field, exploring consciousness theories,...

playlist

Season 28

Season

6 videos

2:40:36

Watch

How can philosophy advance biology? How can biology influence philosophy? In this in-depth series on Philosophy of Biology, featuring pioneers and leaders of this burgeoning...

playlist

Season 27

Season

8 videos

3:34:16

Watch

The ultimate questions of vast existence, human sentience, and human futures from the perspectives of Global Philosophy of Religion, featuring diverse religions/traditions...

playlist

Season 26

Season

5 videos

2:13:50

Watch

Art delights us, but how and why? What makes art transcendent and how does the art-transcendence nexus engage the mind? Explore art, appreciate art, with cognitive science,...

playlist

Season 25

Season

4 videos

1:47:04

Watch

How do Eastern traditions address the Big Questions of existence and sentience—Closer To Truth’s pillar categories of Cosmos, Life, Consciousness, Meaning? How do...

playlist

Season 24

Season

2:13:55

Watch

In this first series on Philosophy of Biology, Closer to Truth explores the challenges and implications of evolution.

playlist

Season 23

Season

5 videos

2:13:54

Watch

To seek the foundations of reality we look through the prism of mathematics. Mathematics is the universal language anyone, anywhere, can appreciate. We ask profound...

playlist

Season 22

Season

10 videos

4:28:34

Watch

Science explores how the world works. Breakthroughs drive science, challenging conventional wisdom, changing ways of thinking. What are Breakthroughs in science?

playlist

Season 21

Season

13 videos

5:48:11

Watch

Art Seeking Understanding: Art delights us, but how and why? Explore art and cognitive science, philosophy, history, theology, and more.

playlist

Season 20

Season

10 videos

4:27:50

Watch

Philosophical inquiries including the anthropic principle; fine-tuning in physics and cosmology; and atonement, salvation, and incarnation.

playlist

Season 19

Season

13 videos

5:48:24

Watch

Are there multiple universes? What is extended mind? What causes consciousness? Challenges of analytic theology? If God, what’s evolution?

playlist

Season 18

Season

13 videos

5:48:20

Watch

How did the universe begin? What exists? What are the risks of scientific knowledge? Can metaphysics discern God, and what or who is God?

playlist

Season 17

Season

13 videos

5:48:24

Watch

Cosmos: Doomsday argument? Philosophy & science? Consciousness: Brain alone? Brains go bad? Language? Meaning: How miracles? God fallacies?

playlist

Season 16

Season

13 videos

5:48:24

Watch

Cosmos: Reason? Implications? Consciousness: ESP mean? ESP work? Dualism? Ultimate reality? Meaning: Speculating about God? God intervenes?

playlist

Season 15

Season

13 videos

5:48:13

Watch

Cosmos: Information? Truth? Multiverse? Consciousness: Science of consciousness? Mind heal body? Meaning: Blame God for evil? God not free?

playlist

Season 14

Season

13 videos

5:48:07

Watch

Cosmos: Ever end? Ultimate reality? Consciousness: Death final? Free will for moral responsibility? Meaning: What causes religious belief?

playlist

Season 13

Season

13 videos

5:48:03

Watch

Cosmos: Beginning? What is Nothing? Why anything? Consciousness: Personal identity persist? Sleep? Human uniqueness? Meaning: New atheism?

playlist

Season 12

Season

13 videos

5:47:50

Watch

Cosmos: What is time? Infinite cosmos? Consciousness: How brains work? Free will illusion? Meaning: Alternative Gods? Resurrection? Hell?

playlist

Season 11

Season

13 videos

5:47:52

Watch

Cosmos: Religiously ambiguous? General principles? Consciousness: Illusion? Dreams? Belief systems? Meaning: What is God? Arguing God?

playlist

Season 10

Season

13 videos

5:47:56

Watch

Cosmos: Life inevitable? Inflation? Complexity? Consciousness: Alien intelligence? Meaning: Creator God? God all powerful? God fallacies?

playlist

Season 09

Season

13 videos

5:47:56

Watch

Featured Topic Series

Cover image for Universe: Beginning, Vast Size, End

Did the universe have a beginning? What was it like? Will our universe end? How? How big is the cosmos? Does it go on forever, and what would that mean? How many universes...

playlist

Universe: Beginning, Vast Size, End

Curated

5:48:03

Watch

Cover image for The Global Philosophy of Religion Project

The Global Philosophy of Religion Project, in partnership with the University of Birmingham, aims to make the philosophy of religion a truly global field by promoting the...

playlist

The Global Philosophy of Religion Project

Project

24 videos

22:46:58

Watch

Cover image for Asking Ultimate Questions (Part I)

Push boundaries. Discern the deep essence of existence. Search the foundations of reality. Imagine all that may exist in physical realms beyond current understanding. Seek to...

playlist

Asking Ultimate Questions (Part I)

Topic Series

6 videos

49:02

Watch

Cover image for What is Philosophy of Biology?

We ask the broadest and most fundamental questions about biology, seeking meaning, purpose and implications of biological phenomena and systems. Questions include: life,...

playlist

What is Philosophy of Biology?

Topic Series

5 videos

39:46

Watch

Cover image for Women in Philosophy and Physics/Cosmology

Closer To Truth is highlighting remarkable women in philosophy and physics/cosmology.

playlist

Women in Philosophy and Physics/Cosmology

Curated, Topic Series

11 videos

1:38:00

Watch

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Episode 09

Season 04

26:46

Watch

Cover image for Janna Levin on Black Holes and Spacetime

Janna Levin discusses black holes, spacetime, and other cosmological phenomena.

video

Janna Levin on Black Holes and Spacetime

Classic Chats, CTT Chat

42:46

Watch

Cover image for Big Questions in Free Will I?

What is free will? Do we have free will? The ‘Big Questions in Free Will’ project tackles these issues in a multi-year study. In Part I, scientists and philosophers...

video

Big Questions in Free Will I?

Episode 10

Season 14

26:47

Watch

Cover image for Are there Extra Dimensions?

Extra dimensions-beyond length, width, height-seem the stuff of science fiction. What would extra dimensions be like? Is time the fourth dimension? Could deep reality be so...

video

Are there Extra Dimensions?

Episode 06

Season 04

26:45

Watch

Death is the ultimate defeat. No matter our successes, we are all doomed to suffer the final failure. But some claim that death is not final. Can the defeat be defeated?

video

Is Death Final?

Episode 06

Season 13

26:47

Watch

Cover image for Is Time Travel Possible?

Some scientists take time travel seriously. Should you? What does time travel reveal about the nature of space and time and the laws of physics under extreme conditions?

video

Is Time Travel Possible?

Episode 06

Season 02

26:46

Watch

Featured Contributors

Roger Penrose

Nobel Prize in Physics; Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Oxford

Sabine Hossenfelder

Physicist and Science Writer, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy

Sean Carroll

Research Professor of Physics, Caltech

Michio Kaku

Professor of Physics, City College of New York; Futurist; Author

David Chalmers

Professor of Philosophy and Co-director, Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness, New York University

Sarah Coakley

Norris-Hulse Emeritus Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge; Anglican priest

V.S. Ramachandran

Distinguished Professor; Director, Center for Brain and Cognition, UC San Diego

Paul Davies

Regents' Professor, Arizona State University

The greatest thinkers. The deepest questions.

Support Closer To Truth

Cosmos. Life. Mind. Meaning.

Contemporary Conversations

Newest

Alex Gómez-Marín

Alex Gómez-Marín

Alex Gómez-Marín

What are Human Persons?

Robin Hanson

Fred Alan Wolf

Subscribe to the Closer To Truth podcast

Recent News

Robert Lawrence Kuhn reflects on 2025

The Grammar of Time: Ontologies and Practices Across Cultures

What 350 different theories of consciousness reveal about reality

Roger Penrose and Me

John Searle (1932-2025): A Personal Reflection

Five Questions with Blaise Agüera y Arcas

Curated Playlists

Did the Universe Begin?

AI and Transhumanism: AI Consciousness & Virtual Immortality

Death, Life After Death, Reincarnation (Part I)

Why Explore Cosmos and Consciousness?

Best of Cosmology

Ultimate Questions of Existence

Seasons

Season 30

Season 29

Season 28

Season 27

Season 26

Season 25

Season 24

Season 23

Season 22

Season 21

Season 20

Season 19

Season 18

Season 17

Season 16

Season 15

Season 14

Season 13

Season 12

Season 11

Season 10

Season 09

Featured Topic Series

Universe: Beginning, Vast Size, End

The Global Philosophy of Religion Project

Asking Ultimate Questions (Part I)

What is Philosophy of Biology?

Women in Philosophy and Physics/Cosmology

Featured Topics

Cosmic Beginnings

Black Holes, Dark Energy, Dark Matter

Breakthroughs in Mathematics

Consciousness

Life After Death?

Eastern Traditions and the Big Questions

Popular

Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?

Janna Levin on Black Holes and Spacetime

Big Questions in Free Will I?

Are there Extra Dimensions?

Is Death Final?

Is Time Travel Possible?

Featured Contributors

Roger Penrose

Sabine Hossenfelder

Sean Carroll

Michio Kaku

David Chalmers

Sarah Coakley

V.S. Ramachandran

Paul Davies

SUPPORT CLOSER TO TRUTH

Your donation directly supports exciting new projects and initiatives