society
Hosted by Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen · society · EN · 150 episodes
A podcast that explores the unseen and surprising connections between nearly everything, with special emphasis on intelligence and the search for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) through the lens of Karl Popper's Theory of Knowledge. David Deutsch argued that Quantum Mechanics, Darwinian Evolution, Karl Popper's Theory of Knowledge, and Computational Theory (aka "The Four Strands") represent an early 'theory of everything' be it science, philosophy, computation, religion, politics, or art. So we explore everything.Support us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/brucenielson/membership
Required Pod Score for this show. PitchCentric checks your profile against host openness, topical fit, and audience signals before you generate a pitch.
Contact path
Public web form
Booking probability
34%
Guest openness
Selective
Sign up to generate a grounded pitch for The Theory of Anything.
Signup to Generate a PitchA podcast that explores the unseen and surprising connections between nearly everything, with special emphasis on intelligence and the search for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) through the lens of Karl Popper's Theory of Knowledge.
The Theory of Anything is hosted by Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen. The show has published 150 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "Episode 150: Cosmic Optimism vs Cosmic Pessimism" (20 October 2026, 177 minutes), "Episode 149: CritRats vs Bayesians Pt 1: 4 Kinds of Bayes" (6 October 2026, 44 minutes), and "Episode 148: Pascal's Improved Wager" (29 September 2026, 90 minutes).
The Theory of Anything publishes roughly every two weeks, with episodes averaging 90 minutes across 150 episodes.
Booking probability for The Theory of Anything is 34%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. The Theory of Anything requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. The Theory of Anything's contact route on record: public web form.
The strongest fits for The Theory of Anything are Scientific Research & Development. The Theory of Anything has a society audience.
Bruce Nielson and Peter Johansen hosts The Theory of Anything, a society show with 150 episodes published.
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
Episode #147
This week we discuss cosmic horror writer Thomas Ligotti’s philosophic work, The Conspiracy Against The Human Race . This book is a masterful case for pessimism and anti-natalism. To Ligotti, consciousness is a tragic...
Episode #149
Critical Rationalists say Bayesians just make up numbers and call it science. They're not wrong — about most of them. But in this episode, we walk through several startling counterexamples to that very charge. How do we...
Episode #147
This week Bruce discusses a possible improvement to Pascal’s Wager: If believing in God makes your life legitimately better, is it better to believe on those grounds alone? And what does this have to do with the fun...
Episode #147
This week Bruce asks more hard questions: Is our legal system “decisionalist”? In other words, are we outcome-based rather than reasoning-based creatures? Is there something deep in our brains they tells us to go with...
Episode #146
What Bruce has called the “put up or shut up principle” is the idea we should want our theories to take on the burden of explanation as must as we can. We need to "put up" an at least equally content filled theory as a...
Episode #145
This week Bruce takes a deep dive into Pascal’s Wager. If there is even a small chance that God exists, and believing could lead to an infinite reward while disbelief risks an infinite loss, then believing is the...
Episode #144
This week we talk about meaning memes, words, concepts, and conceptual leakage. How is a meaning meme turned into a broader concept and then a theory? What is the role of language in this process? And what is conceptual...
Episode #143
Bruce returns to AGI through the lens of a critical rationalist debate about whether or not AGI is theoretically possible. Can human intelligence be replicated? Is this a physics question or a biology question? Is our...
Episode #142
Is so-called "self-deception" a real thing? How can one at once be aware that something is true and yet also be unaware of it? Is it even a coherent concept? Doesn't deception require at least two entities—the deceived...
Episode #141
This week we are joined for the 4th time by physicist Sam Kuypers. From his Conjecture Institute profile: “Quantum physicist, interested in foundational questions. In his research, published in reputable scientific...
Episode #140
Ad hoc saves and immunizing stratagems are phrases Karl Popper used to describe moves humans make when we try to protect our theories from refutation. We all do this every day in one way or another. But immunizing...
Episode #139
This week we talk about doomers, specifically AI doomers. Why has it become such a popular notion, especially amongst those who consider themselves the most rational kinds of people, that this kind of apocalypse...
Episode #138
Bruce has made a controversial claim on this show: today's "CritRats" (Critical Rationalists on X) have drifted from what Popper intended. And surprisingly, some of the drift traces back to David Deutsch's...
Episode #141
This week we were honored to interview Ray Scott Percival, a significant but also woefully under-appreciated figure in critical rationalism. Percival has been active in critical rationalist forums, conferences, and...
Episode #136
This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Golding, M.D, who is a psychiatric physician. He is also heavily influenced by the philosophical ideas of David Deutsch and Karl Popper. At one point he calls...
Episode #135
Bruce examines how effectively critical rationalism can ground the non-aggression principle (NAP)—the libertarian idea that, in some formulation, it is morally wrong to initiate violence. But does it really make sense...
Episode #134
In this video podcast, Bruce makes his boldest statement yet about probability. He dives into David Deutsch’s lecture “Physics Without Probability” —as well as our Episode 100 interview with Deutsch—to unpack the core...
Episode #133
This week Bruce takes a deep dive into the epistemological ideas in Jonathan Rauch’s book The Constitution of Knowledge . Rauch is a fan of Karl Popper and a former guest on this show. He makes the case that the...
Episode #132
This week, Bruce looks at how much critical rationalists do—and do not—subject their proposed best theories to critical testing. Bruce wrestles with how we apply the tools of critical rationalism—fallibilism...
Episode #131
In our shortest episode ever, Bruce continues his exploration of the concept of concepts by looking at "knowledge" as a concept rather than a theory. And of course along the the way he pushes back again several critical...
Recent guests on The Theory of Anything. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
author of The Constitution of Knowledge, Brookings Institution
corporate governance expert and host of The Shareholder Primacy Podcast, The Activist Investor
visiting professor of physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation, Oxford University, University of Oxford
Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University and Peterson Academy, Rockford University
PitchCentric classifies The Theory of Anything under these industries. Guests from them are the closest fit, and each links to the best podcasts in that industry.
Is this podcast yours and you'd like to remove or correct details? Request removal or email privacy@pitchcentric.com.
Questions about the free trial? See the pricing FAQ