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Renowned cosmologist Brian Greene has spent a lifetime grappling with mind-bending theories and striving to understand the physical universe. And finally, he says, he was ready to tackle the search for meaning in his latest book “Until the End of Time.”

In this conversation with Dan Porterfield, CEO of the Aspen Institute, the two friends of more than 30 years talk about Greene’s early education, his progression from reluctant reader to bestselling author, and his quest to understand our significance in the astoundingly vast universe.

By popularizing science and demonstrating that time and space is governed by simple, elegant mathematical laws, Greene helps us understand our fleeting but utterly exquisite moment in the cosmos.

The first half of 2020 has been plagued by loss and chaos around the globe. As humans, we often try to impose order amidst chaos by building hierarchies and creating categories and divisions that offer meaning where none might be obvious. Such has certainly been the case during this moment of upheaval as we grapple with who is essential, which lives matter, and how to organize ourselves as a result.

Author Lulu Miller and “On Being” host Krista Tippett talk about the problem with categories, the power of words to destroy or remake the world, and Miller’s book, 10 years in the making, “Why Fish Don’t Exist.”

In the third part of the session, Dr. Helen Egger shares a “big Idea” about providing mental health care to children, and Aspen youth poet Jo Altmeier reads a poem by Minnesota’s poet laureate and Gustavus Adolphus professor Joyce Sutphen, “From Out the Cave.” 

Watch the entire session and find more about the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Ideas Festival 

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Physicist Brian Greene, and radio hosts Krista Tippett and Lulu Miller talk about the big questions of life at the 2020 Aspen Ideas Festival.

2020 Aspen Ideas Festival: Brian Greene, Krista Tippett, Lulu Miller on understanding the universe

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