As a female in the space, I usually struggle to understand topics like this and this was very well down and thought out

This is a brilliant podcast. 👏👏👏 Despite studying physical chemistry for my major, this podcast has introduced me to new ways of thinking about previously familiar concepts like information theory and thermodynamics. 🤯🤯🤯

Interesting and timely content!

The speakers are good but you should be at least a physics graduate student if you expect to follow everything.

Really a joy to listen to.

I’m not a trained math or physics guy, but I enjoy watching science communication videos and I really appreciate Tim’s approach to not dumbing down the material and giving me a decent sense for what it takes to be a practitioner in these fields through his interviews and lessons.

Cartesian Café is something you just don’t find anywhere else: real substance with a focus on making things accessible. Popularizing books almost always dumb things down to a point where you lose contact with how experts really talk about the subject. YouTube has made top level expert talks available to anyone who looks for them, but normal academic seminar talks don’t fill in details or provide context that a non-expert might be puzzled about. There are some other great math/physics podcasters, but their strengths are more to do with great lecture skills and visualizations. Only Tim Nguyen sits down with legit experts and walks them through their actual work at a pace that gives a lot more people a realistic shot at keeping up. The guests seem to love having this unique opportunity to reach people and I certainly look forward to each new episode!

This is the perfect podcast to be a fly on the wall, observing first-rate mathematicians think through complex concepts. As an amateur mathematician I have struggled through textbooks and lectures. In those, often the presentation is something like a magic show, which conceals the intuitions behind a curtain. Here, all of that is laid bare, as Nguyen and his guest explain their own intuitions to each other, and discover new ones through the dialogue. Highly recommended.

Had a great time watching this show! It is hard to discuss technical content in a podcast format. Audio-only is difficult to understand, and limits technical depth or tends towards boring biography and away from ideas. The Cartesian Cafe deals with this by encouraging guests to diagram and lay out their ideas on a shared whiteboard! Tim and guests get excited together and the result is energizing Tim also does great work clarifying and prompting guests to dig into the most interesting aspects of their work. It does not feel overly technical or heavy! Looking forward to more episodes