316 | Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper

<p>Einstein's general theory of relativity, plus some reasonable assumptions about the universe and what it's made of, has a remarkable implication: that as we trace cosmic evolution into the far past, we ultimately hit a singularity of infinite density and curvature, the Big Bang. Did that really happen? Einstein's theory is classical, after all, and the world is quantum. And whose to say what assumptions are reasonable? Niayesh Afshordi and Phil Halper have written a new book,&nbsp;<a href="https://nafshordi.com/2024/10/19/battle-of-the-big-bang-new-tales-of-our-cosmic-origins/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins</em></a>, that surveys all of the mind-bending possibilities.</p><p>Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/05/26/316-niayesh-afshordi-and-phil-halper-on-the-big-bang-and-before/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/p...