Isaac Arthur

The Big Bang is the reigning explanation for our universe’s origin—but what if it’s wrong? This episode dives into cosmic controversies and the theories that challenge everything we thought we knew.



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Credits:

What If the Big Bang Never Happened?

Episode 730.1; July 6, 2025

Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur

Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images

Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator





What If the Big Bang Never Happened?

This episode explores how spaceports will evolve in design, technology, and purpose—shifting from fuel-thirsty towers to seamless transport hubs for Earth, Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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Credits:
Spaceport Innovations - Designing the Next Generation of Launch Sites
July 10, 2025; Episode 731
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Graphics:
Anthrofuturism
Atlantis Project
Jarred Eagley
Katie Byrne
Fishy Tree
Phil Swan
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Stellardrone, "Red Giant", "Billions and Billions"

Spaceport Innovations: Designing the Next Generation of Launch Sites

Join us as we journey beyond the birth of the universe to unravel the mysteries of what might have preceded the Big Bang—and whether time itself had a beginning.

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Credits:
Before the Big Bang - What Came Before Time?
Episode 738; July 20, 2025
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
0:00 Intro Asking the Impossible
2:08 The Limits of Time and Spacetime
7:45 Beyond the Big Bang: Alternate Beginnings
14:38 Other Realities: Higher Dimensions and Shadow Universes
18:28 Emergent Time
22:38 Bubble Collisions and Multiverse Scars
24:44 Conclusion: What Came Before Time?

Before the Big Bang - What Came Before Time? (Narration Only)

From carbon nanotubes to multi-layered graphene, we explore the revolutionary materials that could turn space elevators from sci-fi dreams into real-world infrastructure. Discover how these supermaterials might let us weave ribbons to the stars.

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Credits:
Materials For Space Elevators - From Carbon Nanotubes To Graphene And Beyond...
Episode 741; July 24, 2025
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Edited by:
Adrian Nixon
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Chris Zabriskie, "Unfoldment, Revealment", "A New Day in a New Sector"
Aerium, "Deijocht"
Stellardrone, "Red Giant", "Billions and Billions"

Materials For Space Elevators - From Carbon Nanotubes To Graphene And Beyond... (Narration Only)

From metal scrolls buried under alien skies to frozen vaults holding minds or monarchs for millennia, we examine how advanced civilizations might safeguard their legacy against the slow grinding of eternity.

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Vaults of Eternity - Planetary Archives & Stasis Fields - Extended Edition
Episode 741; July 27, 2025
Written, Narrated & Produced by: Isaac Arthur
Graphics:
Jeremy Jozwik
Sergio Botero
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Vaults of Eternity - Planetary Archives & Stasis (Narration Only)

Aliens don’t always attack with lasers—sometimes, the smartest invasions begin with a gift, a whisper, or a smile. Join us as we count down ten invasion strategies that actually make sense.

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Credits:
The 10 Best Alien Invasion Strategies
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

0:00 Intro
1:20 10. The Infiltration Gambit: Invasion Without a War
3:58 9. False Prophets – The Alien Messiah Strategy
5:55 8. Weaponized Belief – Memes, Myths, and Messiahs
7:53 7. The Hybrid Convert Strategy
8:59 6. Shock and Awe: The Killing Star Approach
12:39 5. Divide and Conquer: Turning Humanity Into Its Own Worst Enemy
14:10 4. Trojan Tech: When the Upgrade Is the Invasion
17:40 3. Overwhelming Force and Organization
18:52 2. Preemptive Invasion & Interdiction for Conformity – The Galactic Empire Problem
20:32 Beyond Scorched Earth

The 10 Best Alien Invasion Strategies (Narration Only)

Explore the entire life story of the cosmos, from quantum flickers at the Big Bang to the distant eras of black holes and dark energy, and discover what kinds of civilizations might endure across these unimaginable spans of time.

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Credits:
Spaceport Innovations - Designing the Next Generation of Launch Sites
July 31, 2025; Episode 744
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Epochs of the Universe - The Cosmic Clock & Civilization (July 31, 2025)
Recorded: June 2025
Written by: Isaac Arthur
Editor: Lukas Konecny
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Epochs of the Universe - The Cosmic Clock & Civilization (Narration Only)

Epochs of the Universe - The Cosmic Clock & Civilization

Imagine engineering projects so vast they mold galaxies into new shapes. We’ll explore the staggering feats of Kardashev-3 and beyond civilizations, crafting CARD galaxies, Birch Planets, and even rearranging superclusters.

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Credits:
Spaceport Innovations - Designing the Next Generation of Launch Sites
August 3, 2025; Episode 746
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Galaxy-Scale Megastructures & Kardashev-3 Civilizations
Written by: Isaac Arthur
Editor: Darius Said 
Graphics: Jeremy Jozwik, Ken York, Sergio Botero, Steve Bowers
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator
Stellardrone, "Endeavour", "Red Giant", &"Billions and Billions"

Galaxy-Scale Megastructures & Kardashev-3 Civilizations (Narration Only)

Rogue planets wander the cosmos without stars, but could we still call them home? This episode dives into how humanity might transform these frozen giants into thriving outposts of civilization.

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Credits:
Colonizing Rogue Planets
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images 
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Colonizing Rogue Planets (Narration Only)

Discussion of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations often hinges on the idea that they may have ascended to a higher state or higher level of reality, and lost interest in us and the rest of the galaxy. While we can't know what technologies or enlightened paths they might have available, we can ask how realistic the portrayals of those aliens might be, and if this notion make sense as a Fermi Paradox solution.

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Credits:
Alien Civilizations: Aloof Aliens
Episode 205, Season 5 E38

Written by:
Isaac Arthur

Editors:
Daniel McNamara
Darius Said
Keith Blockus
Matthew Campbell

Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier

Graphics by:
Jeremy Jozwik https://www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_losdiajana
LegionTech Studios https://hades9.com
Ken York https://www.facebook.com/YDVisual/
Sergio Botero https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?fref=gc

Produced & Narrated by:
Isaac Arthur

Music Manager:
Luca DeRosa - lucaderosa2@live.com

Martin Rezny, "Lifelight" https://soundcloud.com/martin-re-n-1
Aerium, "Waters of Atlantis" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnUJY3l5vIJFGsY3XvW4dQ
AJ Prasad of Dark Future, "Cold Shadow" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8-7qwaEPU
Paradox Interactive, "Distant Nebula" https://www.paradoxplaza.com
Lombus, "Goldilocks Analemma" https://lombus.bandcamp.com
Ross Bugden, "City Lights" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKGLOK2FqmVgVwYferltKQ

Aloof Aliens

There's many dangerous places on Earth, and everywhere off Earth is downright lethal, from the emptiness of space to the airless and radiation soaked Moon to the smoldering inferno of Venus, humanity can't visit them without protection. We'll see what options for spacesuits are under works and what options might emerge for even better ones in the distant future.

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Credits:
Spacesuits & Extreme Environment Gear
Episode 206, Season 5 E41

Written by:
Isaac Arthur

Editors:
Darius Said
Jerry Guern
Keith Blockus
Mark Wabrurton

Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier

Graphics by:
Bryan Versteeg http://spacehabs.com
Jeremy Jozwik https://www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_losdiajana
Ken York https://www.facebook.com/YDVisual/
Sergio Botero https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?fref=gc

Produced & Narrated by:
Isaac Arthur

Music Manager:
Luca DeRosa - lucaderosa2@live.com

Music:
Aerium, "Docking Manouvers" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnUJY3l5vIJFGsY3XvW4dQ
Paradox Interactive, "Abyss" https://www.paradoxplaza.com
AJ Prasad of Dark Future, "Staring Through (Part I) "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8-7qwaEPU
Sergey Cheremisinov, "Naive" https://www.s-cheremisinov.com
Lombus, "Time Slip" https://lombus.bandcamp.com
Reign Pagaran, "Distant Voyager"

Spacesuits

Venus is a desolate scorching world on which no life can exist. Yet if it can be cooled down, there is no other planet we know of more suitable for terraforming and colonization. We will examine methods of cooling Venus down and preparing it to be settled in the future.

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Credits:
Winter on Venus
Episode 207, Season 5 E41

Written by:
Isaac Arthur

Editors:
Darius Said
Jerry Guern
S. Kopperud

Cover Art
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier

Graphics by
Jarred Eagley
Jeremy Jozwik https://www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_losdiajana
Kris Holland (Mafic Studios) www.maficstudios.com
Kristijan Tavcar https://www.miragedereve.com
Sam McNamara of Rapid Thrash
Sergio Botero https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?fref=gc
Tristan3D

Produced & Narrated by
Isaac Arthur

Music Manager
Luca DeRosa - lucaderosa2@live.com

Music:
Markus Junnikkala, "Hail the Victorious Dead" https://www.markusjunnikkala.com/
Aerium, "The Islands moved while I was asleep" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnUJY3l5vIJFGsY3XvW4dQ
Dan MacLeod, "Lucky" https://soundcloud.com/neptuneuk
Markus Junnikkala, "The Men Would love a good fight" https://www.markusjunnikkala.com/
Lombus, "Doppler Shores" https://lombus.bandcamp.com
Paradox Interactive, "In Search of Life" https://www.paradoxplaza.com
Ross Bugden, "Revelation" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQKGLOK2FqmVgVwYferltKQ

Winter On Venus

The ability to link mind and machine has long been the realm of science fiction, but now improvements in our understanding may allow us to network brain to computer in the near future. Companies like Neurolink have begun to explore how to link our neurons to machine, and we'll explore now such neural interfaces might function and how they might change our lives. 

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Neurolink Paper, "An integrated brain-machine interface platform with thousands of channels": https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/703801v1

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Credits:
Mind-Machine Interfaces
Episode 209, Season 5 E43

Written by:
Isaac Arthur

Editors:
Darius Said

Cover Art: 
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier

Produced & Narrated by: 
Isaac Arthur

Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Mind-Machine Interfaces

The Fermi Paradox asks why we don't see any alien civilizations with our SETI efforts. The Late Filters are common solution suggested, that intelligent species may often arise but either destroy themselves or unwilling or incapable of interstellar travel to reach new worlds and colonize the galaxy.

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Credits:
The Fermi Paradox Great Filters: Late Filters
Episode 213, Season 5 E47

Written by: 
Isaac Arthur

Editors:
Darius Said
Jerry Guern
Keith Blockus
Matthew Acker
Phonetic Failure
Victoria Kelly 

Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier

Graphics by:
Jeremy Jozwik https://www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_losdiajana
LegionTech Studios https://hades9.com
Sergio Botero https://www.artstation.com/sboterod?fref=gc

Produced & Narrated by:
Isaac Arthur

Music:
Lombus, "Cosmic Soup" https://lombus.bandcamp.com
Markus Junnikkala, "A Memory of Earth" https://www.markusjunnikkala.com/
AJ Prasad, "Aether" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8-7qwaEPU
Lombus, "Hydrogen Sonata" https://lombus.bandcamp.com
AJ Prasad, "Staring Through" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA8-7qwaEPU

Mind-Machine Interfaces

Isaac Arthur

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