The jazz musician’s guide to the universe

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2024

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How is the origin of our universe like an improvised saxophone solo? This week, Sean Illing talks to Stephon Alexander, a theoretical physicist and world-class jazz musician. Alexander is the author of The Jazz of Physics and his most recent book, Fear of a Black Universe. This episode features music by Stephon Alexander throughout, from his latest 2024 album Spontaneous Fruit and his 2017 EP True to Self. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Stephon Alexander (@stephstem), theoretical physicist, Brown University Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Be the first to hear new episodes of The Gray Area by following us in your favorite podcast app. Links here: https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for the show comes from into the mix, a Ben and Jerry's podcast about joy and justice, produced with Fox Creative.
0:09.0	Along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, there is a stretch of land nicknamed Cancer Alley,
0:15.9	because the cancer rate is more than seven times higher than the national average,
0:21.2	thanks to a high concentration of petrochemical plants.
0:25.0	Here how one community is fighting against some of the top polluters in the country
0:30.0	in their own backyard.
0:31.0	Subscribe to Into the Mix of Ben and Jerry's podcast.
0:37.8	How do custom orders work on Cracken?
0:40.2	Imagine I'm a music producer, dialing in my newest track.
0:43.6	Need more bass? Crank it!
0:45.6	Vocal's not popping.
0:47.2	Double it up!
0:48.2	Want a bigger sound?
0:49.4	Hit that Reverb!
0:50.8	Hard!
0:51.8	That's custom orders on Crrakhan. Complete control over your
0:54.8	crypto trades. Go to Krakkin.com and see what crypto can be. Don't
0:59.5	invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk
1:02.4	investment and you should not
1:03.6	expect to be protected if something goes wrong.
1:06.3	What if everything in the universe? The stars, the planets, the galaxies, the people.
1:15.7	What if all of it is the result of pressure waves, patterns of vibrations from the beginning
	...

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