07 May 2026
The Equation That Changed How Physicists Think About Reality | Juan Maldacena
Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
About
Juan Maldacena is a theoretical physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study whose 1997 paper remains the most cited in the history of theoretical physics.
We cover:
-why wormholes and quantum entanglement may be the same thing
-what actually happens to information when you throw something into a black hole
-the reason Hawking radiation accidentally gave cosmologists the equation that explains why the universe has structure
-whether science-fiction wormholes are ruled out by the laws of physics
-the one unsolved problem Juan says matters more than black holes.
The most important problem in quantum gravity is understanding the beginning of the Big Bang — not black holes.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 What If Einstein's Two Strangest Ideas Were One?
01:15 Juan Maldacena: The Most Cited Physicist Alive
03:25 What Would Einstein Most Want to Know Today?
07:45 The Holographic Principle Explained
09:20 What Happens When You Throw a Laptop Into a Black Hole?
11:00 Is Information Actually Lost Forever?
12:25 The Problem Juan Wants to Solve Before He Dies
13:50 Why Real Black Holes Don't Emit Hawking Radiation
15:25 How Black Hole Physics Accidentally Explained the Universe
17:00 Could Primordial Black Holes Be Dark Matter?
18:30 Real Observers Solving Imaginary Problems
21:15 Why Imaginary Numbers Keep Being Right
25:00 The Origin Story of AdS/CFT
27:05 Do We Actually Live in AdS Space?
29:00 Are Wormholes Real or Just Science Fiction?
32:10 Could AI Have Helped Einstein?
33:00 Can Science and Religion Coexist?
———
📬 Get the transcript, fascinating bonus content, and my Monday M.A.G.I.C. Message: https://briankeating.com/yt
🌠 Have a .edu email and live in the USA 🇺🇸? You automatically win a meteorite: https://BrianKeating.com/edu
🔔 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
🎯 Support Into the Impossible on Patreon — get my weekly M.A.G.I.C. Message, unfiltered bonus content, and live monthly Office Hours with me: https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating
⭐ Join this channel for perks, monthly Office Hours, and your name in the Member Roster at the end of every episode:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join
📚 My books:
Losing the Nobel Prize (memoir): http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA
Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu
Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U
Galileo's Dialogue (first-ever audiobook): https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un
🌐 More:
🏄♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
✍️ Blog: https://briankeating.com/blog
🎙️ Audio-only: https://briankeating.com/podcast
#intotheimpossible #briankeating #science #physics #astronomy #cosmology #podcast #universe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We cover:
-why wormholes and quantum entanglement may be the same thing
-what actually happens to information when you throw something into a black hole
-the reason Hawking radiation accidentally gave cosmologists the equation that explains why the universe has structure
-whether science-fiction wormholes are ruled out by the laws of physics
-the one unsolved problem Juan says matters more than black holes.
The most important problem in quantum gravity is understanding the beginning of the Big Bang — not black holes.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 What If Einstein's Two Strangest Ideas Were One?
01:15 Juan Maldacena: The Most Cited Physicist Alive
03:25 What Would Einstein Most Want to Know Today?
07:45 The Holographic Principle Explained
09:20 What Happens When You Throw a Laptop Into a Black Hole?
11:00 Is Information Actually Lost Forever?
12:25 The Problem Juan Wants to Solve Before He Dies
13:50 Why Real Black Holes Don't Emit Hawking Radiation
15:25 How Black Hole Physics Accidentally Explained the Universe
17:00 Could Primordial Black Holes Be Dark Matter?
18:30 Real Observers Solving Imaginary Problems
21:15 Why Imaginary Numbers Keep Being Right
25:00 The Origin Story of AdS/CFT
27:05 Do We Actually Live in AdS Space?
29:00 Are Wormholes Real or Just Science Fiction?
32:10 Could AI Have Helped Einstein?
33:00 Can Science and Religion Coexist?
———
📬 Get the transcript, fascinating bonus content, and my Monday M.A.G.I.C. Message: https://briankeating.com/yt
🌠 Have a .edu email and live in the USA 🇺🇸? You automatically win a meteorite: https://BrianKeating.com/edu
🔔 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
🎯 Support Into the Impossible on Patreon — get my weekly M.A.G.I.C. Message, unfiltered bonus content, and live monthly Office Hours with me: https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating
⭐ Join this channel for perks, monthly Office Hours, and your name in the Member Roster at the end of every episode:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join
📚 My books:
Losing the Nobel Prize (memoir): http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA
Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu
Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U
Galileo's Dialogue (first-ever audiobook): https://a.co/d/iZPi9Un
🌐 More:
🏄♂️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
✍️ Blog: https://briankeating.com/blog
🎙️ Audio-only: https://briankeating.com/podcast
#intotheimpossible #briankeating #science #physics #astronomy #cosmology #podcast #universe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices