Ralph Leighton

speaker

164 appearances 2 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 29 May

Ralph Leighton’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in May 2026 with 2.

Appearances

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Freakonomics Radio · The Vanishing Mr. Feynman (Update) · 29 May 2026 podcast

He didn't tell you everything at once, but he let you know that there's more to know about it.

So the first dose might be general and get you connected to the big idea.

And then when you were ready, he'd get into more detail.

But it's not a good idea to go into the weeds first.

I think I learned a lot from that aspect of his teaching.

A couple of reasons why I think science should be communicated as well as possible.

One is it's beautiful.

If we said we're going to eliminate music and poetry and you'll get by on the train schedule, that's all you really need.

It'd be a big loss.

We wouldn't stand for it.

And yet we tolerate not learning more about science in a way that's meaningful to us.

We read headlines and the question is, is it a breakthrough that's going to end cancer or not?

Don't bother me if you haven't got that.

I think we're going through a period where there's less trust placed in people who are experts at anything, not just science.

There are a lot of us who seem to feel if you claim to know so much, you're setting yourself up as better than me.

Rather than saying, let me hear what you have to say and see if I can learn from you, it's don't tell me what to do.

I'm free to believe anything I want.

And, you know, his classic example, kind of an exemplar for so many people, was when he participated in the board that was investigating the Challenger disaster.

You know, contrast that to Feynman's insistence on the limitations of our knowledge.

I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing.

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