Intellectually Curious

Intellectually Curious is a podcast by Mike Breault featuring over 1,400 AI-powered explorations across science, mathematics, philosophy, and personal growth. Each short-form episode is generated, refined, and published with the help of large language models—turning curiosity into an ongoing audio encyclopedia. Designed for anyone who loves learning, it offers quick dives into everything from combinatorics and cryptography to systems thinking and psychology.

Inspiration for this podcast:

"Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It's shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad'Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson."

― Frank Herbert, Dune

Note: These podcasts were made with NotebookLM. AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.

All Episodes

Intellectually Curious

Forecasting Alien Weather: Webb Reveals SIMP0136’s Self-Powered Auroras

December 01, 2025 • Mike Breault

Join us as we decode James Webb's first weather forecast for SIMP J013656.5+093347, a rogue brown dwarf about 20 light-years away. Through time-series spectroscopy, Webb maps a three-layer atmosphere with silicate, iron, and rock clouds, and reveals that brightness changes come from deep, turbulent weather rather than patchy clouds. Most astonishing: a self-generated aurora heat engine drives the upper atmosphere to around 300°C, powered by a strong internal magnetic field with no star in sight. These findings help us understand weather on giant exoplanets and lay the groundwork for forecasting climates on worlds beyond our solar system.

Note: This podcast was AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information.