Conversations between Professor David Kipping and guests, spanning astronomy, technology, science and engineering. This is the official podcast of the Cool Worlds Lab at Columbia University and their popular YouTube channel ”Cool Worlds”. Podcast episodes are filmed and can be found online through our YouTube channels.

Latest episodes

#35 Lee Cronin - Chemputation, Origin of Life, Assembly Theory

August 19, 2026 · 1 hr 44 min

🌏 Upgrade your online protection with an all-in-one security app! Use https://NordVPN.com/coolworldspodcast - It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee! In this week's episode, David is joined by Lee Cronin, Professor in the…
#34 Solo Episode - We Need to Talk About That "First Exomoon" Discovery

August 7, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

Special solo episode about the recent news of the first exomoon discovery. To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support Cool Worlds Podcast Theme by Hill [https://open.spotify…
#33 Sarah Rugheimer - LIFE Mission, Prebiosignatures, Mountains

June 27, 2026 · 1 hr 55 min

🌎 Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Download Saily app go to https://saily.com/coolworldspodcast - Use code coolworldspodcast at checkout ⛵ In this week's episode, David is joined by Sarah Rugheimer, Reader (Assoc Prof)…
#32 Chris Lintott - Technosignatures, Citizen Science, Scicomm

April 13, 2026 · 1 hr 37 min

In this week's episode, David is joined by Chris Lintott, Professor of Astronomy at Oxford University and presenter of BBC's "The Sky At Night". To support this podcast and our research lab, head to https://coolworldslab.com/support Cool…
#31 Joshua Winn - Exoplanet History, Discoveries and Future

February 12, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min

Head to https://NordVPN.com/coolworldspodcast to get 4 months free when you sign up for their 2-year plan. Use code coolworldspodcast at https://incogni.com/coolworldspodcast to get an exclusive 60% off Incogni. In this week's episode…
#30 Solo Episode - We Need To Talk About AI

February 1, 2026 · 1 hr 15 min

This episode is a bit different in that it's a solo-episode! I spent this week visiting the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, and one meeting in particular shook me so much I felt compelled to make this special episode. To support…
#29 Nick Bostrom - Simulation Theory, Anthropic Reasoning, Great Filters

January 28, 2026 · 1 hr 6 min

Use code coolworldspodcast at https://incogni.com/coolworldspodcast to get an exclusive 60% off. In this week's episode, David is joined by Nick Bostrom, Professor of Philosophy at Oxford University and author of several books including…
#28 Néstor Espinoza - JWST, Exoplanet Atmospheres, Molecule Detection

December 5, 2025 · 1 hr 41 min

Use code COOLWORLDS at https://novium.shop/coolworlds to get an exclusive 15% off for the next 72 hours. In this week's episode, David is joined by Néstor Espinoza - Associate Astronomer and Mission Scientist of Exoplanet Science at the…