The Vanishing Mr. Feynman (Update)

May 29, 2026 · 1h 0m

About this episode

In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wasn’t able to. (Part three of <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/richard-feynman/" rel="noopener noreferrer">a three-part series</a> originally published in 2024.) <ul> <li>SOURCES: <ul> <li><a href="https://www.alanalda.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alan Alda</a>, actor and screenwriter.</li> <li>Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman.</li> <li><a href="https://www.helenczerski.net/about-helen" rel="noopener noreferrer">Helen Czerski</a>, physicist and oceanographer at University College London.</li> <li><a href="http://www.tedxcaltech.com/content/michelle-feynman.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michelle Feynman</a>, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman.</li> <li>Cheryl Haley, friend of Richard Feynman.</li> <li>Debby Harlow, friend of Richard Feynman.</li> <li><a href="https://bookshop.org/search?keywords=Ralph+Leighton" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ralph Leighton</a>, biographer and film producer.</li> <li><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/60291/charles-c-mann/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Charles Mann</a>, science journalist and author.</li> <li><a href="http://theory.caltech.edu/~preskill/bio.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">John Preskill</a>, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology.</li> <li><a href="https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/randall" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lisa Randall</a>, professor of theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University.</li> <li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0843051/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christopher Sykes</a>, documentary filmmaker.</li> <li><a href="https://www.stephenwolfram.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stephen Wolfram</a>, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language.</li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul> <li>RESOURCES: <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd9M-d0fD5I" rel="noopener noreferrer">I Love My Wife...</a>, directed by Ian Tierney (2020).</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/4bwHhVC" rel="noopener noreferrer">Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science</a>, by Lawrence M. Krauss (2011).</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3SGq3Ov" rel="noopener noreferrer">Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: Selected Letters of Richard P. Feynman</a>, edited by Michelle Feynman (2005).</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3vZ1nI0" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pleasure of Finding Things Out</a>, by Richard Feynman (1999).</li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle-Dark/dp/0345409469" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark</a>, by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (1995).</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/3UtXMf0" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman</a>, by James Gleick (1992).</li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qeauwu2uIwM" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Quest for Tannu Tuva</a>, by Christopher Sykes (1988)</li> <li><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-do-you-care-what-other-people-think-further-adventures-of-a-curious-character-richard-p-feynman/10049716?ean=9780393355642" rel="noopener noreferrer">“What Do You Care What Other People Think?” </a>by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988).</li> <li><a href="https://amzn.to/48dJ933" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics</a>, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986).</li> <li><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/surely-you-re-joking-mr-feynman-adventures-of-a-curious-character-richard-p-feynman/8737624?ean=9780393355628" rel="noopener noreferrer">Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!</a>, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985).</li> <li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1118155/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fun to Imagine</a>, BBC docuseries (1983).</li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul> <li>EXTRAS: <ul> <li>“<a href="https://freakonomics.com/the-curious-brilliant-vanishing-mr-feynman/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Curious, Brilliant, Vanishing Mr. Feynman</a>,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).</li> </ul></li> </ul> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.