The Brilliant Mr. Feynman (Update)

May 27, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamus_Blackley" rel="noopener noreferrer">Seamus Blackley</a>, video game designer and creator of the Xbox.</li> <li><a href="https://independent.academia.edu/CarlFeynman" rel="noopener noreferrer">Carl Feynman</a>, computer scientist and son of Richard Feynman.</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><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="https://www.preskill.caltech.edu/" 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> <li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-zorthian-0b122675/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alan Zorthian</a>, architect.</li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul> <li>RESOURCES: <ul> <li>"<a href="https://www.themarginalian.org/2017/10/17/richard-feynman-arline-letter/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Love After Life: Nobel-Winning Physicist Richard Feynman’s Extraordinary Letter to His Departed Wife</a>," by Maria Popova (The Marginalian, 2017).</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/3vZ1nI0" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pleasure of Finding Things Out</a>, by Richard Feynman (1999).</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.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-03-mn-8-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">G. Feynman; Landscape Expert, Physicist’s Widow</a>," (Los Angeles Times, 1990).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-16-mn-42968-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nobel Physicist R. P. Feynman of Caltech Dies</a>," by Lee Dye (Los Angeles Times, 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> <li>"<a href="https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2398/1/Nobel.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">Richard P. Feynman: Nobel Prize Winner</a>," by Tim Hendrickson, Stuart Galley, and Fred Lamb (Engineering and Science, 1965).</li> <li><a href="https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/fbi-files-on-richard-feynman-1165/#file-4617" rel="noopener noreferrer">F.B.I. files on Richard Feynman</a>.</li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul> <li>EXTRAS: <ul> <li>"<a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-curious-mr-feynman/" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Curious Mr. Feynman</a>," 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.