Coffin Problems (with Edward Frenkel) - Numberphile Podcast 

Ed Frenkel is a legend. His book is great, and his Riemann zeta function videos are up there with the best across all of Brady’s channels!

This was so insanely good, I have no words to describe the goodness. Once again, Brady completely amazes me with his ability to make a math podcast better than I could have imagined possible.

Brady's work is what led me to discover that I don't hate math.

This podcast is a real gem - monumental!

I often have quoted Frenkel's take on math education as "painting a fence." His way of understanding what math truly is verses what everyone has come to think of it because of the way so many education systems work, speaks to me so deeply. And now listening to the stories of his life and struggles in Soviet Russia has pierced me right to my core. My mother was born in Soviet Russian. She met my father, an American, when he was studying in Moscow State University. That university played an important part of both their lives, and through their stories to mine, and I knew exactly what Frenkel meant when he talked about that gorgeous building, as I've seen it with my own eyes. It amazing and scary to think about what was going on there behind the scenes. Frenkel is so right about the way Soviet culture put prestige on math and science. My mother trained to be an engineer in Moscow. She passed down that Russian love of mathematics to me as well, and I always excelled at it. Though I ended up studying linguistics (another very math-like field) at university, I still love math and its poetic beauty. To hear Frenkel's story connects me deeply to the world my mother came from, to my mathematical roots, and to so much of who I am and who I want to be. It's truly moving. I also love music and that most Russian of arts - poetry. I love to hear mathematicians like Frenkel connecting the poetic mind and the mathematical one, when so, so many people see these as polar opposites. Everything about this interview, I love it! I love it! I love it!!!!

Damn, I really didn't want this to end.. so much juicy passion

Let me chime in with the rest of the comments: This was the best podcast yet (and I liked quite a lot of them). Especially Edward Frenkel explaining how it's the job of the system to block, and how you shouldn't take it personally and see it as an obstacle that you should overcome, really struck a chord with me. I immediately bought his book.

watching/listening to Professor Frenkel's videos is a very different experience after having actually been his student

2019: Coffin Problems 2020: Coughing Problems

I hope to see a Numberphile video on p-adic numbers by Fenkel in the near future!

And here I was expecting coffin related problems.

THE best numberphile podcast to date. Great work Brady!

truly glorious background

thanks so much for having this story told. this was the best episode ever.

I love professor Frenkel, he's terribly eloquent and a great explainer. And his story could be a Hollywood movie, totally :D

Thanks for another great interview and letting us hear more of Professor Frenkel's extraordinary personal story.

Amazing interview. I enjoyed every second of it. Keep up the good work.

This was stunning talk. Thank you Brady and Professor Frenkel!

Kinda wished there was a camera to record like JRE and basically rest of podcasts today, BUT still didn't take away from how amazing this was. This guy for sure was one of my top favorites in brady's channels.

I was reading "Coffein Problems", which would be a reasonable topic among mathematicians.

That was great, more of a journey than I was expecting. It's no revelation or anything but the throughline in all these interviews of noteworthy people having their skills fostered by often less significant but (at least to them) no less noteworthy mentors has become quite striking to me. Especially with how it's usually the one introducing them to the field rather than someone later on in their career. I'll have to check out his book.

hearing someone be so happy about their life and career trajectory, it brings me great satisfaction

I listen to Edward Frenkel's videos like it's a piano piece, whether it's about math or just life itself; it's relaxing

What a surprising discovery ! I've not listend to a podcast with such an interest for a long time ! Thank you

All of you should read Love and Math. And judging by how amazing the Numberphile family is, you probably have already read it! But for those who haven't, it is an amazing book by our own Edward Frenkel that I can't recommend enough!

Dear Professor , you choose your words and topics most exceptionaly. Thank you.

I rushed to buy the book after listening to half the podcast. I know I am late to the party... I can relate to Professor Frenkel's experience with growing up under an oppressive communist regime. My escape from depression as a teenager in the mid-80s was physics. I can't wait to read the book.

I read his book Love and Math. A great read.

Thank you. This was deeply meaningful.

As a semi-slav, this story is very inspirational. I have an interview for mathematics at Cambridge soon, hopefully I won't get one of these coffin problems!

So goood brady! He is my favourite professor by far... such charisma!

Great stories, well told, what a guy!

@Edward: The artistry is astounding. Well done!

I would have very much enjoyed a teacher with his capabilities in high school...but what do you expect from Kansas public schools...Frenkel is a class act. And Brady is s certified madman! I enjoy this channel a great amount...so thank you for introducing me to these interesting individuals amd ideas.

I liked how the background switched to American flag when they started talking about his life in America.

Watching the same thing repeatedly (especially when you have a good foundation already) is a great way to learn a language

I love pure math, I was originally a pure math major, attending UC Davis, but something I struggle with is what I am going to do with it. I need to make money, support myself, pay for college, you know? I ended up switching to computer science for better career prospects but pure math is what calls me still.

I'm so thankful that thanks to channels like Numberphile I know that real world maths isn't confined to the middle or high school syllabus. It actually makes maths my favourite subject, I'm always so excited when we start a new topic

This was quite a fascinating episode. I can see how many might not appreciate the movie, but I enjoyed the premise and the movie iotself.

I'd love to sit down and have a beer with Professor Frenkel. There are so many things I'd like to ask him.

I enjoy all of his videos.

it was great. Thanks Brady!

Wow! That was so... Fulfilling!

How was the kaleidoscope background made? Very nice. (And interesting interview of course!)

Great podcast !

Spasibav, Numberphile.

Is it a coincidence that Oil and Gas sounds vaguely similar to Euler and Gauss?

Please make Edward's life into a movie

A great depiction of a moment in history. As of now, i hope to never forgot what was said

This guy is fascinating great stuff

wow, what an amazing story

A amazing person., makes me feel pleased to be a member of the race. Thank you so much for this presentation of his being!

The chapter on p-adic numbers is mislabeled "Periodic Numbers".

Huh, it's really interesting to hear this in a podcast and depcited as a systematic thing even though I have heard all of these as anectodal stories of people who immigrated from the USSR to Israel.

Whether air media or iron rod media or metal string media etc things take a curve somewhat like spring action. When you have a balance and put weight on either side to balance then the balance curves a little bit on either side to hold. The bending spring action depends on the balance used. If you make it weak and put huge weight it will bend and fall called tripping. They are all vector curves which put them balancing. One twelfth is the normal distribution curve for the entire loads on either side for elastic. For inelastic it might break. This bending create a frequency of swing to compensate for the load on either side and the fulcrum. Or the CG. Frequency is a measure of how much they are bent and sway or spring. Light is max curvature of space. Numbers are sequence of vibration of frequency. That is increasing frequency sequence of difference one. So normal number line means one twelfth of the curvature or frequency of 12 for the infinite number sequence. Essentially something to do with bending to circle. In two D it is a circular disk. Frequency 12×12 π. For 3D 12×12×12 π square.

49:57 jujutsu

Dr. Frenkel, your accent makes me want to learn Russian lol. Your emphasis on facing past trauma is resonating with me, when you assign guilt to yourself that really belongs to others, you are still denying yourself healing. Please don't pull a Taniyama and off yourself. Cowardice and bullying go together. How can you destroy other people's future, and then expect forgiveness?

Heard from a linguist on RU-vid that the Stalin's book on linguistics actually makes sense, as it put an end to pseudo-scientific Japhetic theory of languages gaining ground in the USSR.

117 km is indeed 72.7 mi. (or 72 mi. 6 fur.). Cool! Assuming it's not 170. >.>

Is there a Russian version of the "Coffin Problems" paper -- a copy of the paper in Russian?

would love the slot name to be fixed to 'P-adic Number' instead of 'Periodic Number' please

If u are a Prof at Berkeley there's a 90% somebody mentions they took a class with them in the RU-vid comment sections lol

The definition of a circle as ALL points equidistant from center is not a cherry picking question it was a very popular question on exam to MSU. It is a trap but it was asked to most applicants.

Какой няша.

E Frenkel can't stop a train

I'm a simple man, I see Edward Frenkel and I click on the video.

Perelman is of Jewish descent he didnt have problems like that, right ? He didnt go to moscow though

Why people died with TB.

It's at times like this, I consult Ezekiel 23:20, and all becomes clear...

The journey from provincial small town to Harvard is fascinating and inspiring. It shows the power of will a dedication. I quite doubt that late millennials and even more likely generation Z could do that same. They would break.

Does he look like Martin Freeman to anyone else?

First

When I heard that the university for jews was called oil and gas I went like "oh no..."

i dont hate math. i hate evil men

How pretentious do you have to be to get offended over an avant-garde film?

🇷🇺❤️

A bit off topic, but: As severely flawed as that Ideology was/is imo(or at least its implementation), I bet at least it wouldn't have fostered ANY flat earthers(for instance). Here & now it seems we have millions, & in this day & age of information mind you. "Free speech" is great & all, & apparently so are the "rights" to choose such dogmatic dumbassery & douchebaggery.

It's kinda weird hearing Frenkel complaining about his unfair treatment in commie schools, given the context of the evil communist regime at the time (and the ever-present statism that still exists today). Ie. being cheated or banned from statist schools is nothing compared to the real physical violence inflicted on people. Frenkel was slightly critical of the gov in this interview (talking about empty store shelves), but I'm not sure he understands how evil the system actually was (being banned from state-schools is not actually evil), or that he understands how evil statism is. (What % of his income is derived from state violence?)