Terry Tao: “Trump CUT My Funding.” Here's how I am going to react.
Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
Outro
Brian Keating wraps up, previews part two with a longer sit-down covering Tao's research and views on AI and math, and reminds listeners to subscribe.
What happens when a government abruptly cuts off the lifeline of pure science?
Imagine canceling Albert Einstein just before he published [E = mc².
Terence Tao, the “Mozart of Mathematics,” was one of the unlucky researchers hit when the Trump administration suddenly terminated his federal research funding.
Today, I walk and talk with Tao at UCLA to understand how America’s greatest living mathematician found himself blindsided by a bureaucratic earthquake — and what it means for the future of discovery.
This is Part 1 of our deep dive into Tao’s work, his warnings about the collapse of U.S. research infrastructure, and why mathematics is the unseen root system supporting all of modern technology.
🕒 TIMESTAMPS
- 00:00 – *“Canceling Einstein”* — Tao’s funding cut
- 00:22 – Who is Terence Tao?
- 01:17 – Grants suspended without warning
- 01:27 – New hurdles for international scholars
- 01:38 – UCLA’s sudden funding freeze
- 03:00 – Was Tao targeted?
- 03:38 – Arbitrary rule-changing
- 04:01 – Trivial reasons for cancellations
- 04:18 – Policy without process
- 05:06 – Do we need new funding models?
- 05:27 – Why federal stability matters
- 05:52 – The limits of philanthropy
- 08:42 – Math as the root of modern tech
- 09:11 – Prizes and public perception
- 11:35 – The seven great unsolved problems
- 12:13 – The Navier–Stokes question
- 12:57 – The problem with prize-driven secrecy
- 13:37 – Collaboration over competition
If you care about ideas, discovery, and the future of knowledge itself — this conversation matters.
Part 2 drops soon. Subscribe so you don't miss it.
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