Why do stories endure across centuries—and what do they reveal about the essence of being human? Brian Greene sits down with Booker Prize–winning author Ian McEwan to explore the timeless power of storytelling, the evolution of human nature, and the future of creativity in the age of artificial intelligence.
They examine how literature and science both search for truth and meaning—how we can still understand texts from Shakespeare & Homer hundreds or thousands of years later, and why our shared human emotions remain unchanged. McEwan reflects on mortality, memory, and beauty as central to storytelling, while Greene draws striking parallels between narrative, physics, and the pursuit of knowledge.
This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
This program can be watched here, and on our YouTube channel, starting at 4PM on Friday, October 17.
Brian Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and is recognized for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in his field of superstring theory. His books, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, have collectively spent 65 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
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Ian McEwan is a prolific British author whose novels have established him as one of the leading voices in contemporary English-language literature. Winner of the 1998 Booker Prize for Amsterdam, he …
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