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Jul 26 2012

How Time Travel Works (Live at SD Comic-Con)

27 min 7 movies discussed
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How does time travel work? Could it ever cross the line from science fiction into science fact? Join Josh and Chuck -- along with a live audience at the 2012 Comic-Con -- as they explore the ins and outs of time travel.

AI Summary

In this special live episode recorded at Comic-Con 2012, Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating world of time travel, exploring everything from legitimate physics to wild conspiracy theories. They discuss how scientists like Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan approach the possibility of traveling through time, examine methods like near-light-speed travel and wormholes, and tackle famous paradoxes like the grandfather paradox. Along the way, they get an unexpected visit from "time pilot John Hodgman" from the future with an urgent warning about Comic-Con catastrophe involving Joss Whedon.


Movies Discussed

Back to the Future
Back to the Future
1985 1h 56m
★ 8.3
"Probably the best demonstration of a consistent causal loop is found in the film Back to the Future — A guest named Brian uses the movie as an example to explain consistent causal loops and time travel paradoxes."
Celebrity Jeopardy!
Celebrity Jeopardy!
2022
★ 6.3
"Have either of you ever wanted to be on Celebrity Jeopardy so you could just smoke them? — An audience member asks if the hosts would want to appear on the celebrity version of the game show."
Firefly
Firefly
2002
★ 8.3
"if you recognize him, I guarantee you he will make another season of Firefly — Future John Hodgman mentions that recognizing Josh Whedon could lead to another season of Firefly being made."
Looper
Looper
2012 1h 58m
★ 6.9
"A looper, if you will — Josh references the movie when describing someone who travels back in time as an assassin to kill their grandfather." — Josh
Somewhere in Time
Somewhere in Time
1980 1h 43m
★ 7.5
"we could have also cited the pocket watch in the Christopher Reeve movie Somewhere in Time — Brian mentions this as another example of a consistent causal loop but notes that Back to the Future was a better movie."
The X-Files
The X-Files
1993
★ 8.4
"I have always been more of a moulder than a scully — Chuck references the characters Mulder and Scully to describe himself as more of a believer than a skeptic when it comes to time travel theories." — Chuck
Through the Wormhole
Through the Wormhole
2010
★ 7.6
"you couldn't have a TV show called Through the Einstein-Rosenbridge with Morgan Freeman — Chuck uses the actual TV show to illustrate why 'wormhole' is a more appealing term than 'Einstein-Rosen Bridge'." — Chuck

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