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From First Principles Podcast Transcripts

Krishna Choudhary and Lester Nare · 63 episodes with transcripts

From First Principles is a fast, funny, and rigorous breakdown of the biggest science stories of the week, hosted by Lester Nare and physicist Krishna Choudhary, PhD. We go past headlines into the actual mechanics: what happened, why it matters, and what everyone’s missing.

Spoken has transcripts of 63 From First Principles episodes, with the speakers named. The newest listed here is from October 7, 2026.

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Latest From First Principles transcripts

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 Explained: Mirror Molecules (EP 63)

October 7, 2026

Lester Nare (0:03)

A chemist in Paris and a chemist in Tokyo who cracked one of life's oddest habits. Look at your hands. Mirror images. But a left glove won't fit your right hand. Many molecules come in left and right versions, too. One smells like spearmint, its mirror twin smells like rye bread.

But chemistry in a flask always makes both. 50-50.

Krishna Choudhary (2:49)

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Henri B. Kagan of the former University of Paris-Sud in France and Kenso Soai of Tokyo University of Science in Japan.

And the official citation is for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.

Lester Nare (3:14)

Talk about a mouthful.

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