How evolution works | Sean B. Carroll
November 13, 2025
78,423
3,020
1,737
6.07%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Big Think Episodes Around November 13, 2025
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
13:25Now PlayingHow evolution works | Sean B. Carroll
Chapters
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelBecome a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more
“Chance invents and natural selection propagates that chance invention.”
Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►
Up next, The mindbending probability of our existence | Sean B. CarrollFull Interview ►
Evolution doesn’t create with intent: it begins with error. Random mutations, filtered through time and circumstance, give rise to the astonishing order of the natural world.
Evolutionary biologist Sean B Carroll explains how chance and chaos operate as life’s quiet architects.
Read the video transcript ►
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go Deeper with Big Think:
►Become a Big Think Youtube Member
Get exclusive classes and early, adfree access to new releases without leaving Youtube.
►Become a Big Think Web Member
Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more.
►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack
Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Sean B. Carroll:
Sean B. Carroll is an award-winning scientist, author, educator, and film producer. He is Distinguished University Professor and the Andrew and Mary Balo and NIcholas and Susan Simon Chair of Biology at the University of Maryland, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was formerly Head of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, and led the Department of Science Education from 2010-2023. He is also Professor Emeritus of Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin.
An internationally-recognized evolutionary biologist, Carroll's laboratory research has centered on the genes that control animal body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. In recognition of his scientific contributions, Carroll has received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Sciences, been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and elected an Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization.
His latest book is A Series of Fortunate Events.
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.