Cryptology (SECRET CODES) with Dr, Simon Singh
Secret ciphers. Hidden treasure. Enigma breakers. Mysterious manuscripts. And … hog Latin. Cryptology expert and author of “The Code Book,” Simon Singh finally lets me ask him about the small mistakes that lost huge battles, the prison plots of Mary Queen of Scots, a cryptology reality show that I wish existed, the legacy of Alan Turing, Indigenous code-talking war heroes, hiding messages in your skin and guts, the role of A.I. in future deciphering and the possibility of a quantum computing apocalypse. Also: one whole ball of wax that you do not want to get into.
Listen via Apple, Spotify, iHeart, Podbay, Podcast Addict, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Visit Dr. Singh’s website and follow him on Bluesky and X
Browse Dr. Singh’s books including The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, available on Bookshop.org and Amazon
A donation went to GiveWell
Links to things we discussed:
Cryptography: history and curiosities, the importance today
Colonel’s Secret Recipe Gets Bodyguards
Acquisition of Pig Latin: a case study
Bernard Newman’s Secrets of German Espionage
Ciphers used by Mary Queen of Scots
Cryptiana’s Ciphers of Mary, Queen of Scots
Al-Kindi, the father of cryptanalysis
Breaking encryption with a quantum computer just got 20 times easier
Cliff Cock’s 1973 top-secret classified encryption paper
Is a quantum-cryptography apocalypse imminent?
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian documentary The Power of Words: Native Languages as Weapons of War
Secrets of the Code Talkers | The Warrior Tradition
Digitized Voynich Manuscript via Yale
Rearrange this!: Cory Calhoun's Hamlet Anagram
The Quest to Break America’s Most Mysterious Code—And Find $60 Million in Buried Treasure
Other episodes you may enjoy:
Graphology (HANDWRITING/FORGERY)
Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES)
Architectural Technology (COMPUTER PROGRAMMING)
Neurotechnology (AI + BRAIN TECH)
Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?)
Abstract Mathematology (UH, IS MATH REAL?)
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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee
Managing Director: Susan Hale
Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth
Transcripts by Aveline Malek
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn