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Mathematics you follow by ear, like a curve — wonder, it can be proven.

Discovery · 23 min01 / 10

August 21, 2025

Mental maths: why thinking makes you a better calculator

The Tangente team

01 · Listen to what’s new

Latest episodes

What’s just been released, from newest to oldest.

All episodes →

01
After 80 years, AI disproves Erdős’s conjecture
Aug 25, 2026 · 5 min
02
Hong Wang: the needle problem unsolved for a century
Aug 24, 2026 · 5 min
03
Alex Chui, British schoolboy: seven medals and a record
Jul 31, 2026 · 5 min
04
Sak Tahn Waax: a signature rediscovered after twelve centuries
Jul 31, 2026 · 6 min
05
Lebesgue measure: can you choose a point at random? Premium
Jul 29, 2026 · 21 min
06
Why doesn't the brain think about maths in words? Premium
Jul 29, 2026 · 22 min
07
Normal numbers: why do they hide all our messages? Premium
Jul 29, 2026 · 21 min
08
Arcouest: From Holidays to a Network of Scholars
Jul 27, 2026 · 6 min

02 · Listen by series

The playlists

A way in by story, idea or way of looking at mathematics.

All playlists →

Series · 2 episodes

Learning maths

Understanding how intuitions, methods and mathematical knowledge are constructed.

Series · 25 episodes

Towards the cosmos

From Newton's tides to the black hole finally photographed: the sky is the oldest exercise book of mathematicians — and there are still blank pages.

Series · 67 episodes

Inside the Minds of Geniuses

Dawn duels, legitimist exiles, academies and flower-laden graves at Père-Lachaise: the lives of mathematicians are never straightforward — they intersect, diverge and leave traces.

Series · 91 episodes

From the abacus to AI

From Babylonian tablets to Edo sangaku, from Andean quipus to Napier's rods: mathematics has always traveled passport-free — follow the caravans.

Series · 124 episodes

Place your bets

From Monty Hall to the game of life, from blackjack to magic squares: the house always loses against a well-played theorem — no more bets, the odds are set.

Series · 55 episodes

Shapes & proofs

A sheet of paper, a compass, a pair of scissors: geometry is a manual art before being a textbook chapter — and the origami crane trisects the angle that the ruler will never reach.

Series · 51 episodes

The art of maths

Perec counted his letters, Xenakis his glissandi, Escher his tilings: guided tour of the imaginary museum where every theorem gets its opening.

Series · 70 episodes

The secret life of numbers

Vampires, narcissistic, perfect, happy, transcendental: a census of an infinite population where each inhabitant has a property — and where pi and the golden ratio play the starring roles.

Series · 35 episodes

Maths that heal

Epidemics, climate, ballot boxes and fake news: when equations take the pulse of the planet and the city — and critical thinking becomes a combat sport.

03 · Meet