About From First Principles
Breaking down science news so it makes sense to curious people everywhere.
From First Principles
The name says it all. First principles thinking is the method of reasoning from foundational truths rather than assumptions — the same way scientists approach every problem. From First Principles is a weekly video podcast that applies exactly that ethos: taking complex science news and building understanding from the ground up so that anyone, regardless of background, can follow along and engage.
Meet the Hosts
A technologist and serial founder, Lester has spent over a decade building software companies. He is the Co-Founder and COO of Steadworth, a fintech platform helping home buyers access down payment assistance, and serves as Director of Operations at the Disclosure Foundation, a 501(c)(3) advancing government transparency on UAP. Born in Montreal to Zimbabwean immigrant parents, he brings an outsider’s perspective and a builder’s instinct to everything he does.
- Princeton ’14 — Visual Arts
A physicist and active researcher, Krishna studied physics at Princeton before earning his PhD in physics at UCLA, where he focused on the intersection of physics and the life sciences. He has been published in Nature and Nature Neuroscience and continues to publish today. Born in Odisha, India, and raised in Udaipur, Rajasthan, he spent a year in Huntsville, Alabama before settling in Los Angeles.
- Princeton ’14 — Physics
- UCLA ’21 — PhD, Physics
Our Story
Lester and Krishna have been close friends since meeting as members of Princeton’s Class of 2014. Despite coming from different worlds — one a visual artist and competitive athlete, the other a physicist — they bonded over a shared love of music. Lester was a DJ and producer; Krishna sang a cappella with the Nassoons. Both are immigrants who found their way to the United States and then to each other through Princeton’s campus.
The idea for the show came from the conversations they were already having. Lester would come to Krishna with a science question, and Krishna would break it down from first principles — patiently, rigorously, and with genuine enthusiasm. After more than a decade of friendship built on intellectual curiosity, they realized those private conversations deserved a public stage.
The show launched in August 2025, and the format clicked immediately — because it was never manufactured. It’s just what their friendship sounds like when you press record.
From their appearance on The Dave Chang Show on Netflix · March 12, 2026
The Mission — An ESPN for Science
Artificial intelligence and accelerating technology are driving a Cambrian explosion in the volume of scientific research. Discoveries that once took decades now unfold in months. Yet the general public’s understanding of science is drifting further and further from the frontier.
Sports have ESPN. Finance has CNBC. Entertainment and music have award shows, press tours, and streaming charts. Science doesn’t have an equivalent popular cultural infrastructure — no broadly accessible platform where everyday people can follow the action and feel the excitement of discovery.
From First Principles is building that bridge. Our goal is to make frontier science accessible and engaging for curious people who don’t have a natural entry point. Much of the anti-science movement is driven by fear of what we don’t understand. By closing the gap between researchers and the public, we believe we can replace fear with fascination.
Standing on the Shoulders
Both Lester and Krishna grew up in households where science wasn’t just respected — it was the family business. Their parents are published researchers whose work has been cited thousands of times at the highest levels of their fields.
The Nare Family
Father — Parasitologist
Mother — Clinical data scientist
25+ years at Merck
The Choudhary Family
Father — Solar physicist
Professor & Chair, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Cal State Northridge
Mother — Botanist
Both hosts are immigrants whose families prioritized fundamental research and the pursuit of knowledge. The importance of science isn’t just something they talk about on the show — it’s woven into how they were raised.
The Name & the Platonic Solids
From First Principles takes its name from the method of reasoning that strips away assumptions and builds understanding from foundational truths. It is how scientists think, and it is how the show operates — every topic broken down to its core so that complexity becomes clarity.
The show’s secondary icon is the five Platonic solids — the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. These are the only convex regular polyhedra that exist: the shapes you arrive at when you reduce three-dimensional geometry to its most fundamental, structurally perfect forms. Associated with classical elements, geometry, and philosophy since antiquity, they are a natural emblem for a show built on first-principles thinking.
The five Platonic solids — structural perfection from first principles.