In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life of Johannes Kepler, the brilliant and deeply unusual thinker who helped move astronomy from ancient geometry into modern physics. The episode begins with Kepler’s difficult childhood in the Holy Roman Empire, where smallpox left him with damaged hands and poor eyesight, hardly ideal conditions for a future astronomer. Born into poverty, abandoned by his mercenary father, and raised by a mother later accused of witchcraft, Kepler seemed to come from chaos. Yet his mathematical gifts were obvious early, and his path first led him toward the Lutheran ministry before his unorthodox beliefs pushed him into teaching mathematics. From there, the discussion follows his early obsession with divine geometry, including his flawed but fascinating belief that the planets were arranged through nested Platonic soli ...