Michael Freedman is a mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1986 for his solution of the 4-dimensional Poincare conjecture. Mike has also received numerous other awards for his scientific contributions including a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Medal of Science. In 1997, Mike joined Microsoft Research and in 2005 became the director of Station Q, Microsoft’s quantum computing research lab. As of 2023, Mike is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Mathematics and Scientific Applications at Harvard University.Patreon (bonus materials + video chat): https://www.patreon.com/timothynguyenIn this wide-ranging conversation, we give a panoramic view of Mike’s extensive body of work over the span of his career. It is divided into three parts: early, middle, and present day, which respectively include his work on the 4-dimensional Poincare conjecture, his transition to topological physics, and finally his recent work in applying ideas from mathematics and philosophy to social economics. Our conversation is a blend of both the nitty-gritty details and the anecdotal story-telling that can only be obtained from a living legend.I. IntroductionII. Early Mike: The Poincare Conjecture (PC)II. Mid Mike: Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT) and Quantum Computing (QC)III. Present Mike: Social EconomicsIV: Outro Some Further Reading:Mike’s Harvard lecture on PC4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSF0i6BO1IgBehrens et al. The Disc Embedding Theorem.M. Freedman. Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, and Weyl. arxiv:2206.14711 Twitter:@iamtimnguyen Webpage:http://www.timothynguyen.org