Latest Stories

Ghosts
Articles

Steve Paulson's family has lots of stories of the paranormal, but Steve is the family skeptic. So he did his own investigation, talking with skeptic Michael Shermer, religion scholars Tanya Luhrmann and Jeff Kripal, channeler Paul Selig, and his Aunt Marge Bradley.

Length: 
29:40
satan
Articles

Former Church of Satan High Priestess Blanche Barton says that worshipping the devil is "ridiculous." She calls Satanic worship less an act of evil, and more an act of subversion and questioning norms.

Length: 
06:66
Horror
Dangerous Ideas

Writer Gemma Files' Dangerous Idea? There are upsides to embracing horror — spending time playing out negative scenarios in fiction can lead to a more positive life.

Length: 
3:11
A house in Savannah, Georgia — one of America's most haunted cities.
Articles

The Sorrel-Weed House has been called the “most haunted house” in Savannah, Georgia, and its “ghost tour” is a big tourist attraction. But historian Tiya Miles found another story of slavery and racial stereotypes buried in this history.

Length: 
7:06
NYAS panel on wonder
Video

Steve asked a panel of experts— social psychologist Michelle Shiota, writer Caspar Henderson, and astrophysicist Alex Filippenko — to unpack the emerging science behind the emotions of awe and wonder, including their role in our ongoing quest for understanding and knowledge.

haunted burger
Articles

Listener Jonathan Blyth sent us a ghost story that might make you think twice about what — or whom — is on your plate.

Length: 
2:29
Monster Dogs
Articles

Kirsten Bakis first wrote her story of biomechanically-enhanced, hyper-intelligent dogs 20 years ago, and it’s been a cult favorite ever since. So why create a post-modern Frankenstein story with dogs at the heart of the tale?

Anne Strainchamps and Susan Orlean at the National Writers Series
Articles

Anne recently interviewed author Susan Orlean on stage at the National Writers Series in Traverse City, Michigan.

Ma Dukes and J Dilla
Articles

James Dewitt Yancey – also known as J Dilla — was a hip hop super-producer and pioneering beat-maker. J Dilla died at just 32 years old, and worked right up until the end, making music and creating beats from his hospital bed. His mother was there for every bit of it.

Length: 
11:38
Articles

British writer Martin Amis is 68 years old. He’s written 14 novels, hundreds of essays, memoirs, even a screen play. But he has strong feelings about writers who work past their prime. So he feels the clock ticking — is it time to pack it in? When will he know?

Length: 
10:15
Audio

Before John Muir and Charles Darwin, there was Alexander von Humboldt, the German scientist who shaped our understanding of nature. Now, he’s largely forgotten, but biographer Andrea Wulf says he was once the world's most famous scientist. 

Length: 
13:27
bamboo graffitt
Articles

If climate change is the most urgent problem facing humanity, why are there so few novels about it? Acclaimed novelist Amitav Ghosh believes that’s a big problem. He says climate change is less a science problem than a crisis of imagination.

Length: 
12:31
Studs Terkel in studio
Interactive

Studs Terkel talked with people from of all walks of life about their work, from firefighters, to steel workers, to labor activist Cesar Chavez. As part of a whole radio hour examining work, we hear snippets of Terkel's wisdom on how life for blue collar workers has changed over the years.

Data streams
Articles

Yuval Noah Harari is the big-thinking historian who warns that whoever owns the data owns the future. He told Steve Paulson that it’s become the most important resource in the world.

Length: 
12:42
flee or stay our social media platforms?
Articles

A pioneering computer scientist thinks we should delete our accounts, while an internet ethicist argues we should fix the system rather than abandon it entirely.

internet of nonsense
Articles

Viral videos and memes are good for a laugh — but how often do you think about where they came from? Digital culture scholar Whitney Phillips says the internet is both playful and mean. And we’re not good at telling the difference.

Length: 
12:31
Thomas Page McBee
Articles

Thomas Page McBee achieved a first recently – he became the first transgender man ever to box at Madison Square Garden. He talked to Angelo Bautista about what he learned about male violence and why men fight.

Length: 
9:06
boxer
Articles

Producer Charles Monroe-Kane on how the boxing world has sidestepped brain injury in the ring.

Start of an amateur boxing match, Rayne, Louisiana. 1938. Photographer Lee Russell
Audio

In light of recent boxing tragedies, Charles and Steve are grappling with the ethics of boxing. It’s a debate that’s probably going on in a lot of places and will – unfortunately – continue.

Length: 
11:48
Toni Morrison, via Penguin Randomhouse (Michael Lionheart)
Articles

In a conversation from 2003, Toni Morrison reflected on how the civil rights movement had the unintended consequence of magnifying class differences.

Articles

Francis Halzen, the lead scientist of the IceCube Neutrino Detector, explains how light sensors buried deep in the ice at the South Pole detected a neutrino that traveled four billion light-years.

Length: 
11:40
Articles

Throughout history, there’s been a general, unspoken agreement that getting angry, especially for women, is something to be avoided. But author Rebecca Traister tells us that we should value anger as a catalyst for societal change.

Length: 
16:51
Sonic Sidebar

Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin traced the history of feminist anger and power in their new book, “Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space.”

Length: 
06:51
Articles

Other than getting angry, is there a better way to respond to people who’ve treated you badly? A smarter way to deal with injustice? Richard Davidson thinks so. He says what we need is to learn how to love.

Length: 
12:25
Articles

David Foster Wallace’s masterpiece — "Infinite Jest" — is famously difficult to read. Colleen Leahy and Makini Allwood climbed the literary mountain of a book, and they share their experience on a podcast called "And But So."

Length: 
10:18
woman on beach
Articles

It's summertime and the living is easy — but the reading shouldn't be. "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" producers compile a reading list for those seeking a challenge as their beach read. 

Syna So Pro
Deep Tracks

Musical guest Syna So Pro explains how her classical music training informs her electronic loops.

Length: 
14:20
Bob Hansmen
Video

One professor crosses St. Louis’ racial divide.

Length: 
9:46
Sam Coster
Video

How a brush with cancer inspired three brothers — Sam, Seth and Adam Coster — to build a bigger game.

Length: 
9:51
Historical photo of the St. Louis Arch
Video

Edward McPherson on the legacy of the St. Louis Arch.

Length: 
5:11

Pages