Whether it’s nail biting or handwashing, most of us have a compulsion we can’t give up. Maybe that’s a good thing?Read more
Exploring the Deeper End of Ideas
Show Archives
Do scientists see the world in a different way? Not really. Just be curious.Read more
Computer scientists are closing in on the next frontier in artificial intelligence — machines that can create. Make art. Write stories. Compose music. The dream is to open the door to a whole new kind of creativity. Read more
Milwaukee is a city on water, right on the shore of Lake Michigan, split by the historic Milwaukee River. How did it shape the city's history, politics, culture, and people? We find out in this live broadcast from Turner Hall in Milwaukee.Read more
Look around the political landscape and you see something we haven’t seen for decades — politicians proudly identifying as socialists. Has their moment arrived?Read more
There's a lot of hand-wringing these days about the American Empire. Is it doomed to come crashing down the way the Roman Empire did?Read more
Amidst economic devastation, producer Charles Monroe-Kane asks what it takes to survive in the Rust Belt.Read more
They say "don't feed the trolls" — but why should sexist and racist trolls get to own the web? Was it built for them, or for all of us?Read more
Who really runs the world? Presidents and prime ministers, or CEOs and bankers? And who’s responsible when everything falls apart?Read more
Whether you know it or not, your closets are filled with personal information. Do you think about what are you saying with your clothes?Read more
There's a new kind of music packing nightclubs with young fans. It's jazz — but not the sound of your grandparents' supper club. Infused with hip hop and other popular musical forms, jazz is being remade.Read more
Hip hop created a sound that changed music, art, fashion, and politics. What's next? Diplomacy? Journalism? Education? Philosophy?Read more
Why is the world so damn cynical? Rather than surrendering to corrosive, hopeless snark, we look to some unexpected sources to make the case for sincerity.Read more
Today, borders are a political flashpoint. But in a highly connected world, does the idea of a national border even make sense anymore?Read more
For centuries, mathematicians have been looking for the deep design, the mathematical code to explain everything from microorganisms to spacetime. But it’s a dangerous quest.Read more
Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s something more. But analog is back in style.Read more
Sometimes, we take our body for granted. But even the everyday things it can do – keep our heart beating, fight off illness – are pretty extraordinary. Do you know what your body can do?Read more
It creeps into everything: guilt that we're not good enough, fit enough, smart enough. As we peruse Instagram, all we see is the perfection of others reflecting our own failures back at us. Why do we spend so much time feeling guilty? Should we?Read more
Across professions, half of Americans surveyed say they’re exhausted from work. More and more of us feel scrambled, tired and drained. Are we facing daily lives more prone to burnout? And what can we do about it?Read more
What can science reveal about lust, romance, and compassion?Read more
Where does creativity come from? And what exactly is going on in your brain when the Muse descends?Read more
While their domesticated cousins sleep on our beds, Congress debates wild wolves’ survival. This hour, we’ll explore our complicated relationship with our canine cousins, and the feelings they evoke – fear, hatred, and also love. Read more
What if the guiding principle we used in cooking, eating and growing food was love? From an Iranian-American kitchen to the chocolate forests of Ecuador, we explore new ways to express deep flavors and personal identity through food and cooking.Read more
Remember virtual reality? Back in the 1990’s, it was going to be the technology of the future. Today, it’s here. But we're still figuring out what to do with it.Read more
Every so often, a new literary movement coalesces. A new generation of writers finds a voice. This time they’re young, gifted, and Native American.Read more
Home entertainment options have never been richer, but public places like movie theaters and performance spaces are suffering. What do we lose when everyone stays home?Read more
Where do you go to find models of powerful women? The ancient world was full of them, real and mythic, but today we barely know their names. Why? This week we rediscover the women of ancient myths and legends.Read more
Most of us will never know what really happens behind bars. Prisons are generally off limits to the public and press, but several new investigations are drawing attention to the conditions in many of our nation's jails. This hour, what should a prison be?...Read more
A chorus of hope is coming from an unexpected group — teenagers. They have superpowers — innocence, idealism, and Instagram — and they aren't waiting for permission to use them to shape the world.Read more