Why do people turn to poetry during troubled times? We saw it after 9/11 and we're seeing it now. When the world seems broken, poetry is often the one kind of language that helps.Read more
Exploring the Deeper End of Ideas
Episode Archives
Original Air Date:
August 19, 2017
From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?
Original Air Date:
March 28, 2020
This week's show comes to you from our kitchens and homes. We’re thinking about the heroic doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic.Read more
Original Air Date:
February 24, 2018
For the first time since World War II, far-right and neo-fascist groups are winning converts and votes — all over Europe and also here at home. Why is it happening, and can it be stopped?Read more
Original Air Date:
June 01, 2019
Even with all the music available today, most of us still listen primarily to just a few comfy genres. But there’s so much more out there — and so much of it defies neat, algorithm-friendly categorization.Read more
Original Air Date:
March 14, 2020
From Africa to England, to a kamikaze cockpit, and to realms of fantasy. Books aren’t just books. They’re passports.Read more
Original Air Date:
October 13, 2018
Covert spies painting nerve agents on doorknobs? It's not the only way to poison someone. We hear stories of radioactive paint, formaldehyde-spiked baby formula, and a beautiful garden full of plants that could kill you.Read more
Original Air Date:
March 07, 2020
Every night, millions of us turn out the lights hoping and praying for a good night’s sleep. And every night, millions of us lie awake in the dark.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 22, 2019
We're always online but still have an innate need to meet in person. How can we make gatherings, from dinner parties to work meetings, more meaningful?Read more
Original Air Date:
November 20, 2016
Hip hop created a sound that changed music, art, fashion, and politics. What's next? Diplomacy? Journalism? Education? Philosophy?Read more
Original Air Date:
December 09, 2017
Do you ever crave silence? Maybe some can’t stand to hear themselves thinking, but others go to great lengths to find respite from a blaringly loud world.Read more
Original Air Date:
March 23, 2019
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
Original Air Date:
February 15, 2020
Are there new ways to treat depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder? We explore some unconventional treatments for mental illness, including exercise, psychedelics and even horror films.Read more
Original Air Date:
February 26, 2017
What can science reveal about lust, romance, and compassion?Read more
Original Air Date:
February 08, 2020
Exchanging glances with the natural world happens more often than you’d think. It can be so profound, there’s a name for it: eye-to-eye epiphany.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 04, 2019
Hope means believing there’s a future. But can hope co-exist with cataclysmic realities like climate change, or disruptive technological advances like artificial intelligence? Read more
Original Air Date:
September 29, 2018
Cities can be cacophonous and loud, a chaos of sonic discord. If, that is, you don't really focus your listening. People who’ve trained their ears to hear urban soundscapes in new ways hear something different.Read more
Original Air Date:
April 27, 2019
This hour we talk with people who’ve turned that around and made hope real, whether it’s through political activism, faith, music, or reading a life-changing novel.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 27, 2016
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
Original Air Date:
April 20, 2019
Is hope something we’re innately born with, or something we can choose to have? We talk with people who tell us where they think hope lives in ourselves and our communities.Read more
Original Air Date:
March 02, 2019
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
Original Air Date:
January 11, 2020
What drives us toward armed conflict? And what does it take for peace activists to face down tyrants and military leaders?Read more
Original Air Date:
August 11, 2018
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
Original Air Date:
January 04, 2020
Clocks and calendars chop time into increments. It’s efficient, and it helps us get to meetings on time. But what does time feel like when you stop counting it?Read more
Original Air Date:
March 17, 2018
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
Original Air Date:
June 30, 2018
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
Original Air Date:
December 30, 2017
We don’t handle endings well, in general. So this hour, let’s learn about how to make a good ending — whether leaving a lover, quitting a job, or getting ready for the end of life itself.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 21, 2019
On this Winter Solstice, what can we learn from the natural world — from animals, from the water — about surviving and even celebrating the cold?Read more
Original Air Date:
January 11, 2016
Can science tell you how to "get happy?" This hour, the psychology and history behind the very idea of happiness. Read more
Original Air Date:
December 14, 2019
Africans are moving into cities in unprecedented numbers. Lagos, Nigeria, is on track to have 100 million people. So how and why do cities thrive?Read more