Dogsledders Blair Braverman and Quince Mountain have built an outdoor adventure life in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where they train teams of dogs to race. But for the husband-and-wife team, the pack is also part of their family.More
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Science and Technology
Writer Lowry Pressly argues that privacy is more than just about protecting the personal information you generate; it’s also choosing what to generate at all. It’s a fundamental tool for living our best possible lives.More
Before the era of data mining, scientists in the 1960s began a first-of-its kind study of personality — by secretly studying a group of preschoolers. Former test subject Susannah Breslin uncovers the buried secrets of that study.More
There are approximately 1.4 billion iPhone users worldwide and more than 3 billion Facebook users. In the next few decades, many of those users will die, leaving behind vast amounts of precious data. What happens to all of it?More
Ecofeminist philosopher Donna Haraway has a reputation for tackling the big intellectual questions of our time. She’s also obsessed with dogs — their biological, cultural, political and personal history.More
153 flavors of ice cream. An acre of cold cereals. Why do supermarkets have so many choices? Or do they? Where we might see hundreds of flavors, varieties and brands of food, food journalist Simran Sethi sees a scary kind of sameness.More
In "Our Biggest Experiment," climate advocate Alice Bell traces the history of the scientists who have been studying the impact of humanity on the climate since 1856. She tells Anne Strainchamps that science has been critical for spurring the world to act. More
Lidia Yuknavitch’s apocalyptic novel “The Book of Joan” is one of the most stunning examples of climate fiction. It’s the story of a near-future where Earth is decimated and the last few survivors are stranded out in space.More
Scientists know what life does, but what life is… that’s a mystery, says astrobiologist Marcelo Gleiser. And geologist Bob Hazen believes we need a radically new understanding of how life evolved, which begins not with cells but with rocks.More
Not long ago, we thought decoding the human genome would reveal the secrets of life. That proved to be a fantasy. Now scientists are learning how to grow life outside the body — and as science writer Phil Ball discovered, even create mini-brains in a vat.More
Melanie Challenger is a naturalist who spends a lot of time in wild places. She’s intimately familiar with birth and death, and she believes any understanding of what it means to be human must start by tuning into our animal nature.More
Lulu Miller's latest project is a "Radiolab" podcast series for children: "Terrestrials." She explains for how nature and child-like sensibility can help adults rediscover a sense of wonder.More
When producer Angelo Bautista was growing up, he dreamed of being in the internet. Not on the internet, but inside of it. Now, he's torn about social media. He's still addicted to scrolling, but posting about his own life — that's another story. But if nobody sees you on the internet, do you exist? More
Just over 200 years ago, a group of renegade German writers and philosophers came together in a small town and forever changed who we think we are. Andrea Wulf tells this story in her book “Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self.” More
Infinity comes in different sizes. The idea of a world with more than one kind of infinity is glorious and also incomprehensible. Can you add, subtract and divide with infinity? More
The Netflix documentary “A Trip to Infinity” is a wild ride, filled with animated shorts by artists from 11 different countries illustrating the concept of infinity and where to find it.More
Michelle Thaller and Andrew Booth were a NASA space research power couple for 26 years. When Booth died of a rare brain cancer, Thaller turned to the universe for solace — finding comfort, meaning, and a new perspective in the infinite.More
Albert Einstein shaped much of our understanding of the space-time continuum, but few know he had a deeply spiritual side. Einstein believed in both math and mysticism, and saw the human mind as a mirror of the infinite.More