Can we ever get inside the mind of an animal? Can we really know how an octopus or a parrot thinks? Also, the fascinating story of Charles Foster's attempt to act like a badger, when he lived in a hole in the ground and ate worms.Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Original Air Date:
April 07, 2018
Previous Airdates:
April 07, 2018
December 29, 2018
November 16, 2019
As terrible as it sounds, most of us will go through something traumatic at some point in our lives. The experience can be deeply isolating and crushing, but it doesn't have to be. Read more
Original Air Date:
July 05, 2015
Previous Airdates:
July 05, 2015
September 09, 2017
March 31, 2018
December 08, 2018
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
Original Air Date:
October 21, 2017
Previous Airdates:
October 21, 2017
March 31, 2018
January 26, 2019
December 07, 2019
Modern anti-depressants have saved a lot of minds. And lives. But what have they done to our bodies? And how do we navigate that trade-off between body and mind?Read more
Original Air Date:
March 24, 2018
Previous Airdates:
March 24, 2018
November 17, 2018
August 17, 2019
April 25, 2020
Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s something more. But analog is back in style.Read more
Original Air Date:
April 09, 2017
Previous Airdates:
September 23, 2017
April 09, 2017
March 24, 2018
February 23, 2019
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:
March 17, 2018
Previous Airdates:
January 04, 2020
January 12, 2019
March 17, 2018
When was the last time you said something so mortifying that all you wanted to do was crawl under a rock and hide? From teenage angst to cringe comedy, we're setting aside the shame and reveling in all things awkward.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 20, 2015
Previous Airdates:
March 17, 2018
August 12, 2017
December 20, 2015
September 14, 2019
DNA tests are uncovering mixed bloodlines. For African Americans, this can be emotionally-charged. What do you do when you find out one of your direct ancestors was a slave owner? Does it open the door to new conversations about racial justice?Read more
Original Air Date:
March 10, 2018
Previous Airdates:
March 10, 2018
October 20, 2018
June 08, 2019
May 16, 2020
Short stories can be harder to write than novels, but just as great.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 08, 2015
Previous Airdates:
March 10, 2018
August 19, 2017
November 08, 2015
We’ve all had them—the big, significant, transformations that take your life in a new direction. And even though those gateway moments present new and exciting opportunities, they are almost always by definition uncomfortable.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 11, 2017
Previous Airdates:
June 11, 2017
March 03, 2018
July 06, 2019
We grow up scribbling with crayons and covering sidewalks with chalk, and then around middle school most of us stop. Maybe we think it's childish or just too hard. So what can we learn from the people who never stopped making art?Read more
Original Air Date:
April 17, 2016
Previous Airdates:
April 17, 2016
March 03, 2018
February 05, 2017
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:
February 24, 2018
Previous Airdates:
February 24, 2018
September 29, 2018
May 18, 2019
March 28, 2020
We delve into the new science of revulsion.Read more
Original Air Date:
August 28, 2016
Previous Airdates:
August 28, 2016
February 24, 2018
December 01, 2018
August 10, 2019
"Magical thinking" gets a bad rap these days. It suggests losing your grip on reality or being so gullible that you'll believe anything - from ghosts to miracles. But what if magic isn't pure fantasy? Maybe it's the gateway to wonder. Read more
Original Air Date:
February 17, 2018
Previous Airdates:
February 17, 2018
September 22, 2018
May 11, 2019
October 03, 2020
Do you love your laptop? Feel affection for your phone? Some of us spend more time with our devices than our families. How deep do those attachments go?Read more
Original Air Date:
September 02, 2017
Previous Airdates:
September 02, 2017
February 17, 2018
October 13, 2018
What can science reveal about lust, romance, and compassion?Read more
Original Air Date:
February 26, 2017
Previous Airdates:
February 26, 2017
February 10, 2018
February 09, 2019
February 15, 2020
“The climate crisis is a crisis of culture and thus of imagination,” says writer Amitav Ghosh. So what changes in our conversation about global warming when we tap into the imaginative worlds of novelists and artists?Read more
Original Air Date:
August 12, 2017
Previous Airdates:
August 12, 2017
February 10, 2018
November 24, 2018
August 31, 2019
The right-wing politics and bro culture of The Proud Boys is attracting young, white men nationwide. Founder Gavin McInnes believes “95% of American women” would be happier at home. Where does his vision of “being a man” fit in 2018?Read more
Original Air Date:
February 03, 2018
Previous Airdates:
February 03, 2018
October 06, 2018
This hour, we explore our obsession with time travel. Why is such a recurring them in movies and TV shows? And what can time travel teach us about ourselves?Read more
Original Air Date:
October 09, 2016
Previous Airdates:
October 09, 2016
July 02, 2017
February 03, 2018
In this collection of interviews, we ask what happens when men don't have cultural permission to talk about their inner lives.Read more
Original Air Date:
February 02, 2018
Previous Airdates:
February 02, 2018
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
Original Air Date:
January 27, 2018
Previous Airdates:
August 06, 2017
January 27, 2018
February 02, 2019
October 19, 2019
September 19, 2020
Social media has brought us all closer together. Sometimes that's a good thing. But when it comes to online shaming, it's a bad thing. Read more
Original Air Date:
April 18, 2015
Previous Airdates:
April 18, 2015
July 22, 2017
January 20, 2018
November 10, 2018
How can someone be a monster — a brutal dictator, a mass murderer, a serial killer — and up close seem like a decent, caring person? What happens when you find yourself liking someone who’s done terrible things?Read more
Original Air Date:
January 20, 2018
Previous Airdates:
July 30, 2017
January 20, 2018
October 27, 2018
October 05, 2019
Psychologists say telling a good life story can make you happier. But do we also create an inauthentic version of ourselves if we turn everything into a narrative?Read more
Original Air Date:
October 23, 2016
Previous Airdates:
October 23, 2016
July 29, 2017
January 13, 2018
December 22, 2018
Ever had the nagging suspicion that you’re being watched? You are. We all are.Read more
Original Air Date:
January 13, 2018
Previous Airdates:
January 13, 2018
September 22, 2018
June 29, 2019
June 13, 2020
Why are we so obsessed with the future? Is it because we can't handle the present and all of our current problems, like climate change, racism and terrorism? That's one theory.Read more
Original Air Date:
January 02, 2016
Previous Airdates:
January 02, 2016
January 01, 2017
January 06, 2018
Ah, January. Season of diets and fasts and cleanses, of "Drynuary" and "Veganuary." Why does being virtuous always seem to mean giving up pleasure?Read more
Original Air Date:
January 06, 2018
Previous Airdates:
January 04, 2015
January 17, 2016
January 01, 2017
January 04, 2018
January 05, 2019
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 30, 2017
Previous Airdates:
December 30, 2017
December 29, 2018
December 28, 2019
December 26, 2020
Procrastination can be an occasional bad habit, but it can also be a lot worse. It can lead to depression, low self-esteem, anxiety. Today, we try to answer the question, Why do we put things off and how can we stop?
...Read more
Original Air Date:
January 03, 2016
Previous Airdates:
January 03, 2016
December 30, 2017
January 12, 2019
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
Original Air Date:
February 21, 2016
Previous Airdates:
February 21, 2016
November 20, 2016
December 23, 2017
March 30, 2019