Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s something more. But analog is back in style.Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Original Air Date:
April 09, 2017
Previous Airdates:
September 23, 2017
April 09, 2017
March 24, 2018
February 23, 2019
If everyone’s a critic online, does it mean that cultural criticism doesn’t matter anymore?Read more
Original Air Date:
September 16, 2017
Previous Airdates:
September 16, 2017
A garden, a tree, an apple and a serpent. The story of Adam and Eve is as old as sin. But it’s a lot more than a Bible story.Read more
Original Air Date:
February 05, 2017
Previous Airdates:
September 16, 2017
February 05, 2017
August 25, 2018
July 27, 2019
Armed conflicts. Insurgencies. Civil Wars. Invasions. Syria. Iraq. Afghanistan. Nigeria. Ukraine. South Sudan. Gaza. Yemen. The world is at war. Why?Read more
Original Air Date:
September 09, 2017
Previous Airdates:
September 09, 2017
December 13, 2015
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
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
Automated machines are taking over our lives. They're not the scary robots you see in movies, but more and more of today's technology — from smart phones to airplanes — is automated. But do we want to give machines so much control?Read more
Original Air Date:
November 29, 2015
Previous Airdates:
November 29, 2015
September 02, 2017
September 01, 2018
How do we put the fairness and the fun back in American elections? In this hour, we present a few simple ideas for how to remake the electoral process.Read more
Original Air Date:
October 30, 2016
Previous Airdates:
October 30, 2016
August 26, 2017
November 03, 2018
Why do women have to put up with this? And how do they fight back?Read more
Original Air Date:
March 19, 2017
Previous Airdates:
March 19, 2017
August 26, 2017
April 07, 2018
It doesn't matter whether you grew up going to Coney Island, Six Flags, or Pacific Park — to a kid, all amusement parks are magical. This hour we take a trip to the land of funnel cake, freak shows and fast rides.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 17, 2015
Previous Airdates:
May 17, 2015
August 26, 2017
May 26, 2018
May 25, 2019
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
From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?
Original Air Date:
August 19, 2017
Previous Airdates:
August 19, 2017
August 18, 2018
August 03, 2019
April 04, 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
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
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
We’re living through a period of mass human migration, with people on the move all over the planet. What does it take to take an unfamiliar place and make it yours?Read more
Original Air Date:
December 04, 2016
Previous Airdates:
December 04, 2016
August 05, 2017
May 19, 2018
November 02, 2019
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
Checking someone else’s privilege can be a form of hostility. Checking your own can be an act of humility. Does anyone actually benefit from talking about privilege? This hour, the benefits and drawbacks of talking about privilege.Read more
Original Air Date:
October 18, 2015
Previous Airdates:
October 18, 2015
July 23, 2017
September 08, 2018
April 11, 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
Do you ever wish you could reinvent yourself? This hour, we hear from four noted artists who experienced pivotal turns in their own lives: artist Rashid Johnson, writer/photographer Teju Cole, singer Nikka Costa, and musician Michael Nesmith.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 15, 2017
Previous Airdates:
December 16, 2017
July 15, 2017
October 06, 2018
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:
January 11, 2016
Previous Airdates:
January 11, 2016
July 15, 2017
May 12, 2018
December 21, 2019
We take road trips and endless highways for granted, but there are other countries where people can pay a heavy price just for getting behind a wheel.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 09, 2017
Previous Airdates:
July 09, 2017
July 07, 2018
When you don't have a voice, when you feel like lawmakers just won't listen to you, protest is one way of capturing the world's attention. But does it work? Read more
Original Air Date:
June 26, 2016
Previous Airdates:
July 08, 2017
June 26, 2016
Everyone in your Facebook feed is falling for fake news–sharing it even when there's no way it can be true. But not you, right? You can tell the difference. Or can you?Read more
Original Air Date:
July 02, 2017
Previous Airdates:
July 02, 2017
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
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
Original Air Date:
June 25, 2017
Previous Airdates:
June 24, 2017
April 28, 2018
January 19, 2019
November 23, 2019
October 10, 2020
Yosemite is climbing’s mecca. It’s where Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell stunned the world with their dazzling climbs.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 18, 2017
Previous Airdates:
June 18, 2017
December 16, 2017
December 15, 2018
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
Can we ever get inside the mind of an animal? Can we really know how a chimp or a parrot thinks and experiences the world?Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2016
Previous Airdates:
September 03, 2016
June 10, 2017