When suicide bombers blow up crowded marketplaces, or a lone shooter attacks a nightclub, one question we’re always left with is why. This hour, a look at the underlying psychology of political violence.Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Original Air Date:
July 16, 2016
Previous Airdates:
July 16, 2016
March 12, 2017
July 21, 2018
Have you ever thought about tracking down someone who bullied you when you were a child? Allen Kurzweil thought about it and actually confronted him. We'll hear his story in this hour as we explore the bullying epidemic. Also, we'll find out how the Internet has transformed bullying into a...Read more
Original Air Date:
July 03, 2016
Previous Airdates:
July 03, 2016
April 02, 2017
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
There are nearly 250 million migrants across the world right now. Some will be escaping war or oppression, others will be seeking out freedom or economic prosperity, but whatever the reason, the kind of life they're looking for lies across a border that's policed and restricted. What if it didn'...Read more
Original Air Date:
May 01, 2016
Previous Airdates:
May 01, 2016
January 29, 2017
We talk to two other septuagenarian musicians in addition to Moroder who are still productively making music: the 74-year-old political folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, and the 78-year-old minimalist composer Philip Glass.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 19, 2015
Previous Airdates:
July 19, 2015
May 01, 2016
Amidst economic devastation, producer Charles Monroe-Kane asks what it takes to survive in the Rust Belt.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 02, 2018
Previous Airdates:
April 30, 2016
October 14, 2017
June 02, 2018
March 30, 2019
September 26, 2020
More than 38 million Americans knit or crochet. Not because they crave mittens and afghans, but because they like the way knitting feels. Handwork turns out be a powerful antidote for digital overload. Read more
Original Air Date:
December 05, 2015
Previous Airdates:
April 23, 2016
December 06, 2015
April 21, 2018
June 15, 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
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
You score a royal flush in poker! Do you credit your skill? Or luck? We talk with a poker champion, a game designer, an investment banker and a choreographer about how to untangle skill from luck.Read more
Original Air Date:
February 14, 2016
Previous Airdates:
February 14, 2016
May 14, 2017
June 23, 2018
September 07, 2019
Reading books isn't always the best way to learn. Some things you need to learn from your elders, and their wisdom has often been passed down through the generations. Read more
Original Air Date:
January 31, 2016
Previous Airdates:
January 31, 2016
November 13, 2016
April 12, 2018
November 30, 2019
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
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
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
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
Some people talk to God and some think God talks to them. Read more
Original Air Date:
December 27, 2015
Previous Airdates:
December 27, 2015
September 04, 2016
April 21, 2018
April 06, 2019
December 05, 2020
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
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
More than 38 million Americans knit or crochet. Not because they crave mittens and afghans, but because they like the way knitting feels. Handwork turns out be a powerful antidote for digital overload. Read more
Original Air Date:
December 05, 2015
Previous Airdates:
April 23, 2016
December 06, 2015
April 21, 2018
June 15, 2019
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
Experts agree, gratitude is good for you. It lowers stress, increases happiness, improves physical health, decreases depression and even helps you sleep better. So while it's great to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving, you'll feel even better if you cultivate an attitude of gratitude...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 22, 2015
Previous Airdates:
November 22, 2015
We confront the politics of the voice, from stereotyping to vocal fry. And we also talk to a soundscape ecologist who listens—perhaps closer than anyone—to the voices of the natural world.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 22, 2015
Previous Airdates:
November 22, 2015
July 31, 2016
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
H.P. Lovecraft's weird tales of cosmic horror loom large 125 years after his birth. His literary tentatcles have oozed their way into movies, books, games and graphic novels. We explore Lovecraft's life, work and legacy. Was he a literary master or a monster?Read more
Original Air Date:
October 25, 2015
Previous Airdates:
October 25, 2015
October 27, 2016
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
Does death gives life meaning? You might think so, looking at the prominence of death and the afterlife in so many religions. For millennia, people have dreamed about immortality, and now transhumanists are trying to extend life by merging our selves with machines.
In this hour, we...Read more
Original Air Date:
December 07, 2014
Previous Airdates:
August 30, 2015
December 07, 2014
How do we mark death and celebrate lost lives around the globe? In this hour, we hear stories from inside the funeral industry, wonder why dead bodies can compel or repel us, and learn about the new Ghanaian tradition of "fantasy" coffins inspired by people's work and dreams.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 30, 2014
Previous Airdates:
August 23, 2015
November 30, 2014
In this hour, we explore the medical, spiritual and psychological questions about the moment of death.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 23, 2014
Previous Airdates:
August 16, 2015
November 23, 2014
“Death is not a failure,” writes Dr. Atul Gawande. “Death may be the enemy, but it is also the natural order of things.” We live much longer than we used to, thanks to medical advances, but what are the emotional and financial costs of extending life? Some doctors don't know how to talk...Read more
Original Air Date:
November 16, 2014
Previous Airdates:
August 09, 2015
November 16, 2014
We talk with experts about how to begin difficult conversations about making death a greater part of life, and how they can transform both the dying and the surviving.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 09, 2014
Previous Airdates:
August 02, 2015
November 09, 2014