For centuries, mathematicians have been looking for the deep design, the mathematical code to explain everything from microorganisms to spacetime. But it’s a dangerous quest.Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Psychedelic science is back — and they could help heal people with addictions, PTSD and end-of-life anxiety.Read more
Original Air Date:
September 23, 2017
If everyone’s a critic online, does it mean that cultural criticism doesn’t matter anymore?Read more
Original Air Date:
September 16, 2017
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
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
From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?Read more
Original Air Date:
August 19, 2017
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The virtues of transgressive, subversive, rule-breaking art, both as an aesthetic and as a way of life. Read more
Original Air Date:
June 04, 2017
Filmmaker Laura Stewart on how being filmed affects documentary subjects, and how that affects the truth you can tell.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 01, 2017
The former Talking Heads frontman is one of those artists who just keeps reinventing himself.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 25, 2017
When you’re hurt and the only way out of toxic bitterness and resentment is to let go, how do you summon the resolve to reach out to the person who hurt you most?Read more
Original Air Date:
May 21, 2017
"Twin Peaks" co-creator Mark Frost takes a deep dive into the history of the strange Pacific Northwest town and its surreal residents in “The Secret History of Twin Peaks.”Read more
Original Air Date:
May 18, 2017
Do chimpanzees have spiritual experiences? A remarkable discovery in West Africa suggests they might.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 14, 2017
Is there an inherent conflict between science and religion? Jeff Schloss doesn’t think so. He’s a biologist who studies the evolutionary origins of religion. He’s also an observant Christian who’s had his own profound...Read more
Original Air Date:
May 11, 2017
In this hour, we explore what the superpower of not giving a f--- might allow you to do. Read more
Original Air Date:
May 07, 2017
Richard Blanco’s poem begins the day after the November election, as he struggles to make sense of a new political mood.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 04, 2017
A near-accident has poet Laura Kasischke marveling at the fearlessness of young adults and also worrying about their future. Read more
Original Air Date:
April 27, 2017