The bond we share with dogs runs deep. How do dogs make our lives better? How do they think? And how do we give them the lives they deserve?Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
Sharing of personal pronouns is just one sign of an increasingly widespread shift in how we think about gender. So what’s next? Maybe gender should be messy? Maybe trans should be joy?Read more
Original Air Date:
January 15, 2022
Ever want to quit your job and buy an old farmhouse, to live self-sufficiently on a few acres of your very own? The reality is much more complicated.Read more
Original Air Date:
December 18, 2021
There are old folktales of people who can become animals. Animals who become people. And there’s a lesson for our own time in those shapeshifting stories.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 20, 2021
They’ve been hunted and silenced and burned at the stake, but witches are still practicing the craft. We take you from the 17th century to the online witch communities of today.Read more
Original Air Date:
October 30, 2021
Teachers. Actors. Ancient rug weavers. Whisperers of forbidden poetry. The women of Afghanistan want you to know they are more than timid victims under a burqa.Read more
Original Air Date:
October 02, 2021
On the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, photographer James Nachtwey reflects on his life as a war photographer, and we consider the deep history of war itself.Read more
Original Air Date:
September 11, 2021
Floods, wildfires, winds and extreme temperatures. We talk with the people who are writing the story of climate change as we are living it.Read more
Original Air Date:
August 14, 2021
What does it take to win Olympic gold? To become "the world's fastest human"? This hour, Olympic fame, the politics of sports, and the science of running.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 31, 2021
Science tells us mountains are giant piles of rock, formed millions of years ago. But that's not all they are — there was a time when mountains were gods.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 24, 2021
One of the most fun things we get to do is bring the soundscape of a novel to life — cue the monsters, the storms, the footsteps of a creature emerging slowly from the ocean. This week, we listen to our favorite cinema of the ear.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 03, 2021
Is there a better way to talk about death? And to grieve? The pandemic has brought us a period of global mourning — and a new reckoning with loss.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 19, 2021
The pandemic has made clear that parents are walking a tightrope with no safety net. Is it time for a parenting revolution?Read more
Original Air Date:
May 22, 2021
Remember when reading still felt magical? We talk to authors about Wonderland, magic wands, unicorns and other children's stories that inspire.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 01, 2021
In countries all over the world, rates of loneliness are skyrocketing. How did it become a condition of modern life?Read more
Original Air Date:
April 10, 2021
Colonization in Africa was much more than a land grab. It was a project to replace — and even erase — local cultures. How can that be undone?Read more
Original Air Date:
March 20, 2021
Do the old dreams of true love and happiness ever after fit our new lives and new identities?Read more
Original Air Date:
February 13, 2021
We’re in the midst of the largest vaccine rollout of our lives. A turning point, we hope. But it’s complicated — medically, logistically, philosophically.Read more
Original Air Date:
January 16, 2021
If plants are intelligent beings, how should we relate to them? Do they have a place in our moral universe? Should they have rights?Read more
Original Air Date:
December 19, 2020
What are you doing for the holidays this year? We know we need to keep it small, keep it safe. But maybe we can be creative, too.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 28, 2020
What do you do when the headlines are freaking you out and the news is making you tense? A lot of people find sports takes their mind off things. It’s like this one worry-free, politics-free zone. Until it isn’t.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 07, 2020
The pandemic, the protests, the arguments on social media — everything is exhausting. But maybe it doesn’t have to be?Read more
Original Air Date:
October 24, 2020
Americans are getting ready to vote. But this election is different from other years. What's really on the ballot?Read more
Original Air Date:
October 17, 2020
New experiences rewire the brain. So after all we’ve been through, are we different? We consider the "COVID brain" in both neuroscience and the arts.Read more
Original Air Date:
October 10, 2020