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
Exploring the Deeper End of Ideas
Show Archives
- September 08, 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
- May 12, 2018
Can science tell you how to "get happy?" This hour, the psychology and history behind the very idea of happiness. Read more
- October 06, 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
- July 07, 2018
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
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
- February 03, 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
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
- April 28, 2018
- January 19, 2019
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
- December 15, 2018
Yosemite is climbing’s mecca. It’s where Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell stunned the world with their dazzling climbs.Read more
- March 03, 2018
- July 06, 2019
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
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
- November 17, 2018
The virtues of transgressive, subversive, rule-breaking art, both as an aesthetic and as a way of life. Read more
Filmmaker Laura Stewart on how being filmed affects documentary subjects, and how that affects the truth you can tell.Read more
The former Talking Heads frontman is one of those artists who just keeps reinventing himself.Read more
- September 15, 2018
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
"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
- June 23, 2018
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
- July 14, 2018
- June 22, 2019
Do chimpanzees have spiritual experiences? A remarkable discovery in West Africa suggests they might.Read more
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
In this hour, we explore what the superpower of not giving a f--- might allow you to do. Read more
Richard Blanco’s poem begins the day after the November election, as he struggles to make sense of a new political mood.Read more
A near-accident has poet Laura Kasischke marveling at the fearlessness of young adults and also worrying about their future. Read more
- August 11, 2018
- May 04, 2019
Whether it’s nail biting or handwashing, most of us have a compulsion we can’t give up. Maybe that’s a good thing?Read more
Poet Nick Lantz has a darkly satirical take on American culture. Lately, he’s been thinking about political spin and how politicians speak. In this interview—the third in our series ...Read more
How he transformed the iconic film into the critically-acclaimed, award-winning TV series.Read more
- June 30, 2018
- April 20, 2019
Do scientists see the world in a different way? Not really. Just be curious.Read more
In his new poem, Fady Joudah explores questions about exile, suffering and the language of nation states.Read more