Richard Blanco’s poem begins the day after the November election, as he struggles to make sense of a new political mood.Read more
Exploring the Deeper End of Ideas
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A near-accident has poet Laura Kasischke marveling at the fearlessness of young adults and also worrying about their future. Read more
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
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
Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s something more. But analog is back in style.Read more
An unlikely hero for TV's "Ron Swanson."Read more
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
In this hour, we see how poetry can show us new ways to think about place and personal identity.Read more
Quan Barry is writing a new poem each week in response to current events.Read more
Wherever you turn, it seems like someone’s angry — on Facebook and cable news, in street marches and congressional town halls. It would seem that we’ve entered a new era of increased hostility. But how did we, as a nation, get here?Read more
Emily Temple-Wood has been an avid Wikipedia editor since she was pretty young. And early on, she noticed that Wikipedia has a serious gender bias problem, so she began recruiting more women editors to write more Wikipedia articles about notable women. And in return she got… rape and...Read more
Why do women have to put up with this? And how do they fight back?Read more
We talk to two experts who think about the role empathy can play in tackling big problems.Read more
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
Psychedelic science is back — and they could help heal people with addictions, PTSD and end-of-life anxiety.Read more
What can science reveal about lust, romance, and compassion?Read more
Forty years ago Richard Dawkins wrote the landmark book “The Selfish Gene,” where he argued that the gene is what drives evolution. But what if he got it all wrong?Read more
In this show, we explore storyworlds — the fictional universes that continue to enchant us. Like the ghostly supernatural realm in which Abe Lincoln’s dead son, Willie, finds himself and the surreal Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks, the home of some damn fine coffee....Read more
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
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
How do you cope with unpleasant people? We consider the adage “hell is other people.”Read more
Every generation has one or two critics with an unparalleled ability to capture the cultural moment they’re living in. Now, that critic may be Mark Greif. He’s one of the founders of the literary magazine n+1, who’s just come out with a new essay collection, “Against Everything.” In this...Read more
Computer scientists are closing in on the next frontier in artificial intelligence — machines that can create. Make art. Write stories. Compose music. The dream is to open the door to a whole new kind of creativity. Read more
Charles Monroe-Kane talks to David Nagler about adapting Carl Sandburg's poems to music. Read more
Be strong, be tough, don’t cry – boys are bombarded with messages about being a man and the “male code” their whole lives. It's second nature, and also toxic. Read more
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
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