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
When we hear from politicians and activists that "the West is at risk, that a clash of civilizations threatens Western culture," what does that mean exactly? And who do we think is coming for it?Read more
Original Air Date:
November 11, 2017
Previous Airdates:
November 11, 2017
July 14, 2018
Do chimpanzees have spiritual experiences? A remarkable discovery in West Africa suggests they might.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 14, 2017
Previous Airdates:
May 14, 2017
November 25, 2017
July 14, 2018
June 22, 2019
October 17, 2020
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
Original Air Date:
January 15, 2017
Previous Airdates:
January 15, 2017
November 11, 2017
July 07, 2018
April 13, 2019
November 07, 2020
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
Previous Airdates:
July 09, 2017
July 07, 2018
What if the guiding principle we used in cooking, eating and growing food was love? From an Iranian-American kitchen to the chocolate forests of Ecuador, we explore new ways to express deep flavors and personal identity through food and cooking.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 30, 2018
Previous Airdates:
June 30, 2018
February 02, 2019
December 28, 2019
August 08, 2020
August 22, 2020
Do scientists see the world in a different way? Not really. Just be curious.Read more
Original Air Date:
April 16, 2017
Previous Airdates:
April 16, 2017
September 30, 2017
June 30, 2018
April 20, 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
It creeps into everything: guilt that we're not good enough, fit enough, smart enough. As we peruse Instagram, all we see is the perfection of others reflecting our own failures back at us. Why do we spend so much time feeling guilty? Should we?Read more
Original Air Date:
June 21, 2018
Previous Airdates:
June 23, 2018
February 16, 2019
November 23, 2019
August 08, 2020
There's a new kind of music packing nightclubs with young fans. It's jazz — but not the sound of your grandparents' supper club. Infused with hip hop and other popular musical forms, jazz is being remade.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 27, 2016
Previous Airdates:
November 11, 2017
June 16, 2018
March 16, 2019
January 25, 2020
We live, work and play in Red and Blue tribal bubbles, filling our social media feeds with news sources that affirm our place in that order, rather than challenging it. What is that isolation doing to us? What can we do to escape it?Read more
Original Air Date:
June 16, 2018
Previous Airdates:
November 04, 2017
June 16, 2018
Across professions, half of Americans surveyed say they’re exhausted from work. More and more of us feel scrambled, tired and drained. Are we facing daily lives more prone to burnout? And what can we do about it?Read more
Original Air Date:
June 09, 2018
Previous Airdates:
November 18, 2017
June 09, 2018
February 16, 2019
Where do you go to find models of powerful women? The ancient world was full of them, real and mythic, but today we barely know their names. Why? This week we rediscover the women of ancient myths and legends.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 09, 2018
Previous Airdates:
June 09, 2018
January 19, 2019
November 09, 2019
June 06, 2020
How do you cope with unpleasant people? We consider the adage “hell is other people.”Read more
Original Air Date:
January 22, 2017
Previous Airdates:
January 22, 2017
October 14, 2017
June 02, 2018
July 20, 2019
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
It doesn't matter whether you grew up going to Coney Island, Six Flags, or Pacific Park — to a kid, all amusement parks are magical. This hour we take a trip to the land of funnel cake, freak shows and fast rides.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 17, 2015
Previous Airdates:
May 17, 2015
August 26, 2017
May 26, 2018
May 25, 2019
Why do we have schools? To build a workforce? To create democratic citizens? Read more
Original Air Date:
May 26, 2018
Previous Airdates:
September 30, 2017
May 26, 2018
June 01, 2019
If life is a play, what happens during the last act? What’s it like to live knowing you have a limited amount of time left?Read more
Original Air Date:
May 19, 2018
Previous Airdates:
May 19, 2018
January 05, 2019
October 12, 2019
We’re living through a period of mass human migration, with people on the move all over the planet. What does it take to take an unfamiliar place and make it yours?Read more
Original Air Date:
December 04, 2016
Previous Airdates:
December 04, 2016
August 05, 2017
May 19, 2018
November 02, 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
All over the world, nation states are splintering. Separatism is on the rise. What causes nation states to erode? And what happens when they do?Read more
Original Air Date:
May 12, 2018
Previous Airdates:
May 12, 2018
November 03, 2018
September 28, 2019
September 12, 2020
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
Original Air Date:
October 07, 2017
Previous Airdates:
October 07, 2017
May 05, 2018
March 02, 2019
November 14, 2020
Milwaukee is a city on water, right on the shore of Lake Michigan, split by the historic Milwaukee River. How did it shape the city's history, politics, culture, and people? We find out in this live broadcast from Turner Hall in Milwaukee.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 05, 2018
Previous Airdates:
May 05, 2018
April 13, 2019
April 18, 2020
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
Previous Airdates:
June 24, 2017
April 28, 2018
January 19, 2019
November 23, 2019
October 10, 2020
Trees talk to each other, and even form alliances with other trees or other species. Some are incredibly old — the root mass of aspens might live 100,000 years. In this hour, we explore the science and history of trees.Read more
Original Air Date:
April 28, 2018
Previous Airdates:
April 28, 2018
December 15, 2018
November 09, 2019
August 29, 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
Hip hop created a sound that changed music, art, fashion, and politics. What's next? Diplomacy? Journalism? Education? Philosophy?Read more
Original Air Date:
November 20, 2016
Previous Airdates:
November 20, 2016
April 14, 2018
March 09, 2019
February 29, 2020
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
Can we ever get inside the mind of an animal? Can we really know how an octopus or a parrot thinks? Also, the fascinating story of Charles Foster's attempt to act like a badger, when he lived in a hole in the ground and ate worms.Read more
Original Air Date:
April 07, 2018
Previous Airdates:
April 07, 2018
December 29, 2018
November 16, 2019