In this final part of our series, we’re talking about work — specifically the right to meaningful work.Read more
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Episode Archives
PTSD and other mental health challenges can push people into poverty. How do you break the cycle? How do we truly care for people mentally and financially?Read more
Original Air Date:
November 12, 2022
In the first of three episodes of "Going For Broke" all about the care economy, we're thinking about housing. Many of us would consider it a basic human right. But in America, it can be hard to come by.Read more
Original Air Date:
November 05, 2022
When the real world becomes too much, fantasy might be your ticket out. But at what point does fantasy go too far?Read more
Original Air Date:
September 17, 2022
2019 marked the "year of return" to Ghana. Now, scores of African-Americans are moving to Ghana permanently – giving up on the country of their birth.Read more
Original Air Date:
September 03, 2022
Around the world, authoritarian leaders are on the rise – from Russia and Hungary to the U.S. We examine the return of the Strongman — and how to save democracy.Read more
Original Air Date:
August 13, 2022
Walking prolongs our life and made us human. So why are we doing less and less of it? Read more
Original Air Date:
July 30, 2022
Psychedelics show remarkable promise for treating depression, addiction and PTSD. They just might revolutionize the treatment of mental illness.Read more
Original Air Date:
July 02, 2022
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, producer Charles Monroe-Kane made 300 yard signs that read "You're not ok. That's ok." He put them on his porch. Soon they were gone.Read more
Original Air Date:
June 18, 2022
Geometry is the secret sauce of mathematics. It's different from everything else, and it applies to everything from human evolution to romance novels.
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Original Air Date:
May 28, 2022
We talk with poets and novelists about how they deeply notice the historical time we live in — through their words and voice.Read more
Original Air Date:
May 07, 2022
As our world gets more and more virtual, traditional skills like blacksmithing and woodworking are starting to look better and better to a lot of people.Read more
Original Air Date:
April 09, 2022
What might seem like fleeting chart-topping fodder is actually a powerful vehicle for bringing people together, and music fans can teach us about community and hope.Read more
Original Air Date:
March 26, 2022
Ghosts from the past stalk Europe again today in the wake of Russian tanks and missiles. To find a path forward, we might need to look back.Read more
Original Air Date:
March 05, 2022
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
Original Air Date:
February 05, 2022
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