Episode Archives

Filter episodes by the year they originally aired.
Photograph of Flag Raising on Iwo Jima, 02/23/1945, National Archives

Armed conflicts. Insurgencies. Civil Wars. Invasions. Syria. Iraq. Afghanistan. Nigeria. Ukraine. South Sudan. Gaza. Yemen. The world is at war. Why?Read more

Original Air Date:

September 09, 2017

Your electronic best friend

Do you love your laptop? Feel affection for your phone? Some of us spend more time with our devices than our families. How deep do those attachments go?Read more

Original Air Date:

September 02, 2017

From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?

 Read more

Original Air Date:

August 19, 2017

ice

“The climate crisis is a crisis of culture and thus of imagination,” says writer Amitav Ghosh. So what changes in our conversation about global warming when we tap into the imaginative worlds of novelists and artists?Read more

Original Air Date:

August 12, 2017

Sound and Color

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

Original Air Date:

July 15, 2017

Feet out the window

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

Twitterstorm of bots

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

Original Air Date:

July 02, 2017

Prison bars

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

Alex Honnold

Yosemite is climbing’s mecca. It’s where Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell stunned the world with their dazzling climbs.Read more

Original Air Date:

June 18, 2017

Live in St. Louis

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

Original Air Date:

June 11, 2017

Syna So Pro

Low-fi artist Syna So Pro loops with love.Read more

Original Air Date:

June 09, 2017

art

The virtues of transgressive, subversive, rule-breaking art, both as an aesthetic and as a way of life.  Read more

Original Air Date:

June 04, 2017

Joe at Catfish Bend

Filmmaker Laura Stewart on how being filmed affects documentary subjects, and how that affects the truth you can tell.Read more

Original Air Date:

June 01, 2017

David Byrne

The former Talking Heads frontman is one of those artists who just keeps reinventing himself.Read more

Original Air Date:

May 25, 2017

Woman staring into the distance

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

Original Air Date:

May 21, 2017

Twin Peaks  Agent Cooper

"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

Original Air Date:

May 18, 2017

Chimpanzee

Do chimpanzees have spiritual experiences? A remarkable discovery in West Africa suggests they might.Read more

Original Air Date:

May 14, 2017

Praying in nature

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

Original Air Date:

May 11, 2017

Nope

In this hour, we explore what the superpower of not giving a f--- might allow you to do. Read more

Original Air Date:

May 07, 2017

Fall leaves

Richard Blanco’s poem begins the day after the November election, as he struggles to make sense of a new political mood.Read more

Original Air Date:

May 04, 2017

Stop Light

A near-accident has poet Laura Kasischke marveling at the fearlessness of young adults and also worrying about their future. Read more

Original Air Date:

April 27, 2017

repeat

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

Original Air Date:

April 23, 2017

fake news

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

Original Air Date:

April 20, 2017

Fargo quilt

How he transformed the iconic film into the critically-acclaimed, award-winning TV series.Read more

Original Air Date:

April 18, 2017

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