There are old folktales and legends of people who can become animals. Animals who can become people. And there’s a lesson for our own time in those shapeshifting stories — a recognition that the membrane between what's human and more-than-human is razor thin. Human identity cannot be separated from our nonhuman kin. From forest ecology to the human microbiome, emerging research suggests that being human is a complicated journey made possible only by the good graces of our many companions. In...

Our lives are so rushed, so busy. Always on the clock. Counting the hours, minutes, seconds. Have you ever stopped to wonder: what are you counting? What is this thing, that’s all around us, invisible, inescapable, always running out? What is time? Original Air Date: November 18, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: Time, loss and the Big Bang — Finding solace in the vastness of space — Carlo Rovelli's white holes, where time dissolves Guests: Marcelo Gleiser, Marjolijn van Heemstra, Carlo...

Ever want to quit your job, leave the rat race behind, and head back to the land? Buy an old farmhouse or build a solar-powered home and live self-sufficiently on a few acres of your very own? Generations before you have shared that dream. The reality is more complicated. Even owning your own land is an ethical minefield. Original Air Date: December 18, 2021 Interviews In This Hour: Can you live off the land and still live ethically? — What does 'owning' land actually mean? — How the Land...

Radical politics and radical movements are on the rise everywhere. Against racial violence, and climate change; against gender inequality, corporate greed, low wages, oil pipelines, opioids.  Maybe at heart they all have a common cause.  Maybe they're all — in one way or another — a rebellion against capitalism. Original Air Date: February 11, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: The Communist Manifesto still inspires — The radical philosopher mapping the crises of capitalism — Are we living...

We've always told ghost stories, huddling around campfires, scaring ourselves silly. Today there’s a new venue for spooky stories – YouTube, where creators are turning cobwebby VHS video tapes and other relics of the early internet into a new genre – analog horror. In this hour, we celebrate weird fiction in all its forms, going back to the original eldritch being himself, H.P. Lovecraft. Original Air Date: October 28, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: When dreams escape sleep: the analog...

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype about how psychedelics might revolutionize the treatment of mental illness. But there are also lots of ethical concerns. And probably none are so troubling as the charges of exploitation and cultural appropriation. The fact is, the knowledge about many psychedelics — like magic mushrooms and ayahuasca — comes from the sacred ceremonies of Indigenous cultures. But over the past century, Western scientists and pharmaceutical companies have been going into...

Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes the world has ever known — a legend in the NFL, MLB, NCAA, and in the Olympics. Today he is being celebrated by a new generation of Native Americans. Rapper Tall Paul’s album is called, “The Story of Jim Thorpe." Tall Paul is an Anishinaabe and Oneida Hip-Hop artist enrolled on the Leech Lake reservation in Minnesota.  Biographer David Maraniss is the author of "Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe." Activist Suzan Shown Harjo is the...

Wakanda is a very American version of an idealized African future. So how do African science fiction writers tell stories about their own imagined future? In this hour, produced in partnership with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI), we explore Africanfuturism and beyond. Original Air Date: December 10, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: Deconstructing 'Black Panther': African Scholars Respond to the Hollywood Blockbuster — 'Africanfuturism' and dreaming of bigger,...

When you look at your body in the mirror, do you love what you see? Do you pick out the things you don’t like? Maybe you’ve heard of body positivity. But what if we just felt neutral about our bodies? In this episode, we talk about our bodies — how we move through the world in these fleshy vessels, how it feels to exist in our bodies in a world that asks so much from them. How do we live full and embodied lives? Original Air Date: September 30, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: Finding Peace...

Before family photos, or school pictures or Instagram, there were hand-drawn and painted portraits. Throughout the ages, portrait artists have captured expressions and personalities on canvas or paper, and those who view the picture interpret this “likeness” in their own way. We talk with a philosopher, a musician and a novelist about the role of portraits through history, and how we see ourselves —and others — through these deeply personal images. Original Air Date: September 23,...

Fifteen years ago, David Foster Wallace died by his own hand. He was a celebrated writer, but he now faces renewed criticism over his treatment of women, in his life and his books. After years of adulation, Wallace has become a symbol of lit-bro culture, and he's now facing a moment of reckoning. So how should we read him today? This week, we talk with Wallace fans and critics. Many still consider him the greatest voice of his generation — even as they grapple with new details about his...

How we live is indelibly intertwined with the care and empathy we give to each other. What if we put care into helping Americans find homes and build dwellings, into keeping their bodies and minds sound, and finding meaningful and well-paid work? In this three part series, "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project bring you real life stories about economic struggle in our time, as well as ideas for solutions. In this final part of our series, we’re talking...

How we live is indelibly intertwined with the care and empathy we give to each other. What if we put care into helping Americans find homes and build dwellings, into keeping their bodies and minds sound, and finding meaningful and well-paid work? In this three part series, "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project bring you real life stories about economic struggle in our time, as well as ideas for solutions. Post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental...

How we live is indelibly intertwined with the care and empathy we give to each other. What if we put care into helping Americans find homes and build dwellings, into keeping their bodies and minds sound, and finding meaningful and well-paid work? In this three part series, "To The Best Of Our Knowledge" and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project bring you real life stories about economic struggle in our time, as well as ideas for solutions. In the first of three episodes of "Going For...

Are you ready to think in centuries instead of seconds? Eons instead of hours? It’s time to make thousand-year plans and appreciate how Earth keeps time. For more from this series, visit ttbook.org/deeptime. Original Air Date: August 19, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: Shifting your mind to 'geologic' time — Discovering the wonders of ancient cave art — Making art inspired by the ancestors Guests: Marcia Bjornerud, Stephen Alvarez, Dustin Illetewahke Mater Never want to miss an...

In the 21st century, there are a lot of old crafts we think we don’t have much use for anymore. Blacksmithing. Wood turning. Spinning and basket-making. But here's the funny thing — as our world gets more and more virtual, traditional skills are starting to look better and better to a lot of people. Original Air Date: April 09, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: Could you build your own pots and pans? Coppersmith Sara Dahmen revives a lost art — A craftsman alone in the Alaskan...

We all feel better after a good cry. In fact, humans are the only animals who cry emotional tears. But what about people who don't cry? And have you ever wondered why a sad song or movie makes you cry? Original Air Date: August 05, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: Hip-hop artist Dxtr Spits on teaching men to cry — The evolution and neuroscience of tears — What happens when an actor cries Guests: Dxtr Spits, Michael Trimble, Jen Plants Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the...

Pop music is a gazillion-dollar industry that churns out hits and creates celebrities. It seems like the definition of ephemeral – today’s chart topper is gone tomorrow. But pop music is a powerful vehicle for bringing people together, and fans - from K-pop to the #FreeBritney movement — have something to teach us about community and hope. Original Air Date: March 26, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: When we're disconnected, can we reconnect through K-pop? — From pop to punk: Shaping our...

What makes food "authentic"? Do we need to feel close to where it's made? Know the complete history of where it comes from? Be able to diagram the chemistry of how it dances along our taste buds? How can we quantify the romance between eaters and the food they love? In this hour, we talk about what it means to truly love what you eat and drink — and we ask why it matters. Original Air Date: June 30, 2018 Interviews In This Hour: The Frightening Sameness Beneath Hundreds of Flavors — A...

Can neuroscience explain what happens to the brain on psychedelics? And even if we map the brain while it’s tripping, does that tell us why these experiences can be so transformative?  We’ll talk with some of the pioneers in psychedelic research — from Amanda Feilding’s boundary-busting work to Robin Carhart-Harris’ theory of the "entropic brain." Also, renowned neuroscientist Christof Koch goes down the rabbit hole on 5-MeO-DMT, also known as toad venom.   Original Air Date: July 15,...

When was the last time you got up off your couch and actually went out to see a movie? Or a play or a concert? It’s fun to go see things in person, but at the end of a long day, Netflix is streaming and the couch is two feet away. But what happens when everyone stays home? When the movie theaters and art houses and performance spaces sit empty? Do we lose something in the process? Original Air Date: October 21, 2017 Interviews In This Hour: An Old-Fashioned Movie House Wedding — The...

Now that road trip season is upon us, we take a deep look at the open road. We’ll talk with interstate long-haulers, join an elephant named Solomon on his journey across 16th century Europe, and take the “blackest road trip ever.” And Manal al-Sharif tells the story of her radical road trip — being a Saudi woman who learned how to drive. Original Air Date: July 01, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: Put It In Boogie Gear On the Backslide — A Guidebook to the 'Blackest Road Trip Ever' — Philip...

Sometimes, we take our body for granted. But even the everyday things it can do – keep our heart beating, fight off illness – are pretty extraordinary. Do you know what your body can do? We explore a kidney transplant, a chronic illness and a common fever, and find the mystery and the familiar in the anatomy of ourselves. Original Air Date: February 23, 2019 Interviews In This Hour: Would You Give Your Kidney to a Stranger? — When Your Body Betrays You — The Unicorn Woman And Other...

It’s summer, and you might be pulling out your binoculars, filling your bird feeders, and looking up as you hear a melodious song. But for many birdwatchers, it's not just a simple pastime. Identifying bird calls, tracking rare breeds through marshes and waters, and watching our feathered friends as they watch you has turned into true love of birds — an avian obsession. Original Air Date: June 17, 2023 Interviews In This Hour: 'Utterly unlike other birds': The inscrutable brilliance of...

The bond we share with dogs runs deep. The satisfaction of gentle head scratches or a round of playing fetch is simple and pure, but in other ways, the connection we have is truly unknowable. How do dogs make our lives better? How do they think? And how do we give them the lives they deserve? Original Air Date: February 05, 2022 Interviews In This Hour: Adventure, goofiness and trail snacks: Stories from the dog musher's journal — Getting inside the mind of a dog — Nothing makes losing a...