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The standard view of evolution is that living things are shaped by cold-hearted competition. And there is no doubt that today's plants and animals carry the genetic legacy of ancestors who fought fiercely to survive and reproduce. But in this hour that we first broadcast back in 2010, we wonder whether there might also be a logic behind sharing, niceness, kindness ... or even, self-sacrifice. Is altruism an aberration, or just an elaborate guise for sneaky self-interest? Do we really live in a selfish, dog-eat-dog world? Or has evolution carved out a hidden code that rewards genuine cooperation? https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
It’s faster than a speeding bullet. It’s smarter than a polymath genius. It’s everywhere but it’s invisible. It’s artificial intelligence. But what actually is it? Today we ask this simple question and explore why it’s so damn hard to answer. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Simon Adler Produced by - Simon Adler Original music from - Simon Adler Sound design contributed by - Simon Adler Fact-checking by - Anna Pujol-Mazzini https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
A year ago we brought you a show called Shell Game where a journalist named Evan Ratliff made an AI copy of himself. Now on season 2 of the show, Evan’s using AI to do more than just mimic himself — he’s starting a company staffed entirely by AI agents, and making a podcast about the experience. The show is a smart, funny, and truly bizarre look at what AI can do—and what it can’t. This week we bring you the first episode of Shell Game Season Two, Minimum Viable Company. You can sign up to get the rest of the Shell Game ad-free, and the Shell Game newsletter, at shellgame.co http://shellgame.co . EPISODE CREDITS: SHELL GAME Hosted by Evan Ratliff, Produced and edited by Sophie Bridges. Shell Game’s Technical Advisor Matty Bohacek Executive Produced by Samantha Henig, Kate Osborn and Mangesh Hattikudur at Kaleidoscope and Katrina Norvell at IHeart Podcasts. RADIOLAB PORTIONS Hosted by Simon Adler Produced by Mona Madgavkar. https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Our original host Jad Abumrad returns to share a new podcast series he’s just released. It’s all about Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician who created a genre, then a movement, then tried to use his hypnotic beats to topple a military dictatorship. Jad tells us about the series and why he made it, and we play the episode that, for us at least, gets to the heart of the matter: How exactly does his music work? What actually happens to the people who hear it and how does it move them to action? You can find Jad’s entire nine-part series, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, on Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Jad Abumrad Radiolab portions produced by - Sindhu Gnanasambandan https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Today on the show, we’re bringing you an episode from https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d (https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d), a new podcast series where cellist Yo-Yo Ma and host Ana González travel around the United States to meet people, make music and better understand how culture binds us to nature. The series features a few familiar voices, including Ana González (host) and Alan Goffinski (producer), from our kids podcast, https://link.podtrac.com/vysacqn1 (https://link.podtrac.com/vysacqn1). ABOUT THE EPISODE: West Virginia is defined by its beauty and its coal, two things that can work against each other. Yo-Yo Ma felt this as soon as stepped foot in its hills.This episode explores how music and poetry help process the emotions of a community besieged with disaster and held together by pride and duty. We travel down the Coal River with third-generation coal miner Chris Saunders, who tells us how coal has saved and threatened his life. Poet Crystal Good shares her poetry, which channels her rage and love. And musician and granddaughter of West Virginia coal miners, Kathy Mattea, explains the beauty of belting out your home state in a chorus. The end of the episode finds host Ana floating down the New River with help from a group of high schoolers and Yo-Yo Ma. Listen to the full series https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d (https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d). Featuring music by EPISODE CREDITS: Radiolab Bits Produced - Anisa Vietze (Radiolab bits) https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Qasem Waleed is a 28-year-old physicist who has lived in Gaza his whole life. In 2024, he joined a chorus of Palestinians sharing videos and pictures and writing about the chaos and violence they were living through, as Israel’s military bombardment devastated their lives. But Qasem was trying to describe his reality through the lens of the most notoriously confusing and inscrutable field of science ever, quantum mechanics. We talked to him, from a cafe near the Al-Mawasi section of Gaza, to find out why. And over the course of several conversations, he told us how this reality-breaking corner of science has helped him survive. And how such unspeakable violence actually let him understand, in a visceral way, quantum mechanics’ most counter-intuitive ideas. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Lulu Miller Produced by - Jessica Yung with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Emily Kreiger and Edited by - Alex Neason EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - __ __ Articles - Read a selection of Qasem’s published essays about his life in Gaza and the quantum world: __ __ https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
When we think of China today, we think of a technological superpower. From Huawei and 5G to TikTok and viral social media, China is stride for stride with the United States in the world of computing. However, China’s technological renaissance almost didn’t happen. And for one very basic reason: the Chinese language, with its 70,000 plus characters, couldn’t fit on a keyboard. Today, we tell the story of Professor Wang Yongmin, a hard-headed computer programmer who solved this puzzle and laid the foundation for the China we know today. http://www.antiquetypewriters.com/ EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Simon Adler Produced by - Simon Adler https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
A call to oceanographer Edie Widder about a fish with a very odd immune system quickly becomes something else: a dive into the deep sea, into a world of brilliant light. But down there, the light doesn’t behave like light -- it sparkles and glows, but also drips, squirts, and dribbles. Today, find out how creatures make the light and how they use it, from hunting and hiding to maybe even … talking. And hear about a series of mysterious moments where Edie goes from studying the creatures to becoming one of them. EPISODE CREDITS: Hosted by - Molly Webster Reported by - Molly Webster Produced by - Maria Paz Gutierrez with help from - Molly Webster Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly EPISODE CITATIONS: DOCUMENTARY - Coming soon, there’ll be a new doc about Edie’s life and work studying bioluminescence in deep sea creatures. According to Edie, “A Life Illuminated https://www.sandboxfilms.org/films/a-life-illuminated/”, contains some of the best deep sea bioluminescence footage ever recorded. It’s from our friends at Sandbox Films, and director Tasha Van Zandt. https://www.sandboxfilms.org/films/a-life-illuminated/ BOOKS - Edie Widder wrote a memoir! Go read, “Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea”.https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564185/below-the-edge-of-darkness-by-edith-widder-phd/ VIDEOS - It’s not in the episode, but a few years back, Edie’s fame reached new heights when she captured footage of a never-before-seen Giant Squid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krDdv9KLmuM … here’s the story, and video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krDdv9KLmuM ARTICLES - A look at some glowing shrimps. https://zpr.io/3jyHWi7VFBw5 A photo gallery of different types of deep sea glow, from different types of deep sea creatures, including one of counterillumination, which Edie talks about in the episode. https://zpr.io/hdFFsArGjhau https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Love it or hate it, the freedom to say obnoxious and subversive things is the quintessence of what makes America America. But our say-almost-anything approach to free speech is actually relatively recent, and you can trace it back to one guy: a Supreme Court justice named Oliver Wendell Holmes. Even weirder, you can trace it back to one seemingly ordinary eight-month period in Holmes’s life when he seems to have done a logical U-turn on what should be say-able. Why he changed his mind during those eight months is one of the greatest mysteries in the history of the Supreme Court. (Spoiler: the answer involves anarchists, a house of truth, and a cry for help from a dear friend.) Join us in an episode we originally released in 2021, as we investigate why he changed his mind, how that made the country change its mind, and whether it’s now time to change our minds again. LATERAL CUTS: https://radiolab.org/podcast/content-warning https://radiolab.org/podcast/facebooks-supreme-court https://radiolab.org/podcast/trust-engineers EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif Nasser Produced by - Sarah Qari with help from - Anisa Vietze https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Over the past five years TikTtok has radically changed the online world. But trust us when we say, it’s not how you’d expect. Today we continue our yearslong exploration of what you can and can’t post online. We look at how Facebook’s approach to free speech has evolved since Trump’s victory. How TikTtok upended everything we see. And what all this means for the future of our political and digital lives. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Simon Adler Produced by - Simon Adler Original music from - Simon Adler with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloome Fact-checking by - Anna Pujol-Mazzini Lateral Cuts: https://radiolab.org/podcast/trust-engineers https://radiolab.org/podcast/facebooks-supreme-court https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Ella al-Shamahi is one part Charles Darwin, one part Indiana Jones. She braves war zones and pirate-infested waters to collect fossils from prehistoric caves, fossils that help us understand the origin of our species. Her recent hit BBC / PBS series follows her around the globe trying to piece together the unlikely story of how early humans conquered the world. But Ella’s own origins as an evolutionary biologist are equally unlikely. She sits down with us and tells us a story she has rarely shared publicly, about how she came to believe in evolution, and how much that belief cost her. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif Nasser Produced by - Jessica Yung and Pat Walters with help from - Sarah Qari Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly and Edited by - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - “” https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human (https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human), Ella’s show on the BBC and PBS https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This is the story of a three-year-old girl and the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court case is a legal battle that has entangled a biological father, a heart-broken couple, and the tragic history of Native American children taken from their families. We originally released this story back in 2013, when that girl’s fate was still in the balance of various legal decisions. We thought now was a good time to bring the story back, because the Act at the center of the story is still being questioned. When then-producer Tim Howard http://www.radiolab.org/people/tim-howard/ first read about this case, it struck him as a sad but seemingly straightforward custody dispute. But, as he started talking to lawyers and historians and the families involved in the case, it became clear that it was much more than that. Because challenges parts of the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, this case puts one little girl at the center of a storm of legal intricacies, Native American tribal culture, and heart-wrenching personal stakes. LATERAL CUTS: What Up Holmes? https://radiolab.org/podcast/what-holmes The Gatekeeper https://radiolab.org/podcast/gatekeeper EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Tim Howard Produced by - Tim Howard EPISODE CITATIONS (SO MANY): BACKGROUND AND REPORTING FROM A RANGE OF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES __ __ ANALYSIS AND EDITORIALS __ __ CONTEMPORARY, HISTORIC, AND LEGAL SOURCE MATERIALS __ __ https://radiolab.org/newsletter https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org https://members.radiolab.org/ http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Over the course of millions of years, human voices have evolved to hold startling power. These clouds of vibrating air carry crucial information about who we are–and we rely on them to push ourselves up and out into the physical world. This week, we’re on a journey to understand how we got our unique sonic fingerprint, the power it affords us, and what happens when it’s taken away. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by -Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty Produced by - Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty Original music and sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloom and Matt Kielty with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Anna Pujol-Mazzini and Edited by - Alex Neason EPISODE CITATIONS: BOOKS - __ __ WEBSITES - __ __ https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
In the 1920s, a Russian biologist studying onion roots made a surprising discovery: underground, down in the darkness, it seemed like the cells inside the onion roots were making their own … light. The “onion root experiment” went on to become something of a cult classic in science, and eventually the biologically-made light was dubbed “biophotons.” In the ensuing century, biophoton discoveries moved from onion roots to bacteria, frog embryos, and humans. Today, scientist Nirosha Murugan is on a career-defining journey to learn more about the light. As she and her colleagues study this mysterious phenomenon, they find themselves racing from question to question, wondering what gives off light, where it might be coming from, and what, if anything, it could tell us about life, disease, and even death. EPISODE CREDITS: Hosted by - Molly Webster Reported by - Molly Webster Produced by - Sarah Qari with help from - Molly Webster Fact-checking by - Natalie Middleton EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - The “Life Flash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM” video! Note that fluorescent dye was added to the experiment, by the researchers, to enhance the zinc sparks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM) ARTICLES - The Onion Root Experiment https://www.brmi.online/gurwitsch (https://www.brmi.online/gurwitsch) Enjoy this Wikipedia rabbit-hole about Fritz Albert Popp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz-Albert_Popp (https://zpr.io/nxJFcAMvZkBz) Original Paper on zinc sparks https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4845039/ (https://zpr.io/GfbazBqU3e3y) at the time of fertilization, a moment referred to as the “life flash” Read more about the “death flash,” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167494309002593#:~:text=Results,ELEs%20are%20not%20uncommon%20occurrences (https://zpr.io/TqG3mcCGYEgQ) and other end-of-life phenomenon, as reported by medical caregivers Research from Nirosha’s lab on photon emissions https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)00279-2 (https://zpr.io/mtpbwSeY4iEp) and brain activity Research from Nirosha’s lab on biophoton emission https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7226102/ (https://zpr.io/3in9LSmzW6m5) and cancer diagnosis https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
How a group of 80’s Cuban misfits found rock-and-roll and created a revolution within a revolution, going into exile without ever leaving home. Reporter Luis Trelles brings us the story of punk rock’s arrival in Cuba and a small band of outsiders who sentenced themselves to death and set themselves free. We originally released this episode back in 2015 in a collaboration with Radio Ambulante, but the story is so fascinating (and, in many ways, still relevant) that we haven’t stopped thinking about it. Radio Ambulante launches their 15th season on September 30th!! Check it out, here!! https://radioambulante.org/en (https://radioambulante.org/en) EPISODE CITATIONS: Find some of Radio Ambulante’s other stories about the Frikis here - The Survivors https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF (https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF) When Havana was Friki https://radioambulante.org/en/audio-en/when-havana-was-friki-2 (https://zpr.io/HrXsgibzvbJj) https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
In August we performed a live taping of the show from a theater perched on the edge of Manhattan, overlooking the Hudson River, overshadowed by the wide open night sky. Three stories about voids. One about a fish that screams into the night – and the mystery of its counterpart that doesn’t. Another about a group of women who gazed at the night sky and taught us just how vast the universe is. And a third about a man who talk to aliens – and the people who tell him he’s putting human civilization at risk by doing so. Finally, we turn back to Earth with the help of a reading from Samantha Harvey’s hit novel https://bookshop.org/p/books/orbital/19729720 (https://zpr.io/RNi4sY2JVKxK) performed by the artist, actor and podcast host Helga Davis https://www.wqxr.org/people/helga-davis/ (https://zpr.io/TKGuzzDFnVjN). What does it mean to stand on the edge of a void, and what happens when you scream into it, or choose not to? https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049382/attention-is-discovery/ (https://zpr.io/j7ZYKX8wSCYL). EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Lulu Miller, Matt Kielty and Latif Nasser Produced by - Pat Walters and Matt Kielty with help from - Jessica Yung, Maria Paz Gutierrez and Rebecca Rand Original music from - Mantra Percussion Sound design contributed by - Matt Kielty and Jeremy Bloom with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly and Natalie Middleton and Edited by - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: BOOKS - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049382/attention-is-discovery/ (https://zpr.io/j7ZYKX8wSCYL) by Anna von Mertens https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
With this episode, we’re putting on our music hat. For a program that relies so much on scoring and sound, it’s not often we talk about the musicians and the music they make that inspire us. Today, that changes. Today, we bring you two stories. Each about musicians that our former host and creator of Radiolab, Jad Abumrad, loves. We originally released these stories many years ago, and both start deep in music itself. Then quickly, they dig deeper — into our relationships with technology, and ourselves. We start with the band Dawn of Midi, who straddle the intersection between acoustic and electronic sounds. Jad talks to the band about their album, Dysnomia, and how it's filled with heavily-layered rhythms that feel both mechanistic and deeply human, at the same time. Then, Jad talks with Juana Molina, an Argentine singer who accidentally became a famous actress, when all along all she really wanted was to be a musician. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - JAD ABUMRAD EPISODE CITATIONS: http://dawnofmidi.com http://juanamolina.com https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
As he finished his medical residency exam, David Fajgenbaum felt off. He walked down to the ER and checked himself in. Soon he was in the ICU with multiple organ failure. The only drug for his condition didn’t work. He had months to live, if that. If he was going to survive, he was going to have to find his own cure. Miraculously, he pulled it off in the nick of time. From that ordeal, he realized that our system of discovering and approving drugs is far from perfect, and that he might be able to use AI to find dozens, hundreds, even thousands of cures, hidden in plain sight, for as-yet untreatable diseases. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif Nasser Produced by - Maria Paz Gutiérrez with mixing help from - Jeremy S. Bloom Fact-checking by - Natalie A. Middleton EPISODE CITATIONS: BOOKS - Blair Bigham, https://store.walrusmagazine.com/products/death-interrupted RADIOLAB | LATERAL CUTS: Check out https://radiolab.org/podcast/death-interrupted(https://radiolab.org/podcast/death-interrupted), a conversation with Blair Bigham about a worldview shifting change of heart. https://radiolab.org/podcast/dirty-drug-and-ice-cream-tub(https://radiolab.org/podcast/dirty-drug-and-ice-cream-tub) to hear the crazy story about how Rapamycin was discovered. https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
In an episode first released in 2010, then-producer Lulu Miller drives to Michigan to track down the endangered Kirtland’s warbler. Efforts to protect the bird have lead to the killing of cowbirds (a species that commandeers warbler nests), and a prescribed burn aimed at creating a new habitat. Tragically, this burn led to the death of a 29-year-old wildlife technician who was dedicated to warbler restoration. Forest Service employee Rita Halbeisen, local Michiganders skeptical of the resources put toward protecting the warbler, and the family of James Swiderski (the man killed in the fire), weigh in on how far we should go to protect one species. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Lulu Miller https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Until recently, scientists assumed humans were the only species in which females went through menopause, and lived a substantial part of their lives after they were no longer able to reproduce. And they had no idea why that happens, and why evolution wouldn’t push females to keep reproducing right up to the end of their lives. But after a close look at some whale poop, and a deep dive into chimp life, we find several new ways of thinking about menopause and the real purpose of this all too often overlooked second act of life. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Heather Radke and Becca Bressler Produced by - Sarah Qari and Becca Bressler Fact-checking by - Emily Krieger and Edited by - Becca Bressler EPISODE CITATIONS: Books - Check out everything Heather Radke writes, including , cause it’s all that good, here: Heather Radke http://www.heatherradke.com (www.heatherradke.com http://www.heatherradke.com). Find any one of Lucy Cooke’s book, including , here: Lucy Cooke http://www.lucycooke.tv/ (http://www.lucycooke.tv/) And check out everything Caroline Paul has on offer, including ,here: Caroline Paul https://www.carolinepaul.com/ (https://www.carolinepaul.com/) Socials - Heather Radke: https://www.instagram.com/radhradke Lucy Cooke: https://www.instagram.com/luckycooke/ AUDIO: Becca Bressler’s Greatest Hits - Everybody's Got One https://radiolab.org/podcast/e0a4aa47f7ff0df3be085864 The Shark Inside You https://radiolab.org/podcast/the-shark-inside-you Growth https://radiolab.org/podcast/growth Lateral cuts - Butt Stuff https://radiolab.org/podcast/butt-stuff https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This week: the story of astrophysicist Charity Woodrum. Charity is an extragalactic astronomer who studies the life and death of galaxies, why some galaxies burn bright and others dim and sputter out. And in the midst of an unthinkable grief in her personal life, she discovers something in the sky – a new kind of light that would guide her path forward. Megan Stielstra, Jad Abumrad, Michael Woodrum, Gina Vivona, and Clair Reilly-Roe. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Lulu Miller Produced by - Jessica Yung Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly RADIOLAB | LATERAL UTS: Our episode The Darkest Dark https://radiolab.org/podcast/the-darkest-dark (https://radiolab.org/podcast/the-darkest-dark) could be of interest to those seeking the deepest unknowns. EPISODE CITATIONS: Music - Clair Reilly-Roe’s song “Sky Full of Ghosts https://open.spotify.com/track/6Ny77KUMyKTDEjBsn9Hf5C?si=6715caaa2c864f30” (https://zpr.io/JgauhRnj7qpX) Articles - A new documentary on Charity Woodrum’s story: https://www.spacehopecharityfilm.com/ (https://www.spacehopecharityfilm.com/) https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This week, two conversations from the archives about parts of the world that are imperceptible to us, verging on almost unthinkable. We start with a moment of uncertainty in physics. Inspired by an essay written by physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, called https://harpers.org/archive/2011/12/the-accidental-universe/ (HTTPS://ZPR.IO/4965DUDNQTPQ) https://zpr.io/4965dUdNqtpQ, taken from a book of the same name. Former Radiolab co-host Robert Krulwich pays a visit to Brian Greene to ask if the latest developments in theoretical physics spell a crisis for science. He finds that we've reached the limit of what we can see and test, and we’re left with mathematical equations that can't be verified by experiments or observation. Then, come along as we kick rocks. And end up tumbling down a philosophical rabbit hole where the solid things around us might not be solid at all. We talk to Jim Holt, author of https://www.labyrinthbooks.com/why-does-the-world-exist/HTTPS://ZPR.IO/UQHPLNDX2QNX) https://zpr.io/UqHpLnDx2QNx who points out that when you start slicing and sleuthing in subatomic particle land, trying to get to the bottom of what makes matter, you mostly find empty space. Your hand, your chair, the floor, it's all made up of mostly nothing. Robert and Jim go toe-to-toe over whether the universe is made up of solid bits and pieces of stuff, or a cloudy foundation that more closely resembles thoughts and ideas. https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Back in 2017 our colleagues at More Perfect gathered a room full of people together to debate a straight forward question: Can free speech go too far? Today, eight years have passed and plenty has changed, but this question feels alive as ever. And so we’re re-airing More Perfect’s The Hate Debate. Taped live at WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, Elie Mystal, Ken White and Corynne McSherry duke it out over whether the first amendment needs an update in our digital world. EPISODE CITATIONS: VIDEOS - If watching is more your speed, you can see the event, in its entirety, here: https://www.youtube.com/live/azcIcVDyVTM?si=ZqpQHQfvTKr2jS0z THERE’S OTHER RADIOLABS FOR THAT - Further recommended listening What Up Holmes https://radiolab.org/podcast/what-holmes and Post No Evil https://radiolab.org/podcast/post-no-evil. https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This hour of Radiolab, Jad and Robert set out in search of order and balance in the world around us, and ask how symmetry shapes our very existence -- from the origins of the universe, to what we see when we look in the mirror. Along the way, we look for love in ancient Greece, head to modern-day Princeton to peer inside our brains, and turn up an unlikely headline from the Oval Office circa 1979. EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - Back in the day, when we first aired this episode, the film collective Everynone, filmmakers Will Hoffman, Daniel Mercadante and Julius Metoyer III were inspired with our yearning for balance, and aimed to visually reveal how beautiful imperfect matches can be. Radiolab Presents: Symmetry ( https://youtu.be/zEQskIsHKT8https://youtu.be/zEQskIsHKT8) https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Have you heard On the Media’s Peabody-winning series The Divided Dial? It’s awesome and you should, and now you will. In this episode they tell the story of shortwave radio: the way-less-listened to but way-farther-reaching cousin of AM and FM radio. The medium was once heralded as a utopian, international, and instantaneous mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet. But, like the internet, many people quickly saw the power of this new technology and found ways to harness it. State leaders turned it into a propaganda machine, weaponizing the airwaves to try and shape politics around the world. And as shortwave continued to evolve, like the internet, it became fragmented, easily accessible, and right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists and cult leaders found homes on the different shortwave frequencies. And even today - again, like the internet - people with money are looking to buy up this mass-communication tool in the hopes of … making more money. This is episode one from the second season of https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/divided-dial a limited series from On The Media https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm. __ __ The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
Jilted lovers and disrupted duck hunts provide a very odd look into the soul of the US Constitution. What does a betrayed lover’s revenge have to do with an international chemical weapons treaty? More than you’d think. From poison and duck hunts to our feuding fathers, we step into a very odd tug of war between local and federal law. When Carol Anne Bond found out her husband had impregnated her best friend, she took revenge. Carol's particular flavor of revenge led to a US Supreme Court case that puts into question a part of the US treaty power. Producer Kelsey Padgett drags Jad and Robert into Carol's poisonous web, which starts them on a journey from the birth of the US Constitution, to a duck hunt in 1918, and back to the present day. It’s all about an ongoing argument that might actually be the very heart and soul of our system of government. https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This is episode five of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks. Today, the strange, squirmy magic behind how sharks make more sharks. Drills. Drama. Death. Even a coliseum of baby sharks duking it out inside mom’s womb. And a man on a small island in the Mediterranean trying, against all odds, to give baby sharks a chance in a little plastic aquarium in his living room. Can a human raise a shark? And if so, what good is that for sharks? And for us? Doo doo doo doo doo doo. https://www.azulmarino.org/en/ EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Rachael Cusick Produced by - Rachael Cusick with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly and Edited by - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: Articles - Claudia’s original reporting that inspired the episode https://hakaimagazine.com/features/raising-baby-sharks-from-the-dead/ https://radiolab.org/newsletter https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org https://members.radiolab.org/ http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This is episode four of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks. Alison Kock was working at a car wash in Cape Town when she made a discovery that completely changed the course of her life. Inside a customer’s trunk, she found photographs of white sharks flying so high above the water they looked like airplanes. She followed those photographs to False Bay, “the Great White Capital of the World.” These sharks, in this place, are the apex of apex predators. Or they were. Until they mysteriously began to disappear. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Rachael Cusick Produced by - Simon Adler and Maria Paz Gutierrez with help from - Rebecca Laks Original music from - Simon Adler and Maria Paz Gutierrez Sound design contributed by - TBD with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly and Edited by - Pat Walters https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This is episode three of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks. Today, we take a trip across the world, from the south coast of Australia to … Wisconsin. Here, scientists are scouring shark blood to find one of nature’s hidden keys, a molecular superhero that might unlock our ability to cure cancer: shark antibodies. They’re small. They’re flexible. And they can fit into nooks and crannies on tumors that our antibodies can’t. We journey back 500 million years to the moment sharks got these special powers and head to the underground labs transforming these monsters into healers. Can these animals we fear so much actually save us? EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Becca Bressler Produced by - Becca Bressler and Matt Kielty Original music from - Matt Kielty and Jeremy Bloom Sound design contributed by - Matt Kielty, Jeremy Bloom, and Becca Bressler with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly and Edited by - Pat Walters https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
This is episode two of Swimming with Shadows: A Radiolab Week of Sharks. spawned a thousand imitators: sharks in tornados, sharks in avalanches, sharks that battle giant octopuses. Hollywood has officially turned sharks into monsters of every shape and size. And yet, somehow, there will always be more. But drop below the surface, into the cold, quiet blue, and another creature appears. One that has survived mass extinctions, outlasted ancient predators and pre-dates Mount Everest, the existence of trees, even the rings of Saturn. A shark that is somehow even more remarkable than sharks in tornadoes. Today, we go visit shark. https://rodneyfox.com.au/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714624/the-secret-history-of-sharks-by-john-long/ https://www.harpercollins.com/products/chasing-shadows-greg-skomalret-talbot?variant=41120605995042 EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Rachael Cusick with help from - Pat Walters Produced by - Rachael Cusick and Simon Adler with help from - Pat Walters Sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloom with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Natalie Middleton and Edited by - Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - Loved learning about all the different kinds of sharks there are? Check out even more Jaida Elcock’s videos https://www.instagram.com/sofishtication_/?hl=en on sharks. Book - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714624/the-secret-history-of-sharks-by-john-long/ of Sharks by John Long https://www.harpercollins.com/products/chasing-shadows-greg-skomalret-talbot?variant=41120605995042 by Greg Skomal https://radiolab.org/newsletter http://members.radiolab.org http://instagram.com/radiolab http://twitter.com/radiolab http://facebook.com/radiolab
