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The Saturday Special airs every Saturday at 3pm on Ideas Network stations and web streams.

This special hour allows us to bring you interesting, unusual and often provocative programs selected from stations and producers from around the world. Some programs are just a single hour, while others present a short series of related programs.

May 5 - June 30, 2012

Radiolab is an investigation. Each program is a patchwork of people, sounds, stories, and experiences centered around One Big Idea. On Radiolab, science bumps into culture... information sounds like music.

May 5 - "Talking to Machines"

What can machines tell us about being human? This hour of Radiolab, Jad and Robert meet humans and robots who are trying to connect, and blur the line. We talk to the world's most advanced robot, meet a man who fell in love with a chatbot, and argue with the inventor of Furby over whether a toy can ever really be "alive."

May 12 - "Games"

A good game, whether it's a pro football playoff, or a family showdown on the kitchen table, can make you feel, at least for a little while, like your whole life hangs in the balance. This hour of Radiolab, Jad and Robert wonder why we get so invested in something so trivial. What is it about games that make them feel so pivotal?

May 19 - "Loops"

So much of life is organized by cycles-seasons, biological rhythms, even our ideas of consciousness. In this episode, Radiolab looks at some of the surprising ways that loops steer our lives, and asks what happens when we disturb them.

May 26 - "Patient Zero"

The greatest mysteries all have a shadowy figure at the center-someone who sets things in motion and holds the key to how the rest of the story unfolds. In epidemiology, this central character is known as Patient Zero-the case at the heart of an outbreak. This hour, Radiolab hunts for Patient Zeroes from all over the map-from the origins of a blues legend, to the history of the high five, to a race to halt the spread of a deadly disease.

June 2 - "The Bad Show"

Cruelty, violence, badness... This episode of Radiolab, we wrestle with the dark side of human nature, and ask whether it's something we can ever really understand, or fully escape. We encounter a man who scrambles our notions of good and evil, turn to one of the most famous (and misunderstood) psychology experiments ever, talk to a man who chased one of the most prolific serial killers in US history. then got a chance to ask him the question that had haunted him for years: why?

June 9 - "Escape"

The walls are closing in, you've got no way out...and then, suddenly, you escape! This hour, stories about traps, getaways, perpetual cycles, and staggering breakthroughs. We meet a man who's broken out of jail more times than anyone alive, travel to the edge of the solar system ... to a boundary beyond which we know nothing, and we hear the story of a blind kid who freed himself from an unhappy childhood by climbing into the telephone system, and bending it to his will.

June 16 - "Guts"

This hour, we dive into the messy mystery in the middle of us. What's going on down there? We stick our hand in a cow stomach, get a window into our core through the story of a human science experiment, listen in on the surprising back-and-forth between our gut and our brain, and talk to a man who kind of went out of his mind when a medical procedure left him (for a little while) gutless.

June 23 - "When Brains Attack!"

In this episode of Radiolab, strange stories of brains that lead their owners astray, knock them off balance, and, sometimes, propel them to do amazing things. We hear from a kid whose voice was disguised from himself, relive a surreal day in the life of a young researcher who was hijacked by her own brain, and try to keep up with an ultra-athlete who, after suffering terrible seizures, gained extraordinary abilities through removing a chunk of her brain.

June 30 - "Ghost Stories"

Ghosts, ghouls, shades from the past ... in this episode of Radiolab, real-life people try to pin down, and make peace with, mysterious figures that haunt them, prod them, and fade out of existence. One man finds a way to put the beatdown on his personal bogey man, a dead monk spurs a king to build a perfect prayer machine, an unknown face launches a thousand dummies (actually, a whole lot more than that), and a skeptic goes on a one-way to journey to find out whether spirits exist.

December 3 - " The Promised Land: Think Like a Bee"

When you sit down at your holiday table, thank a bee. A third of the food on your plate is made possible by these pollinators, whose numbers are being decimated by disease and colony collapse disorder. But the bees have a champion in Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota researcher and MacArthur "Genius" who thinks like a bee. Her intuitive approach - combined with scientific method - has given the world tremendous insight into these fascinating insects. Marla will show host Majora Carter (no newbie herself - Majora is an urban beekeeper) the secrets she's beginning to uncover about the lives of bees, and how bees can help we humans to be more resilient and to build healthier communities.

December 10 - "Squeezebox Stories: A Musical and Social History of the Accordion"

The accordion is about much more than the Polka. It's one of the first global instruments. Played all over the world everywhere from Italy to China, a look at what's behind the surprisingly wide appeal of this ultimate people's instrument.

December 17 - "Tinsel Tales: NPR Christmas Stories"

Christmas is a time of traditions, and over the years, NPR has created a few traditions of its own. In this hour-long special, wistfulness, joy, doubt, hope, all the emotions we feel at this time of year, all summoned up in memorable stories from the NPR broadcast archives.

December 24 - "Tinsel Tales 2"

NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth, and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope, and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.

December 31 - "The Capitol Steps: Politics Takes a Holiday"

Ring in the New Year with the Capitol Steps "Politics Takes a Holiday."

January & February, 2012

When was the last time somebody told you a really good story?

The Moth Radio Hour is old-fashioned storytelling on modern topics. Each episode presents a selection of the very best stories from The Moth, which has been staging live storytelling shows since 1997. The Moth Radio Hour features true stories told live on-stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment. The Moth Radio Hour features most beloved tales and the stories behind the stories. The radio series debuted in 2009 and is now airing on more than 200 stations nationwide.

Some of the very things you love about The Moth - that it's smart, provocative radio that addresses some difficult topics - is why it's not always appropriate for all audiences.

January 7
A hair stylist recalls accompanying his father on hunting expeditions in Alabama, a young journalist carefully sets the stage to make her first time memorable, and best-selling novelist Walter Mosley cares for his ailing mother. Hosted by noted comic and storyteller Mike Birbiglia and producer Jay Allison.

January 14
A hiker is pinned underneath a refrigerator-sized boulder deep in the wilderness, a speechwriter describes his most challenging assignment ("Make Al Gore funny"), and a young art student battles her demons in the pursuit of love. Hosted by the founder of The Moth, George Dawes Green.

January 21
A high school quarterback leaves Montana as a promising son and returns years later to reveal a shocking secret; a boy from Sierra Leone describes his transformation from innocent child to cold-hearted soldier; a teenage girl discovers how to control her errant parrot; and a construction worker discovers the up-side of his girlfriend's one-year prison sentence. Hosted by The Moth's Senior Producer, Jenifer Hixson.

January 28
Christian McBride, a jazz bassist, is put to the test by his idol, Freddie Hubbard; a down and out comic considers ending it all until the universe sends him an unlikely sign; and New York writer Adam Gopnik details his daughter's cosmopolitan imaginary friend. Hosted by The Moth's Artistic Director, Catherine Burns.

February 4
A young woman is told to keep her heritage a secret...by her mother; a reckless partier gets shipwrecked and has to sober up enough to save the day; and an author contends with her unsupportive mother on her deathbed. Hosted by The Moth's Producing Director, Sarah Austin Jenness.

February 11 - 25, 2011

Black History Month is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African American people. This month, WPR offers a special program from poet Maya Angelou, and a two-part series from The Tavis Smiley Show.

February 11 - "Maya Angelou's Black History Month Special"

This one hour historical trek takes us from the 1950's thru the 1990's. Dr. Maya Angelou renders a poetic portrait of the day-to-day lives of African Americans during the civil rights era, when artists and activists, musicians and ministers joined hands with people from all walks of life to bring about a historic change in our culture.

February 18 - "The Tavis Smiley Show: Memories of the Movement" - Hour 1

Celebrating the courage, conviction, and commitment of the everyday people who made extraordinary contributions to American social progress, Memories of the Movement features poignant, humorous, unheard or little known stories from a number of well-known civil rights icons.

The first hour features stories from Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, Danny Glover, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Dr. Raye Richardson, activist Yuri Kochiyama, Congressman John Lewis, Dorothy Tillman, Rev. Robert Graetz, Harry Belafonte, Andrew Young, Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas of the Little Rock Nine, and comedian Dick Gregory.

February 25 - "The Tavis Smiley Show: Memories of the Movement" - Hour 2

In the second hour, we hear from the legendary actress Ruby Dee, Clarence Jones, Xernona Clayton, Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rev. Amos Brown, journalist Earl Caldwell, Marian Wright Edelman, Taylor Rogers, and Rev. C.T. Vivian.

March 3, 2012

From The Kitchen Sisters, a program exploring the hidden world of girls. Stories of coming of age, rituals and rites of passage, the secret identities of women who crossed a line, blazed a trail, changed the tide.

March 10, 2012

On March 11th of last year, a massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident happened in Fukushima Japan. People in Japan refer to the events of that day as "three-eleven." What has the U.S. learned from Japan...and now what? Listen for "Particles: Nuclear Power After Fukushima," a new documentary from BURN, a production of SoundVision and American Public Media.

March 17 - April 14, 2012

March 17 - "The Days of Wine & Mouses"

When you take a sip of Cabernet, what are you tasting -- the grape? the tannins? the oak barrel? Or is it the price? Believe it or not, the most dominant flavor may be the dollars. Thanks to the work of some intrepid and wine-obsessed economists (yes, there is an American Association of Wine Economists), we have a new understanding of the relationship between wine, critics, and consumers. One of these researchers is Robin Goldstein, whose paper detailing more than 6,000 blind tastings reaches the conclusion that "individuals who are unaware of the price do not derive more enjoyment from more expensive wine." So why do we pay so much attention to critics and connoisseurs who tell us otherwise? That's the question we set out to answer. You'll hear Steve Levitt, who admits his palate is "underdeveloped," and pulls a wine stunt on his elders at Harvard's Society of Fellows; and wine broker Brian DiMarco, who pulled a stunt of his own on his very wine-savvy employees.

Also in this episode of Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner witnesses something that would doom any dining experience: while eating at a restaurant, a customer one table away was served a salad with a dead mouse in it. So, how does a business respond in the face of such a disaster? Vincent Herbert, the CEO of the restaurant in question, Le Pain Quotidien, explains what happened and how he coped; and crisis-control expert Andrew Gowers talks about facing the public on behalf of Lehman Brothers, post-collapse, and BP after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

March 24 - " Show and Yell"

Is booing an act of verbal vandalism -- or the last true expression of democracy? In this episode of Freakonomics Radio, hear how Philadelphia sports fans earned their reputation as the loudest boo-birds, and to what extent culture -- high or low -- plays a role. Guests include former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who admits to booing Santa Claus; and sportswriter/opera buff Robert Lipsyte, who was surprised that more people didn't boo Pavarotti when he "parked and barked" his way through a performance.

Also in this episode, we'll look at "conspicuous conservation" -- when people go out of their way to engage in "green" activities. It turns out that driving a Prius may do a little bit of good for the planet ?- but being seen driving a Prius may do a lot of good (for you, at least). Also: why some people install solar panels on the shady side of the street.

March 31- " The Power of the President ... and the Thumb"

In this Freakonomics Radio episode we ask a simple, heretical question: How much does the President of the United States really matter? Stephen Dubner talks to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, economists Austan Goolsbee and Justin Wolfers, and constitutional scholar Bernadette Meyler about how the President's actual influence can be measured; and Steve Levitt weighs in on how he thinks the President shapes the nation, and whether he'll be voting in the next election.

Also in this episode, we look at another supposed truism: hitchhiking is terribly dangerous. True? The fact is that hitchhiking has practically disappeared in America. But why? Was it really as dangerous as we believed? Even if so, what other factors were at play? Among our guests are data wizard Bill James, who says our risk aversion to hitchhiking makes it more dangerous, and transportation scholar Alan Pisarski, who looks at how hitchhiking can inform future transportation policy. Would our society be better off with more hitchhiking?

April 7 - "Eating and Tweeting"

We look at the tension between "slow food" - a return to the past - and the food future. You'll hear from slow-food champion Alice Waters and uber-modernist Nathan Myhrvold, who advocates bringing more science into the kitchen - including, perhaps, a centrifuge, a pharmaceutical freeze drier and a... food printer?

Also in this episode: we delve into the social mores of Twitter. Is it a two-way street? Do you have to follow someone on Twitter to garner a large following yourself? Or are the mores of digital friendship different from those in real life? Twitter is a tool that has created a funny kind of friendship -- one that's less social than most people think. We'll hear about the Twitter give-and-take from sociologist Duncan Watts. Also, Justin Halpern parleyed his hit Twitter feed "Sh*t My Dad Says" into a best-selling book and a TV show; we learn about the one guy he follows. And Steve Levitt weighs in on just how important (or not) Twitter is in his life.

April 14 - "Could a Lottery Be the Answer to America's Poor Savings Rate?"

A recent Harvard survey found that half of all Americans, if faced with an emergency, couldn't come up with $2,000 in 30 days. We have a famously low savings rate. Most people would rather spend than save -- and one of our favorite expenditures is playing the lottery. Last year, we spent more than $58 billion on lottery tickets, or roughly $200 per person. As entertainment goes, the lottery is pretty cheap -- a dollar and a dream, and all that. But as an investment, it offers a dreadful return, which is why the lottery is sometimes called "a tax on stupid people."

This episode of Freakonomics Radio looks at a little-known financial tool that might help people save more money while still giving them the thrill of the lottery. It's called a Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) account, and it pools a sliver of the interest from all depositors and pays out cash lottery prizes. It combines the thrill of the lottery with the safety of a savings account -- thus, a "no-lose lottery." In places like England and South Africa, millions of people have been coaxed into saving money via a PLS plan, but state and federal officials in the U.S. aren't very interested. Why? Here's a hint: guess who runs (and profits from) the lotteries in our country?

Also in this episode, we take a broader look at financial literacy -- or, really, financial illiteracy. In general, Americans aren't very good at the basics of saving, investing and retirement planning. So Freakonomics Radio wants to know: How do we improve our grade? We'll hear ideas for putting financial literacy in school curriculums, and from someone who thinks we shouldn't even try to learn it. And if we can't, can the solution be found in a Los Angeles hospital? Guests also include two members of President Obama's economic team and National Book Award-winner Sherwin Nuland.

April 21, 2012

An Earth Day special coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst in U.S. History. Host Alex Chadwick travels to the Gulf Coast to talk with fishermen and ecologists, oil chemists, and community activists to gauge how the local community is recovering after the ecological and economic insult. As we contemplate the continued use of fossil hydrocarbons, how should we think about future energy needs? BURN will consider the question: What might come after oil?

April 28, 2012

Innovators change our world. They begin with real world problems and find solutions through technology, imagination, hard work, and a drive to make our lives better. This program looks at innovators who are creating a mesmerizing array of inventions that have the potential to improve our lives in ways beyond our imagination.

A professor and a group of graduate students at Northwestern who are using nano-technology to create a pen that can turn off cancer cells and a DNA diagnostic machine that can read your DNA and give your doctor a complete disease assessment in under five minutes.

A team of engineering graduate students who are assigned the seemingly impossible task of constructing and riding a bike made out of paper.

A robotic engineer who sets out to build a robotic tennis buddy and ends up inventing a virtual reality machine that re-teaches stroke victims how to use their arms and legs.

A civil engineer from the University of Michigan who uses the biology of human skin to make a self-sensing bridge 'skin' that allows bridges to tell us when they are in distress.

Two engineers who use salmonella bacteria to create a spider silk protein solution which they 'spin' into spider silk, a remarkably strong material that could replace Kevlar and other plastics.