The Saturday Special

July 28 - "Colors"

Our world is saturated in color, from the softest hues to the most lurid, violent stains. But it's hard to put your finger on how something so intangible can have such a visceral punch.

July 21 - "After Life"

What happens at the moment when we slip from life...to the other side? Is it a moment? If it is, when exactly does it happen? And what happens afterward?

July 14 - "Stochasticity"

Stochasticity (a wonderfully slippery and smarty-pants word for randomness), may be at the very foundation of our lives.

July 7 - "Lucy"

Chimps. Bonobos. Humans. We're all great apes, but that doesn't mean we're one happy family. Stories of trying to live together.

June 30 - "Ghost Stories"

Ghosts, ghouls, shades from the past ... real-life people try to pin down, and make peace with, mysterious figures that haunt them, prod them, and fade out of existence.

June 23 - "When Brains Attack!"

Strange stories of brains that lead their owners astray,knock them off balance, and, sometimes, propel them to do amazing things.

June 16 - "Guts"

We dive into the messy mystery in the middle of us. What's going on down there?

June 9 - "Escape"

The walls are closing in, you've got no way out...and then, suddenly, you escape! Stories about traps, getaways, perpetual cycles, and staggering breakthroughs.

June 2 - "The Bad Show"

Cruelty, violence, badness... In this episode, we wrestle with the dark side of human nature, and ask whether it's something we can ever really understand, or fully escape.

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.

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 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.

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."

April 28, 2012

"The Mind of the Innovator"

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.

April 21, 2012

"Hunting for Oil: Risks and Rewards"

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 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."

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.

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?

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 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.

March 10, 2012

"Particles: Nuclear Power After Fukishima"

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 3, 2012

"The Hidden World of Girls"

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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 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"&41;, and a young art student battles her demons in the pursuit of love. Hosted by the founder of The Moth, George Dawes Green.

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.

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

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

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 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 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 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.