As monocropping and agribusiness continue to dominate modern farming, we speak to farmers, botanists and indigenous people about how they are reclaiming our seeds.Read more
Exploring the Deeper End of Ideas
Show Archives
- March 17, 2018
- September 14, 2019
When was the last time you said something so mortifying that all you wanted to do was crawl under a rock and hide? From teenage angst to cringe comedy, we're setting aside the shame and reveling in all things awkward.Read more
- January 26, 2019
- September 07, 2019
Every so often, a new literary movement coalesces. A new generation of writers finds a voice. This time they’re young, gifted, and Native American.Read more
- June 23, 2018
- September 07, 2019
You score a royal flush in poker! Do you credit your skill? Or luck? We talk with a poker champion, a game designer, an investment banker and a choreographer about how to untangle skill from luck.Read more
- February 10, 2018
- November 24, 2018
- August 31, 2019
“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
- September 01, 2018
- August 31, 2019
It's not easy in America today to find work that matters, that’s meaningful, and that pays enough to live on. Which is the one thing we don’t talk about. What’s wrong with work — and how do we fix it?Read more
- November 17, 2018
- August 24, 2019
The virtues of transgressive, subversive, rule-breaking art, both as an aesthetic and as a way of life. Read more
- December 22, 2018
- August 24, 2019
You're thinking about hitting “delete” on all of it — Facebook, Twitter. But is that the answer, or should we resolve to stick around and make things better?Read more
- August 17, 2019
Millions of people are caring for someone with severe memory loss, trying to find ways to connect. One of the best ways anyone has found is music.Read more
- March 24, 2018
- November 17, 2018
- August 17, 2019
Modern anti-depressants have saved a lot of minds. And lives. But what have they done to our bodies? And how do we navigate that trade-off between body and mind?Read more
- August 10, 2019
What makes someone want to walk into a ring and hit someone? Choose to take a punch? Why men — and women — fight. And why so many of us like to watch.Read more
- August 18, 2018
- August 03, 2019
From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?
- December 01, 2018
- August 03, 2019
We’ve been taught to ignore, stifle, or just get over anger for many years — but what if we embraced it?Read more
- August 25, 2018
- July 27, 2019
A garden, a tree, an apple and a serpent. The story of Adam and Eve is as old as sin. But it’s a lot more than a Bible story.Read more
- July 27, 2019
Your voice is unique. It's how your friends and family know you. But how comfortable are you with your voice? And how freely do you use it?Read more
- June 02, 2018
- July 20, 2019
How do you cope with unpleasant people? We consider the adage “hell is other people.”Read more
- November 10, 2018
- July 20, 2019
It's a long walk from the truth to the whole truth. A biographer, a poet, a memoirist and a filmmaker describe the moral struggle and personal cost involved.Read more
- July 13, 2019
Summer reading lists are full of so-called "beach books." But if you’ve got enough time to lounge by a pool or swing in a hammock, why not tackle something more substantial?Read more
- November 24, 2018
- July 06, 2019
What's the essence of religion? God? Scripture? Moral codes? Or is it really about something more unexplainable — primal spiritual experiences?Read more
- March 03, 2018
- July 06, 2019
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
- October 13, 2018
- June 29, 2019
Covert spies painting nerve agents on doorknobs? It's not the only way to poison someone. We hear stories of radioactive paint, formaldehyde-spiked baby formula, and a beautiful garden full of plants that could kill you.Read more
- January 13, 2018
- September 22, 2018
- June 29, 2019
Ever had the nagging suspicion that you’re being watched? You are. We all are.Read more
- July 14, 2018
- June 22, 2019
Do chimpanzees have spiritual experiences? A remarkable discovery in West Africa suggests they might.Read more
- June 22, 2019
We're always online but still have an innate need to meet in person. How can we make gatherings, from dinner parties to work meetings, more meaningful?Read more
- April 21, 2018
- June 15, 2019
More than 38 million Americans knit or crochet. Not because they crave mittens and afghans, but because they like the way knitting feels. Handwork turns out be a powerful antidote for digital overload. Read more
- September 15, 2018
- June 15, 2019
The first birth is when you arrive here, as a wet, wiggling newborn. But there may be other transitions in your life that feel just as difficult and profound. Some people actually call those passages re-birth. Read more
- March 10, 2018
- October 20, 2018
- June 08, 2019
DNA tests are uncovering mixed bloodlines. For African Americans, this can be emotionally-charged. What do you do when you find out one of your direct ancestors was a slave owner? Does it open the door to new conversations about racial justice?Read more
- June 08, 2019
We owe our past and future existence on Earth to fungi. Some can heal you, some can kill you, and some can change you forever.Read more
- May 26, 2018
- June 01, 2019
Why do we have schools? To build a workforce? To create democratic citizens? Read more