WNYC's Radiolab

Shorts: Killer Empathy

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:00:00 -0500

Sometimes being a good scientist requires putting aside your emotions. But what happens when objectivity isn't enough to make sense of a seemingly senseless act of violence? In this short, Jad and Robert talk to an entomologist about the risks, and the rewards, of trying to see the world through someone else's eyes.

Shorts: Wake Up and Dream

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0500

In today's short, a man confronts a bully, and frees himself from a recurring nightmare that's terrorized him for more than 20 years.

The Bad Show

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0500

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.

Shorts: Mutant Rights

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:00:00 -0500

In this podcast short, a strange twist of legal taxonomy causes a dispute over whether X-MEN action figures are toys or dolls and sparks a court case about what it means to be human.

Shorts: Radiolab Presents: 99% Invisible

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:00:00 -0500

Roman Mars loves to spotlight the seams and joints that make up the world around us. He's the host of an irresistible podcast called 99% Invisible--a series of tiny radio stories that provoke enormous questions. Roman joins Jad and Robert to play a few favorites, and to chat about the hidden language of design that shapes our lives--from sound effects to stuff that’s more ... concrete.

Shorts: Death Mask

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:36:51 -0500

Near the end of the 19th century, a mysterious young woman with a beguiling smile turned up in Paris. She became a huge sensation. She also happened to be dead. You'd probably recognize her face yourself. You might have even touched it.

Patient Zero

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:17:26 -0500

The greatest mysteries have a shadowy figure at the center—someone who sets things in motion and holds the key to how 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.

Shorts: Sleepless in South Sudan

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:00:00 -0400

Carl Zimmer is one of our go-to guys when we need help untangling a complicated scientific idea. But in this short, he unravels something much more personal.

Shorts: Slow

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:00:00 -0400

Kohn Ashmore’s voice is arresting. It stopped his friend Andy Mills in his tracks the first time they met. But in this short about the power of friendship and familiarity, Andy explains that Kohn’s voice isn't the most striking thing about him at all.

Loops

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:00:00 -0400

Our lives are filled with loops that hurt us, heal us, make us laugh, and, sometimes, leave us wanting more. This hour, Radiolab investigates the strange things that emerge when something happens, then happens again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and … well, again.

Shorts: Loop the Loop

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:10:00 -0400

For most of human history, flight was an impossible dream. In this short, the dizzying rise and fall of a pilot whose aeronautic feats changed aviation forever and turned chancy stunts into acrobatic mastery.

Shorts: Mapping Tic Tac Toe-dom

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:00:00 -0400

Writer Ian Frazier made a startling discovery several years ago in eastern Siberia: no one he met there had ever heard of tic tac toe. In this short, Jad and Robert wonder how a game that seems carved into childhood DNA could be completely unknown in some parts of the world.

Games

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:00:00 -0400

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?

Shorts: Damn It, Basal Ganglia

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:50:00 -0400

The basal ganglia is a core part of the brain, deep inside your skull, that helps control movement. Unless something upsets the chain of command. In this short, Jad and Robert meet a young researcher who was studying what happens when the basal ganglia gets short-circuited in mice...until one fateful day, when things got really, really weird.

Shorts: A 4-Track Mind

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:00:00 -0400

In this short, a neurologist issues a dare to a ragtime piano player and a famous conductor. When the two men face off in an fMRI machine, the challenge is so unimaginably difficult that one man instantly gives up. But the other achieves a musical feat that ought to be impossible.

REBROADCAST: Detective Stories

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:00:00 -0400

We're celebrating summer with a classic episode of Radiolab--full of mystery, intrigue...and a goat standing on a cow. We haven't actually tried listening to it around a campfire, but we're betting it would totally work. See you in two weeks with a new short!

Shorts: Curious Sounds: A Radiolab Concert

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:00:00 -0400

In this short, Jad presents the electrifying sounds of three mind-bending musical acts: Brooklyn duo Buke & Gass, drummer Glenn Kotche of Wilco, and the one-and-only Reggie Watts. Their performances were recorded live at our Curious Sounds concert earlier this month in NYC.

Shorts: A Clockwork Miracle

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:00:00 -0400

In 1562, King Philip II needed a miracle. So he commissioned one from a highly-skilled clockmaker. In this short, a king's deal with God leads to an intricate mechanical creation, and Jad heads to the Smithsonian to investigate.

Talking to Machines

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:30:26 -0400

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.

Shorts: Dogs Gone Wild

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:33:00 -0400

In this short, a family dog disappears into the woods...and the mystery of what happened to him raises a big question about what it means to be wild.

Shorts: Cosmic Habituation

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:20:00 -0400

In this short, Jonathan Schooler tells us about a discovery that launched his career and led to a puzzle that has haunted him ever since.

Radiolab Video: Symmetry

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:23:27 -0400

Is the world full of deep symmetries and ordered pairs? Or do we live in a lopsided universe? This striking video by Everynone plays with our yearning for balance, and reveals how beautiful imperfect matches can be. The video was inspired by our episode Desperately Seeking Symmetry.

Desperately Seeking Symmetry

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:02:15 -0400

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.

Shorts: In the Running

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:00:00 -0400

Diane Van Deren is one of the best ultra-runners in the world, and it all started with a seizure. In this short, Diane tells us how her disability gave rise to an extraordinary ability.

Shorts: Pass the Science

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:00:00 -0400

Richard Holmes went to Cambridge University intending to study the lives of poets. Until a dueling mathematician, and a dinner conversation composed entirely of gestures, changed his mind.

Help!

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:00:00 -0500

What do you do when your own worst enemy is...you? This hour, Radiolab looks for ways to gain the upper hand over those forces inside us--from unhealthy urges, to creative insights--that seem to have a mind of their own.

Shorts: A Flock of Two

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:00:00 -0500

In today's short, we get to know a man who struggles, and mostly fails, to contain his violent outbursts...until he meets a bird who can keep him in check.

Shorts: Radiolab Presents: The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:00:00 -0500

This week on the podcast, football! No, it's not a Super Bowl recap. Jad and Robert present a piece from across the pond--a piece about soccer they fell in love with when they heard it at the Third Coast festival in Chicago.

Lost & Found

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Radiolab steers its way through a series of stories about getting lost, and asks how our brains, and our hearts, help us find our way back home.

Shorts: The Universe Knows My Name

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:25:30 -0500

In this new short, we explore luck and fate, both good and bad, with an author and a cartoon character.

Shorts: Blood Buddies

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:04:51 -0500

In this new short, a tree full of blood-sucking bats lends a startling twist to our understanding of altruism and natural selection.

The Good Show

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:00:00 -0500

In this episode, a question that haunted Charles Darwin: if natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, how do you explain why one creature might stick its neck out for another?

Shorts: Gravitational Anarchy

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 22:00:00 -0500

A mysterious case of the topsy turvies and a return to the question of what felines feel when they fall.

Shorts: What Does Technology Want?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:00:00 -0500

Are new ideas and new inventions inevitable? Are they driven by us or by a larger force of nature?

Cities

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:23:23 -0400

One tidy mathematical formula may hold the key to how cities work. This hour, Radiolab takes to the streets to test the numbers...and ask what really makes cities tick.

Shorts: Wild Talk

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:00:00 -0400

In today's podcast, we get a tantalizing taste of words in the wild, from the jungles to the prairie.

Shorts: The Walls of Jericho

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:00:00 -0400

In this podcast, Jad and Robert throw some physics at a bible story. We find out just how many trumpeters you'd actually need to blow down the walls of Jericho.

Falling

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:00:00 -0400

This hour, Radiolab rollicks through stories of falling. We plunge into a black hole, take a trip over Niagara Falls, and upend some myths about falling cats.

Shorts: Voices in Your Head

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:55:10 -0400

In this podcast, Jad talks to Charles Fernyhough about the connection between thought and the voice in your head. How did it get there? And what's happening when people hear someone else's voice in their head?

Time

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:47:48 -0400

This hour, Radiolab revels in the elasticity of Time, and takes a spin through history--stopping at a 19^th-century railroad station in Ohio, a track meet, and a Beethoven concert.

Bonus Video: Words

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:00:15 -0400

Words have the power to shape the way we think and feel. In this stunning video (made to accompany our Words episode), filmmakers Will Hoffman and Daniel Mercadante bandy visual wordplay into a moving exploration of the power of language.

Words

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:40:46 -0400

It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without words. But in this hour of Radiolab, we try to do just that. A woman teaches a 27-year-old the first words of his life, and a neurologist suffers a stroke that wipes out the language center of her brain.

Shorts: Secrets of Success

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:15:58 -0400

Robert and Malcolm Gladwell duke it out over questions of luck, talent, passion, and success.

Shorts: The Luckiest Lobster

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:51:55 -0400

An unlikely escape story begins in a supermarket, and ends in a boat off the coast of Maine.

Oops

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:49:59 -0400

Oops. In this hour of Radiolab, stories of unintended consequences--from a psychologist whose zeal to safeguard national security may have backfired, to a toxic lake that spawned new life.

Shorts: Strangers in the Mirror

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:59:27 -0400

Oliver Sacks, the famous neuroscientist and author, can't recognize faces. Neither can Chuck Close--the great artist known for his enormous paintings of ... that's right, faces.

Deception

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:48:11 -0400

We examine the strange power of lies with a charismatic cast of characters (from pathological liars to lying snakes to drunken psychiatrists) on this hour of Radiolab.

Famous Tumors

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:34:42 -0400

This hour of Radiolab: famous tumors. Say hello to the growth that killed Ulysses S. Grant, and get to know the woman whose cancer cells changed modern medicine. The good, bad,…and ugly side of anatomical aberrations.

Shorts: Vanishing Words

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:00:35 -0400

When scientists treat words like data, clues to the real-life mysteries of human aging are found in the writings of Agatha Christie and 678 nuns.

Shorts: The Loudest Miniature Fuzz

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 22:56:09 -0400

Music duo Buke and Gass talk to Jad about coaxing delightfully twangy sounds from their homemade instruments.

Limits

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:45:37 -0400

A journey to the edge of human limits. On this hour of Radiolab, we test physical endurance with a bike race that makes the Tour de France look like child’s play, and mental capacity with a mind-stretching memory competition.

Shorts: The Bus Stop

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:15:42 -0400

Lulu Miller talks to a nursing home in Düsseldorf, Germany that came up with a novel approach to caring for Alzheimer's and Dementia patients.

Shorts: Do I Know You?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:52:02 -0500

A rare and haunting disorder called Capgras turns loved ones into imposters--and reveals that recognizing people, even the people we know the best, is more about how they make us feel than what we see in front of our eyes.

Lucy

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:50:06 -0500

Chimps. Bonobos. Humans. We're all great apes, but that doesn’t mean we’re one happy family. On this hour of Radiolab: stories of living together--from a chimp named Lucy, to the basics of bonobo culture (be careful, they bite).

Shorts: The Shy Baboon

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:38:48 -0500

Biopsychologist Barbara Smuts takes us to a remote area of Kenya, where she tried to gain the trust of a troop of baboons in the 1970s.

Shorts: Fu Manchu

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:00:39 -0500

A showdown between a zookeeper and an orangutan named Fu Manchu raises a question: can an animal know what's in your head well enough to manipulate and deceive you?

Animal Minds

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:56:16 -0500

This hour of Radiolab: communicating across species. We get the story of a rescued whale that may have found a way to say thanks, ask whether dogs feel guilt, and wonder if a successful predator may have fallen in love with a photographer.

Placebo

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:47:14 -0500

From the symbolic power of the doctor coat, to the very real stash of opium in your brain, this hour of Radiolab explores the healing powers of belief and imagination.

Shorts: In C

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:00:29 -0500

Jad talks to musicians Michael Lowenstern and Zoe Keating about their remixes of Terry Riley's In C.

Numbers

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:49:10 -0500

Regardless of how you feel about numbers, chances are you rely on them every day. This hour, Radiolab ponders the nature of numbers, and wonders what life might look like without them.

Shorts: Killing Babies, Saving the World

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:30:45 -0500

Robert ambushes Jad with a question we've all been dying to ask him since he became a father. And we revisit some other ideas from our Morality show to think about a few really big modern-day problems (think global warming and nuclear war).

Shorts: Helicopter Boy

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:35:34 -0500

A story about a boy, a mom, and a homemade helicopter--and how radio can move you to feel a little bit different about the world.

New Normal?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:39:32 -0400

This hour of Radiolab: stories of adaptation. Is a peacenik baboon, a man in a dress, or a cuddly fox a sign of things to come? Or just a flukey outlier? We reframe our ideas about normalcy.

Shorts: Blink

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:18:37 -0400

We tackle a question we thought was a no-brainer: why do we blink?

Shorts: It Might Be Science

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:00:03 -0400

They Might Be Giants celebrate at our season launch party with a live concert, and a conversation about the tricky business of combining science and entertainment.

Parasites

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:35:58 -0400

What's gotten into you? In this hour of Radiolab: encounters with parasites. Tales of lethargic farmers, zombie cockroaches, and even mind-controlled humans (kinda, maybe).

Shorts: After Birth

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:55:25 -0400

Jad--a brand new father--wonders what's going on inside the head of his baby Amil. Is it just chaos? Or is there something more, some understanding from the very beginning?

Shorts: 16: Moments

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:00:54 -0400

After hearing our show about moments of death, filmmaker Will Hoffman went out in search of moments of life. What follows is what he found.

Shorts: 15: Sum

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:00:52 -0400

For meditation number fifteen we have a reading from David Eagleman's book Sum. It's a vision of the after life that's both playful and... horrifying. Sum is read by actor Jeffrey Tambor.

Shorts: 14: The Four Groans

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:00:26 -0400

Another meditation on what happens after the moment of death, this time as Shakespeare envisions it.

Shorts: 13: Gone

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:00:58 -0400

We continue our meditations on death with a reading from poet and writer, Mark Doty. This is an excerpt from Doty's 1996 memoir Heaven's Coast.

Shorts: 12: Proof

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:00:59 -0400

This week on the podcast, we continue our meditations on death (our After Life episode had eleven). We'll throw a new one at you each day, all week long, culminating in a very special treat at the end of the week.

After Life

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:46:15 -0400

Death is inevitable. But is it truly final? This hour: Radiolab stares down the very moment of passing, and speculates about what may lay beyond.

Shorts: In Defense of Darwin?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:30:28 -0400

Robert challenges Richard Dawkins on a number of sticky spots on the subject of biological evolution.

Shorts: Are We Coins?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:30:57 -0400

We follow up on our Stochasticity show with an exploration pf whether the little choices we make every day are predictable or not.

Stochasticity Bonus Video!

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:59:00 -0400

We have a special bonus this week to accompany our Stochasticity episode. We asked our friends, Higher Mammals to produce a song and video for our Stochasticity show. We hope you find it completely Random!

Stochasticity

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:57:17 -0400

Stochasticity is a wonderfully slippery and smarty-pants word for randomness. This hour of Radiolab: making sense of the patterns we see-- from lucky streaks to gambling odds, to two girls named Laura.

Shorts: Stayin' Alive

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:40:31 -0400

A look at four unconventional ways to stay alive.

Shorts: AV Smackdown . . . The Podcast

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:30:51 -0400

We open up an age old can of worms at WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space: which medium is superior -- television or radio? Jad and Robert face off, with This American Life's Ira Glass as referee.

Shorts: Juana Molina

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:30:10 -0400

Sometimes on the podcast, we like to talk about musicians and the music they make. Today we introduce you to Juana Molina. Last season we used some of her of music in the breaks for the Sperm show.

Where Am I?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:47:00 -0400

Under high gravity forces, fighter pilots often lose consciousness while flying jet planes. This hour of Radiolab, examining the connection between your brain and your body...and what happens when it breaks.

Shorts: In Silence

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:30:12 -0400

There are some questions that just don't give in to experiments and data. We take on one of those questions.

Shorts: DIY Universe

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:15:13 -0400

Can you make your own universe? We usually think of the universe as 'everything that exists,' so how could you make another one?

Shorts: Mischel’s Marshmallows

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:04:28 -0400

Psychologist Walter Mischel explains how one little test involving a marshmallow might tell you a frightening amount about what kind of person you are.

Shorts: Darwinvaganza

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:00:06 -0500

Radiolab throws a birthday party for Charles Darwin! Robert Krulwich invites three experts to toast the birthday boy.

Shorts: The Obama Effect, Perhaps.

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:47:19 -0500

A study that finds a link between President Obama's election and the test scores of African Americans gets Jad and Robert thinking about an earlier study on a psychological effect called "stereotype threat."

Parabolas (etc.)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:24:52 -0500

Special bonus of the week! A video inspired by the mathematician, Steve Strogatz. At the age of thirteen, Steve was astonished to find that pendulums and water fountains had a strange relationship that had previously been completely hidden from him.

Yellow Fluff and Other Curious Encounters

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:44:09 -0500

The pursuit of knowledge leads sometimes to answers, often to failure, and almost invariably to more questions. In this hour of Radiolab, stories of love and loss in the name of science.

Diagnosis

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:22:22 -0500

What's in a name? In this hour of Radiolab: diagnosis—our attempt to find out what's wrong, and give it a label. We examine how we get to the root of a problem, and how we react when we get there.

Race

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:06:40 -0500

Our genes are nearly all the same, but that hasn't made race meaningless. This hour, Radiolab asks what race is, and whether it's fixed or fluid, genes or culture?

Sperm

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:48:51 -0500

Sperm carry half the genes needed for human life. In this hour of Radiolab, we examine our beginnings, take a tour of the animal kingdom, and ponder a world where frozen sperm can last for all eternity.

Choice

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:48:43 -0500

When presented with a choice, logic and emotion pipe up. This hour of Radiolab, we turn up the volume on those voices in our heads, and try to get to the bottom of what really steers our decisions.

War of the Worlds

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:48:23 -0500

In 1938, Orson Welles produced a radio play that sounded an awful lot like a news report about Martians invading New Jersey. On this hour of Radiolab: deconstructing “The War of the Worlds,” and the power of mass media to create panic.

Shorts: Chris And Lisa

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:27:16 -0400

Chris had a crush on Lisa. But how to woo her? He met her on a park bench in Chicago, handed her a stack of CD's, and sent her off on an extremely specific mission. Did it work? Find out on this week's podcast.

Shorts: Sperm Tales

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:54:25 -0400

Two short pieces on sperm that hint at the new ideas and amazing stories we came across once we started following the trail of this wriggly little cell.

Shorts: Chasing Bugs

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:17:03 -0400

Remember the first time you ever saw an ant hill? That parade of black insects pouring in and out of a small sand mound...most of us stopped, looked, and then moved on to other parts of the playground. E. O. Wilson is the kid who never took his eyes off the mound.

Shorts: Making the Hippo Dance

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:10:57 -0400

We play some never-released tape from the vault, and reveal a bit about what techniques we used to try and make it sing.

Shorts: Quantum Cello

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:00:43 -0400

Jad and cellist Zoe Keating discuss the physics (if not metaphysics) of looping sound, and how to use a 17th century instrument to make avant-garde electronic music.

Shorts: The (Multi) Universe(s)

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:03:37 -0400

Robert and Brian Greene discuss what's beyond the horizon of our universe, what you might wear in infinite universes with finite pairs of designer shoes, and why the Universe and swiss cheese have more in common than you think.

Shorts: Tell Me A Story

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:06:40 -0400

Robert Krulwich's commencement speech at California Institute of Technology gets at the heart of what we do here at Radiolab. It's a treat to hear his passion. We enjoyed it. And we thought you might too.

Shorts: City X

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:04:57 -0400

This week, a piece from one of our favorite radio-makers, Jonathan Mitchell. 'City X' is a history of the modern shopping mall through perspectives of people living in a real, yet unnamed, city.

Shorts: Earworms

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:01:32 -0400

First, we asked you to tell us what song gets stuck in your head. Then, we asked you how you got it out. Finally, we made a podcast. Thank you to everyone who called in, shared their secret techniques, and sang without shame.

Shorts: Wordless Music

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:00:37 -0400

An excerpt from Wordless Music on WNYC, a 4-part music program hosted by Jad, exploring the boundaries between classical and pop music. Jad waxes googly-eyed fan when he gets to talk about one of his favorite bands, Stars of the Lid.

Shorts: Open Outcry

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:21:46 -0400

Jad presents a piece by one of his favorite producers: Ben Rubin. This audio portrait, called 'Open Outcry,' visits the trading floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, with its hundreds of traders shouting unintelligible phonic abbreviations and numbers back and forth.

Shorts: Jad and Robert: The Early Years

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:43:17 -0400

Ever wonder how Jad and Robert met? They tell their tale on stage at Oberlin College, and talk about how they started tinkering around with tape to come up with the Radiolab you know today.

Pop Music

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:35:23 -0400

This hour of Radiolab, pop music's pull: nightmarish stories of musical hallucinations, songs that transcend language, and the triumphant return of the Elvis of Afghanistan.

(So-Called) Life

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:09:23 -0400

The uneasy marriage of biology and engineering raises big questions about the nature of life. In this hour, Radiolab journeys to the first billion years of life on Earth, looks at how modern engineers tinker with living things, and meets a woman who could have been two people.

Laughter

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:47:53 -0500

This hour of Radiolab teases out stories of laughter--from a baby’s crib, to a rat’s cage, to a remote village in Tanzania that was struck by a laughing epidemic 45 years ago.

Shorts: Our Podcast comes in all shapes and sizes

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:23:12 -0500

Jad plays one of his favorite pieces of all time, 'IF' by Sherre DeLys.

Shorts: Salle Des Departs

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:50:22 -0500

Imagine that you're a composer. Imagine getting the commission to write a song that will allow family members to face the death of a loved one. David Lang had to do just that when a hospital in Garches, France, asked him to write music for their morgue, or 'Salle Des Departs.'

The Ring and I

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:49:09 -0500

It might seem hyperbole to claim, as many Wagnerites do, that The Ring Cycle is 'The Greatest Work of Art Ever.' But it's permeated our culture from Star Wars to Bugs Bunny to J.R.R. Tolkien. On this Radiolab/WNYC Special, we explore the impact and influence of Wagner's Ring Cycle on the Metropolitan Opera's 2004 Presentation.

The Wright Brothers

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:43:49 -0500

In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright managed to coax their spruce biplane off the North Carolina sand for twelve seconds, and those twelve seconds started a revolution in flight. We examine the human desire to fly, and how getting flight changed us.

Contact

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:47:29 -0500

This week, a look at the different ways that people connect to each other, and how they act once they’re together. NOTE: This episode contains EXPLICIT language about sex.

Space Capsules

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:56:07 -0500

How would you describe life on Earth to an alien? In 1977, the Voyager spacecraft launched into space. And with it, went the Golden Record-- a sort of time capsule, a collection of sounds and images that would describe life on Earth to whomever or whatever might find it.

Shorts: Making Radiolab

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:00:27 -0500

In spring of 2006, Jad and Robert took the stage at the SoHo Apple Store to talk about the making of Radiolab. Jad geeks out on digital sound editing, and Robert raises editorial questions. And film editor joins them to Walter Murch weigh in on storytelling.

Space

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:50:49 -0400

This hour of Radiolab, we ponder our insignificant place in the universe. We boldly go after stories of optimism, narcissism, and cynicism--stories all about Outer Space.

Musical Language

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:05:15 -0400

This hour of Radiolab: we explore the line between music and language, and turn to physics and biochemistry to ask how sound becomes feeling.

Detective Stories

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:40:31 -0400

Digging up the past leads to some very unexpected finds. This hour, Radiolab plays detective and goes sleuthing in some rather unusual places: an ancient trash dump, the side of the highway, and in the blood of millions of Asians.

Shorts: This is Your Brain On Love

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:28:47 -0400

Jad turns to science to help strangers fall in love...or at least exchange a few phone numbers...as the host of a Singles Night. And he gets some advice from a few experts on the chemistry of a 'brain on love.'

Emergence

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:32:53 -0400

What happens when there is no leader? Starlings, bees, and ants manage just fine. In fact, they form amazingly complicated societies. This hour of Radiolab: a look at the bottom-up logic of cities, Google, and even our brains.

Morality

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:11:17 -0400

For thousands of years philosophers have debated the essence of morality. Now, neuroscientists may have answers. This hour of Radiolab, stories of chimps sharing, human toddlers fighting, and 4th graders playing slumlords.

Beyond Time

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:45:51 -0400

This hour of Radiolab: fighting the inevitable march of time. We meet a scientist and his particle accelerator, an artist, and a whole cast of characters in the Mojave Desert, where geologic time flows like a frozen hourglass.

Mortality

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 17:00:43 -0400

Some scientists claim that aging is a disease that can be cured. On this hour of Radiolab, the modern search for the fountain of youth, and personal stories of witnessing death: the death of a cell, the death of a loved one, and the aging of a society.

Memory and Forgetting

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:59:55 -0400

Remembering is a tricky, unstable business. This hour of Radiolab: implanting false memories in loved ones, and erasing painful memories by simply swallowing a pill. Plus: the story of a man with the worst case of amnesia ever documented.

Zoos

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:10:12 -0400

Blood-thirsty Romans, frozen carcasses, wild jaguars, and a question: how do you build a better cage? This hour of Radiolab, we head to the zoo.

Sleep

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:38:40 -0400

Sleep is one of science's greatest mysteries. This hour of Radiolab, we look for answers in iguanas who doze with one eye open, new parents in the throes of sleep deprivation, and rats who may be dreaming.

Who Am I?

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 07 May 2007 17:09:45 -0400

The "mind" and "self" were formerly the domain of philosophers and priests. But in this hour of Radiolab, neurologists lead the charge. We reflect on the illusion of selfhood, contemplate the evolution of consciousness, and meet a woman who one day woke up as a completely different person.

Stress

listenerservices@wnyc.org (Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:41:25 -0400

Stress may save your life if you're being chased by a tiger. But if you're stuck in traffic, it may be more likely to make you sick. This hour of Radiolab, stories of stress--from a singer who loses her voice, to an author caught in a body that never grew up.