Gabrielle Glaser joins us to tell the story of how a system of closed adoptions across the nation operated on shifty moral ground and separated mother from child in the name of a wholesome environment.
Read more
How To Become More Open-Minded
Wharton School organizational psychologist Adam Grant joins us to talk about how sometimes growth comes through unlearning ideas we’ve always thought to be true.
Read more
Why we can’t stand humiliation
Essayist and author Vivian Gornick joins us to discuss why humiliation sticks with us long after the incident that brought it on.
Read more
His mom left the Phillippines for his sake–was it worth it?
Albert Samaha of BuzzFeed News joins us to tell the story of his family who left a middle-class life in the Philippines only to question whether leaving was the right decision after all.
Read more
Tony Soprano lives on
Willy Staley joins us to discuss our obsession with mafia stories, cynicism in the decade the show premiered compared to today, and what its new-found popularity says about the current state of America.
Read more
The search for a soul mate is a path to loneliness
Arthur C. Brooks joins us to discuss the realities of love at first sight, why that can be a recipe for unhappiness, and what to look for instead.
Read more
The anonymous tycoons shaping your community
Patrick Wyman, host of the Tides of History podcast, joins us to discuss the more salt-of-the-earth millionaires – whose wealth is derived from familial assets and low-wage workers – and the power they have over their local communities.
Read more
What your vaccine decision says about your thinking
Wake Forest philosophy professor Adrian Bardon joins us to discuss why distrust of science is part of cultural identity, and why that’s a problem for furthering the goals of public health.
Read more
How a tuba saved a life
Richard Antoine White joins us to talk about how music gave his young life purpose and allowed him to dream big enough to become the first African American student to earn a doctorate in music for tuba performance.
Read more
A conversation with U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo
The member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation joins us to discuss how she reckons with the loss of ancestral homelands, her personal story, and the rituals that provide her with inspiration.
Read more
Phoebe Robinson is one dope queen
We’ll talk with the co-creator and co-star of the hit podcast-turned-TV-show “2 Dope Queens” on HBO and the WNYC Studios podcast “Sooo Many White Guys.”
Read more
Is it possible to dress like an American?
Cathy Horyn, critic-at-large for The Cut at New York Magazine, joins us to discuss the aesthetics of the nation.
Read more