Two pioneering female scientists speak with us: one who describes life in the tops of trees as an eighth continent, and an oceanographer who studies bioluminescent marine animals that light up the ocean floor.
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The Science of Mind Control
Joel E. Dimsdale, distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, joins us to talk about mind control in the realms of religion, politics and society.
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The Gender Politics Of Contraception
Krystale E. Littlejohn, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Oregon, joins us to discuss why cis-gendered women are expected to prevent pregnancies, and how that reality underscores the gendered role of labor in America.
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How Sandra Day O’Connor Shaped The Supreme Court
Filmmaker Michelle Ferrari joins us to discuss the life and career of Sandra Day O’Connor, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan who became a critical swing vote on historic issues of race, gender and reproductive rights.
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How Should We Remember 9/11?
Andrew Levy, professor of English at Butler University, joins us to discuss how the many iterations of “Never Forget” events and monuments have created new narratives of the power and presence of America, and why those need to be reexamined.
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How Ideas Infect Our Brains
Andy Norman, director of the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University, joins us to discuss the ways conspiracy theories can corrupt sound thinking – and how we can strengthen ourselves to fight back against bad ideas.
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It’s Time To Recognize The Value Of ‘Women’s Work’
Type Media Center reporting fellow Sarah Jaffe joins us to talk about how Covid lockdowns made it clear how much Americans rely on care workers – and how little we value them monetarily.
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What It’s Like To Have Autism From An Autistic Person
Eric Garcia is an autistic journalist, and he joins us to talk about what autism is and isn’t, how it’s portrayed, and the support systems that are currently failing.
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Natural Disasters Shouldn’t Catch Us Off Guard
Samantha Montano is an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and she joins us to talk about the science of emergency management, and why we’re not doing enough to keep the public safe.
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All The Questions She Never Got To Ask Her Mother
Kat Chow is a founding member of the Code Switch podcast team from NPR, and she joins us to tell her story of grief, not only for herself, but for her extended family, spread out across the world.
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Don’t Blame The Bots For Fake News
BuzzFeed News senior reporter Joseph Bernstein joins us to talk about why it’s difficult to root out false information and break information silos.
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A 1968 Report Could’ve Brought Us Closer to Racial Justice, But We Ignored It
Columbia University journalism professor Jelani Cobb has written a new introduction for the Kerner Commission Report, and he joins us to discuss why the document is a landmark of American history and remains salient today.
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