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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Journalist Joe Keohane joins us to discuss the benefits of breaking down our silos and inclinations to isolate in order to find connection, empathy and a path to happiness.
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Jana Mohr Lone is director and founder of the University of Washington’s Center for Philosophy for Children. She joins us to talk about why children offer unique viewpoints on life’s philosophical mysteries, and why it’s important to take them seriously.
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Matthew Bothwell is an astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, and he joins us to talk about the rock – named “Oumuamua,” the theories that sprung up around it, and what happens when scarce data leads to wild speculation.
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Amanda Mull, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins us to talk about the flight attendants, grocery store clerks, gig workers and others on the frontlines of a rapidly declining atmosphere of civility, and what’s happening to customer service.
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