John Tierney joins us to talk about searching for the half-full glass when it seems the world wants to smash it altogether.
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The Mathematics of Luck
Wall Street Journal sports reporter Ben Cohen joins us to talk about the algorithms that can keep us on a roll, and the myths that prove they can’t.
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The Function (And Dysfunction) Of Fear
Chapman University sociology professor Christopher Bader joins us to talk about the anxiety we’re feeling and how social ties are severed when we fear too much.
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The Natural Leadership Of Parents
Alyssa Westring, associate professor and DePaul Presidential Fellow in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, joins us to talk about managing family life in this current time of upheaval.
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She Thought She Was White – Then She Found Out About Her Dad
Sarah Valentine joins us to talk about her path to rediscovering herself after discovering she is biracial.
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How VR Connects Us To Real Feelings
Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips joins us to talk about how we should think about using social media – and about the pluses and minuses of substituting in-person connections for virtual ones.
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Where Did Music Come From?
Music historian Ted Gioia joins us to talk about the outsiders that pushed music forward, throughout history.
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Pandemics: Then And Now
Frank M. Snowden, the Andrew Downey Orrick Professor Emeritus of History and History of Medicine at Yale University, joins us to talk about how infectious outbreaks — both terrifying and romanticized — have shaped our world.
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Is it Time to Redefine Family?
David Brooks, The New York Times columnist, joins us to talk about why depending on a small, concentrated support network is not only ahistorical but also reserved for the “financially fortunate.”
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Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim And The History Of Women In Rap
Music journalist Kathy Iandoli joins us to talk about the contributions of Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa and other woman artists – and why the contributions of women in rap are so often overlooked.
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Refugees Revived This Dying Town
Cynthia Anderson, journalist and teacher of writing at Boston University, joins us to talk about Lewiston, Maine — a city that has transformed itself through the arrival of African Muslim refugees.
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Listen to This Before You Do a DNA Test
Journalist Libby Copeland joins us to talk about the pluses and minuses of opening a door into who is really related to whom.
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