Filmmaker Larissa Lam joins us to tell the story of one man’s journey to document his Chinese family’s history in the Jim Crow South.
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America’s Mixed Feelings On Religion
We explore a few of the many religious stories playing out in our country, including the evolution of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the way our understanding of the Bible has changed through the years, and a look at why freedom of religion means the right to disavow religion altogether.
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If You’re Doing Yoga, You’re Part Of The Mainstream
Andrea R. Jain joins us to talk about modern capitalism’s stamp on ancient religious practices and the patina of social justice and self-care fueling a multimillion-dollar industry.
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Why We’re Not All Speaking Esperanto
Stephanie Tam joins us to tell the story of one man’s quest for a lingua franca that would bridge communication and why it was blocked by colonial ideas of English superiority.
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Seeing Ghosts Can Actually Be Good For Us
Patricia Pearson joins us to talk about why we dismiss these phenomena as nonsense and what we miss in the healing process when we do.
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How We Got To BIPOC
Christopher MacDonald-Dennis is chief diversity officer at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and he joins us to talk about the evolution of BIPOC and similar terms – and why some people embrace them while others don’t.
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The South Lives On In White Sororities
Scholar Margaret L. Freeman joins us to talk about the hyperfeminine world of sorority life and how sororities contribute to maintaining southern social hierarchies.
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Could A Simple Equation Explain The Universe?
Michio Kaku is a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and a co-founder of string field theory. He joins us to talk about a search to explain the very reasons we exist and why that’s a controversial idea.
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An Artist’s Quest To Replace The Irreplaceable
Michael Rakowitz joins us to talk about his work that uses historic moments as a launching board to workshop big ideas into moments of change.
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Darwin’s Guide To Alien Life
Arik Kershenbaum, a zoologist and fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge, joins us to talk about understanding evolution on Earth and how that might parallel alien life forms elsewhere.
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The World Needs More Toilets
Science journalist Chelsea Wald joins us to talk about what’s behind the plumbing and introduce the scientists and activists working to make sanitation healthy and accessible for all.
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Asian Americans And The Rise In Racism
Vishakha N. Desai, chair of Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought and a past president of the Asia Society, joins us to talk about these troubling statics, how Asians regularly face racist ideas that question their place in American society and what needs to happen to fight back.
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