Ranked #1
Leonard Susskind: A Life in Physics
Leonard Susskind: A Life in Physics
Last time I spoke to the theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind, it was about his long-running debate with Stephen Hawki... Read more
7 Apr 2013
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1hr 17mins
Ranked #2
Physicist Brian Greene on Black Holes (from 2009)
Physicist Brian Greene on Black Holes (from 2009)
First broadcast in Jan. 2009: physicist and master explainer Brian Greene on the space-, time-, and mind-bending propert... Read more
28 Nov 2011
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1hr
Ranked #3
Max Brooks on WWI, The Harlem Hellfighters, Zombies and Him
Max Brooks on WWI, The Harlem Hellfighters, Zombies and Him
Max Brooks on his best-selling graphic novel "The Harlem Hellfighters," the true story of a heroic black U.S. regiment i... Read more
24 Aug 2014
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1hr 11mins
Ranked #4
Cartoon Journalist Joe Sacco
Cartoon Journalist Joe Sacco
Over the last two decades, Joe Sacco has helped invent a new genre: comic-book journalism. He's reported from Sarajevo d... Read more
17 Jan 2010
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1hr 5mins
Ranked #5
The Double Life is Twice As Good
The Double Life is Twice As Good
Writer Jonathan Ames talks about his graphic novel, "The Alcoholic," his upcoming HBO comedy series and his double life ... Read more
8 Jun 2009
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56mins
Ranked #6
Mathematician/Computer Scientist Noson Yanofsky: The Outer Limits of Reason
Mathematician/Computer Scientist Noson Yanofsky: The Outer Limits of Reason
Does science have all the answers? The answer is no, and the proof comes from science itself. Mathematician/computer sci... Read more
15 Jun 2014
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1hr
Ranked #7
General Relativity for Beginners with Anthony Aguirre. Pt. 1 of 2 (Re-run)
General Relativity for Beginners with Anthony Aguirre. Pt. 1 of 2 (Re-run)
It was Einstein's greatest idea, and one of the most audacious leaps of scientific imagination ever. Much of what physic... Read more
8 Feb 2015
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1hr
Ranked #8
No One Dies in Lily Dale
No One Dies in Lily Dale
A new HBO documentary film depicts life--and afterlife--in Lily Dale, New York. Founded in 1879, Lily Dale is the "world... Read more
26 Jul 2010
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1hr 9mins
Ranked #9
Comedian Maria Bamford: Not Afraid of the Dark
Comedian Maria Bamford: Not Afraid of the Dark
When we last spoke to Bammer in 2008, she was still flying a little under the mainstream radar. In recent years she's br... Read more
26 Oct 2014
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55mins
Ranked #10
General Relativity for Beginners with Anthony Aguirre. Pt. 2 of 2 (Re-run)
General Relativity for Beginners with Anthony Aguirre. Pt. 2 of 2 (Re-run)
Cosmologist Anthony Aguirre and I continue our jaunt through General Relativity. Last week we presented some of the basi... Read more
15 Feb 2015
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51mins
Ranked #11
Jordan Ellenberg on How Not to Be Wrong
Jordan Ellenberg on How Not to Be Wrong
"The point of math isn't solving problems," Jordan Ellenberg told me, "it's understanding stuff." And all too often thes... Read more
17 Aug 2014
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1hr 7mins
Ranked #12
Psychologist Steven Pinker on the Decline of Violence
Psychologist Steven Pinker on the Decline of Violence
Steven Pinker, celebrated for his books on language and the workings of the mind, ventures into big history with his lat... Read more
31 Oct 2011
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59mins
Ranked #13
Iran, Then and Now
Iran, Then and Now
Iranian film maker Nahid Sarvestani describes her involvement in the Iranian revolution 30 years ago and discusses her l... Read more
22 Jun 2009
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56mins
Ranked #14
North African Music with Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou
North African Music with Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou
A musical journey to North Africa with Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou of the band Aza. The versatile singer/instrument... Read more
22 May 2011
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1hr 13mins
Ranked #15
Lives in Art: Harvey Pekar and Jonathan Ames
Lives in Art: Harvey Pekar and Jonathan Ames
In part 1, a 2006 interview with Harvey Pekar, who died this past week on July 12. We talked about his brawling youth, h... Read more
19 Jul 2010
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1hr 6mins
Ranked #16
Philosopher Peter Singer on Ethics in Theory and Practice
Philosopher Peter Singer on Ethics in Theory and Practice
Peter Singer may be the world's best-known ethicist. He's regarded as the intellectual father of the animal liberation m... Read more
7 Nov 2011
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51mins
Ranked #17
Firesign Forever: Phil Proctor and Phil Austin
Firesign Forever: Phil Proctor and Phil Austin
As the legendary Firesign Theatre comedy troupe prepared for a reunion tour, two of its members, Phil Austin and Phil Pr... Read more
3 Oct 2010
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49mins
Ranked #18
Sebastian Seung: Mapping the Brain's Connectome (Rerun)
Sebastian Seung: Mapping the Brain's Connectome (Rerun)
And you thought sequencing the human genome was a big job. MIT neuroscientist Sebastian Seung is proposing something eve... Read more
23 Dec 2012
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57mins
Ranked #19
The Living Music of Elena Kats-Chernin (Rerun)
The Living Music of Elena Kats-Chernin (Rerun)
Despite an old-school classical education in the Soviet Union, where she grew up before emigrating to Australia as a tee... Read more
16 Dec 2012
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57mins
Ranked #20
Julia Reynolds: Gang Life and Gang Death In California
Julia Reynolds: Gang Life and Gang Death In California
Julia Reynolds never planned on becoming an expert on gang violence. But as a reporter covering towns like Salinas, CA, ... Read more
14 Sep 2014
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1hr 17mins