Radiolab

Radiolab: The Bad Show

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Airs Monday, August 6 at 8:00 p.m. Cruelty, violence, badness... This episode of Radiolab, we wrestle with the dark side of human nature, and ask whether it's something we can ever really understand, or fully escape. We encounter a man who scrambles our notions of good and evil, turn to one of the most famous (and misunderstood) psychology experiments ever, talk to a man who chased one of the most prolific serial killers in US history. then got a chance to ask him the question that had haunted him for years: why?

Radiolab: Colors

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Airs Monday, July 30 at 8:00 p.m. Our world is saturated in color, from the softest hues to the most lurid, violent stains. But it’s hard to put your finger on how something so intangible can have such a visceral punch. This hour, we ask how the pigments around us color our thoughts, and wonder how much of what we see is on the outside...and how much is created in our heads. From Sir Isaac Newton sticking a needle in his eye, to a sea creature that sees a rainbow far beyond what humans can experience.

Radiolab: After Life

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Airs Monday, July 23 at 8:00 p.m. What happens at the moment when we slip from life...to the other side? Is it a moment? If it is, when exactly does it happen? And what happens afterward? It’s an episode full of questions that don't have easy answers. Radiolab stares down the very moment of passing, and speculates about what may lay beyond.

Radiolab: Stochasticity

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Airs Monday, July 16 at 8:00 p.m. Stochasticity (a wonderfully slippery and smarty-pants word for randomness), may be at the very foundation of our lives. To understand just how big a role it plays, we look at chance and patterns in sports, lottery tickets, and even the cells in our own body. Along the way, we talk to a woman suddenly consumed by a frenzied gambling addiction, meet two friends whose meeting seems to defy pure chance, and take a close look at some very noisy bacteria.

Radiolab: Lucy

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Airs Monday, July 9 at 8:00 p.m. Chimps. Bonobos. Humans. We're all great apes, but that doesn’t mean we’re one happy family. Is this kind of cross-species co-habitation an utterly stupid idea? Or might it be our one last hope as more and more humans fill up the planet? This hour of Radiolab: stories of trying to live together. A chimp named Lucy teaches us the ups and downs of growing up human, and a visit to The Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa highlights some of the basics of bonobo culture (be careful, they bite).