Recent & Upcoming Specials

Radio Lab: Sleep
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Every creature does it, from whales to flies, yet science still can’t answer the basic question: Why do we sleep? What is it for? We’ll…

America Abroad: Integrating Islam
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Violent protests and homegrown terrorist attacks in Europe have prompted societal soul searching about how Muslim immigrants fit into European society.…

K is for Koechel: The Story Behind Those Mozart Numbers
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:00 PM
If you listen to classical radio, eventually you’ll hear something like: “Here’s a divertimento, number 136 in the Koechel catalog…

Radio Lab: Zoos
Friday, July 18, 2008 at 9:00 PM
In a cruel trick of evolution, humans can stand just three feet from a ferocious animal and still be perfectly safe. What’s with our need to get…

Hearing Voices: Bugs and Birds
Friday, July 18, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Jeff Rice of the Western Soundscape Archive hosted an hour of sounds for the start of Summer: an extinct woodpecker revives an Arkansas town, car alarms…

The Flipside
Friday, July 18, 2008 at 11:00 PM
Recording a hit record is like catching lightning in a bottle - certain pop stars manage to do it over and over, but for the people that were heard…

Radio Lab: Memory and Forgetting
Friday, July 25, 2008 at 9:00 PM
According to the latest research, remembering is an unstable and profoundly unreliable process. It’s easy come, easy go as we learn how true memories…

Brazil Rising
Friday, July 25, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Brazil.  It conjures up images of “carnival”, the beaches of Rio, “The Girl from Ipanema,” and the samba.  But a new…

Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blue
Friday, July 25, 2008 at 11:00 PM
In 1977 Dennis Wilson’s Pacific Ocean Blue became the first solo LP to be released by a member of the legendary Beach Boys. Dennis, the band’s…

Radio Lab: Mortality
Friday, August 1, 2008 at 9:00 PM
Is death a fact of life or a disease that can be cured (as some scientists claim)? This program filtered the modern search for the fountain of youth…

America Abroad: Power, Politics and the Olympics
Friday, August 1, 2008 at 10:00 PM
The Olympics is more than just fun and games. It’s also a forum for international politics. China hopes to make the 2008 Olympic Games its coming…

The Gospel Highway
Friday, August 1, 2008 at 11:00 PM
The Gospel Highway chronicled the brave and inspiring “musical ministry” of the African American vocal groups who criss-crossed the country,…

Radio Lab: Laughter
Friday, August 8, 2008 at 9:00 PM
We all laugh. But why? If you look closely, you’ll find that humor has very little to do with it. This episode explored the power of laughter…

America Abroad: Missiles, Money, and the Mainland: The Taiwan Dilemma
Friday, August 8, 2008 at 10:00 PM
In recent years, Taiwan’s loud talk of independence has raised fears of conflict between the US and China. This program explored Taiwanese identity…

Whole Lotta Shakin’: Rebels with Guitars
Friday, August 8, 2008 at 11:00 PM
Rockabilly was a bold, young upstart.  This program profiled rockabilly rebels Gene Vincent, Link Wray, and the fightin Burnette Brothers, Johnny…

Radio Lab: Deception
Friday, August 15, 2008 at 9:00 PM
The program looked at lies, liars, and lie catchers, and asked: can you lead a life without deception? They consulted a cast of characters, from pathological…

Saving the Sierra
Friday, August 15, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Urban development threatens rural communities across America. People who live and work in these beautiful landscapes face some tough decisions about…

Whole Lotta Shakin’: The Cradle of the Stars
Friday, August 15, 2008 at 11:00 PM
A revolution on the radio was launched in Shreveport, Louisiana with the Saturday night broadcasts of The Louisiana Hayride. The Hayride helped introduce…

Radio Lab: War of the Worlds
Friday, August 22, 2008 at 9:00 PM
An examination of the power of mass media to create panic. In Radio Lab’s very first live hour, they took a deep dive into one of the most controversial…

Hearing Voices: No Place Like Home
Friday, August 22, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Scott Carrier had a cultural history of the Great Salt Lake’s “West Desert,” a land of polygymists, bombing ranges, and toxic waste…

European Jazz Stage: Jazz Adventure
Friday, August 22, 2008 at 11:00 PM
A wonderful concert by the late wizard of keys and sounds: Joe Zawinul.  He brought his syndicate to the 2007 North Sea Festival for this recording,…

Radio Lab: So-Called Life
Friday, August 29, 2008 at 9:00 PM
What are the consequences when humans start playing with life? The human imagination has always dreamed up fantastic creatures, but now biotechnology…

Liner Notes: Sand Still In My Shoes
Friday, August 29, 2008 at 10:00 PM
In summertime we are not ourselves.  Thank goodness.  We fall in love.  We rediscover the ocean, trashy novels and the hot fudge sundae. …

European Jazz Stage: Europe Goes Tropical
Friday, August 29, 2008 at 11:00 PM
A blend of styles from Latin America made this program steam and swing.  Hermeto Pascoal, founding father of Brazilian free jazz, happily mixed…