FanFare

"Radiolab creator and host Jad Abumrad spent the last two years following around music legend Dolly Parton, and we're here to say you should tune in! In this episode of Radiolab, we showcase the first of Jad's special series, Dolly Parton's America. In this intensely divided moment, one of the few things everyone still seems to agree on is Dolly Parton—but why? That simple question leads to a deeply personal, historical, and musical rethinking of one of America's great icons." Note: this episode contains an interview with Metafilter's own Paul Slade.
posted by mandolin conspiracy on Oct 20, 2019 - 1 comment

Back in 2008 Facebook began writing a document. It was a constitution of sorts, laying out what could and what couldn't be posted on the site. Back then, the rules were simple, outlawing nudity and gore. Today, they're anything but.  How do you define hate speech? Where's the line between a joke and an attack? How much butt is too much butt? Facebook has answered these questions. And from these answers they've written a rulebook that all 2.2 billion of us are expected to follow. Today, we explore that rulebook. We dive into its details and untangle its logic. All the while wondering what does this mean for the future of free speech? This episode was reported by Simon Adler with help from Tracie Hunte and was produced by Simon Adler with help from Bethel Habte. Special thanks to Sarah Roberts, Jeffrey Rosen, Carolyn Glanville, Ruchika Budhraja, Brian Dogan, Ellen Silver, James Mitchell, Guy Rosen, and our voice actor Michael Chernus. Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.
posted by ruben on Aug 27, 2018 - 1 comment

In today's episode, we meet a young woman from Texas, born and raised, who can't prove that she exists.
posted by zeptoweasel on Aug 30, 2016 - 6 comments

When people are dying and you can only save some, how do you choose? What happens, what should happen, when humans are forced to play god? In this episode, we follow New York Times reporter Sheri Fink as she searches for the answer. In a warzone, a hurricane, a church basement, and an earthquake, the question remains the same. What happens, what should happen, when humans are forced to play god? [more inside]
posted by jazon on Aug 22, 2016 - 2 comments

Forests feel like a place of great stillness but dig deeper and there's a hidden world beneath your feet as busy and complicated as a city. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Jul 31, 2016 - 3 comments

On this episode, we visit Edward Blum, a 64-year-old “legal entrepreneur” and former stockbroker who has become something of a Supreme Court matchmaker — He takes an issue, finds the perfect plaintiff, matches them with lawyers, and works his way to the highest court in the land. He’s had remarkable success, with 6 cases heard before the Supreme Court, including that of Abigail Fisher. We also head to Houston, Texas, where in 1998, an unusual 911 call led to one of the most important LGBT rights decisions in the Supreme Court’s history. (The overriding theme of this episode is the creation of test cases.) [more inside]
posted by Going To Maine on Jul 2, 2016 - 0 comments

When Dr. Sacks announced a few months ago that he had terminal cancer and wouldn't do any more interviews, we asked him if he'd talk with us one last time. This is that conversation.
posted by jazon on Sep 1, 2015 - 0 comments

The surprising ways that loops steer... and sometimes derail... our lives. [more inside]
posted by Gin and Broadband on Jun 17, 2015 - 2 comments

This episode we pierce the spandex-ed heart of professional wrestling, and travel 400 years into the past to walk the line between reality and fantasy. [more inside]
posted by bq on Mar 7, 2015 - 3 comments

How a tiny group of social engineers are making our online relationships kindler and gentler, whether we like it or not. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Feb 10, 2015 - 1 comment

Radiolab brings a preview of Invisibilia . The lines between boy and girl can be blurry but NPR's Invisibilia introduces us to someone with a very new idea of how blurry they can be. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Jan 11, 2015 - 2 comments

Buttons are usually small and unimportant. But not always. Sometimes they are a portal to power, freedom, and destruction. Today we thread together tales of taking charge of the little things in life, of fortunes made and lost, and of the ease with which the world can end. [more inside]
posted by jazon on Dec 15, 2014 - 3 comments

Tales of lethargic farmers, zombie cockroaches, and even mind-controlled humans (kinda, maybe). [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome on Dec 11, 2014 - 2 comments