Mahzarin Banaji is Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in the department of psychology at Harvard University. She is the co-author of "Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People," and co-founder of the implicit bias research organization Project Implicit. This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Mahzarin Banaji — The Mind Is a Difference-Seeking Machine." Find more at onbeing.org.

The emerging science of implicit bias is one of the most promising fields for animating the human change that makes social change possible. The social psychologist Mahzarin Banaji is one of its primary architects. She understands the mind as a “difference-seeking machine” that helps us order and navigate the overwhelming complexity of reality. But this gift also creates blind spots and biases, as we fill in what we don’t know with the limits of what we do know. This is science that takes our grappling with difference out of the realm of guilt, and into the realm of transformative good.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His books include "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion" and, forthcoming in 2017, "Three Stories about Capitalism: The moral psychology of economic life." Melvin Konner is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology and of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology at Emory University. His books include "The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit" and "The Evolution of Childhood." This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Jonathan Haidt and Melvin Konner — Capitalism and Moral Evolution: A Civil Provocation." Find more at onbeing.org.

It was supposed to be a discussion about "culture and conscience" with two social scientists, as part of a public gathering of the Center for Humans and Nature at the American Museum of Natural History. But Jonathan Haidt is studying the relationship between capitalism and moral evolution, and our conversation took off from there in surprising directions. The liberal view of capitalism as essentially exploitative may remain alive and well, Haidt says. But the ironic truth of history is that capitalism actually generates liberal values as it takes root in societies. Our conversation preceded this American cultural-political season but offers provocative perspective on it.

Kevin Kling is a performer and an advisory council member of Interact. His plays include "21A" and "Lloyd's Prayer." His books include "The Dog Says How." The new PBS documentary about his life and work is called "Kevin Kling: Lost and Found." This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Kevin Kling — The Losses and Laughter We Grow Into." Find more at onbeing.org.

Kevin Kling is part funny guy, part poet and playwright, part wise man. A treasured figure on the national storytelling circuit, his voice inhabits an unusual space — where a homegrown Minnesota wit meets Dante and Shakespeare. Born with a disabled left arm, he lost the use of his right one after a motorcycle accident nearly killed him. He shares his special angle on life's humor and its ruptures — and why we turn loss into story.

David Isay is the founder of StoryCorps and winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant and 2015 TED Prize. His new StoryCorps book is "Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work". This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "David Isay — Listening as an Act of Love. Find more at http://www.onbeing.org/program/david-isay-listening-as-an-act-of-love/6268

"The soul is contained in the human voice," says David Isay, founder of StoryCorps. He sees the StoryCorps booth — a setting where two people ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask each other — as a sacred space. He shares his wisdom about listening as an act of love, and how eliciting and capturing our stories is a way of insisting that every life matters.

Krista Tippett is a journalist and host of On Being. She is the New York Times bestselling author of "Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living" and "Einstein's God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit." She won a Peabody Award and received the National Humanities Medal for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence.” This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Krista Tippett — An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living." Find more at onbeing.org.

This episode, a “theft of the dial.” Writer and traveler Pico Iyer turns the tables on our host Krista Tippett by asking her the questions. Her latest book, "Becoming Wise," chronicles what she’s learned through her conversations with the most extraordinary voices across time and generations, across disciplines and denominations. An illuminating conversation on the mystery and art of living.