Paul’s favorite podcasts

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. 

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A tiny baby, born at 23 Weeks and 6 days -- roughly halfway to full term. And a whole universe of medical and moral questions. 

When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible to answer.

This hour, we spend the entire episode on the story of Kelley and Tom, whose daughter was born at 23 weeks and 6 days, roughly halfway to full term. Their story contains an entire universe of questions about the lines between life and death, reflex and will, and the confusing tug of war between two basic moral touchstones: doing no harm...and doing everything in our power to help. Kelley has written about her experience in a brilliant series of articles in the Tampa Bay Times. 

***A Future You Can't Control

***A Declaration

***Waiting for Life to Begin

[April 30, 2013]

From a duel with the world's deadliest disease to a surprising peek into the way doctors think about death, in this hour Radiolab tries to reckon with the grim reaper. And, in the end, we confront the question at the heart of it all — when the time comes to finally leave, how do we want to go?   

***Rodney Versus Death

***Stayin' Alive. A look at four unconventional ways to stay alive.

***The Bitter End

[February 18, 2014]

The inhumanly fast world of high-speed trading, an excruciatingly slow experiment, and a physicist plays Zeus.

We live our lives at human speed, we experience and interact with the world on a human time scale. But this hour, we put ourselves through the paces, peek inside a microsecond, and master the fastest thing in the universe.

***Never Quite Now

***Million Dollar Microsecond

***Master of the Universe

[February 4, 2013]

This hour, we examine three very different kinds of black boxes—those peculiar spaces where it’s clear what’s going in, we know what’s coming out, but what happens in-between is a mystery. From the darkest parts of metamorphosis, to a sixty year-old secret among magicians, to the nature of consciousness itself, we confront the stubborn gaps in our understanding.

***Decoding The Void

***You Are The Judge

***Goo and You

[January 17, 2014]

Back in 2014, Corey Knowlton paid $350,000 for a hunting trip to Namibia to shoot and kill an endangered species.  He’s a professional hunter, who guides hunts all around the world, so going to Africa would be nothing new.  The target on the other hand would be. And so too, he quickly found, would be the attention.

This episode, producer Simon Adler follows Corey as he dodges death threats and prepares to pull the trigger.  Along the way we stop to talk with Namibian hunters and government officials, American activists, and someone who's been here before - Kenya’s former Director of Wildlife, Richard Leakey.   All the while, we try to uncover what conservation really means in the 21st century.

What do the world's fastest runners, New York City's poop and quicksand have in common? We're not sure either.

In this episode we ride along on New York City's poop train to find out what happens to poop once it's, well, pooped. Then, we travel to Kenya where legions of athletes, sports gurus, and scientists have tried to figure out why a specific tribe has long-dominated long-distance running. And lastly, we ask why quicksand -- once a real fear -- no longer scares an 8-year-old.

***Poop Train. Ever wonder what happens to all of New York City's poop? So did we. 

***Cut and Run. Kenyans have long-dominated long-distance running; breaking records, winning Olympic medals, and stupefying sports gurus along the way. So what is it that makes Kenyans so darn fast? 

***Quicksaaaand! Long was it that quicksand gripped our hearts and imagination with fear. But these days, quicksand can't even scare an 8-year-old--why?

[March 25, 2015]