Errol Morris's passion for sleuthing dates back at least to his days as a private detective and runs through his work as a documentary filmmaker in movies like "The Thin Blue Line" and his most recent, "Tabloid." In his new book, "Believing is Seeing," he turns his magnifying glass on photography. He and I discussed (and occasionally debated) the veridical nature of photography, the impact of digital retouching and the truth value of his own films. Then, in the second half of the show, an excerpt from my 2009 interview with documentarist Jonathan Stack on his film Iron Ladies of Liberia. It's about the presidential administration of Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who shared in this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

I was saddened to learn this past week that gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny had died. For today's show I replayed my 2010 interview with Frank, in which he looked back on his life as an activist. This is a somewhat longer cut of the original 2010 broadcast. In part 2 of the show, more on the subject of political activism and the sacrifices it sometimes calls for: an excerpt from a 2009 interview with former track star John Carlos, who talks about the famous black power salute he and fellow medalist Tommy Smith gave at the 1968 Olympic Games.

I was saddened to learn this past week that gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny had died. For today's show I replayed my 2010 interview with Frank, in which he looked back on his life as an activist. This is a somewhat longer cut of the original 2010 broadcast. In part 2 of the show, more on the subject of political activism and the sacrifices it sometimes calls for: an excerpt from a 2009 interview with former track star John Carlos, who talks about the famous black power salute he and fellow medalist Tommy Smith gave at the 1968 Olympic Games.

Last time we had Marlene Zuk on the show, the subject was parasites. This time, it's insects, what they do or don't have in common with human beings, and how we go wrong when we anthropomorphize too much.

Last time we had Marlene Zuk on the show, the subject was parasites. This time, it's insects, what they do or don't have in common with human beings, and how we go wrong when we anthropomorphize too much.

For the last 15 years, Brian Nosek has been studying the hidden biases, preferences and thought patterns that lurk just below the threshold of self-awareness. Those unconscious attitudes are often at odds with our conscious account of ourselves, yet they may influence our outlook, our choices and even our actions. One of the tools Nosek and colleagues have used to expose latent racial preferences and other forms of bias is a simple online test, the Implicit Association Test, or IAT. In this edition of the show, I take the test myself and talk to Brian about implications of his research for our understanding of the mind, decisionmaking, politics and society.

For the last 15 years, Brian Nosek has been studying the hidden biases, preferences and thought patterns that lurk just below the threshold of self-awareness. Those unconscious attitudes are often at odds with our conscious account of ourselves, yet they may influence our outlook, our choices and even our actions. One of the tools Nosek and colleagues have used to expose latent racial preferences and other forms of bias is a simple online test, the Implicit Association Test, or IAT. In this edition of the show, I take the test myself and talk to Brian about implications of his research for our understanding of the mind, decisionmaking, politics and society.

In part 1 of this two-part series, I talked to sociologist and writer Teresa Gowan about her years among the homeless recyclers of San Francisco's Dogpatch district. As we walked through the neighborhood, Teresa described how much it's changed. Most of the homeless have been pushed out, and therein hangs a tale of societal attitudes—-toward poverty, property and rootlessness—-going back hundreds of years. In this second and final part of the series, we found out where some of Dogpatch's remaining homeless are holing up and how they're hanging on.

In part 1 of this two-part series, I talked to sociologist and writer Teresa Gowan about her years among the homeless recyclers of San Francisco's Dogpatch district. As we walked through the neighborhood, Teresa described how much it's changed. Most of the homeless have been pushed out, and therein hangs a tale of societal attitudes—-toward poverty, property and rootlessness—-going back hundreds of years. In this second and final part of the series, we found out where some of Dogpatch's remaining homeless are holing up and how they're hanging on.

Donny McCaslin grew up in Santa Cruz, where this program is based, and got his musical start here. Today he's a widely-known, much-admired tenor sax player based in New York. Donny returned to our area recently to play at the 2011 Monterey Jazz Festival. We talked about his formative years (playing with his dad's band on the streets of Santa Cruz) and rapid success (he joined Gary Burton's quintet right out of college). Donny's a very thoughtful and knowledgeable musician, and I took advantage of the occasion to ask some detailed questions about his work and development.