Traveling at five miles a second, 250 miles above the Earth’s surface, Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev wakes to a message from his handlers on the ground: the Soviet Union is collapsing. And so is the Soviet Space agency. You have a choice: come down as planned and abandon the world’s only space station to an unknown fate. Or stay, protect the final outpost of a falling empire and risk your life? 
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THE LAST SOVIET- EP 1: Let’s Go

When Mangesh Hattikudur (Part-Time Genius, Humans Growing Stuff) set out to do a big, sweeping show on astrology, he didn’t realize the first interview would change the course of his life. But as he tries to put his world back together, he realizes the incredible ways astrology presents itself in modern society: from NASA employees who keep their belief in astrology in the closet, to world leaders who’ve used astrologers to guide foreign policy, to moneyball statisticians who use astrology more than statistics to build baseball teams, to a little shop in India where your fortune was written for you centuries ago, and is waiting for you to come claim it. Over the course of 8 episodes, Mangesh tries to decipher why we keep looking to the stars for answers, and what happens when you don’t believe in astrology, but astrology keeps happening to you.

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From the fall of the Taliban until its return, people all over Afghanistan planned their lives around Afghan Star. People would pack into apartments. Villages would hook up generators to a single tv so crowds could watch. New Year’s celebrations would come to a halt, all to watch this one show. Over its 15 seasons, Afghan Star spotlighted an Afghanistan that could be: women singing without hijabs, Afghanistan’s first rapper, people of warring ethnic groups hugging and cheering for each other on stage. And it launched a cultural revolution. This is the story behind it all– from how a ragtag team scrambled to make the show every week, to the dangers they faced for trying to push the country forward. In Afghanistan, a cultural revolution was televised through a musical talent show, and this is its story. Hosted by John Legend.
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Introducing: Afghan Star, hosted by John Legend

Check out this new podcast from Mangesh's good friend and collaborator Jo Piazza! 
Every family has an origin story – for author Jo Piazza (Under the Influence, Wilder) her family's is a murder mystery. For as long as she can remember the Piazzas have told the story of their Sicilian roots going back over a hundred years ago: one by one the sons and then their father sailed off to America to carve out a better life. Their mother, Lorenza Marsala was supposed to join them – but she never made it. She was murdered by the Sicilian mafia, they said. The truth of what happened has morphed like a game of telephone through the generations. Various versions of the story claim she was killed by the Black Hand, others insisted she was a witch, killed over a bad spell. Now, Jo is determined to untangle the twisted narrative which just might bridge the gap from cinematic mob fantasies to an unexpected reality. Join her in Sicily on a family vacation/fact finding mission in which she goes to the scene of the crime, confronts mafia experts, consults mediums, and tracks down Italian officials, determined to set the record straight on her great, great grandmother’s mysterious disappearance.
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Mangesh recommends: The Sicilian Inheritance

They seemed like superheroes. When a group called the Love Commandos leapt into the public eye in India, they pledged to do something that most government agencies and police departments couldn't do: protect and shelter young lovers on the run. Our friends over at NPR's Rough Translation in their final season takes us on a rare look inside that secret shelter with its strange mix of revolutionary ideas, petty grievances and old traditions that die hard. The stories from couples who lived there will make you ask yourself: How much are you willing to sacrifice in the name of love? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mangesh Recommends: Love Commandos

Miles and the team learn how Vassilis and his gang pulled off the biggest bank robbery in Greek history without firing a single shot.
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The Good Thief - Ep 1. How to Rob Banks and Influence People

When music promoter and DJ Jean-Claude Olivier is shot outside a club in Miami, Little Haiti wonders – how much further is this going to go?
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THE LAST SOVIET- EP 1: Let’s Go

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