Freedom sounds great as an idea. Who doesn't want to be free to do what they want? But when you take a closer look, freedom becomes more complicated. What does it really mean to be free — and how free can we be? On this episode, we'll look at freedom from different perspectives. We'll talk with a neuroscientist who says we evolved to have free will — even though it can sometimes feel like our brains are just following a bunch of preset options. And we'll hear from a social psychologist who says that being human means we need other people and living in groups always comes with limitations. We'll also meet a man who relied on a single word to unlock more freedom in his life.

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In October of 1947, a navy reserve pilot named George Earle IV received strange orders: He was to pick up several 55-gallon barrels at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, fly out 100 miles southeast of Atlantic City, and then dump them into the ocean — all in secret, in the dead of night. Earle would repeat the mission twice more without ever being told what he was dumping. But he had a clue. Before leaving, scientists would swarm Earle and his cargo using Geiger counters to measure radiation. This told Earle one thing: Whatever he was dumping was radioactive, and probably dangerous. It would be another three decades before Earle revealed the secret missions to the public, and even longer before anyone knew the origins of his cargo. On this episode, we unfold the never-before-told story of Earle and the classified operation that he was a part of and explore the remnants of the atomic age and the waste it has left behind. We hear about the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated by the U.S. — and the devastation it wrought on a tiny island country; the Navajo people's fight to seal hundreds of uranium mines scarring their land; why nuclear power plants need a new solution to house their waste; and why the future of nuclear energy could look very different.

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Health disparities between Black and white Americans run deep in the U.S. Black people are more likely to suffer from chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, or asthma, and their life expectancy is shorter than that of their white peers. The causes for these inequities are far-reaching and include bias and systemic racism in health care and medical treatments, lack of access to care, and economic differences. Advocates, researchers, and health systems have been looking for ways to address these issues — chipping away at different aspects of the problem. On this encore episode, we'll look at several different solutions — and meet the people who are pushing for more equitable health care for all.

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It's a simple question with lots of answers: Who are you? You might answer with your name, age, gender, or race. Or you might define yourself by your family — as a sibling, a parent, or son or daughter. You might choose your profession, your passion, your culture, or values. We hear a lot about embracing our "true selves" — the essential core of our beings; the thing that makes us us. But when you break it down, what is the self? Where does it come from? On this episode, we talk to social psychologist Brian Lowery about his new book "Selfless: The Social Creation of 'You.'" He argues that our sense of self mostly comes from other people, and from cultural and societal context. We'll also hear the story of a young woman whose sense of self was destroyed by a traumatic brain injury — and what the healing process revealed about the forces that determine our path in life.

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The messages we receive around quitting are usually straightforward — don't do it. It's something we hear everywhere — from greats like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky, in movies and TV shows, on motivational posters and in children's books: Go the distance. Never give up. Quitters never win, and winners never quit. But what if giving up really is the best option? What if we're miserable, or burned out, or realize our goals have changed? When should we stick it out — and when should we walk away? On this episode, we explore those questions with writer Julia Keller, who examines the science — and potential benefits — of throwing in the towel in her new book, "Quitting: A Life Strategy: The Myth of Perseverance and How the New Science of Giving Up Can Set You Free." We also hear stories about one woman's reckoning with the effects of long COVID on her life, and what prompted a young 20-something to give up everything for a life on the road.

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When NPR host Elise Hu moved to South Korea to be an international correspondent, she ended up getting a crash course on Korean beauty and the country's billion-dollar cosmetics industry. She explains the rise of the industry, its appeal, and the high standards it sets for appearance. On this episode, a conversation with Elise Hu about her new book, "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty capital."

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Humans have long been fascinated by the idea of communicating with other species — not just teaching animals to mimic human words, but truly understanding their calls or cries, and interpreting their meaning. In recent years, new technologies and research are getting us closer to that point. So what are scientists learning about the way animals' minds work — what they think about, care about, and want us to understand? On this episode, we explore animal communication — from their ability to speak our language, to our ability to understand theirs. We hear stories about what viral videos of "talking" dogs and cats are teaching scientists, the hidden meanings behind whale songs and dolphin whistles, and how machine learning is decoding the oinks and squeals of pigs.

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We all know how stress — or anger, or pangs of anxiety — can affect the body. Your heart rate increases; your blood pressure rises; maybe your palms feel sweaty, or your stomach feels tight. Likewise, our bodies have a profound impact on our minds. When we experience pleasure, happy chemicals flood our brains, keeping us calm and relaxed. Chronic pain, on the other hand, can cause anxiety, depression — even problems with memory and focus. The mind and body form a powerful feedback loop — with each triggering processes in the other. But in medicine, there is still a firm line separating physical symptoms from thoughts and emotions, a barrier between physical and mental health. Increasingly, though, researchers are challenging that disconnect, and new treatments are exploring surprising ways in which the body helps heal the mind, and vice versa. On this episode, we explore the mind-body connection. We'll hear stories about how meditation is being used to treat long COVID, the burgeoning field of cardiac psychology, and harnessing our fight-or-flight response to treat PTSD.

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More than a third of Americans use complementary and alternative medicine, ranging from acupuncture to herbalism, Ayurveda to homeopathy. But despite its growing popularity, complementary and alternative medicine remains, for the most part, outside the Western medical mainstream — regarded by some as fringe, and by others as straight-up quackery. Despite that, many researchers and supporters have been trying to gain a deeper understanding of medical practices from around the world, and to incorporate them into our health care system. And that's led to more questions: Which practices work, and for what conditions? How do they work? And how do we measure and standardize treatments when they're removed from their cultural contexts? On this episode, we step outside the boundaries of Western medicine to explore those questions. We hear stories about a mysterious Vodou treatment, the struggle to bring acupuncture into the medical mainstream, and answers to Western skeptics.

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