Wonder Cabinet

Cities can be cacophonous and loud, a chaos of sonic discord. If, that is, you don't really focus your listening. People who’ve trained their ears to hear urban soundscapes in new ways hear something different.

Guests:

David Rothenberg, David Haskell, Aaron Henkin, Wendel Patrick, Jennifer Stoever, Pierre Schaeffer, Vivienne Corringham

"Magical thinking" gets a bad rap these days. It suggests losing your grip on reality or being so gullible that you'll believe anything - from ghosts to miracles. But what if magic isn't pure fantasy? Maybe it's the gateway to wonder.

*Guests: *Nate Staniforth, Michael Muhammad Knight, Haleema Shah, Chloe Benjamin

If you think of your life as a series of births, what changes? The first birth is when you arrive here, as a wet, wiggling newborn. But there may be other transitions in your life that feel just as difficult and profound. Some people actually call those passages re-birth. But why does the birth metaphor matter?

This hour, we examine midwives, trans men, and born again Christians. Birth. Rebirth. And Born Again.

Interviews in this hour:

The Power of Choice When You're Giving Birth

It's not easy in America today to find work that matters, that’s meaningful, and that pays enough to live on. Which is the one thing we don’t talk about. What’s wrong with work — and how do we fix it?

**Guests: ** Alissa Quart, David Graeber, James Livingston, Niki Okuk, Studs Terkel

Haven’t listened in a while? In case you missed it, here's a sampling of what we’ve heard on the show recently.

Shows featured:

Our Invisible Universe

Roadtrippin’

What Is School For? 

Against Cynicism

Loving Bees 

From our narrow vantage point on Earth, how can we see what's out there, beyond our skies?

Guests:

Francis Halzen

Interviews in this hour:

How To Catch A Neutrino

Why is the world so damn cynical? Rather than surrendering to corrosive, hopeless snark, we look to some unexpected sources to make the case for sincerity.

Guests:

Jason Rohrer

Interviews in this hour:

"You Are Our Miracle": A Game To Make You Love Your Fellow Player

It was a dirty word 25 years ago. But now, more and more people are identifying as Socialists…in America and on the ballot.

Guests:

Kshama Sawant

Interviews in this hour:

How Socialism Won in Seattle

Bees are endangered, but all over the world, people are stepping up to save them — in backyards, science labs, and the abandoned lots of urban Detroit.

Guests:

Heather Swan

Interviews in this hour:

Falling In Love With Bees

Jeff Kripal is a highly original, even maverick, historian of religion. In this conversation — part of a collaboration with the LA Review of Books — Kripal takes Steve to where all the weird stuff we can’t explain lives ... or hides.

Guests:

Jeff Kripal