Wonder Cabinet

Popular myths, urban legends and just plain lies.  Why do we persist in believing things that just aren't true? Oklahoma Basement Myth - Mike Hancock; Crack Baby Myth - Ira Chasnoff; The Unknown Known - Errol Morris; Sonic Sidebar - Cow Tipping; Little White Lies - Sam Harris; BookMark: Eric Liu reviewing “Inventing America” by Gary Wills; On Our Minds: War Correspondents.

Where do you find crazy ideas and some of the world's smartest people? In theoretical physics - the world of parallel universes, super strings and black holes.  We go on a whirlwind tour of the universe - from the multiverse to an imaginary walk on Mars. Mathematical Universe - Max Tegmark; Copernicus - Dava Sobel; Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Cosmic Wonder; Walking on Mars - Craig Childs; BookMark: Kat Duff; On Our Minds: Lorrie Moore.

With hundreds of millions of people moving into cities we're wondering what shapes urban cultures. Istanbul with Orhan Pamuk; New York via Amsterdam; Unruly Places; Shanghai, Growing; Dangerous Idea: Breaking Up America; On Our Minds: Talking About Racism.

Who knew that the old expression, "bored to death," could actually be true?   We'll discover just how harmful boredom can be. Boredom - Albert Nerenberg; A Philosophy of Boredom -- Lars Svendsen; Doing Nothing - Tom Lutz; BookMark: John Waters; On Our Minds: Protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

Global Noir: travel and crime fiction together in one hour International Noir - Barry Forshaw; The Killing -- Soren Sveistrup; Reading: Kishwar Desai's "Witness the Night"; Israeli Crime Fiction - D. A. Mishani ; Kenyan Crime Fiction - Mukoma Wa Ngugi; BookMark - Gary Shteyngart on "Jernigan"; On Our Minds: Living Room Conversations.

Buried scrolls, clay tablets, priceless artifacts and expensive forgeries – this week, we bring you stories from the strange and amazing world of biblical archeology. The Ark Before Noah; Truly Fake - The Story of Moshe Moses Shapira; The Gospel of Thomas; BookMark: Call me Ishmael; On Our Minds: Robin Williams.

How do we know what's real?  Can science tell us, or is there an unseen reality we'll never understand?  We explore the edges of science and borderlands of knowledge. Limits of Science - Marcelo Gleiser; Pauli & Jung; Ghost Hunters - Deborah Blum; Clashing Worldviews - Chopra & Mlodinow; BookMark: Joshua Ferris; On Our Minds: LeBron James in the Rust Belt.

Imagine a world where flying robots watch over our borders, assist with search and rescue missions, and survey roads and pipelines. Sounds like science fiction, but in many parts of the country it's a reality. The Meme of Our Time - Alex Rivera; Commercial Drones - Missy Cummings; Drones Gone Wild; The Life of a Military Drone Pilot - Bruce Black; BookMark: Steve Roggenbuck; On Our Minds: Nadia Hashimi.

Why do Americans suck at math?  And why do so many claim to hate math?  In a recent survey, a third of respondents said they'd rather clean the bathroom than solve an equation.  In today's show, mathematicians tell us what we're missing.   How Not To Be Wrong; The Calculus Diaries; Russian Postal System Puzzle; The Magician of Mathematics; The Magic of Pi; BookMark - Brendan Koerner on "Confessions of a Mask"; On Our Minds: Ghost Month.

we look at hitchhiking, its history, could it make a comeback? Killer on the Road - Ginger Strand; Carsick: Hitchhiking Across America - John Waters; BONUS SEGMENT -- Sonic Sidebar: John Waters' Hitchhiking Playlist; Anywhere - Mishy Harman; Dangerous Idea: Put America Back to Work; On Our Minds: Joshua Ferris.