Weekly Program Highlights

Friday 5/15

1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday… This week on Science Friday, take a look at why newer toasters, vacuums, dishwashers, washing machines and other appliances are now playing music for their users.

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Hidden Brain… In 2009, an old man died in a California nursing home. His obituary included not just his given name, but a long list of the pseudonyms he’d been known to use. This week on Hidden Brain, trace the life of Riley Shepard, a hillbilly musician, writer, small-time con man and, perhaps, a genius. 

3:00 – 4:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, remember Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Philip Caputo, who wrote the acclaimed 1977 memoir A Rumor of War. Then, listen to Fresh Air’s 1985 interview with Sir David Attenborough, best known for his Life on Earth documentaries, to celebrate his 100th birthday this month.

6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Just the Facts: Jazz resists the clean, hero-centered narratives that popular history loves — and that's part of what makes it so fascinating. Instead, jazz history is rich in myths that are often as interesting as the truth, revealing what different people wanted jazz to be and who they wanted credit to go to.

Saturday 5/16

10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, the panelists are Tom Bodett, Faith Salie, and Joyelle Nicole Johnson. And Jeopardy host Ken Jennings brings listeners up-to-date on his game show experience and plays Not My Job.

11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… This week on Radiolab, take a look at two very different discoveries. First, a doctor and an ecologist both find themselves asking the same question: is there something in the wildfire smoke? This question will bring them together and reveal—to all of us—a world we never saw before. Then, Radiolab considers a series of studies that are reshaping our understanding of when and how we can learn, and what that could mean for things like PTSD, brain disease, or strokes. 

3:00 – 4:00 PM
American Routes… This week on American Routes, look back on a live concert celebrating the music of the legendary Cajun band BeauSoleil, led by fiddler Michael Doucet, with family and friends in their 50th year of playing Louisiana French folk and popular music locally and globally, all in front of a packed hometown house in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Sunday 5/17

10:00 – 11:00 AM
Reveal… This week on Reveal, a community in northern Virginia rallies to push back against the data centers buying up their farms and homes. At first, the community seems united in opposition, but over time, neighbors start to turn against neighbors, and everything gets personal.

11:00 – NOON
This American Life… This week on This American Life, hear how one family finds themselves facing a very complicated, uncertain situation and responds with a surprising secret weapon.

NOON – 3:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… May 18th is Victoria Day, Canada’s official celebration of Britain’s kings and queens, dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria, whose birthday was in May. This week on Sunday Baroque, hear what Canada has to offer from its many music ensembles.

3:00 – 4:00 PM
Code Switch & Life Kit… This week on Code Switch, a show about astrology and why the moon illuminates difficult but fun conversations. Then on Life Kit, a show about exhaustion and how to feel less drained day to day.

6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on The Moth Radio Hour, hear stories of exposure to unexpected worlds, new traditions, and traversing boundaries.

Monday 5/18

2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Splendid Table… This week on The Splendid Table, a show recorded live in Iowa City with Iowa Public Radio as part of the show’s 30th anniversary tour. Guests include the James Beard-nominated chefs from Cobble Hill Restaurant in Cedar Rapids, Andy and Carrie Schumacher; baker Jamie Powers of DeLuxe Cakes and Pastries in Iowa City; farmers Shae and Anna Pesek of Over the Moon Farm; and T.D. Holub of the Garden Oasis Farm.

Tuesday 5/19

1:00 – 2:00 PM
TED Radio Hour… Why do some of us feel so tired, while others seem to have endless energy? This week on TED Radio Hour, host Manoush Zomorodi explores what science is revealing about stress, breathing, cellular energy, and the body. 

Wednesday 5/20

1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… This week on Bioneers, from the historic Indigenous occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969 to the fossil fuel fights throughout Canada and the U.S. today, explore how Indigenous resistance illuminates an activism founded in a spiritual connection with the web of life and the human community.

1:30 – 2:00 PM
California Report Magazine… This week on California Report Magazine, learn of a program in west Sacramento that puts young people to work at community farms in exchange for more than just a job.

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Freakonomics Radio… This week on Freakonomics Radio, the show tries to answer the question, “How does a composer feel after the world premiere?” Great, then depressed, then great again. Stephen Dubner gets the full story from David Lang. Also, hear from some fans, and the New York Philharmonic’s president. 

6:30 – 8:00 PM
KCBX in Concert… This week on KCBX in Concert, join host Craig Russell as he commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of lutenist, poet, and composer John Dowland. Then, Craig draws comparisons between Lasso’s German-texted lieder—that were humorous and popular—to present-day vocal groups The Wise Guys (in Hamburg) and MayBeBop (in Hanover). Continuing with German songs, Craig plays excerpts from the folk-inspired The Boy’s Magic Horn by Gustav Mahler.

10:00 – MIDNIGHT
The Jazz Current… On Wednesday nights from 10:00 to midnight, take a journey down the living stream of jazz on The Jazz Current. Your host Ben Kerr takes you where the deep roots of jazz meet the sound of what’s happening now — from hard bop, swing and spiritual jazz to modern artists pushing the form forward.

Thursday 5/21

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Latino USA… This week on Latino USA, Maria Hinojosa sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Caitlin Dickerson of The Atlantic. They talk about Caitlin’s recent reporting on families choosing to “self-deport” and her latest look into the conditions children are experiencing while detained at the Dilley ICE facility in Texas. Then, in the 1980s, an OB/GYN in Brazil noticed that fewer women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. It wasn’t a coincidence: Brazilian women made a discovery that allowed them to have safe abortions at home, despite abortion restrictions, and that discovery spread across the globe.