Weekly Program Highlights

Friday 1/9

1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday…  This week on Science Friday, a year after the devastating fires in LA, learn about a community brigade that is taking the future of firefighting into their own hands.

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Hidden Brain…  This week on Hidden Brain, learn why some people act bravely in a crisis, while others flee or freeze up. A behavioral scientist explains why courage is a choice, and how we can strengthen the reflexes that help us stay composed when it matters most.

3:00 – 4:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, hear interviews with singer Neil Diamond and actor Noah Wyle. A Neil Diamond tribute band is the focus of the new film, Song Sung Blue, and Wyle’s TV show, The Pit, is returning to HBOMax for season two.

6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Words Aren’t Enough?: The hardest part of being a lyricist is often finding fresh ways to express universal emotions, which have been written about for centuries, yet lyricists must make you feel like you're hearing something new and personally meaningful. It’s even harder for a jazz lyricist, who face some unique challenges on top of the usual ones.

Saturday 1/10

10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, hear from panelists Roy Blount, Jr., Joyelle Nicole Johnson, and Paula Poundstone. And, Delroy Lindo, the actor who starred in the movie Sinners, talks about his life in film and plays Not My Job.

11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… It’s faster than a speeding bullet. It’s smarter than a polymath genius. It’s everywhere, but it’s invisible: it’s artificial intelligence. But what actually is it? Radiolab asks this simple question and explores why it’s so hard to answer.

3:00 – 4:00 PM
American Routes… This week, American Routes is going “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” as the 1920s Tin Pan Alley pop song had it. It’s one of many songs written about the show’s home place. Hear some of those and go beyond to blues and jazz, roots rock and soul, gospel and country, Tejano, zydeco and swamp pop. Hear a diverse mix with Charley Pride, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Adia Victoria, Aretha Franklin and Louis Armstrong, with sounds ranging from critique to guilty pleasures.

Sunday 1/11

10:00 – 11:00 AM
Reveal… The CEO of the company that makes Tasers promises its weapon is safe. But as the Taser grew in popularity, so would the number of serious injuries and deaths. Reporter Nick Berardini has spent the last 15 years investigating whether the Taser was truly safe, including uncovering the company’s own research that paints a more complicated picture. This week’s episode of Reveal looks at the most powerful company in policing, and what it knew and didn’t say.

11:00 – NOON
This American Life… This week on This American Life, hear stories about surprising lore drops and what they do to us.

NOON – 3:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… This week, Sunday Baroque turns back the clock to music that was created in 1626 and 1726. You’ll hear one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most beautiful motets and dances from 1626 by an amazingly talented violin player and an innovative composer in the first years of the Baroque era.

3:00 – 4:00 PM
Code Switch & Life Kit… This week on Code Switch, a show about Amy Tan’s book, The Joy Luck Club, and its influence on American literature. Then on Life Kit, a show about strength training in the new year: you don’t have to spend a bunch of time in the gym to get strong.

6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on Moth Radio Hour, stories of trying again, fresh starts, and chances at redemption—as a parent, on stage, and in your 20s.

Monday 1/12

1:00 – 2:00 PM
Climate One… It’s been a year since catastrophic fires tore through Los Angeles. For those who lived through them, the impacts are still being felt. Rebuilding in the aftermath of more frequent and severe fossil fueled disasters is becoming a big business. Enter the disaster economy, powered by a grab bag of dedicated people helping communities rebuild, and by contractors who may overpromise, underdeliver, and profit from tragedy. Caught in the middle are the survivors, often left to navigate red tape, scams, and soaring costs just to rebuild their lives. In this episode, explore the people and systems behind this booming, often exploitative multi-billion dollar industry, and learn strategies to help stay protected.

2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Splendid Table… This week on The Splendid Table, spend the hour with Ireland’s culinary firebrand Darina Allen. Darina is the founder of one of the great culinary schools of the world and a beloved ambassador of Irish cooking. At her school, Ballymaloe, she’s trained some of the most lauded chefs and cooks across two generations, and she’s got a lifetime of stories. She is the author of many books; her latest is Forgotten Skills of Cooking.

Tuesday 1/13

1:00 – 2:00 PM
TED Radio Hour… This week on Ted Radio Hour, as technology rapidly transforms the field of genetics, new tests promise the ability to predict, and possibly prevent, disease from birth. But should families undergo this additional screening? Host Manoush Zomorodi explores the world of genetic testing, specifically for newborns. What secrets can be gleaned from a baby’s DNA? And, when does seeing into the future of someone’s health become more harmful than helpful?

2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Reluctant Therapist… 

Wednesday 1/14

1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… This week on Bioneers, the late world-renowned primatologist Professor Frans de Waal (1948-2024) explores the nature of sex and gender among our cousins the apes, and how gender diversity is a common and pervasive potential on nature’s masculine-feminine continuum. In the quest to overcome human gender inequality, he suggests that our focus needs to be on the inequality.

1:30 – 2:00 PM
California Report Magazine… This week on California Report Magazine, learn about a group of civilians known as the Community Brigade who stepped up during the Palisades Fire, helping first responders evacuate people and saving homes.

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Freakonomics Radio… Are personal finance gurus giving you bad advice? One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better? Find out, in this update of a 2022 episode.

6:30 – 8:00 PM
KCBX in Concert… Venezuela has produced some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking composers of the modern era. Join host Craig Russell as he delves into the music of Vicente Emilio Sojo, his pupil Antonio Estévez, pianist Aldemaro Romero, and Juan Bautista Plaza. Craig explores their love songs, guitar folk dances, reveries that pay homage to Venezuela’s cowboys, and symbolic compositions that protest the United States’ gunboat diplomacy in which the U.S. was imposing its will through the conspicuous presence of overwhelming naval power.

Thursday 1/15

1:00 – 2:00 PM
Central Coast Voices… Host Fred Munroe is joined by members of Restorative Partners for a look at the ongoing work of this valuable community organization. They share how the concept of Restorative Justice works to break the cycle of crime and incarceration, having a positive, lasting effect on all sides of the criminal justice system.

2:00 – 3:00 PM
Latino USA… This week on Latino USA, Venezuelans around the world are celebrating the take down of former president Maduro. Inside the country, the streets are silent, and in the rest of Latin America, there’s anger. The show looks deeper into the context.

Friday 1/16

1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday… 

6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie…