Weekly Program Highlights
Friday 5/8
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday… This week on Science Friday, take a look into why when aliens invade in science fiction stories, they are portrayed as seeking to control, colonize, or destroy. The show applies an Indigenous lens to a first contact thriller.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Hidden Brain… This week on Hidden Brain, in the second part of a conversation with behavioral scientist Dave Evans, learn about radical acceptance. Dave shares why accepting reality as it is can be so difficult — and why it's an essential first step in building a meaningful life.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, hear a conversation with Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller. He played a key role in the productions of Rent, Hamilton, In The Heights, Avenue Q, and the revival of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. His memoir, Theater Kid, is about his life and what it’s like to produce a Broadway musical.
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… The Chemistry – What Made It Jazz: So, what actually made it jazz? It wasn't just one thing — it was a bunch of things happening all at the same time. The cornet is carrying the main melody, the clarinet is dancing above it, and the trombone is holding everything together. Nobody's reading from a script — they're all just listening to each other, reacting, and negotiating with each other in real time. This is probably the thing that set early New Orleans jazz apart from almost everything else happening in music at the time.
8:30 – 10:00 PM
The Universal Language… This Sunday, much of the world pauses to celebrate the women who raised us. But tonight on The Universal Language, we’re getting a head start. Jerome Taylor has curated a playlist that is a soulful, eclectic tribute to Mama. It’s a musical Mother’s Day card you won’t want to miss.
Saturday 5/9
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, Peter and Bill welcome panelists Mo Rocca, Roxanne Roberts, and Hari Kondabolu to Chicago. And, songwriter Bobby Lopez, co-creator of The Book of Mormon and co-writer of songs for Disney’s Frozen, talks about being a two-time EGOT recipient and then plays Not My Job.
11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… This week on Radiolab, the show begins with the chilling statistic that 91% of men and 84% of women have fantasized about killing someone. Then, reconsider what Stanley Milgrim's famous experiment really revealed about human nature. Next, meet a man who scrambles our notions of good and evil: chemist Fritz Haber. End with the story of a man who chased one of the most prolific serial killers in US history, then got a chance to ask him the question that had haunted him for years: why?
3:00 – 4:00 PM
American Routes… This week on American Routes, visit with trumpeter Wendell Brunious and his New Orleans All Stars. Wendell is from a famed New Orleans Creole jazz family and is now the music director of Preservation Hall. Then, visit with the eccentric and witty songmaker and multi-instrumentalist Susan Werner. Susan’s stories in song are comedic and serious takes on religion, queerness, climate change and social responsibility. Plus, words and music from Big Mama Thornton, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash and the Five Satins.
Sunday 5/10
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Reveal… As the 2026 midterms ramp up, debunked claims of voter fraud are shaping voting laws and inciting investigations. This week on Reveal, explore whether this is election integrity or a power grab.
11:00 – NOON
This American Life… A family wishes for years that they could do something to stop their neighbor's shocking behavior. Suddenly, they get the power to decisively change things forever, and they have to decide whether they will. This week on This American Life, hear this and other stories of everyday people who get saddled with great power—and the great sense of responsibility that goes with it.
NOON – 3:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… One of the great musical moms was Anna Magdalena Bach. She was a singer who married Johann Sebastian Bach after his first wife died. And she not only raised the 4 surviving children from his first marriage; she had 13 more children with him. This week on Sunday Baroque, hear some of the music Bach gave as a gift to his beloved wife: the super-mom.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Code Switch & Life Kit… This week on Code Switch, a show about parenting. Then on Life Kit, tips about discussing finances with a partner.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on The Moth Radio Hour, hear stories of leaps of faith, taking risks, and joining the circus.
Monday 5/11
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Issues and Ideas… This week on Issues and Ideas, KCBX News reporter Gabriela Fernandez sits down with CSU Channel Islands philosophy professor Jonathan Caravello to talk about nationwide immigration enforcement. And Issues and Ideas welcomes new contributor Julie Lynem to the program. Her segment, RaiseUp Radio will highlight the struggles of marginalized communities to explore real-world solutions, especially for youth and their families.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Splendid Table… This week on The Splendid Table, it's delicious seasonal Italian inspiration from chef Hillary Sterling, author of Ammazza! Culinary Adventures from New York to Italy and Back Again, and award-winning writer Domenica Marchetti, author of Italian Cookies: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region.
Tuesday 5/12
1:00 – 2:00 PM
TED Radio Hour… The average human heart beats nearly three billion times over the course of a lifetime. But when stress, grief, fear and sadness weigh on us, the heart can suffer, and sometimes even break. This week on TED Radio Hour, host Manoush Zomorodi explores ideas about living with and growing from heartache.
Wednesday 5/13
1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… This week on Bioneers, powerful Native women leaders reveal the crisis faced by disappeared Native women and the lack of legal recourse available against predators of these crimes. Tune in as they describe how they are taking action and building growing movements, including with non-Native allies.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Freakonomics Radio… This week on Freakonomics Radio, what is money? That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang wanted to learn. So, he turned Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into an oratorio. Tag along as Lang’s piece heads toward its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic.
6:30 – 8:00 PM
KCBX in Concert… This week, KCBX in Concert traces a path from spring’s first bloom to summer’s warmth. Johann Strauss' sparkling Frühlingsstimmen with the Vienna Philharmonic and Delius’ pastoral First Cuckoo in Spring set the scene. Samuel Barber’s Summer Music and the “Andante Cantabile” movement from Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony deepen the mood. Then, Robert Schumann’s radiant “Spring” Symphony, a delicate work by Georgs Pelēcis, and George Gershwin’s timeless Summertime bring the program to a warm, glowing close. A graceful, evocative journey through the changing seasons.
Thursday 5/14
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Central Coast Voices… This week on Central Coast Voices, host Fred Munroe sits down with Dr. Penny Borenstein, San Luis Obispo County’s Health Officer and Public Health Administrator, who is retiring in July. During her 18 years in public health leadership, she has helped us to better understand COVID-19, vaccination conflicts and strategies, and many health challenges facing our community. Hear a final conversation with Dr. Borenstein about local healthcare issues and successes we have faced together on the Central Coast.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Latino USA… This week, Latino USA speaks with Julieta Venegas, an iconic Mexican pop singer whose new album and first-ever book are out now. Hear an interview with the Grammy award-winning artist who has taken the sound of Mexico across the world. Plus, two years after her untimely death, Cecilia Gentili remains a trans icon. As International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia approaches, celebrate by revisiting the show’s 2022 episode with Gentili about her memoir, Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn't My Rapist.
Friday 5/15
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.