Weekly Program Highlights
Friday 10/2
NOON – 1:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, composer Steve Reich, one of the fathers of what became known as minimalist music, turns 90 on Saturday, and there will be worldwide festivals taking place in his honor. Hear a retrospective on his groundbreaking work, and learn how he created his sound by listening back on two archival interviews with him.
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday… This week on Science Friday, learn about the effects of the early days of the COVID pandemic interrupting school and life for millions of children. Did it stunt kids developmentally, socially, or academically? The data is starting to come out.
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Today, Explained… On Today, Explained, learn about what some call “gas station heroin.” A rising number of deaths have been linked to a gas station drug called kratom, but the Trump administration is divided on whether to regulate it.
4:00 – 4:30 PM
Marketplace… Federal EV tax credits expired a year ago, but some states still have them on the books. Take a look inside a state-level map of EV incentives.
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Call Me Jabbo: Critics and fellow musicians regarded Jabbo Smith as a dazzling, highly individual trumpet virtuoso and Louis Armstrong’s most serious contemporary rival. At the request of the Brunswick Record Company, Smith formed his Rhythm Aces and recorded nineteen sides in 1929. Jabbo was a unique talent who produced advanced and sophisticated work, but the records were not accepted by the public and were largely forgotten. His solos were filled with excitement and high notes with lots of chances taken, and Jabbo Smith never received the recognition he deserved.
Saturday 10/3
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the panelists are Rachel Coster, Alonzo Bodden, and first-time panelist Rob Anderson. And, musician David Byrne, recognized as the lead of the Talking Heads, plays Not My Job.
11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… This week on Radiolab, hear how David Fajgenbaum survived multiple organ failure, just as he finished his medical school exam, by finding his own cure. From that ordeal, he realized that our system of discovering and approving drugs is far from perfect, and that he might be able to use AI to find dozens, hundreds, even thousands of cures, hidden in plain sight, for as-yet untreatable diseases.
3:00 – 5:00 PM
American Routes… This week on American Routes, take a deep dive into the vaults of Blue Note Records, the independent label that helped put artists like Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, and Jimmy Smith on the map. Flagbearer of trad jazz, bebop and the cool school, Blue Note is still at it after 87 years and has expanded its wheelhouse to include vocalists like Norah Jones, Ryan Adams, and Van Morrison. Hear from producer extraordinaire and Blue Note president Don Was about the label’s past and new directions. Also, a word from the late record maven Michael Cuscuna about digging through Blue Note’s back catalog and giving life to unreleased and out-of-print masterpieces.
Sunday 10/4
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Hidden Brain… Last week, Hidden Brain host Shankar Vedantam spoke with psychologist Martin Seligman about why some people come to believe that their actions don’t matter. This week, in the second part of their conversation, he explains how we can strengthen our sense of agency and build confidence in our ability to shape what happens next.
11:00 – NOON
This American Life… This week on This American Life, hear the story of one man and his twin brother who set out to find their long lost birth father.
NOON – 2:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… This week on Sunday Baroque, celebrate International Coffee Day with selections from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Coffee Cantata.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the panelists are Rachel Coster, Alonzo Bodden, and first-time panelist Rob Anderson. And, musician David Byrne, recognized as the lead of the Talking Heads, plays Not My Job.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Latino USA… This week on Latino USA, take a look back at a housing project in Colorado that became a focus for President Trump’s campaign. In July 2024, then nineteen-year-old Nixon Azuaje Pérez picked up spent bullet casings outside his apartment in Aurora, Colorado. It was a decision that would thrust the Venezuelan migrant into the middle of Trump’s presidential campaign. Local police suspected Nixon was part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. But how would anybody know?
4:00 – 5:00 PM
Reveal… This week on Reveal, learn about how America’s relationship with Israel is becoming an electoral fault line, dividing both parties and major Jewish political groups.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on The Moth Radio Hour, stories from the Garden State: a tale of two cities; a sweet summer job; and meditations from the gas station.
Monday 10/5
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Today, Explained… The Democratic party has a real chance at taking the House in November. But the party today is a different animal than the last time Dems were in power, and one man will have to wrangle them.
Tuesday 10/6
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Today, Explained… Explore the far-right’s increasingly vitriolic racism towards Indian Americans, which appears to be rooted in status anxiety. They see America as a zero-sum society where Indian success means white failure.
Wednesday 10/7
1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… This week on Bioneers, Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary for Natural Resources, describes how the world’s fourth largest economy is putting natural systems at the center of its bold policies and practices to help restore the biosphere and, in turn, sustain the long-term habitability of planet Earth for human civilization.
1:30 – 2:00 PM
California Report Magazine… This week on the California Report Magazine, meet a San Diego man who spent half of his life in and out of prisons and now runs ultra marathons, like the San Diego 100 mountain race, for a story about finding sobriety, purpose, and community after incarceration.
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Today, Explained… Take a look at how Israel’s failure to stop settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank — largely perpetrated by young militant Jewish settlers — is upending American politics on Israel.
6:30 – 8:00 PM
KCBX in Concert… This week on KCBX in Concert, host Craig Russell speaks with Brian Alhadeff, conductor and artistic director for Opera San Luis Obispo, and Marcy Irving, co-founder of Central Coast Gilbert and Sullivan, about their upcoming production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado. Near the end of the hour, Craig anticipates this weekend’s concerts at Cal Poly with an assortment of thrilling music for piano, chamber ensembles, band, and orchestra.
Thursday 10/8
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Central Coast Voices… October is National Arts and Humanities Month, and this year’s theme is “Stories Unite Us.” Host Bettina Swigger speaks with SLO Museum of Art Executive Director Leann Standish about the Museum's plans for expansion and their arts education efforts. Then, Roberto de Leon, Advanced English teacher at Laguna Middle School, shares stories about how young people's lives can be transformed by creativity. Finally, Missy Reitner-Cameron, artist and founder of The Bunker, discusses the importance of making space for art and artists and her creative journey.
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Today, Explained… Explore the Trump administration’s concerns over “birth tourism” and why limiting birthright citizenship taps into some of Americans’ darkest concerns about commercial surrogacy, buying babies, and what it means to be a US citizen.