Weekly Program Highlights
Friday 8/7
NOON – 1:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, remember Monty Roberts, the renowned horse trainer who defied the conventional wisdom of breaking horses and instead created a gentle, trusted method.
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday… This week on Science Friday, a discussion about breaking the cycle of inactivity from being sat down in front of screens all day.
2:30 – 3:00 PM
Today, Explained… On Today, Explained, the show asks if Hollywood’s next big bet is the 90 second streaming microdrama.
3:00 – 4:00 PM and 4:30 – 6:30 PM
All Things Considered… Boy Throb is an unconventional boy band, partly because one member has never physically met his bandmates. After almost one year of campaigning on social media, the band is bringing its fourth member to the US. Explore the band’s quest for a visa.
4:00 – 4:30 PM
Marketplace… All the data we get on the labor market – and there's a lot of it – is cold and objective. The problem is that the labor market is people. Join host Kai Ryssdal to find out what happens when you have to leave the labor market.
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Algonquin Nights: Dorothy Parker wasn't a jazz musician, but she was thoroughly a central figure of the Jazz Age. And, she was one of the original members of the “Algonquin Round Table,” a designated setting in the luxurious Algonquin Hotel’s restaurant. Several Round Table regulars wrote for Broadway shows with jazz-inflected scores. Parker contributed lyrics and sketches to revues beginning in 1922 and even had a hand in some Broadway work where jazz dance bands were the pit orchestras. She also wrote extensively about the speakeasy social life in her short stories and poetry.
Saturday 8/8
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the panelists are Paula Poundstone, Tom Bodett, and Shantira Jackson. Plus Sally Field, who received an Emmy nomination for the movie Remarkably Bright Creatures, joins to chat and play Not My Job.
11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… In December of 2008, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush. In the decades since, there have been countless copycats, memes, protest art and a huge range of opinions and coverage on the event. This week on Radiolab, reporter Sarah Qari sits down to talk to al-Zaidi on the events leading up to that day, his thoughts on activism and journalism, and the conversation begs the question: When no one seems to be listening, how do you make change?
3:00 – 5:00 PM
American Routes… This week on American Routes, dig into the archives for an interview with the late, blind New Orleans piano professor Henry Butler about his eclectic musical visions. Then, self-taught visual artist Lonnie Holley expands his cosmic imagery into words and music to heal society.
Sunday 8/9
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Hidden Brain… When you’re learning or trying new things, you’re going to make mistakes. The trick is to try to fail in a way that gives you useful information. This week on Hidden Brain, how to make the most of your failures.
11:00 – NOON
This American Life… This week on This American Life, head to some of the happiest places on earth: amusement parks! Host Ira Glass goes behind the scenes at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, where the young staff – coached by a funny, fun-loving boss just a little older than they are – truly seem to love their jobs.
NOON – 2:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… August is National Water Quality Month. It’s an annual reminder of the need to protect one of our most precious and vital natural resources. This week on Sunday Baroque, hear flowing water music by George Frideric Handel, a couple of Stormy Sea Concertos, and a day in the life of the Alster River as expressed through music by Georg Philipp Telemann.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the panelists are Paula Poundstone, Tom Bodett, and Shantira Jackson. Plus Sally Field, who received an Emmy nomination for the movie Remarkably Bright Creatures, joins to chat and play Not My Job.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Latino USA… Melissa Barrera is having quite the year, from making her Broadway debut in the musical parody Titanique to launching her very own production company. She talks about how she’s learned to take more control over her career, and why art has become her safe haven. Also on the show, hear the story of a woman who was shot four times on a street in Harlem. A new mom at the time, it was her faja, a postpartum girdle well-known among Latinas, that would save her.
4:00 – 5:00 PM
Reveal… Follow a two-year historical investigation that found that more than 1,200 formerly enslaved Black Americans were given land by the federal government—only to see it returned to their enslavers. “Forty acres and a mule” was more than a promise; there were actual land titles. In part one of this three-part series, hear the history of an often-misunderstood government program, and explore a reparation that wasn’t—and the wealth gap that remains.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on The Moth Radio Hour, stories of big risks, long goodbyes, and the anatomy of a straw.
Monday 8/10
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Issues And Ideas… The restart of offshore oil production along the Central Coast has sparked a growing legal and political battle over whose authority it is to regulate the project. KCBX’s Gabriela Fernandez speaks with UC Santa Barbara political science professor Paasha Mahdavi about his research on the matter. Then, CapRadio’s Insight host Vicki Gonzalez speaks with CalMatters health reporter Kristen Wong about her new documentary exploring the future of Medi-Cal. And, KCBX contributor Meera Honeycutt visits Epoch Estate Wines, where history, innovation and sustainable farming come together in a Paso Robles’ vineyard.
Wednesday 8/12
1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… This week on Bioneers, labor organizer Saru Jayaraman makes a clarion call to action to support workers across the United States who are saying there’s always been an affordability crisis and are asking politicians what has democracy done for them lately? She says addressing inequality requires ensuring living wages for all.
1:30 – 2:00 PM
California Report Magazine… This week on California Report Magazine, learn about the Batman of San Jose: a man wearing a mask and purple cape who hands out water and first aid supplies to unhoused people.
6:30 – 8:00 PM
KCBX in Concert… This week on KCBX in Concert, Craig celebrates beloved music of the USA. There could be no sounds more American than the Broadway shows of George and Ira Gershwin, the jazzy piano riffs of George Gershwin, or the quintessential “Western” ballets of Aaron Copland. Hear clever, lovable songs from Oh Kay! (1926), Treasure Girl (1928), and Girl Crazy (1930). Then, Craig takes to the Wild West while he explains the cowboy songs tucked into Copland’s ballet Billy the Kid.
Thursday 8/13
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Central Coast Voices… Positive Ride was founded on the belief that everyone deserves the chance to explore natural settings and enjoy recreational activities without limitations. Their primary goal is to provide outdoor adventures that are accessible to all. Hear from their co-founder and active clients of Positive Ride, and learn how this small non-profit organization has found ways to open and expand outdoor activities to wheelchair-bound Central Coast residents and visitors.
Friday 8/14
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Oversized Influence: Delve into the fast and surprising ascent of Duke Ellington's career as a bandleader. His rise is one of the great “right place, right moment, right ambition” stories of the Jazz Age. Ellington’s band was the second choice when The Cotton Club's house band turned down a contract extension. The Cotton Club had CBS radio wire hookups, so Ellington's music went out live several nights a week to a national audience that had never set foot in Harlem, accelerating him from a regional attraction to a nationally broadcast phenomenon almost overnight.