Weekly Program Highlights
Friday 6/5
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Science Friday… This week on Science Friday, astronomer Sara Seager has her head in the clouds of Venus. While the surface of the planet is hot enough to melt lead, she believes life might exist in its cooler, sulfuric acid clouds.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Hidden Brain… For centuries, people have described creativity as something mysterious: a flash of insight, a whisper from the muse, a sudden idea that seems to arrive out of nowhere. This week on Hidden Brain, explore the hidden mental processes that lead to these moments of inspiration, and why breakthroughs often emerge when the mind is at rest.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Fresh Air… This week on Fresh Air, hear two interviews from the archive with two winners of the Tony Award: Alan Cumming, who played the Emcee in Cabaret in three different productions, and Angela Lansbury, who starred in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd as Mrs. Lovett.
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Blue Notes and Growls: The syncopation, the collective improv, and the stomping rhythms of the blues serves as the emotional core of jazz. It’s the attitude of bending notes and playing with pitch, expressing something that European classical music did not. Critics of the era, struggling to describe it, often fell back on words that describe the blues as moaning, crying, growling.
Saturday 6/6
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!… This week on Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the show travels to Austin, Texas, with panelists Tom Papa, Brian Babylon, and Rachel Coster. Then, Olympic bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor plays Not My Job. And, the show reveals their new official judge and scorekeeper.
11:00 – NOON
Radiolab… One morning, Oliver Sipple went out for a walk. A couple hours later, to his own surprise, he saved the life of the President of the United States. But in the days that followed, Sipple’s split-second act of heroism turned into a rationale for making his personal life into political opportunity. Radiolab asks what a moment, a movement, or a whole society can demand of one person, and how much is too much?
3:00 – 4:00 PM
American Routes… This week on American Routes, hear from late New Orleans native Earl Palmer as he talks about his creative percussion for Fats Domino and Little Richard sessions. And, a conversation with Memphis rockabilly JM Van Eaton about backing Jerry Lee Lewis. Plus, rhythm and time-keeping in music from Elvis and Johnny Cash. Then, a live set dedicated to the soul, funk and jazz of New Orleans drummer James Black with Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.
Sunday 6/7
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Reveal… American journalism isn’t what it used to be. Since 2005, a third of the country’s newspapers have closed their doors, and that’s not the only challenge. There’s also a crisis of confidence, with a majority of Americans saying they don’t trust the news media. This week, Reveal is teaming up with the podcast Scene on Radio for a deep dive into what’s really wrong with the news, and how to fix the cracked foundation of the Fourth Estate.
11:00 – NOON
This American Life… This week on This American Life, stories about regular people trapped inside Greek myths.
NOON – 3:00 PM
Sunday Baroque… There’s an expression that says, “Friends are the families we choose for ourselves.” June 8th is National Best Friends Day, and for many musicians, their friends were not only their chosen families, but also mentors and role models. This week on Sunday Baroque, celebrate some memorable musical friendships throughout history.
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Code Switch & Life Kit… This week on Code Switch, a show about the DACA immigration policy: hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. as small children enjoy protections to continue to live and work in the country, but now the Trump administration is tightening the screws. Then on Life Kit, a show about drinking water and PFAS.
6:00 – 7:00 PM
The Moth Radio Hour… This week on The Moth Radio Hour, stories about bold attempts to revisit the past: a quarterback makes a trip back home; a wife attempts to understand her husband's past; a young man discovers the rodeo; and an adult is cast in a high school play.
Monday 6/8
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Issues and Ideas… This week on Issues and Ideas, long summer days mean there’s more time to enjoy being outside. One way to do that is to walk or use alternative forms of transportation. Hear from a nonprofit DIY bike center in Santa Maria that helps people do just that. Also, contributor Tom Wilmer explores a project at a local military installation that’s using livestock grazing to improve its training grounds. And later in the show, we’ll hear from a San Luis Obispo baker whose old-fashioned approach to bagels seemed to be ahead of a craft “bagel renaissance” sweeping across the country.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
The Splendid Table… When people dream of dream jobs, being a restaurant critic is near the top of the list. This week on The Splendid Table, get a first-hand account from restaurant critics in two very different parts of the country. Hear from Bill Addison, the restaurant critic of the Los Angeles Times, and Iowa-based Wini Moranville, author of Love Is My Favorite Flavor: A Midwestern Dining Critic Tells All.
Tuesday 6/9
1:00 – 2:00 PM
TED Radio Hour… From robot helpers to smart body parts that turn us into cyborgs, technology is merging with our physical bodies and spaces at an accelerating pace. This week on TED Radio Hour, host Manoush Zomorodi explores how to design tech that enhances us without diminishing our humanity.
Wednesday 6/10
1:00 – 1:30 PM
Bioneers… In times of massive disruption and economic stress, people have a tendency to project extreme negative qualities to those they see as “the other.” But is there also a deeper story? This week on Bioneers, hear from Heather McGhee of Demos. She sees a direct connection between today’s extreme inequality and this peak moment of racial panic and white anxiety.
1:30 – 2:00 PM
California Report Magazine… This week on California Report Magazine, to kick off Pride Month, revisit award-winning conversations between transgender kids and the adults who help them thrive.
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Freakonomics Radio… What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? Follow Richard Feynman out west to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act.
Thursday 6/11
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Latino USA… This week on Latino USA, ten years after the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse, hear the heartbreaking testimony of a survivor and his quest for the accountability he and others are still seeking, and how he thinks victims should be honored. Also, take a look at how LGBTQ+ rights and safety have evolved in the U.S. a decade after Pulse. Plus, Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress and Brooklyn native Rosie Perez discusses the journey of the birth of salsa in Nueva York and the rebellious, seductive, and political label that defined it: Fania Records.
Friday 6/12
6:30 – 7:30 PM
The Club McKenzie… Electrifying Ambition: The 1920s Chicago jazz scene crackled with energy and possibility — and everyone in it seemed to know they were going somewhere. The city took New Orleans' communal joy and set it on fire with individual ambition combined with urban speed. In the process, they were producing some of the most electrifying recordings in jazz history. Plus, while New Orleans jazz was collective and everyone improvised simultaneously, the Windy City began emphasizing the soloist, and improvisation became a showcase rather than a conversation.