The Really Big Questions

What if you had an idea that you believed could change the world? What if that idea was a tornado machine? In this episode we ask, what drives some people to pursue an idea for their entire lives? Download audio Retired engineer Louis Michaud believes he has an idea that could solve the world’s energy… READ MORE

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You can vote when you’re 18 and drink when you’re 21. But when do you really become an adult? Download audio Psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett says people in their 20s are in a different life-stage than people in their 30s. He coined the term “emerging adulthood” to describe the years between adolescence and full adulthood.… READ MORE

  These are the final words of Jennifer Michael Hecht’s most recent book: “Choose to stay.” Hecht argues against suicide as an escape from despair. She offers two reasons. Choosing to stay allows you the chance to be helpful to someone else. And, she says you owe your future self a chance at happiness. AUDIO: Hecht… READ MORE

Maybe it’s a stuffed elephant. Could be a pepper shaker. Or perhaps a very special rock. Many adults have an object that’s particularly dear to them, but it’s not something that most people openly talk about. Unless you ask them.  Download audio Share your special thing with us on Facebook Emily Walsh has always collected trinkets,… READ MORE

Mary Roach wants you to give yourself away. Not yet, though. After you’re dead. She wrote a book called “Stiff,” in which she details what has happened over the years to bodies that were donated—willingly or unwillingly—to science. “I think that, for many people, does take the edge off it,” Roach says. “You know there… READ MORE

If you ever doubt that animals have the capacity to share, look no further than chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys. Frans de Waal studies primates, and he teaches psychology at Emory University. He says says looking at the way other primates share sheds light on the way humans act. Download audio “Sometimes in human behavior there’s… READ MORE

On the altar of a former cathedral in Duluth, Minn., an ensemble of musicians begins to play. Their notes are piercing and sometimes dissonant. It’s not your typical cathedral music—but then again, these aren’t your typical musicians. They’re robots. Download audio None of them look like robots, though. They look more like futuristic instruments. Troy… READ MORE

The human instinct to tell stories is strong. So strong, in fact, that sometimes people see stories when they’re not there. Download audio In the 1940s, two researchers set out to demonstrate the proclivity of humans to see stories, even in random events. Fritz Heider and Mary-Ann Simmel created a short animated film in which a small… READ MORE

Storytelling is an integral part of human culture. It teaches, enlightens and connects. But according to author and playwright Anne Bogart, it can also be dangerous. Download audio Bogart just released a book called “What’s the Story: Essays about Art, Theater and Storytelling.” She’s also the artistic director of SITI Company, a New York-based theater… READ MORE