Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchImprisoned Syrian wrote poetry imagining the fall of the regime. Now it's come true
For 14 years, Syrian poet Faraj Bayrakdar was imprisoned and tortured in a series of prisons. He found refuge in writing poetry. Now, the poems he wr…
8 months, 3 weeks ago
How absurdist theatre is an act of resistance
Theatre of the Absurd was born postwar as a recoil against the violent fetish that totalitarian regimes had for “order.” For 75 years, absurdist play…
8 months, 3 weeks ago
How a translation movement made Western philosophers famous
From Greek to Arabic and then to Latin, translators in 8th-century Baghdad eventually brought to Europe the works of Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and oth…
8 months, 4 weeks ago
Why progressives may not be as 'woke' as they think
Sociologist and journalist Musa al-Gharbi identifies himself as part of an elite class of progressives that he calls: "symbolic capitalists"— knowled…
9 months ago
Why a proposed 'new capitalism' is contested
It’s loathed and celebrated, by both the left and right. It's called The Great Reset. To conspiracy theorists, it's a plot by global elites at the Wo…
9 months ago
How a German philosopher predicted our digital age
What happens when original artworks become endless copies? German philosopher Walter Benjamin called it the death of "aura," and his concept predicte…
9 months ago
What life was like for Luke Galati in a psychiatric ward
Writer and filmmaker Luke Galati shares what it is like living with bipolar I disorder and staying in a psychiatric ward — an experience he says feel…
9 months ago
How Inuk activist Aaju Peter learned to 'decolonize' her mind
Aaju Peter was 11 years old when she was taken from her Inuk community in Greenland and sent away to learn the ways of the West. She lost her languag…
9 months ago
Can the fierce wars of today end in peace?
If intractable conflicts in the 90s could end in peace agreements, is there hope for the ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond? What can we…
9 months, 1 week ago
How rhythm helps us walk, talk — and even love
Rhythm is more than a fundamental feature of music. It's what makes us human. Rhythm begins in the womb and the heartbeat. And neuroscience research …
9 months, 1 week ago