There’s plenty of speculation about what Donald Trump might do in the wake of the election. Would he dispute the results if he loses? Would he simply refuse to leave office, or even try to use the military to maintain control? Last summer, Rosa Brooks got together a team of experts and political operatives from both sides of the aisle to ask a slightly different question. Rather than arguing about whether he’d do those things, they dug into what exactly would happen if he did. Part war game part choose your own adventure, Rosa’s Transition Integrity Project doesn’t give us any predictions, and it isn’t a referendum on Trump. Instead, it’s a deeply illuminating stress test on our laws, our institutions, and on the commitment to democracy written into the constitution.
This episode was reported by Bethel Habte, with help from Tracie Hunte, and produced by Bethel Habte. Jeremy Bloom provided original music.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.    
You can read The Transition Integrity Project’s report here.

There’s plenty of speculation about what Donald Trump might do in the wake of the election. Would he dispute the results if he loses? Would he simply refuse to leave office, or even try to use the military to maintain control? Last summer, Rosa Brooks got together a team of experts and political operatives from both sides of the aisle to ask a slightly different question. Rather than arguing about whether he’d do those things, they dug into what exactly would happen if he did. Part war game part choose your own adventure, Rosa’s Transition Integrity Project doesn’t give us any predictions, and it isn’t a referendum on Trump. Instead, it’s a deeply illuminating stress test on our laws, our institutions, and on the commitment to democracy written into the constitution.
This episode was reported by Bethel Habte, with help from Tracie Hunte, and produced by Bethel Habte. Jeremy Bloom provided original music.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.    
You can read The Transition Integrity Project’s report <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7013152/Preventing-a-Disrupted-Presidential-Election-and.pdf">here</a>.

Radiolab

What If?

More terrifying then any spooky podcast you will listen to this Halloween season 😱😱😱😱😱😱 This election is so terrifying!! 

John Scott was the professional hockey player that every fan loved to hate.  A tough guy. A brawler. A goon. But when an impish pundit named Puck Daddy called on fans to vote for Scott to play alongside the world’s greatest players in the NHL All-Star Game, Scott found himself facing off against fans, commentators, and the powers that be.  Was this the realization of Scott’s childhood dreams? Or a nightmarish prank gone too far? Today on Radiolab, a goof on a goon turns into a parable of the agony and the ecstasy of the internet, and democracy in the age of Boaty McBoatface.
This episode was reported by Latif Nasser and was produced by Matt Kielty.
Special thanks to Larry Lynch and Morgan Springer. Check out John Scott's "Dropping the Gloves" podcast and his book "A Guy Like Me".
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

John Scott was the professional hockey player that every fan loved to hate.  A tough guy. A brawler. A goon. But when an impish pundit named Puck Daddy called on fans to vote for Scott to play alongside the world’s greatest players in the NHL All-Star Game, Scott found himself facing off against fans, commentators, and the powers that be.  Was this the realization of Scott’s childhood dreams? Or a nightmarish prank gone too far? Today on Radiolab, a goof on a goon turns into a parable of the agony and the ecstasy of the internet, and democracy in the age of Boaty McBoatface.
This episode was reported by Latif Nasser and was produced by Matt Kielty.
Special thanks to Larry Lynch and Morgan Springer. Check out John Scott's "Dropping the Gloves" <a href="https://www.johnscottallstar.com/podcast/">podcast</a> and his <a href="https://www.johnscottallstar.com/book/">book</a> "A Guy Like Me".
Support Radiolab today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=notes&amp;utm_campaign=membership&amp;utm_content=radiolab" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

The Punchline

Came here to comment and happy to see people have found it. Fantastic episode. I will now recommend another related ep. 

In an online world, that story about you lives forever. The tipsy photograph of you at the college football game? It’s up there. That news article about the political rally you were marching at? It’s up there. A DUI? That’s there, too. But what if ... it wasn’t.
In Cleveland, Ohio, a group of journalists are trying out an experiment that has the potential to turn things upside down: they are unpublishing content they’ve already published. Photographs, names, entire articles. Every month or so, they get together to decide what content stays, and what content goes. On today’s episode, reporter Molly Webster goes inside the room where the decisions are being made, listening case-by-case as editors decide who, or what, gets to be deleted. It’s a story about time and memory; mistakes and second chances; and society as we know it.
This episode was reported by Molly Webster, and produced by Molly Webster and Bethel Habte. 
Special thanks to Kathy English, David Erdos, Ed Haber, Brewster Kahle, Imani Leonard, Ruth Samuel, James Bennett II, Alice Wilder, Alex Overington, Jane Kamensky and all the people who helped shape this story.
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate. 
To learn more about Cleveland.com’s “right to be forgotten experiment,” check out the very first column Molly read about the project.

In an online world, that story about you lives forever. The tipsy photograph of you at the college football game? It’s up there. That news article about the political rally you were marching at? It’s up there. A DUI? That’s there, too. But what if ... it wasn’t.
In Cleveland, Ohio, a group of journalists are trying out an experiment that has the potential to turn things upside down: they are unpublishing content they’ve already published. Photographs, names, entire articles. Every month or so, they get together to decide what content stays, and what content goes. On today’s episode, reporter Molly Webster goes inside the room where the decisions are being made, listening case-by-case as editors decide who, or what, gets to be deleted. It’s a story about time and memory; mistakes and second chances; and society as we know it.
This episode was reported by Molly Webster, and produced by Molly Webster and Bethel Habte. 
Special thanks to Kathy English, David Erdos, Ed Haber, Brewster Kahle, Imani Leonard, Ruth Samuel, James Bennett II, Alice Wilder, Alex Overington, Jane Kamensky and all the people who helped shape this story.
Support Radiolab today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=notes&amp;utm_campaign=membership&amp;utm_content=radiolab" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>. 
To learn more about Cleveland.com’s “right to be forgotten experiment,” check out the very first <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2018/07/right_to_be_forgotten_clevelan.html">column</a> Molly read about the project.

Right to be Forgotten

This led to some really good conversation for @bryce and I about what media’s role should be in the world today and the type of power it has for positive but also for harmful. Really appreciated the line about journalists sticking with a story from the beginning to the end before writing on it, with our click bait culture I feel like that could be helpful in some ways! 

The Other Latif
Radiolab’s Latif Nasser always believed his name was unique, singular, completely his own. Until one day when he makes a bizarre and shocking discovery. He shares his name with another man: Abdul Latif Nasser, detainee 244 at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. government paints a terrifying picture of The Other Latif as Al-Qaeda’s top explosives expert, and one of the most important advisors to Osama bin Laden. Nasser’s lawyer claims that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that he was never even in Al-Qaeda. This clash leads Radiolab’s Latif into a years-long investigation, picking apart evidence, attempting to separate fact from fiction, and trying to uncover what this man actually did or didn’t do. Along the way, Radiolab’s Latif reflects on American values and his own religious past, and wonders how his namesake, a fellow nerdy, suburban Muslim kid, may have gone down such a strikingly different path.
 
Episode 4: Afghanistan 
Latif investigates the mystery around Abdul Latif’s classified time in Afghanistan. He traces the government’s story through scrappy training camps, bombed out Buddhas, and McDonald’s apple pies to the very center of the Battle of Tora Bora.  Could Abdul Latif have helped the most sought-after and hated terrorist in modern history, Osama bin Laden, escape? The episode ends with a bombshell jailhouse interview with Abdul Latif, the most reliable evidence yet of what was going on in this man’s mind in the months after 9/11.
This episode was produced by Annie McEwen, Sarah Qari, Suzie Lechtenberg, and Latif Nasser. Fact checking by Diane Kelly and Margot Williams. Editing by Jad Abumrad and Soren Wheeler. With help from Neel Dhanesha, Kelly Prime, and Audrey Quinn. Original music by Jad Abumrad, Alex Overington, Annie McEwen, and Amino Belyamani. 
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

The Other Latif
Radiolab’s Latif Nasser always believed his name was unique, singular, completely his own. Until one day when he makes a bizarre and shocking discovery. He shares his name with another man: Abdul Latif Nasser, detainee 244 at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. government paints a terrifying picture of The Other Latif as Al-Qaeda’s top explosives expert, and one of the most important advisors to Osama bin Laden. Nasser’s lawyer claims that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that he was never even in Al-Qaeda. This clash leads Radiolab’s Latif into a years-long investigation, picking apart evidence, attempting to separate fact from fiction, and trying to uncover what this man actually did or didn’t do. Along the way, Radiolab’s Latif reflects on American values and his own religious past, and wonders how his namesake, a fellow nerdy, suburban Muslim kid, may have gone down such a strikingly different path.
 
Episode 4: Afghanistan 
Latif investigates the mystery around Abdul Latif’s classified time in Afghanistan. He traces the government’s story through scrappy training camps, bombed out Buddhas, and McDonald’s apple pies to the very center of the Battle of Tora Bora.  Could Abdul Latif have helped the most sought-after and hated terrorist in modern history, Osama bin Laden, escape? The episode ends with a bombshell jailhouse interview with Abdul Latif, the most reliable evidence yet of what was going on in this man’s mind in the months after 9/11.
This episode was produced by Annie McEwen, Sarah Qari, Suzie Lechtenberg, and Latif Nasser. Fact checking by Diane Kelly and Margot Williams. Editing by Jad Abumrad and Soren Wheeler. With help from Neel Dhanesha, Kelly Prime, and Audrey Quinn. Original music by Jad Abumrad, Alex Overington, Annie McEwen, and Amino Belyamani. 
Support Radiolab today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=notes&amp;utm_campaign=membership&amp;utm_content=radiolab" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

The Other Latif: Episode 4

This week we’re going back to a favorite episode from 2015.
During World War II, something happened that nobody ever talks about. This is a tale of mysterious balloons, cowboy sheriffs, and young children caught up in the winds of war. And silence, the terror of silence.
Reporters Peter Lang-Stanton and Nick Farago tell us the story of a seemingly ridiculous, almost whimsical series of attacks on the US between November of 1944 and May of 1945. With the help of writer Ross Coen, geologist Elisa Bergslien, and professor Mike Sweeney, we uncover a national secret that led to tragedy in a sleepy logging town in south central Oregon.
 Check out pictures of the ghostly balloons here. 
Special thanks to Annie Patzke, Leda and Wayne Hunter, and Ilana Sol. Special thanks also for the use of their music to Jeff Taylor, David Wingo for the use of "Opening" and "Doghouse" - from the Take Shelter soundtrack, Justin Walter's "Mind Shapes" from his album Lullabies and Nightmares, and Michael Manning for the use of "Save". 
 Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

This week we’re going back to a favorite episode from 2015.
During World War II, something happened that nobody ever talks about. This is a tale of mysterious balloons, cowboy sheriffs, and young children caught up in the winds of war. And silence, the terror of silence.
Reporters Peter Lang-Stanton and Nick Farago tell us the story of a seemingly ridiculous, almost whimsical series of attacks on the US between November of 1944 and May of 1945. With the help of writer Ross Coen, geologist Elisa Bergslien, and professor Mike Sweeney, we uncover a national secret that led to tragedy in a sleepy logging town in south central Oregon.
 Check out pictures of the ghostly balloons <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/pictures-fu-go">here</a>. 
Special thanks to Annie Patzke, Leda and Wayne Hunter, and Ilana Sol. Special thanks also for the use of their music to <a href="http://jefftayloralive.bandcamp.com/">Jeff Taylor</a>, <a href="http://david-wingo.com/">David Wingo</a> for the use of "Opening" and "Doghouse" - from the <a href="http://store.milanrecords.com/take-shelter-lp.html">Take Shelter </a>soundtrack, <a href="http://www.justinwalter.net/">Justin Walter</a>'s "Mind Shapes" from his album Lullabies and Nightmares, and <a href="http://www.manningaudio.com/">Michael Manning</a> for the use of <a href="http://store.milanrecords.com/take-shelter-lp.html">"Save"</a>. 
 Support Radiolab today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=notes&amp;utm_campaign=membership&amp;utm_content=radiolab" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

Fu-Go

Albert Einstein asked that when he died, his body be cremated and his ashes be scattered in a secret location. He didn’t want his grave, or his body, becoming a shrine to his genius. When he passed away in the early morning hours of April, 18, 1955, his family knew his wishes. There was only one problem: the pathologist who did the autopsy had different plans.
In the third episode of “G”, Radiolab’s miniseries on intelligence, we go on one of the strangest scavenger hunts for genius the world has ever seen. We follow Einstein’s stolen brain from that Princeton autopsy table, to a cider box in Wichita, Kansas, to labs all across the country. And eventually, beyond the brain itself entirely. All the while wondering, where exactly is the genius of a man who changed the way we view the world? 
 
This episode was reported by Rachael Cusick and Pat Walters, and produced by Bethel Habte, Rachael Cusick, and Pat Walters. Music by Alex Overington and Jad Abumrad. 
Special thanks to: Elanor Taylor, Claudia Kalb, Dustin O’Halloran, Tim Huson, The Einstein Papers Project, and all the physics for (us) dummies Youtube videos that accomplished the near-impossible feat of helping us understand relativity.
Radiolab’s “G” is supported in part by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

Albert Einstein asked that when he died, his body be cremated and his ashes be scattered in a secret location. He didn’t want his grave, or his body, becoming a shrine to his genius. When he passed away in the early morning hours of April, 18, 1955, his family knew his wishes. There was only one problem: the pathologist who did the autopsy had different plans.
In the third episode of “G”, Radiolab’s miniseries on intelligence, we go on one of the strangest scavenger hunts for genius the world has ever seen. We follow Einstein’s stolen brain from that Princeton autopsy table, to a cider box in Wichita, Kansas, to labs all across the country. And eventually, beyond the brain itself entirely. All the while wondering, where exactly is the genius of a man who changed the way we view the world? 
 
This episode was reported by Rachael Cusick and Pat Walters, and produced by Bethel Habte, Rachael Cusick, and Pat Walters. Music by Alex Overington and Jad Abumrad. 
Special thanks to: Elanor Taylor, Claudia Kalb, Dustin O’Halloran, Tim Huson, The Einstein Papers Project, and all the physics for (us) dummies Youtube videos that accomplished the near-impossible feat of helping us understand relativity.
Radiolab’s “G” is supported in part by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.
Support Radiolab today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=notes&amp;utm_campaign=membership&amp;utm_content=radiolab" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

G: Relative Genius

Lies, liars, and lie catchers. This hour of Radiolab asks if it's possible for anyone to lead a life without deception.

Lies, liars, and lie catchers. This hour of Radiolab asks if it's possible for anyone to lead a life without deception.

Deception

In the days after the US Presidential election was called for Joe Biden, many supporters of Donald Trump are crying foul.  Voter fraud. And a key piece of evidence? A century-old quirk of math called Benford’s Law.  We at Radiolab know Benford’s Law well, and have covered it before.  In this political dispatch, Latif and Soren Sherlock their way through the precinct numbers to see if these claims hold up. Spoiler: they don’t. But the reason why is more interesting than you’d expect.
This episode was reported by Latif Nasser. 
Links: 
Walter Mebane, “Inappropriate Applications of Benford’s Law Regularities to Some Data from the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States”

In the days after the US Presidential election was called for Joe Biden, many supporters of Donald Trump are crying foul.  Voter fraud. And a key piece of evidence? A century-old quirk of math called Benford’s Law.  We at Radiolab know Benford’s Law well, and have covered it before.  In this political dispatch, Latif and Soren Sherlock their way through the precinct numbers to see if these claims hold up. Spoiler: they don’t. But the reason why is more interesting than you’d expect.
This episode was reported by Latif Nasser. 
Links: 
Walter Mebane, <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wmebane/inapB.pdf">“Inappropriate Applications of Benford’s Law Regularities to Some Data from the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States”</a>

Breaking Benford

In the 1996 election, Bill Clinton had a problem. The women who came out in droves for him in ‘92, split their vote in the ‘94 midterms, handing over control of the House and the Senate to the Republican Party. As his team stared ahead at his re-election bid, they knew they had to win those women back. So, after a major polling effort to determine who exactly their undecided ladies were, Clinton turned his focus toward the most important swing vote in the election: the soccer moms. 
The soccer mom ushered in a new era of political campaigning, an era of slicing and dicing the electorate, engineering the (predominately white) voting bloc characters that campaigns have chased after. Security Moms. Nascar Dads. Joe Six Pack. Walmart Moms. 
But what about everyone else? What about the surprisingly swingable corners of this country without a soccer mom in sight?  Inspired by this exceedingly cool interactive map from Politico, we set out on a mission to make an audio-map of our own. We asked pollsters, reporters and political operatives in swing states: what slice of your population is up for grabs? A slice that no one talks about? In this episode, we crawl inside the places that might hold our country’s future in its hands, all the while asking: are these slices even real? Are there people inside them that might swing this election? 
This episode was reported and produced by Becca Bressler, Tobin Low, Sarah Qari, Tracie Hunte, Pat Walters and Matt Kielty, with help from Jonny Moens.
Special thanks to Darren Samuelsohn, Josh Cochran, Elizabeth Ralph, and the Politico team for the original reporting and map that inspired this episode. 
Also thanks to: Elissa Schneider, Wisam Naoum, Martin Manna, Ashourina Slewo, Eli Newman, Zoe Clark, Erin Roselio, Jess Kamm Broomell, Will Doran, John Zogby, Matt Dickinson, Tom Jensen, Ross Grogg, Joel Andrus, Jonathan Tilove, Steve Contorno, Heaven Hale, Jeff Shapiro, Nicole Cobler, Marie Albiges, Matt Dole, Robin Goist, Katie Paris, Julie Womack, Matt Dole, Jackie Borchardt, Jessica Locklear, Twinkle Patel, Bobby Das, Dharmesh Ahir,  Nimesh Dhinubhai, Jay Desai, Rishi Bagga, and Sanjeev Joshipura.
Christina Greer’s book is Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream, and Corey Fields book is Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African American.
Original art for this episode by Zara Stasi. Check out her work at:  www.goodforthebees.com.

In the 1996 election, Bill Clinton had a problem. The women who came out in droves for him in ‘92, split their vote in the ‘94 midterms, handing over control of the House and the Senate to the Republican Party. As his team stared ahead at his re-election bid, they knew they had to win those women back. So, after a major polling effort to determine who exactly their undecided ladies were, Clinton turned his focus toward the most important swing vote in the election: the soccer moms. 
The soccer mom ushered in a new era of political campaigning, an era of slicing and dicing the electorate, engineering the (predominately white) voting bloc characters that campaigns have chased after. Security Moms. Nascar Dads. Joe Six Pack. Walmart Moms. 
But what about everyone else? What about the surprisingly swingable corners of this country without a soccer mom in sight?  Inspired by this <a href="https://www.thinglink.com/scene/810170295397646337?buttonSource=viewLimits">exceedingly cool interactive map</a> from Politico, we set out on a mission to make an audio-map of our own. We asked pollsters, reporters and political operatives in swing states: what slice of your population is up for grabs? A slice that no one talks about? In this episode, we crawl inside the places that might hold our country’s future in its hands, all the while asking: are these slices even real? Are there people inside them that might swing this election? 
This episode was reported and produced by Becca Bressler, Tobin Low, Sarah Qari, Tracie Hunte, Pat Walters and Matt Kielty, with help from Jonny Moens.
Special thanks to Darren Samuelsohn, Josh Cochran, Elizabeth Ralph, and the Politico team for the original reporting and map that inspired this episode. 
Also thanks to: Elissa Schneider, Wisam Naoum, Martin Manna, Ashourina Slewo, Eli Newman, Zoe Clark, Erin Roselio, Jess Kamm Broomell, Will Doran, John Zogby, Matt Dickinson, Tom Jensen, Ross Grogg, Joel Andrus, Jonathan Tilove, Steve Contorno, Heaven Hale, Jeff Shapiro, Nicole Cobler, Marie Albiges, Matt Dole, Robin Goist, Katie Paris, Julie Womack, Matt Dole, Jackie Borchardt, Jessica Locklear, Twinkle Patel, Bobby Das, Dharmesh Ahir,  Nimesh Dhinubhai, Jay Desai, Rishi Bagga, and Sanjeev Joshipura.
Christina Greer’s book is <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199989300.001.0001/acprof-9780199989300">Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream</a>, and Corey Fields book is <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520291904/black-elephants-in-the-room">Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African American</a>.
Original art for this episode by Zara Stasi. Check out her work at:  <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/g6t2CW6lYwi5RrXAi1tGY6?domain=goodforthebees.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable">www.goodforthebees.com</a>.

Bloc Party

Baboon troops. We all know they’re hierarchical. There’s the big brutish alpha male who rules with a hairy iron fist, and then there’s everybody else. Which is what Meg Crofoot thought too, before she used GPS collars to track the movements of a troop of baboons for a whole month. What she and her team learned from this data gave them a whole new understanding of baboon troop dynamics, and, moment to moment, who really has the power. 
This episode was reported and produced by Annie McEwen.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.

Baboon troops. We all know they’re hierarchical. There’s the big brutish alpha male who rules with a hairy iron fist, and then there’s everybody else. Which is what Meg Crofoot thought too, before she used GPS collars to track the movements of a troop of baboons for a whole month. What she and her team learned from this data gave them a whole new understanding of baboon troop dynamics, and, moment to moment, who really has the power. 
This episode was reported and produced by Annie McEwen.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

How to Win Friends and Influence Baboons

With the recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there's been a lot of debate about how much power the Supreme Court should really have.
We think of the Supreme Court justices as all-powerful beings, issuing momentous rulings from on high. But they haven’t always been so, you know, supreme. On this episode, we go all the way back to the case that, in a lot of ways, started it all. 
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.

With the recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there's been a lot of debate about how much power the Supreme Court should really have.
We think of the Supreme Court justices as all-powerful beings, issuing momentous rulings from on high. But they haven’t always been so, you know, supreme. On this episode, we go all the way back to the case that, in a lot of ways, started it all. 
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

Kittens Kick The Giggly Blue Robot All Summer

What are the police for? Producer B.A. Parker started wondering this back in June, as Black Lives Matter protests and calls to “defund the police” ramped up. The question led her to a wild story of a stabbing on a New York City subway train, and the realization that, according to the law, the police don’t always have to protect us. Producer Sarah Qari joins Parker to dig into the legal background, which takes her all the way up to the Supreme Court... and then all the way back down to on-duty officers themselves.
This episode contains strong language and graphic violence.
Reported and produced by B.A. Parker and Sarah Qari, and produced by Matt Kielty and Pat Walters.
Special thanks to April Hayes and Katia Maguire for their documentary Home Truth about Jessica Gonzales, Cracked.com for sending us down this rabbit hole, Caroline Bettinger-López, Geoff Grimwood, Christy Lopez, Anthony Herron, Mike Wells, and Keith Taylor.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.

What are the police for? Producer B.A. Parker started wondering this back in June, as Black Lives Matter protests and calls to “defund the police” ramped up. The question led her to a wild story of a stabbing on a New York City subway train, and the realization that, according to the law, the police don’t always have to protect us. Producer Sarah Qari joins Parker to dig into the legal background, which takes her all the way up to the Supreme Court... and then all the way back down to on-duty officers themselves.
This episode contains strong language and graphic violence.
Reported and produced by B.A. Parker and Sarah Qari, and produced by Matt Kielty and Pat Walters.
Special thanks to April Hayes and Katia Maguire for their documentary Home Truth about Jessica Gonzales, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAfUI_hETy0&amp;ab_channel=Cracked">Cracked.com</a> for sending us down this rabbit hole, Caroline Bettinger-López, Geoff Grimwood, Christy Lopez, Anthony Herron, Mike Wells, and Keith Taylor.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

No Special Duty

Coronasomnia is a not-so-surprising side-effect of the global pandemic. More and more of us are having trouble falling asleep. We wanted to find a way to get inside that nighttime world, to see why people are awake and what they are thinking about.
So what’d Radiolab decide to do? 
Open up the phone lines and talk to you.
We created an insomnia hotline and on this week’s experimental episode, we stayed up all night, taking hundreds of calls, spilling secrets, and at long last, watching the sunrise peek through.  
This episode was produced by Lulu Miller with Rachael Cusick, Tracie Hunte, Tobin Low, Sarah Qari, Molly Webster, Pat Walters, Shima Oliaee, and Jonny Moens.
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Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.

<a href="https://health.ucdavis.edu/health-news/newsroom/covid-19-is-wrecking-our-sleep-with-coronasomnia--tips-to-fight-back-/2020/09">Coronasomnia</a> is a not-so-surprising <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/03/coronavirus-sleep-insomnia/">side-effect</a> of the global pandemic. More and more of us are having trouble falling asleep. We wanted to find a way to get inside that nighttime world, to see why people are awake and what they are thinking about.
So what’d Radiolab decide to do? 
Open up the phone lines and talk to you.
We created an insomnia hotline and on this week’s experimental episode, we stayed up all night, taking hundreds of calls, spilling secrets, and at long last, watching the sunrise peek through.  
This episode was produced by Lulu Miller with Rachael Cusick, Tracie Hunte, Tobin Low, Sarah Qari, Molly Webster, Pat Walters, Shima Oliaee, and Jonny Moens.
Want more Radiolab in your life? <a target="_blank" class="c-link" data-stringify-link="http://radiolab.org/newsletter" delay="150" data-sk="tooltip_parent" href="http://radiolab.org/newsletter" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sign up for our newsletter</a>! We share our latest favorites: articles, tv shows, funny Youtube videos, chocolate chip cookie recipes, and more.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

Insomnia Line

We lost a legend. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18th, 2020. She was 87. In honor of her passing we are re-airing the More Perfect episode dedicated to one of her cases, because it offers a unique portrait of how one person can make change in the world. 
 This is the story of how Ginsburg, as a young lawyer at the ACLU, convinced an all-male Supreme Court to take discrimination against women seriously - using a case on discrimination against men. 
This episode was reported by Julia Longoria.
Special thanks to Stephen Wiesenfeld, Alison Keith, and Bob Darcy.
Supreme Court archival audio comes from Oyez®, a free law project in collaboration with the Legal Information Institute at Cornell.
Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

We lost a legend. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on September 18th, 2020. She was 87. In honor of her passing we are re-airing the More Perfect episode dedicated to one of her cases, because it offers a unique portrait of how one person can make change in the world. 
 This is the story of how Ginsburg, as a young lawyer at the ACLU, convinced an all-male Supreme Court to take discrimination against women seriously - using a case on discrimination against men. 
This episode was reported by Julia Longoria.
Special thanks to Stephen Wiesenfeld, Alison Keith, and Bob Darcy.
Supreme Court archival audio comes from <a href="https://www.oyez.org/">Oyez®</a>, a free law project in collaboration with the Legal Information Institute at Cornell.
Support Radiolab today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=notes&amp;utm_campaign=membership&amp;utm_content=radiolab" target="_blank">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

More Perfect: Sex Appeal

There are so many ways to fall—in love, asleep, even flat on your face. This hour, Radiolab dives into stories of great falls. 
We jump into a black hole, take a trip over Niagara Falls, upend some myths about falling cats, and plunge into our favorite songs about falling.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.

There are so many ways to fall—in love, asleep, even flat on your face. This hour, Radiolab dives into stories of great falls. 
We jump into a black hole, take a trip over Niagara Falls, upend some myths about falling cats, and plunge into our favorite songs about falling.
Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&amp;utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&amp;utm_campaign=pledge&amp;utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>.

Falling

Another public radio program that is also available for free as a podcast, *Radiolab* has been running since 2002. It focuses on topics in the philosophy and science realms but in an accessible and light-hearted way perfect for the podcast format. If you think you’re not into science, podcast hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich may just be able to convince you otherwise. Each hour-long episode is innovative, stylized, and engaging, full of music and sound effects to hold the interest of even the most attention-challenged listeners.

Radiolab is one of the most beloved podcasts and public radio shows in the world. The show is known for its deep-dive journalism and innovative sound design. Created in 2002 by host Jad Abumrad, the program began as an exploration of scientific inquiry. Over the years it has evolved to become a platform for long-form journalism and storytelling. Radiolab is co-hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser.


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