Episode summary: In 1956 London Theater critic Kenneth Tynan helped launch a youth movement committed to exposing social and political issues on stage, on screen and in literature. We take a close look at the operators and opportunists behind England’s Angry Young Men. Shownotes: Michael Billington...
Episode summary: The interblock parks of Sofia, Bulgaria that are caught between old failed communism and new hyper capitalism
Episode summary: What would it take, and what would it even mean, to heal from a wound like the Wilmington massacre and coup of 1898 — or from centuries of white supremacist violence, disenfranchisement, and theft? An exploration of that question with community members in Wilmington, and experts on...
Episode summary: This week’s episode on the great political fictions is about Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) – part adventure story, part satire of early-eighteenth-century party politics, but above all a coruscating reflection on the failures of human perspective and self-knowledge. Why...
Episode summary: In the 1950s and 1960s, the paediatric establishment in America convinced mothers to start solid foods in the first month of baby’s life, and sometimes even before they had left the hospital. This was considered a good idea even though the average baby wouldn’t have a tooth in its h...
Episode summary: With only a few months till launch, Jess plays a draft of the series for her subjects and gives them an opportunity to request major changes. Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative is written, hosted and produced by Jess Shane. Sara Nics is the story editor. Sound design, mix/maste...
Episode summary: A conversation with a 911 operator about what happens on the other end of the line – and the day she heard her daughter’s voice on the phone. Criminal is going back on tour this month! We’ll be telling brand new stories, live on stage. You can even get meet and greet tickets to come...
Episode summary: Our lab’s Ryan McGrady and Kevin Zheng are taking a victory lap around some amazing work they’re doing here at the lab. Ryan just published an article in The Atlantic about the research he’s leading to understand how big YouTube is and what exactly is on it, and Kevin recently debut...