Radiolab

Saturday Noon
Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich
Robert Krulwich

Radiolab is an experiential investigation that explores themes and ideas through a patchwork of people, sounds, and stories. In each episode, Radiolab experiments with sound and style allowing science to fuse with culture, and information to sound like music.

Hosted by Jad Abumrad with co-host Robert Krulwich, Radiolab is designed for listeners who demand skepticism but appreciate wonder; who are curious about the world, but also want to be moved and surprised.

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Composer ID: 
50e742e9e1c8e204c0dccad1|50e742a4e1c8e204c0dcca8a

Audio Archive

  • Monday, May 20, 2013 3:00pm

    If you've ever wondered how the podcast comes together, or what it's like to work at Radiolab, here's a peek into our process.

  • Tuesday, May 14, 2013 3:00pm

    Every 17 years, a deafening sex orchestra hits the East Coast -- billions and billions of cicadas crawl out of the ground, sing their hearts out, then mate and die. In this short, Jad and Robert talk to a man who gets inside that noise to dissect its meaning and musical components.

  • Tuesday, April 30, 2013 3:00pm

    When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible to answer.

  • Tuesday, April 16, 2013 3:00pm

    What if the moon were just a jump away? In this short, a beautiful answer to that question from Italo Calvino, read live by Liev Schreiber. 

  • Tuesday, April 2, 2013 3:27pm

    Improv comedy puts uncertainty on center stage -- performers usually start by asking the audience for a prompt, then they make up the details as they go. But two actors in Chicago are taking this idea to its absolute limit, and finding ways to navigate the unknown.

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6:38am

Tue August 14, 2012

9:40am

Fri August 10, 2012
Krulwich Wonders...

Giant Crumpled Paper Drops From The Sky, Lands On Hill In New Zealand

Originally published on Fri August 10, 2012 2:04 pm

You are standing in a park in New Zealand. You look up at the top of a hill, and there, balanced on the ground, looking like it might catch a breeze and blow away, is a gigantic, rumpled piece of paper.

Except ... one side of it, the underside, is ... not there. You can see the sky, clouds, birds where there should be paper, so what is this?

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9:57am

Tue August 7, 2012
Krulwich Wonders...

The Worst Way To Stay Alive Forever

Some say it will happen soon.

Critics say it will take a long, long, time.

Many neuroscientists and philosophers think it ain't gonna happen, ever.

We're talking about building a machine that functions as the equivalent, or maybe as superior to, a human mind.

A synthetic brain doesn't have to be the exact equivalent of a human brain, but there are humans, the brilliant inventor Ray Kurzweil in particular, who hope one day to dump their minds into such a machine, boot up and go on living, disembodied, but mentally intact, forever.

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11:54am

Wed August 1, 2012
Krulwich Wonders...

Are Butterflies Two Different Animals in One? The Death And Resurrection Theory

Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 9:29 am

Updated Aug. 2, 2012: We have added an update to this post, which you can find below the original. Click here to read it.

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8:56am

Mon July 30, 2012
Krulwich Wonders...

Embarrassed By Your Olympic Javelin: Did Cavemen Do It Better?

Originally published on Mon July 30, 2012 11:23 am

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