Big Sur: In the Soup
Two years have passed since Covid brought production of Not Lost to a screeching halt. In that time, Brendan has turned norm-core: he gets a steady job, a live-in partner,…
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J Dilla: Dan Charnas on the Life and Legacy of Jay Dee
Today we’re talking to Dan Charnas—author, hip-hop journalist, professor, show runner, former A&R person for Def American, and also a longtime friend of Rick Rubin’s. Charnas’s latest book, Dilla Time: The…
Episode 3: Mr. Goldman, Mr. Sex
When Fabian Thylmann ran into trouble with the law, a former Goldman Sachs banker swooped in to buy his porn sites. But nobody knew who he was. He managed to…
Relax and Win
A small group of people — all connected to a second-tier state college — revolutionized coaching and athletic activism in the 1960s. In this episode, we hear how coach Bud…
The Science of Our Inner Voice
Psychology professor Ethan Kross is an expert on the science of introspection, and the role our inner voice plays in shaping our sense of well-being. While our inner voice has…
David Sedaris: A Life On and Off the Page
This week we’re joined by beloved author David Sedaris! We begin with the timely opening essay from his latest collection, Happy-Go-Lucky (4:05). Then, David describes growing up in Raleigh, North…
The Chevrolet Corvair: How Safety Failed Us
The Corvair was Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 1960, yet the car hit bottom just three years later. In this episode, how battles over safety shaped the future…
Episode 2: The Darth Vader of Porn
A decade ago, a computer programmer named Fabian Thylmann began to build one of the biggest porn empires in the world. How did Fabian do it? He was good with…
PJ Morton
Today we begin our month-long celebration of Black Music Month with PJ Morton—the New Orleans based singer/songwriter, producer, and keyboardist for Maroon 5. Morton recently released his eighth studio album Watch…
Episode 1: Porn Meets the Internet
Stoya is a porn star who saw first-hand how a firehose of free porn online transformed the adult industry. She sends hosts Alex Barker and Patricia Nilsson a quest: Find…
Hot Money: Who Rules Porn?
When Financial Times reporter Patricia Nilsson started digging into the porn industry, she made a shocking discovery: Nobody knew who controlled the biggest porn company in the world. Now, Nilsson…
A Test of Faith
Kate Bowler is a religious scholar whose entire belief system was thrown into question when she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35. For a transcript of this…
