logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2021
1h 3m

Stories of How We Cope With Chaos (2021)

NPR
About this episode
You've been looking at screens for what feels like forever. Now it's time to sit back, close your eyes, and come with us to worlds you've never seen, and histories you've never imagined. This is the first episode of our summer series "Movies for Your Mind."

What happens when teenagers are shipwrecked on a deserted island? Can you find the fingerprint of God in warzones? Why was the concept of zero so revolutionary for humanity? More than a year into a pandemic that has completely upended the lives of people around the world, we look at how we cope with chaos, how we're primed to make order out of randomness, and why the stories we're taught to believe about our propensities for self-destruction may not actually be true.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Aug 26
A Primer On The Federal Reserve's Independence
President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. Trump has also threatened to oust Powell — which would mark an extraordinary shif ... Show More
20m 37s
Aug 21
The Queen of Tupperware
Who ushered housewives into the workforce and plastic storage containers into America’s kitchens? Today on the show, the rise and fall of Brownie Wise, the woman behind Tupperware's plastic empire — and a revolution in women’s work.Guests:Alison Clarke, author of Tupperware, the ... Show More
49m 9s
Aug 14
We the People: Succession of Power
The 25th amendment. A few years before JFK was shot, an idealistic young lawyer set out on a mission to convince people something essential was missing from the Constitution: clear instructions for what should happen if a U.S. president was no longer able to serve. On this episod ... Show More
47m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2022
Doomsday: Did Prophets Predict the Apocalypse?
Ancient texts can paint a grim picture of humanity’s demise — but what’s in store depends on your source. We could be in for anything from global disasters and epic wars, to supernatural ascensions, to enlightened beings shepherding us into the next age. With prophets to warn us, ... Show More
38m 41s
Jun 2023
When We Kill History
There's a growing culture war over history with efforts throughout western nations to revert to "virtuous origin" stories. IDEAS explores what happens when we sanitize history and remove criticism and doubt from the myth. If we kill history, how can we look to the future? 
54m 8s
Sep 2023
Tylor Brand, "Famine Worlds: Life at the Edge of Suffering in Lebanon's Great War" (Stanford UP, 2023)
World War I was a catastrophe for the lands that would become Lebanon. With war came famine, and with famine came unspeakable suffering, starvation, and mass death. For nearly four years the deadly crisis reshaped society, killing untold thousands and transforming how people live ... Show More
1h 23m
Jun 2023
Our Story 01 | Introduction to World History
In this episode of English Plus, we explore the major events and developments of world history, from the Renaissance to the Digital Age. We delve into the Age of Exploration and the Columbian Exchange, the Industrial Revolution and its impact on society, and the World Wars that f ... Show More
21m 51s
Apr 2022
Our Mysterious Planet: Nature's Wrath
From natural disasters to extinction-level events, how is life as we know it shaped by our planet’s catastrophes? With Earth Day around the corner, we’re investigating the deepest mysteries of the natural world — starting with nature at its most destructive. Learn more about your ... Show More
41m 12s
Jul 2022
Shocking Events That Made History Series | Episode 5
Welcome to a new episode of our series Shocking Events That Made History. Belief systems have been with us since the start of civilization—and for just as long religion has been a source of immeasurable joy and challenges. Corrupt leaders, blind persecution—the stories are as old ... Show More
32m 9s
Oct 2023
The Tartarian Conspiracy
What if most of what we know about history is false? According to proponents of the Tartarian conspiracy, not too long ago Earth was home to an incredibly advanced civilization based in Eurasia, and extending around the world -- until a series of catastrophic mud floods and enemy ... Show More
1h 4m
Jan 2024
The Bronze Age Collapse
The Bronze Age Collapse was one of the most cataclysmic events in human history. Over just a few decades, civilisations across the Mediterranean from Greece and Egypt to Mesopotamia and Babylon abruptly deteriorated, bringing an end to one epoch and birthing another. But what exa ... Show More
51m 9s
Jul 2022
A Ridiculous History of Reality TV, Part One: An Origin Story
However you define it, reality TV is a giant in the world of entertainment. From soap operas to game shows and the hazards of dating, it seems almost any genre can find a home in reality television. But how did we get here? How did this global phenomenon begin? In part one of thi ... Show More
41m 35s
Dec 2021
DAWN OF EVERYTHING: The True History of Humanity
What if everything we think we know about the history of our species is wrong? That’s the provocative question at the heart of a new book by today’s guest, David Wengrow. Hailed as fascinating, brilliant, and potentially revolutionary, “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Hu ... Show More
1h 20m