Reginald Dwayne Betts spent more than eight years in prison. Today he's a Yale Law graduate, a MacArthur Fellow, and a poet. His nonprofit works to build libraries in prisons so that more incarcerated people can find hope.
Jun 27
28. Professor Carl Hart Argues All Drugs Should Be Legal — Can He Convince Steve?
As a neuroscientist and psychology professor at Columbia University who studies the immediate and long-term effects of illicit substances, Carl Hart believes that all drugs — including heroin, methamphetamines, and cocaine — should be legalized. Steve talks to Carl about his new ... Show More
44m 32s
Jun 20
27. Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It
Nobel laureate, best-selling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman is also a friend and former business partner of Steve’s. In discussing Danny’s new book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, the two spar over inconsistencies in criminal sentencing and Danny tells S ... Show More
44m 3s
Sep 2025
TM Smoke Signals: We Refuse to Be Victims by Njuki Githethwa
<p>In this Smoke Signal, Njuki Githethwa reads from the newly published collection ‘We Refuse to Be Victims' by Ugandan activist and poet Sam Mugumya. His words remind us that courage, dignity, and resistance are possible even under the harshest conditions.</p>
<p>Sam visited Nai ... Show More
4m 18s
Jul 2023
The Case Against Democracy - Curtis Yarvin
Curtis Yarvin, also known by the pen name Mencius Moldbug, is an American blogger. He is known, along with philosopher Nick Land, for founding the anti-egalitarian and anti-democratic philosophical movement known as the Dark Enlightenment or neoreactionary movement (NRx). He argu ... Show More
1h 14m
Dec 2022
New Books By the End of the Year
This week Alice and Kim talk about new nonfiction out in November and December, including memoirs, cold cases, orchid obsession, and more. Gift Tailored Book Recommendations this holiday season! Follow For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. For more nonfiction ... Show More
50m 17s
Sep 2025
TED Talks Daily Book Club: How to Be Free: A Proven Guide to Escaping Life’s Hidden Prisons | Shaka Senghor
Note: this talk contains mature content.Shaka Senghor is a resilience expert and New York Times best-selling author, who spent 19 years in prison–including 7 in solitary confinement–for a crime committed when he was young, before finding his path to freedom. In this TED Talks Dai ... Show More
44m 15s