logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2019
1h 4m

G: The Miseducation of Larry P

Wnyc Studios
About this episode
Are some ideas so dangerous we shouldn’t even talk about them? That question brought Radiolab’s senior editor, Pat Walters, to a subject that at first he thought was long gone: the measuring of human intelligence with IQ tests. Turns out, the tests are all around us. In the workplace. The criminal justice system. Even the NFL. And they’re massive in schools. ... Show More
Up next
Feb 27
Black Box
In this episode, first aired in 2014, we examine three very different kinds of black boxes—spaces where we know what’s going in, we know what’s coming out, but can’t see what happens in-between. From the darkest parts of metamorphosis to a sixty-year-old secret among magicians, a ... Show More
1h 5m
Feb 20
Gray's Donation
Before he was even born, Sarah and Ross Gray knew that their son Thomas wouldn’t live long. But as they let go of him, they made a decision that reverberated through a world that they never bothered to think about. Years later, after a couple of awkward phone calls, they go on a ... Show More
27m 20s
Feb 13
Time is Honey
In the early 2000s, Sunil Nakrani felt stuck. Back then, websites crashed all the time. When Sunil noticed this, he decided he was going to fix the internet. But after nearly a year of studying the architecture of the web, he was no closer to an answer. In desperation, Sunil sent ... Show More
38m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2021
Talkers Are Leaders, DNA Evidence Myth, Thinking Sans Brain
Learn about a key trait in group leaders; why DNA evidence is overrated; and a brainless slime mold that can “think.”The "babble hypothesis" of leadership says people who talk more are seen as leaders by Steffie DruckerDolan, E. W. (2021, July 17). New study finds people who spea ... Show More
13m 47s
Oct 2022
Mass Shootings: How Do We Stop Them?
Buffalo. Uvalde. Highland Park. These mass shootings keep happening. One side says the problem is the guns, and the other side says the problem is the people. Who’s right? And what policies might actually work to stop mass shootings? We talk to NSSF spokesperson Mark Oliva, gun c ... Show More
41m 9s
Jun 2019
Bryan McCann, "The Mark of Criminality: Rhetoric, Race, and Gangsta Rap in the War-on-Crime Era" (U Alabama Press, 2017)
On this episode, Dr. Lee Pierce (she/they)--Asst. Prof. of Communication at SUNY Geneseo--interviews Bryan McCann (he/his)--Associate Professor of Communication at Louisiana State University--on a dope new work of cultural criticism The Mark of Criminality: Rhetoric, Race, and Ga ... Show More
1h 2m
Sep 2021
What Causes Alzheimer's?
<p>The human brain is mysterious and complicated. So much so, one might be tempted to argue that it only makes sense that we still don't have a cure for Alzheimer's disease, despite decades of research. But this isn't the whole story. We've partnered with Vox's <em>Unexplainable< ... Show More
29m 54s
Apr 2022
How should we measure cleverness?
<p>The team at CrowdScience have spent years answering all sorts of listener questions, which must make them pretty smart, right? IN this week’s episode, that assumption is rigorously tested as Marnie Chesterton and the team pit their wits against a multitude of mindbending puzzl ... Show More
44m 4s
May 2024
The Case Against (Bad) Education
<p>In this education-centered episode, the womxn first admonish the Officially Brave efforts of a DEI admissions officer who may be behind the shocking downward trajectory of UCLA's medical school. They then contradict themselves to wonder how much education matters anyway. Is ou ... Show More
1h 12m
Mar 2023
Bad Blood, Bad Science
<p>The word "Tuskegee" has come to symbolize the Black community's mistrust of the medical establishment. It has become American lore. However, most people don't know what actually happened in Macon County, Alabama, from 1932 to 1972. This episode unravels the myths of the U.S. P ... Show More
59m 4s
Jun 2019
Pauline W. Chen, "Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality" (Vintage, 2008)
Too often keeping patients alive gets in the way of helping them as they approach death. Dr. Pauline Chen shares her experiences as a medical student and transplant surgeon and how they’ve shaped the way she practices medicine. Chen is the author of Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflec ... Show More
42m 2s