How the Hyperloop Will Work
If you’re out there, Elon Musk, this one’s for you (although you already know everything in this episode). Everybody else, buckle in and sit back for a 700 mph thrill ride from LA to SF in 35 minutes ...
23 Mar 20171h 1min
Solitary Confinement: Cruel and Unusual
In our continuing exploration of crime and punishment, we take a look at the practice of solitary confinement. To be sure, it has its place in prisons, sometimes for protection of the inmates themselv...
21 Mar 201747min
Southerners Aren’t Lazy and Dumb, They Just Had Hookworm
There was a time when the lower classes of the American South were considered lazy and dimwitted, a stereotype that still somewhat survives today. But this stereotype was rooted in fact. Hookworms, it...
16 Mar 201748min
Pain Scales: Yeeeow!
Pain is subjective; it is whatever the person experiencing it says it is. But to effectively treat pain, it helps to quantify it, which is why medicine came up with pain scales. Learn more about your...
14 Mar 201743min
History of the Trail of Tears, Part II
In the second of two parts, what was once a voluntary resettlement program becomes a violent, forced relocation under the leadership of President Andrew Jackson. Learn more about your ad-choices at h...
9 Mar 201742min
History of the Trail of Tears, Part I
In this first of two episodes on the Trail of Tears, learn about the forces that converged to create the series of events that formed the basis of what may be the most brutal decade in American histor...
7 Mar 201752min
How Optical Illusions Work
Now you see it, now you don't — optical illusions can fool us into seeing what's not actually there. But what causes that disconnect between perception and reality? Learn all about this visual tricker...
2 Mar 201740min
How Free Speech Works
Freedom of speech and the press are values vital to American democracy. But the First Amendment doesn't really define free speech, and plenty of expressions are restricted. Learn all about the ins and...
28 Feb 20171h 4min
