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What happens if two objects of different masses are dropped at the same time? The object with greater mass appears to drop faster to Earth, pulled by gravity. However, in the 1500s, scientist Galileo Galilei theorized that the Earth’s gravity should actually cause these objects to fall at the same time. Listen to learn about gravity, differences in the Earth’s and the moon’s atmospheres, and how Galileo’s theory was proven true on the moon 400 years after he proposed it.
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Even though it is the weakest of all forces, gravity is why we exist. Gravity keeps the earth, moon, and sun in orbit. It keeps us on the ground instead of floating in space. Listen to hear how gravity affects the velocity in rockets, the shapes of planets, the trajectories of baseballs, and even the strength of the human leg bones.
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In 1741, New York City was shaken by an uprising led by African slaves. New York was a British colony and had a very large slave population. After a series of fires burned homes in Manhattan, including the Governor’s house, many black slaves were imprisoned, hanged, or burned. There was a great fear that slaves were conspiring against their owners. Listen to hear about the history of the revolt and what the revolt of 1741 can tell us about society today.
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Weddell seals are not only adorable, but they can tell scientists a lot about how climate change and conservation efforts are affecting the planet. Over the years, Weddell seal researchers have refined their research methods to better explore their hypotheses about the Weddell seal population. Listen to hear how and why scientists are counting Weddell seals, and why they invited people around the world to join the project from their own homes.
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The Great Wall of China, a 13,000-mile-long tall stone wall running across Northern China, is one of the world’s most famous sites. Emperor Qin ordered construction of the wall over 2000 years ago to help unify the independent states of China and protect the country from enemies. Building the wall was dangerous work – hundreds of thousands of laborers died in the process – but the result is considered one of history’s most incredible feats of construction. Listen to learn more about the Great Wall of China, the only man-made structure that is visible from space.
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We owe a lot to the Ancient Greek civilization. Everything from architecture to medicine to music is based on Greek culture. This audio story describes the influence of ancient Greek culture, specifically in music, and how it has shaped what we know today.
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A series of young-adult novels called Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan has struck a chord with millions of readers. In the novels, Percy goes to Camp Half-Blood to train with other demigods (the children of gods and humans). He then goes on various adventures involving Greek mythology mixed in with the modern world. Recently, independent bookstores have been running day camps for children, inspired by the fictional camp from Riordan’s novels. Listen to hear about how an actual Camp Half-Blood harnesses Greek mythology to create learning experiences for kids, and about Greek mythology’s continued appeal today.
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Ancient Greek plays called tragedies were often about characters dealing with the aftermath of war. Today, these sad stories may help modern veterans recover from the emotional consequences of returning home from battle. Listen to find out what today’s veterans can learn from Sophocles’ play “Ajax,” written over 2,000 years ago.
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Cassandra Gonzalez is a very young single mother. She had her daughter while she was still a teenager, and as she approaches her early twenties she is struggling to balance her desire to enjoy her life with the responsibilities and expectations of motherhood. Listen to learn more about the challenges she faces, and what she does to confront them.
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Author Marjane Satrapi created the graphic novel Persepolis—later adapted as a movie—about her experience growing up during the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Satrapi was a rebellious teenager, fighting to maintain her beliefs and individuality while living under a government that dictated how its people should live—for example, mandating that women must wear veils. Listen to hear about the Iranian government’s reaction to the movie and how others reacted to it.
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Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) was an American anthropologist and writer who focused her research and writing on African American folklore and racial struggles in the American South. In the mid-1930s, Hurston was hired by the Works Progress Administration, an arm of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal aimed at creating jobs, to write a travel guide for Florida. In this story, a present-day writer details what she observed and learned as she made her way through Florida with Hurston’s work as her guide. Listen to learn more about Hurston’s experience working for the WPA and how specific areas in Florida have or have not changed over the past 70 years.
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Johannes Gutenberg is one of history’s most important inventors for having invented the printing press. His invention ushered in the “Gutenberg revolution”, leading to the mass production of books, the influence of which on world history is incalculable. One of the most important early printings by Gutenberg was the famous Gutenberg Bible, of which only three “perfect” copies survive. This audio story focuses on the copy at the Library of Congress. The story details efforts to digitally analyze each page and how this analysis is raising new questions about the process by which mass production of books evolved.
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Everyone has fears and worries of one kind or another. When dealing with them, it can be helpful to have support and to know that others have similar feelings. The book Guts, by Raina Telgemeier, is the story of Raina, a young girl who is experiencing stomach problems that continue to worsen the more she worries. Raina’s therapist helps her deal with her anxiety and gives her strategies to help her when she’s nervous, just like many therapists do in real life. Listen to hear more about the story Guts and to hear a psychologist talk about dealing with worries.
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What defines your identity? Is it what you believe? Where you were born? Or what you look like? In this audio story, African American poet, writer, and artist Claudia Rankine talks about her exploration of the connections between race and blonde hair. Rankine’s initial response to the question, “Why might a person choose to go blonde?” was that people simply wanted to lighten their hair. But she soon wondered if there might be more to it. To find out, she interviewed and photographed women of all skin tones who chose to dye their hair blonde. The result was a gallery exhibit entitled “Stamped.” Listen to hear about what the artist discovered when she explored the connections between race, identity, and blondeness.
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In 1791, in what is now known as Haiti, Toussaint Louverture led a revolt against slavery that led to independence from France. In a time of many other attempted revolts, this was perhaps the most famous and successful. It went on for many years until 1804 the independent state of Haiti was formed. Louverture is interesting in that he is a complex and contradictory historical figure. Previously enslaved, Louverture gained his freedom in 1776 and, according to recently discovered evidence, gained wealth and social standing before the revolution. The story shares details about some of the contradictions of Louverture’s life, including the fact that he may have, at one time, been a slave overseer himself. Listen to hear about the revolt in Haiti and more about this politically smart and charismatic leader.
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Education for females in Pakistan is not easy. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot by the Taliban, showed the world just how difficult it is to receive an education as a female in Pakistan. Other girls similar to Malala are struggling to become educated and earn the right to have a career in Pakistan. Listen to learn more about Malala and other young Pakistani girls like her who are fighting for their rights to receive an education.
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The Harlem Globetrotters are a traveling team of skilled basketball players known for their flashy moves, entertaining shows, and for educating youth about health. They got their start in the 1920s, when Black players were excluded from playing professional basketball in the NBA. The original Globetrotters were five African American semi-pro players who traveled the midwest looking for other teams to play against. Eventually, they challenged the top team in the NBA, twice. Listen to hear the results of those widely watched games and learn how the Harlem Globetrotters helped transform the face of American basketball.
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Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist and activist who escaped from slavery, and then returned to the South to lead dozens of other enslaved people to freedom. As a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, a path leading from slave to free states, Tubman never lost a single passenger. She worked for antislavery causes in the North and during the Civil War, served as a nurse, scout, and spy for the Union army. Listen to learn more about the remarkable life and contributions of American icon Harriet Tubman.
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Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland. She escaped and came back to lead hundreds of enslaved people to New York and Canada along the route of the Underground Railroad. She was also a spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War. Nearly 200 years after her birth, Harriet Tubman is being honored with a visitor center in her name, located near her birthplace in Maryland. The visitor center depicts her life and the Underground Railroad, including interactive images that show her journey to the north. Listen to learn more about Harriet Tubman and this inspirational and historic place.
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Angie Thomas’ novel, The Hate U Give, tells the story of Starr, a young woman of color, who turns toward activism after witnessing the murder of her friend Khalil by a police officer when she is 16 years old. The novel is closely modeled after Thomas’ experiences as a student, and on the stories of several of the young men who have been victims of racialized police violence in recent years. Listen to this audio story to hear the author talk about what inspired her to write this groundbreaking novel.
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Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of Israel. But for 1,700 years it wasn't spoken. This radio story describes how new words are added to the Hebrew language today. It also explores the history of Hebrew, its decline over the centuries to a point where almost no one spoke it, and how it was revived in the 1800s by one dedicated Israelite.
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Heirloom seeds are more than 50 years old and are not genetically modified. Jere Gettle, author of "The Heirloom Life Gardener," is particularly fascinated by heirloom seeds and he noticed they were being dropped by seed catalogs in the 1980s. The plants they produce are typically different from what we see in the grocery store. Listen to learn more about Gettle’s fight to bring heirloom plants back to our dinner tables.
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Helen Keller was a pioneer in the disability rights movement. She was also a pacifist, advocate for workers’ rights, and supporter of women’s suffrage. Her life began with childhood struggles when she lost the ability to both see or hear. Thanks to her hard work and that of her teacher Anne Sullivan, Keller would learn to read, write, and communicate through sign language. Listen to learn about the life of Helen Keller, and how she overcame early challenges to become an accomplished author and reformer.
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Budgeting, paying bills, and managing bank accounts are all important personal finance skills. One high school in Vermont gave students an opportunity to learn about the world of personal finance in a unique way. A local non-profit group teamed up with employers and financial institutions to create a game that resembled the classic “Game of Life,” and invited students to play the game and learn about money management in the process. Listen to hear about the challenges and insights students had as they participated in the process of learning about personal finance.
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In 1928, Ernest Hemingway began writing A Farewell to Arms, a novel with big themes: the horrors of war, the power and pain of love, the inescapable cycle of life and death. The novel is set in World War I era Italy and tells the story of an American ambulance driver who falls in love with an English nurse. Although unmarried, the two conceive a baby and escape together to Switzerland, where tragedy strikes: the woman dies in childbirth. The heartbreaking ending—famous for bringing the most stoic readers to tears—is a major discussion point of this audio story, as it was discovered in recent years that Hemingway wrote over forty endings for the novel. Listen to hear why Hemingway wrote so many endings and why, ultimately, he chose to stick with his original, heart-wrenching conclusion.
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Cells are used in research to make scientific discoveries. A certain set of cells are among the most widely used in biomedical research worldwide. These HeLa cells have been used to research almost every disease and have played an important role in many scientific breakthroughs including the development of the polio vaccine. The cells come from a woman named Henrietta Lacks who has been mentioned in more than 70,000 published scientific papers. Listen to hear more about how these cells are used and the issues of privacy with her family.
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Henry Clay is an overlooked and very important 19th century American politician. As a Senator, House Speaker, and Secretary of State, he helped shape antebellum America’s growth and, some say, helped hold off civil war for decades. He is credited with doing this through compromises that enabled America’s territorial expansion without allowing the issue of slavery to be a barrier. In this audio story, an historian tells the story of the Missouri Compromise, brokered by Clay, and looks at his legacy and relevance in today’s politics, where compromise is often seen as a sign of weakness.
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Herman Melville’s classic American novel Moby-Dick tells the story of whaling captain Ahab’s quest to kill the white whale Moby-Dick. This somewhat simplistic plot retelling misses the thematic and historical undertones of this massive novel. The novel was a critical and commercial failure when it was released in 1851 but experienced a resurgence after World War I. Listen to learn about the writing of Moby-Dick and how Melville was influenced by the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Shakespeare, as well as the tensions of pre-Civil War America.
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There is no minimum age for scientific discovery. Young scientists ask questions about topics that have puzzled humans for hundreds of years. This audio story introduces a high school senior who uses math to help astronomers search for undiscovered planets. Listen to hear more about this project and other amazing work done by Ana Humphrey.
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Serving in the military during a war can lead men and women to experience events that affect them for the rest of their lives. Laura Hillenbrand wrote a best-selling book, Unbroken, which tells the story of one such veteran, Louis Zamperini. It is set in World War II where Zamperini fought for survival on a life raft in the Pacific Ocean, was held as a POW by Japan, and later struggled in civilian life to deal with his war memories. In this interview with Hillenbrand, she recounts Zamperini’s story of survival during the war and his struggle to find closure in the decades following his return home. Listen to hear this extraordinary story of courage, despair and redemption.
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The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan ended World War II in 1945. At the time, Americans were happy the war was over and some people even wanted to drop more atomic bombs. This radio story describes how Americans’ attitudes towards dropping atomic bombs on Japan changed from mostly positive to mostly negative, in the years after the second World War.
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Chocolate is not just a delicious treat, but a relic of the ancient Mesoamerican civilizations where it was first developed. Early indigenous groups ground dried cacao beans into powder to mix with water. Some believed chocolate was a gift from the gods and incorporated it into religious ceremonies. Spanish explorers brought the delicacy to Europe, where food enthusiasts created the first chocolate bars. Listen to learn more about the history of chocolate and why one ancient leader is said to have drunk a gallon of chocolate each day.
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How people have made artificial light over the past 4,000 years reflects the history of economic growth in the world. One economist has explored the cost of light, starting in ancient Babylonian times and ending in the 1990s. He discovered that for most of the past four millennia, light was very expensive. Then, in the past 200 years, scientific advances caused the cost of light to drop precipitously, and economies grew with a speed and intensity unknown before. Listen to hear how light became cheap and how its cost helps show how economic growth happens.
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Many researchers have cited the 1932 Tuskegee Study as the reason Black Americans today are distrustful of the medical industry and hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, as researchers have taken a deeper dive into this history, they have found that blaming the Tuskegee experiment for Black Americans’ mistrust of medicine potentially ignores the larger issue of persistent racism in the American medical system. Listen to learn more about the history of medical experimentation on Black people and how this troubling history has affected the attitudes and perceptions of many Black Americans.
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Markus Persson learned how to program his father’s computer by the age of seven and then created his first computer game by the age of eight. As an adult, Persson designed his own game, called Minecraft, which allowed players to use their imagination and creativity to build tools and buildings. As the game became more popular, Persson took ideas for improvements to the game from users and hired other professionals to help grow the company and turn Minecraft into what it has become today. Listen to learn the history of a ground-breaking computer game, Minecraft.
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One of the many legacies of the Second World War was the emergence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), formed as an alliance of western powers, led by the United States, to protect against the spread of communism. Over several decades, NATO has grown to include over 20 countries, bound by a military alliance and ideological common ground. Recently, President Trump has criticized NATO, arguing that the alliance is a drain on American resources. In this story, a historian tells the story of NATO’s history and connects it to recent concerns raised about its cost and its value.
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The two-party system has been part of American politics for a long time, but the Democratic and Republican parties weren’t always the two main parties. The Federalist party was the party of John Adams. And other third parties have been popular over the course of American history. This audio story explores the history of Democrats and Republicans and why they are the main political parties in America. Listen to learn how it has changed since the founding of the country.
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One of the most identifiable images of the civil rights era is that of sit-in protests. Used as a strategy for combating segregation, sit-ins were a powerful way to spotlight the injustices African Americans faced throughout America. Sit-ins had their roots in early 20th century labor struggles and would continue to be employed globally well after the civil rights era for issues ranging from climate action to gun control. Listen to learn about the history of sit-ins as a protest strategy, one that lives on in our national memory as an example of what civil rights icon John Lewis would have called “good trouble.”
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Understanding and tracking time is key to keeping society -- and our lives -- running smoothly. Early civilizations developed calendars with just 300 days in a year. But by 1582, the time it takes for Earth to rotate around the sun was better understood, and Pope Gregory introduced the 365-day Gregorian calendar -- the one used by most of the world today. Listen to hear a scientist explain the math behind adding and subtracting leap days to keep the calendar aligned with the Earth’s movement, and learn how Christianity played a role in the calendar’s creation.
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When a Russian paramilitary group, called the Cossacks, first emerged more than 500 years ago, it fought for two goals: expand Russia’s borders and protect its Orthodox Christian values. The Cossacks became recognized around the world for their fierce fighting skills and by their traditional dress, which included black sheepskin hats, long open coats and riding boots. Over the centuries, the Cossacks’ commitment to Russian imperialism and conservative ideology remained constant. The 1991 Soviet collapse resuscitated the Cossacks’ chance to serve as the country’s vigilantes once again. In this audio story, you’ll hear how an attack on a female punk band during the 2014 Sochi Olympics showed the world that the Cossacks aren’t just a page in the history books.
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