Programs

This episode was recorded on March 8th, 2026 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV. The lineup includes Cyril Neville, Deke Dickerson & Los Straitjackets, Sons of Town Hall, Amanda Pascali. https://bit.ly/3OyzFLX

For most of human history, people went about their daily lives with a worm or two (or fifty) in their guts. Only in the past century, with pharmaceuticals and sanitation practices, have we made significant strides towards deworming the whole of humanity. And that’s typically been thought of as a good thing, because having too many worms in your body can–quite literally–suck the life out of you. But is it possible to have… too few worms? Science wonders if deworming ourselves has actually led to an increase in certain chronic diseases. On this episode, we dive into Necator americanus, a.k.a. the American Hookworm, and its mysterious relationship with each of us. We trace the hookworm’s 118-year journey from a demonized economic depressant, to its use as a desperate D.I.Y. immunosuppressant, to its potential as a medical treatment for a number of chronic diseases, everything from asthma to MS. We’re bringing back two stories  from our 2009 episode Parasites plus new research on hookworms and autoimmune diseases, reported by Molly Webster Special thanks to Ethan Hein for the use of his remix of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21. Plus, Doris Pierce, and Dan and Alice Hadley. EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by – Pat Walters and Molly Webster with help from – {{wREPORTERS}} Produced by – Matt Kielty with help from – Rebecca Rand Fact-checking by – Diane A. Kelly and Edited by  – Arianne Wack EPISODE CITATIONS: Articles –  Effect of experimental hookworm infection on insulin resistance in people at risk of type 2 diabetes (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37495576/) by Giacomin PR et al. Nat Commun. 2023 Jul 26 Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot are joined by author Nic Brown for a classic album dissection of the debut from The Violent Femmes. They delve into the unexpected staying power of songs like "Add It Up" and "Blister In The Sun" and Brown shares new insights into the album from his recent interviews with the band members.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3eEvRnGMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah  Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundops Featured Songs:Blister In The Sun, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Please Do Not Go, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983Confession, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983Kiss Off, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983Add It Up, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983Gone Daddy Gone, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983Good Feeling, "Violent Femmes," Violent Femmes, Slash, 1983American Music, "Violent Femmes," Why Do Birds Sing, Reprise, 1991Willie Nelson, "On The Road Again (Live)," Honeysuckle Rose, Columbia, 1980See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There’s a beautiful conjunction between the Moon and the planet Venus early this evening. Venus is the “evening star” – the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. The Moon is a thin crescent – the Sun illuminates only a sliver of the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth. We can’t see it, but the Moon is moving farther from us – by about an inch and a half per year. It’s been moving away since it was born, when Earth was young. In fact, that shift was one of the clues that led to the leading theory of how the Moon was born. In the chaotic conditions of the early solar system, Earth was walloped by a planet about the size of Mars. That blasted debris into orbit around Earth. Much of that material quickly coalesced to form one or more moons. Today’s Moon is the only survivor. The collision caused Earth to spin much faster, so a day was much shorter than it is now. Gravitational interactions between Earth and Moon have slowed us down. But they’ve also caused the Moon to slide farther away. The process isn’t smooth – the Moon speeds up and slows down. And it won’t stay smooth in the future. Given enough time, the Earth-Moon system would reach a point when the same hemisphere of Earth would always face the Moon, and the Moon would stop moving away. But that time may never come. It could be so far in the future that the Sun will have expired – perhaps destroying Earth and its slip-sliding Moon. Script by Damond Benningfield

We're joined for a special Uruguay episode co-hosted by Juan Campodonico, the artist and producer at the forefront of fusing electronic and rock music with traditional Uruguayan genres like tango and murga. Featured artists include Bajofondo, El Cuarteto de Nos, Campo and Peyote Asesino. 

One family faces the Trump administration’s ban on trans people serving in the military, and responds with a surprising secret weapon. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Geirid and Chrissy are extreme planners. But about a year ago, they were confronted with a situation that even they had no idea how to plan for. (4 minutes)Act One: Geirid and Chrissy make an “in case of emergency, break glass” spreadsheet and get some big news. (14 minutes)Act Two: Geirid and Chrissy have less than a month to make a life-changing decision. The government gives them two options, and they try to find a third. (21 minutes)Act Three: A short story from Rachel Khong: Two people have a very consequential choice to make, given to them by God. (15 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.