Programs

Five Faves: 2005 Edition Executive producer Adam Harris walks us through some of the most memorable sets and performances from his first season with Mountain Stage, twenty short years ago. Tune in to hear The Del McCoury Band, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Lizz Wright, Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, Odetta and more! https://bit.ly/4sptuc8

When neuroscientist Madeline Lancaster was a brand new postdoc, she accidentally used an expired protein gel in a lab experiment and noticed something weird. The stem cells she was trying to grow in a dish were self-assembling. The result? Madeline was the first person ever to grow what she called a “cerebral organoid,” a tiny, 3D version of a human brain the size of a peppercorn.In about a decade, these mini human brain balls were everywhere. They were revealing bombshell secrets about how our brains develop in the womb, helping treat advanced cancer patients, being implanted into animals, even playing the video game Pong. But what are they? Are these brain balls capable of sensing, feeling, learning, being? Are they tiny, trapped humans? And if they were, how would we know?Special thanks to Lynn Levy, Jason Yamada-Hanff, David Fajgenbaum, Andrew Verstein, Anne Hamilton, Christopher Mason, Madeline Mason-Mariarty, the team at the Boston Museum of Science, and Howard Fine, Stefano Cirigliano, and the team at Weill-Cornell. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by – Latif Nasserwith help from – Mona MadgavkarProduced by – Annie McEwen, Mona Madgavkar, and Pat Walterswith mixing help from – Jeremy BloomFact-checking by – Natalie Middleton and Rebecca Randand Edited by  – Alex Neason and Pat WaltersEPISODE CITATIONS:Videos – “Growing Mini Brains to Discover What Makes Us Human,” Madeline Lancaster’s TEDxCERN Talk, Nov 2015 (https://zpr.io/6WP7xfA27auR)Brain cells playing Pong (https://zpr.io/pqgSqguJeAPK)Reuters report on CL1 computer launch in March 2025 (https://zpr.io/cdMf8Yjvayyd) Articles – Madeline Lancaster: The accidental organoid – mini-brains as models for human brain development (https://zpr.io/nnwFwUwnm2p6), MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology What We Can Learn From Brain Organoids (https://zpr.io/frUfsg4pxKsb), by Carl Zimmer. NYT, November 6, 2025Ethical Issues Related to Brain Organoid Research (https://zpr.io/qyiATHEhdnSa), by Insoo Hyun et al, Brain Research, 2020 Brain organoids get cancer, too, opening a new frontier in personalized medicine (https://zpr.io/nqMCQ) STAT Profile of Howard Fine and his lab’s glioblastoma research at Weill Cornell Medical Center: By re-creating neural pathway in dish, Stanford Medicine research may speed pain treatment (https://zpr.io/UnegZeQZfqn2) Stanford Medicine profile of Sergiu Pasca’s research on pain in organoids A brief history of organoids (https://zpr.io/waSbUCSrL9va) by Corrò et al, American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology, Books – Carl Zimmer Life’s Edge: The Search for What it Means to be Alive (https://carlzimmer.com/books/lifes-edge/)Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (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.

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot close the book on 2025 by doing a final round of obituaries, playing favorite singles and sharing a mixtape that documents the ups and downs of the year that was. Greg's MixtapeJoin 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:SPRINTS, "Something's Gonna Happen," All That Is Over, City Slang and Sub Pop, 2025The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967The Redwalls, "It's Alright," Universal Blues, Undertow, 2003Joe Ely, "Boxcars," Honkey Tonk Masquerade, MCA, 1978The Mavericks, "There Goes My Heart," What a Crying Shame, MCA Nashville, 1994The Band, "Chest Fever," Music from Big Pink, Capitol, 1968Chappell Roan, "The Subway," (Single), Amusement, 2025Annabelle Dinda, "The Hand," (Single), Self-Released, 2025Huntrix, "Golden," KPop Demon Hunters, Republic, 2025Hayley Williams, "True Believer (Live on Tonight Show)," Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, Post Atlantic, 2025Bad Bunny, "BAILE INoLVIDABLE," DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Rimas, 2025MSPAINT, "Angel," No Separation, Convulse, 2025Cardi B, "Outside," Am I the Drama?, Atlantic, 2025Taylor Swift, "The Fate Of Ophelia," The Life of a Showgirl, Republic, 2025Sharon Van Etten, "Somethin' Ain't Right," Sharon Van Etten and The Attachement Theory, Jagjaguwar, 2025The Penrose Web, "I Dreamt I Woke Up Dead," It's…The Penrose Web, Fools Paradise and Gare Du Nord, 2025Peter Peter Hughes, "The End of Your Empire," Half-Staff Blues, Tired Media, 2025Mavis Staples, "Chicago," Sad and Beautiful World, Anti, 2025The Belair Lip Bombs, "Again and Again," Again, Third Man, 2025The Bug Club, "How to Be a Confidante," Very Human Features, Sub Pop, 2025Perfume Genius, "It's a Mirror," Glory, Matador, 2025Ed Kuepper and Jim White, "The 16 Days," After The Flood, Remote Control, 2025Mekons, "You're Not Singing Anymore," Horror, Fire, 2025Spinal Tap, "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight," This Is Spinal Tap, Polydor, 1984See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jupiter looks like it’s wearing zebra stripes. Bands of clouds that run parallel to the equator alternate between bright and dark – zebra stripes. Each one is thousands of miles wide. The stripes are a result of Jupiter’s composition and its rotation. It’s basically a ball of gas – it’s made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. And even though it’s 11 times the diameter of Earth, it spins on its axis in less than 10 hours. That forces the clouds that top its atmosphere into bands that stretch from east to west. The bands alternate between belts and zones. The belts are darker – probably because they allow us to see deeper into the atmosphere. The zones are topped by the highest clouds. The clouds are made of frozen ammonia, which looks bright white. The belts don’t have that layer. Instead, we’re seeing clouds in the next layer down. Those clouds are made of water and other compounds, which are darker. The stripes are flanked by jet streams that blow in alternating directions. They can roar at hundreds of miles per hour. They keep the belts and zones separated – maintaining the zebra stripes on this giant planet. Jupiter is at its best this week. It’s in view all night, and it shines brightest for the year. It looks like a brilliant star. It’s low in the eastern sky in early evening, and climbs high across the sky later on. The stripes are easily visible through just about any telescope. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's a special THE MAVERICKS takeover episode! The critically acclaimed roots rock / country band The Mavericks talk to us about the album 'En Español,' a Spanish language album that highlights the Latin music roots and influences shared by members Raul Malo and Eddie Perez.

The tiny thing that unravels your world. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks to Chris Benderev, whose high school years were completely upended by an impromptu thing his teacher said. (8 minutes)Act One: For Producer Lilly Sullivan, there’s one story about her parents that defines how she sees them, their family, and their history. She finds out it might be wrong. (27 minutes)Act Two: For years, Mike Comite has replayed in his head the moment when he and his bandmate blew their shot of making it as musicians. He sets out to uncover how it all went awry. (13 minutes)Act Three: Six million Syrians fled the country after the start of its civil war. A few weeks ago, one woman watched from afar as everything in her home country changed forever – again. (9 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.