Programs

This episode was recorded on March 1st, 2026 at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium in Athens, Ohio. The lineup includes The Steel Wheels, Sam Weber, Peter Holsapple, Lily Talmers, Rylee Bapst Band. https://bit.ly/4dXq37H

For much of history, tree canopies were pretty much completely ignored by science. It was as if researchers said collectively, "It's just going to be empty up there, and we've got our hands full studying the trees down here! So why bother?" But then around the mid-1980s, a few ecologists around the world got curious and started making their way up into the treetops using any means necessary (ropes, cranes, hot air dirigibles) to document all they could find. It didn't take long for them to realize not only was the forest canopy not empty, it was absolutely filled to the brim with life. You've heard of treehouses? How about tree gardens?!  This week, we bring you a story we first released in 2022. We journey up into the sky and discover forests above the forest. We learn about the secret powers of these sky gardens from ecologist Korena Mafune, and we follow Nalini Nadkarni as she makes a ground-breaking discovery that changes how we understand what trees are capable of.  P.S. This episode is a layer cake of arboreal surprises (including the reappearance of a certain retired host.  LATERAL CUTS:From Tree to Shining Tree (https://zpr.io/4cHtDdYTuNxT): The episode that started this journey, where we look down instead of up. EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by – Annie McEwen Produced by – Annie McEwen EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos – Inside the Fight to Save an Ancient Forest (and the Secrets it Holds) (https://zpr.io/XKipP2z4NFiM), by Michael Werner, Joe Hanson, and the PBS Overview team. We first learned about the magical world of the canopy from this beautiful video. It features Korena Mafune’s research up in the treetops, as well as the people who have dedicated their lives to saving what’s left of the old growth forests. We highly recommend checking it out!  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. Hi Radiolab listeners, we want to hear from you! Take this podcast survey and let us know how you feel about the show. It only takes about 20 minutes and your feedback will help us make our podcast better! There are no wrong answers, we want your honest takes. You can help out by taking the survey here (www.radiolab.org/survey).

This week, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot are joined by Ratboys lead singer and songwriter Julia Steiner. The Chicago band's sixth album, "Singin' To An Empty Chair," is one of the most acclaimed releases of 2026 so far. The hosts also review the new album from Chicago rockers, Friko.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:Ratboys, "Anywhere," Singin' To An Empty Chair, New West, 2026The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Friko, "Seven Degrees," Something Worth Waiting For, ATO, 2026Friko, "Guess," Something Worth Waiting For, ATO, 2026Friko, "Alice," Something Worth Waiting For, ATO, 2026Friko, "Choo Choo," Something Worth Waiting For, ATO, 2026Ratboys, "Folk Song For Jazz," AOID, Topshelf, 2015Rat Boy, "My Name Is Rat Boy," Internationally Unknown, Parlophone, 2019Ratboys, "Elvis Is In The Freezer," GN, Topshelf, 2017Ratboys, "Just Want You To Know The Truth," Singin' To An Empty Chair, New West, 2026Ratboys, "Making Noises for the Ones You Love," The Window, Topshelf, 2023Ratboys, "Burn It Down," Singin' To An Empty Chair, New West, 2026Ratboys, "At Peace In The Hundred Acre Wood," Singin' To An Empty Chair, New West, 2026Ratboys, "Light Night Mountains All That," Singin' To An Empty Chair, New West, 2026Lou Reed, "Vicious," Transformer, RCA, 1972See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s hard to ask for a better signpost for finding things in the night sky than the planet Venus. Right now it’s the brilliant “evening star,” low in the west as twilight fades. And it points the way to two other wonders: the planet Uranus and the Pleiades star cluster. The Pleiades is fairly easy to find on its own. Its brightest stars form a tiny dipper shape. In fact, the Pleiades is often mistaken for the Little Dipper. But that dipper is in the north, anchored by the North Star. Despite its prominence, the Pleiades is best appreciated with a technique known as averted vision – seeing it from the corner of your eye. And Venus offers a good chance to try it. Look at Venus, then see if you can see the sparkly cluster to its right. They’re separated by the width of a couple of fingers held at arm’s length. Uranus is about one finger width below Venus. It’s the third-largest planet in the solar system. But it’s so far away that it looks tiny and faint. It’s an easy target for binoculars or a small telescope, though. It looks like a faint star. A telescope reveals something interesting about Venus – it doesn’t look quite complete. That’s because it’s in a gibbous phase. If you watch the planet for months, you’ll see it get thinner and thinner. That’s because Venus will cross between Earth and the Sun in late October. Like the new Moon, it’ll be lost in the Sun’s glare no matter how you look at it. 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. 

Stories of cheating, cheaters, and the cheated. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks with Jessica Pressler about a phenomenon she noticed in the wedding notices in The New York Times. Couples were cheerfully telling—as part of their "meet cute" stories—how their relationships began with one of them cheating on a spouse or long-time partner. (4 minutes)Act One: From England, Ruby Wright has a story of an affair where—even years after it ended—it wasn't much discussed. (14 minutes)Act Two: Ira reviews some infidelity stats from his mother's book on the subject, Not Just Friends. And author James Braly tells a story of temptation live onstage at The Moth. (15 minutes)Act Three: Dani Shapiro on the confusing mess things can be during an affair. The story is from her memoir, Slow Motion. (16 minutes)Act Four: Etgar Keret describes the moment in the immediate aftermath of an affair. Actor Matt Malloy reads. (4 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.