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

This episode makes three earnest, possibly foolhardy, attempts to put a price on the priceless. We figure out the dollar value for an accidental death, another day of life, and the work of bats and bees as we try to keep our careful calculations from falling apart in the face of the realities of life, and love, and loss.  In this story you’ll hear references to some of the issues that were on our minds when it first came out in 2014: wars in the middle east, drug costs and health care practices. Even as the exact shapes of these issues have evolved over the past dozen years, we feel the underlying questions are relevant and timeless: What is life worth? What about the earth? EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by – Molly Webster, Simon Adler, Tim Howard, and Matt Kielty with help from – Shahib Al-Masawa  Produced by – Matt Kielty, Tim Howard Fact-checking by – Michelle Soraka EPISODE CITATIONS: Books –  Memoir of A Debulked Woman (https://zpr.io/WJz2Ybvq3HmT) by Susan Gubar Being Mortal (https://zpr.io/8J47trRcbjKh) by Atul Gawande 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. 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 dig into Willie Nelson’s vast catalog of 150+ albums. Along with author Geoffrey Himes, they highlight the “five essential” albums people should hear. They also review the latest album from Kacey Musgraves.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:Willie Nelson, "Stardust," Stardust, Columbia, 1978The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Kacey Musgraves, "Dry Spell," Middle of Nowhere, Lost Highway, 2026Kacey Musgraves, "Middle of Nowhere," Middle of Nowhere, Lost Highway, 2026Kacey Musgraves, "Horses and Divorces (featuring Miranda Lambert)," Middle of Nowhere, Lost Highway, 2026Kacey Musgraves, "Uncertain, TX (featuring Willie Nelson)," Middle of Nowhere, Lost Highway, 2026Willie Nelson, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," Red Headed Stranger, Columbia, 1975Willie Nelson, "Phases and Stages (Theme) / Washing the Dishes," Phases and Stages, Atlantic, 1974Willie Nelson, "Bloody Mary Morning," Phases and Stages, Atlantic, 1974Willie Nelson, "Help Me Make It Through the Night," Sings Kristofferson, Columbia, 1979Willie Nelson, "Georgia On My Mind," Stardust, Columbia, 1978Willie Nelson, "I Guess I've Come to Live Here in Your Eyes," Spirit, Island, 1996Willie Nelson, "On the Road Again (Live)," Live! At The US Festival (June 4, 1983), Shout! Factory, 1983Willie Nelson, "Last Man Standing," Last Man Standing, Legacy, 2018Willie Nelson, "Always on My Mind," Always on My Mind, Columbia, 1982Gary Stewart, "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)," Out of Hand, RCA Victor, 1975See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Time is tricky. There’s no “universal” clock ticking along at a constant rate. Instead, every clock in the universe ticks at its own rate, influenced by its motion and by the gravity of the matter around it. Those influences are built into the clocks of GPS satellites; without them, the system would fail within days. Scientists recently calculated how clocks would tick on Mars – an average of 477 millionths of a second faster per day than clocks on Earth. But as Mars orbits the Sun, that rate varies by up to 226 millionths of a second. The scientists used Albert Einstein’s theories of gravity and motion. Stronger gravity and faster motion both make a clock move more slowly as seen by an outside observer. The surface gravity of Mars is only about a third as strong as Earth’s. And because the planet is farther from the Sun, it orbits the Sun more slowly. But Mars’s orbit is more lopsided than Earth’s, so its orbital speed varies more dramatically. The changing distance also alters the gravitational influence of the Sun, as well as that of Earth and the Moon. The researchers incorporated all of these variables – and many others – to figure out the ticking of Martian clocks. Mars is working its way into the morning sky. It’s quite low in the east during dawn twilight. But the planet will climb a little higher day by day, and will be in good view this summer. More about Mars tomorrow. 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. 

Adults telling kids who they are, and kids wondering — are they right? Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira talks with comedian Gary Gulman about his transformation from high school nobody to football star. (8 minutes)Act One: Gary puts on a tough guy costume, but will it turn him into a tough guy? Ira continues Gary Gulman’s story. (17 minutes)Act Two: Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells the story of a woman who wants to know why she was taken away from her mom as a kid. A version of this story is in Eleanor’s book Stop Being Reasonable: How We Really Change Our Minds. (30 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.