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This episode was recorded on May 17th, 2026 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV. The lineup includes Paul Thorn, Ray Benson, Sunny Sweeney, Andy Friedman. https://bit.ly/4afWiMG⁠

Back in 2017, reporters Kristen Clark and David Conrad came to us with a story that dug into the difficult and often dark places discrimination creates. We start in Venice, Italy, where they meet gondolier Alex Hai. On the winding canals in the hidden parts of Venice, we learn about the nearly 1000-year old tradition of the Venetian Gondolier, and how the global media created a 20-year battle between that tradition and a supposed feminist icon.  We circled back to Alex in 2026, to find out where the canal of life ended up leading after our initial reporting, and we’ve included some heartbreaking and heartwarming updates on Alex’s life at the end of this episode.  Special thanks to Alexis Ungerer, Summer, Alex Hai, Kevin Gotkin, Silvia Del Fabbro, Sandro Mariot, Aldo Rosso and Marta Vannucci, The Longest Shortest Time (Hillary Frank, Peter Clowney and Abigail Keel), Tim Howard, Nick Adams/GLAAD, Valentina Powers, Florence Ursino, Ann Marie Somma, Alex Overington, Jeremy Bloom and the people of Little Italy.  EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by – David Conrad and Kristen Clark. Produced by – Annie McEwen and Molly Webster. with help from – Anisa Vietze Fact-checking for the update by – Angely Mercado OTHER COOL THINGS: Books – The Gondolier, by Alex Hai 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every few weeks, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot are bursting at the seams with new underground music to recommend—it's time for another round of Buried Treasures. The hosts share a handful of tracks, and the production team chimes in as well.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/4frcVZoMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah  Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundopsFeatured Songs:Normans, "Mexico Unlimited," Faust Demonica, Solid Brass, 2026The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Bob Bert, "Smerf's Blues," Beach Bongo Bloodbath, Bar/None, 2026Kenny Mason, "BE WHAT I WANT (feat. Paris Texas)," BULLDAWG, P2026, 2026Elle Barbara's Black Space, "Hitler, Satan & Associates LLP," Word On the Street, House of Barbara / Celluloid Lunch, 2026Golems of the Red Planet, "Hadrial," Surf Masada, Heyday Again, 2026A Wilhelm Scream, "Midnight Ghost," Cheap Heat, Creator-Destructor, 2026Nathan Evans Fox, "Hillbilly Hymn," Heirloom, Free Dirt, 2026Atmos Bloom, "Everything," Everythingness, Spirit Goth, 2026Eaves Wilder, "Just Say No!," Little Miss Sunshine, Secretly Canadian, 2026Westside Cowboy, "Kick Stones (The Boys)," It Goes On, Island, 2026Paycheque, "Temporary Love," Paycheque, Mansions and Millions, 2026Kim McClay, "Velveteen Girls," Velveteen Girls, self-released, 2026Hannah Lew, "Sunday," Hannah Lew, Night School, 2026Kacey Musgraves, "Uncertain, TX," Middle of Nowhere, Lost Highway, 2026Kacey Musgraves, "Rhinestoned," Middle of Nowhere, Lost Highway, 2026Chip Taylor, "I Read it in Rolling Stone," Last Chance, Warner Bros., 1973Noahfinnce, "HEADCASE," GROWING UP ON THE INTERNET, Hopeless, 2024The Cure, "Fascination Street," Disintregration, Elektra, 1989The Cure, "All I Ever Am," Songs of a Lost World, Polydor, 2024Drive-By Truckers, "Let There Be Rock," Southern Rock Opera, Lost Highway, 2001See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To predict the lifespan of a star, you don’t need a crystal ball – a bathroom scale will do just fine. Heavier stars age faster, so if you know the star’s mass, you have a good idea of its future. Consider Tarazed, the second-brightest star of the eagle. It’s only about six percent the age of the Sun. But because it’s about three and a half times the Sun’s mass, it’s already completed the “prime” phase of life. Now, it’s well into the next phase – as a red giant. Mass is critical because, as the star’s mass increases, so does its gravity. Stronger gravity squeezes the star’s core more tightly, increasing its temperature. That revs up the rate of nuclear reactions in the core. When a star is born, its core is mostly hydrogen. In the prime phase of life, the star “fuses” the hydrogen atoms to make helium. When the hydrogen is gone, the core shrinks, so it gets even hotter. That causes the star’s outer layers to puff up, which is what’s happened to Tarazed – it’s more than 90 times the Sun’s diameter. Higher core temperatures trigger the next round of reactions. So today, Tarazed is fusing the helium to make heavier elements. Eventually, that will end as well. Tarazed will shed its outer layers, leaving only its tiny, dead core – ending the star’s fairly short but bright life. Tarazed is low in the east at nightfall. It’s close above even brighter Altair, at the southern point of the Summer Triangle. Script by Damond Benningfield

This week is an exploration of Blues music, Latino style.  Featured artists include Santana, Los Lonely Boys, Diamante Electrico, Bunbury, Andres Calamaro and many more.

We try to tell the story of life in America through portraits of life on four different corners, in four different states across the nation. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks about the Four Corners tourist monument where Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico meet. (2 minutes)Act One: Sarah Vowell has a theory that you can tell the entire history of the United States by standing on one street corner—specifically at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive in Chicago—and describing all the events that happened within eyeshot of the corner. She covers three centuries of history, from Louis Joliet to Keanu Reeves. (21 minutes)Act Two: Scott Richer and Julie Riggs of Louisville, Kentucky, were supposed to have their first kiss at the corner where South Fourth Street meets the alley behind the West End Baptist Church. But it went wrong. (7 minutes)Act Three: Writer Mike Paterniti tells a story of dogs and a community of dogwalkers that formed on the grounds of an old cemetery at the corner of Vaughn and Clifford in Portland, Maine. (14 minutes)Act Four: Writer Achy Obejas reads a piece of short fiction from her book, We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.