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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

In 2016, Chris Bell, a ranger with New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, was the sole human inhabitant of a small island off the west coast of the country, called Mana Island. He was there to take care of the island’s fragile and recovering ecosystem, including a colony of Australasian Gannets at the top of a high cliff overlooking the sea. But there was one catch. All but one of these striking seabirds were fake, made of concrete and paint.  This week on Radiolab, producer Annie McEwen tells us a love story about a rogue bird and what happens when the things we want for animals clash with what they seem to choose for themselves.  Special thanks to Melody Thomas and Kirsten Johnstone from Popsock Media, the New Zealand-based podcast company. Thanks also to Mathias Kom and Ariel Sharratt from The Burning Hell and Steven Lambke at You’ve Changed Records.  Visit Friends of Mana Island at https://manaisland.org.nz/ to learn more about conservation efforts on Mana Island. EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by – Annie McEwen Produced by – Annie McEwen with mixing help from – Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by – Diane A. Kelly and Edited by – Alex Neason EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos –  There are many Nigel-inspired songs and poems, find links to a few of them below: See Nigel with his concrete mate (https://zpr.io/kZZC9erwauCD) Nigel the Gannet song video by The Burning Hell (theburninghell.com) Nigel [w/ score] (https://zpr.io/t47J6VkqAXLj) by Angus Davison Nigel the Lonely Seabird (https://zpr.io/4gSSv5MX8xTa) by Daniel Henderson Nigel (https://zpr.io/FuLupaZG42sn) by Avem Nigel No Mates (https://zpr.io/hckrSSdBXKE9 ) by Dainius Kučinskas Nigel Gannet (https://zpr.io/kddxySdXqd3C) by Fred Pilcher Nigel (https://zpr.io/88HdTWRSd2UF) an Experimental Animated Short Film About a Lonely Gannet Literature –  Poetry inspired by Nigel the Gannet (https://zpr.io/xBiW9usvAkpy)   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.

To celebrate Buddy Guy's recent 90th birthday, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot re-air their 2007 with the blues legend. They'll also give an update on what he's been up to and share some of their favorite Buddy Guy tracks.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/soundops Featured Songs:Buddy Guy, "First Time I Met the Blues," First Time I Met the Blues (Single), Chess, 1960The Beatles, "With a Little Help from My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Buddy Guy, "What Kind of Woman Is This," Bring 'Em In, Jive and Silvertone, 2005Buddy Guy, "Louise McGhee (Live on Sound Opinions)," Blues Singer, Silvertone, 2003Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, "Sweet Home Chicago," Play the Blues, Atlantic, 1972Junior Wells, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Live on Sound Opinions)," Hoodoo Man Blues, Delmark, 1965Buddy Guy, "Done Got Old (Live on Sound Opinions)," Sweat Tea, Jive and Silvertone, 2001Buddy Guy, "Let Me Love You Baby," Let Me Love You Baby (Single), Chess, 1961Buddy Guy, "Stone Crazy," Stone Crazy (Single), Chess, 1961Little Brother Montgomery, "The First Time I Met the Blues," The First Time I Met The Blues, Blues Interactions, 1998Buddy Guy, "Born To Play Guitar," Born to Play Guitar, RCA, 2015Buddy Guy, "Baby Please Don't Leave Me," Sweat Tea, Jive and Silvertone, 2001My Bloody Valentine, "Only Shallow," Loveless, Creation, 1991See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Artemis II astronauts got to see something that only 24 other people have seen with their own eyes: the far side of the Moon. As they looped behind the Moon, the astronauts could see almost the entire hemisphere that remains hidden from those of us on Earth. The Moon is “locked” so that one hemisphere always faces our planet – a result of the same process that creates ocean tides. We didn’t get our first glimpse of the farside until 1959, when a Soviet probe snapped a picture. The two lunar hemispheres look different. While dark volcanic plains cover about a third of the nearside, they cover just one percent of the farside. The farside is more heavily cratered. And the crust on the farside is thicker. That could be the result of a gentle “splat” by a smaller moon when the Moon was young. The farside often is called the dark side of the Moon – “dark” as in unknown or unseen. It actually receives just as much sunlight as the nearside does. But the nights are darker there. From the nearside, Earth is in view most of the time, brightening the nights. But Earth is never seen from the farside. So the nights are illuminated only by the stars – making the dark side of the Moon a really good spot for stargazing. The crescent Moon is low in the west in early evening. The planet Venus, the “evening star,” is close to its right. And the star Spica is even closer above the Moon. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's a special rarities episode featuring deep cuts and unreleased gems. Featured artists include Julieta Venegas, Beastie Boys, Ana Tijoux, Kinky, Juana Molina, Mexican Institute of Sound and more.

Labels are powerful. They can distill you down to a single word. They can get stuck on you without your permission. And sometimes, when they get taken away, they can upend your entire life. On this episode: labels and the havoc they wreak. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.(00:00:00) Prologue: Sara and Ethan have been dating for 10 months. They see each other at least once a week, text pretty much every day, and have been there for each other through hard times. But they refuse to have the “what are we?” conversation. So what gives? Guest host Tobin Low looks into it. (5 minutes)(00:05:14) Act One: Last week, when Temporary Protected Status, also known as TPS, was cut off for Haitian immigrants, some 300,000 people had their lives upended. Marie, a Certified Nursing Assistant in Boston, was one of them. Producer Chana Joffe-Walt spent a week with Marie as she tried to figure out exactly when her very last day on the job would be. (21 minutes)(00:27:10) Act Two: Comedian Janet McNamara was walking off stage 15 years ago when the club owner asked, “Hey, have you ever been tested for autism?” No one had ever asked her this before, so Janet decided to look into it. (17 minutes)(00:44:08) Act Three: When you get down to it, labels are just our way of pointing out what we think is remarkable about other people. That’s Alfred Jung Lee’s argument. He’s been thinking a lot about how we describe each other, especially as he tries to describe his wife, who passed away from cancer. (10 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org / This American Life privacy policy. / Learn more about sponsor message choices.