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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 the 1950s, facing the threat of nuclear annihilation, federal officials sat down and pondered what American life would actually look like after an atomic attack. They faced a slew of practical questions like: Who would count the dead and where would they build the refugee camps? But they faced a more spiritual question as well. If Washington DC were hit, every object in the the National Archives would be eviscerated in a moment. Terrified by this reality, they set out to save some of America’s most precious stuff. Today, we look back at the items our Cold War era planners sought to save and we ask the question: what objects would we preserve now? We first released this episode back in 2020, but with our big fourth of July – 250 years! – just around the corner, we thought it was a strange but profound reflection on what this whole America thing that we’re celebrating… actually is. Special thanks to Luke Manon, Ben Irving, Bill Pretzer, Jason Spier, and Garrett Graff for all his reporting that made this episode possible. LATERAL CUTS -The Cataclysm Sentence (https://radiolab.org/podcast/cataclysm-sentence) EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by – Simon Adler with help from – Tad Davis Produced by – Simon Adler Original music and sound design contributed by – SIMON ADLER and Edited by  – Pat Walters 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot revisit their classic album dissection of Drive-By Truckers’ “Southern Rock Opera” for its 25th anniversary. They talk with co-lead vocalist and guitarist Patterson Hood about the album’s creation and distribution, as well as how the themes resonate in today’s political and social climate.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:Drive-By Truckers, "The Three Great Alabama Icons," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001The Beatles, "With a Little Help from My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Drive-By Truckers, "Ronnie and Neil," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Angels and Fuselage," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Guitar Man Upstairs," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Wallace," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Days of Graduation," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Let There Be Rock," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Shut Up and Get on the Plane," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Women Without Whiskey," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Life in the Factory," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Road Cases (live)," Southern Rock Opera (Deluxe Edition), New West, 2024Drive-By Truckers, "Cassie's Brother," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love (live)," DBT Homecoming 2018 Thursday + Friday + Saturday, Self-Released, 2020Drive-By Truckers, "72 (This Highway's Mean)," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Moved," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Zip City," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001Drive-By Truckers, "Primer Coat," English Oceans, ATO, 2014Drive-By Truckers, "Every Single Storied Flameout," Welcome 2 Club XIII, ATO , 2022Drive-By Truckers, "The Southern Thing," Southern Rock Opera, Soul Dump, 2001The Feelies, "Raised Eyebrows," Crazy Rhythms, Stiff, 1980See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Saturn is almost 10 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. At that distance, the Sun looks only about one percent as bright as it does from Earth, so Saturn is cold and dark. But it’s not quite as cold as you might expect. Saturn actually puts out more than twice as much energy as it receives – heat radiating from deep inside the planet. Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium – the lightest and simplest chemical elements. But its core contains a lot of rock, metal, and other heavy materials – more than 15 times the total mass of Earth. Gravity squeezes the core tightly, causing it to shrink. That produces heat, which rises to the surface and shines out into space. But that doesn’t explain all of Saturn’s heat. The rest may come from an odd type of rainfall. Droplets of liquid helium may fall toward the core. As they fall, they produce friction, which produces heat. Saturn’s internal heat drives much of the weather in its atmosphere, including storms that can be as big as continents – swirling clouds on a cold, dark planet. Despite the lack of sunlight, Saturn looks bright in our sky because it’s huge – about nine times the diameter of Earth. It’s easy to see how bright the next couple of early mornings because it’s close to the Moon. Tomorrow, it’s to the lower left of the Moon at dawn. It’ll be a little farther to the right of the Moon on Wednesday. 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.

On this country's 250th birthday, we bring you stories about the most American people, places, objects, and social norms that make this country what it is. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Ira talks to Pablo Torre about Major League Baseball’s new challenge system, and how it’s been optimized for maximum drama. (10 minutes)Act One: Writer Jiayang Fan wrestles with a very common question she has never quite understood. (5 minutes)Act Two: People come from all over the country to walk down one of Michigan’s tallest sand dunes, and then promptly turn around and trudge back up. Aviva DeKornfeld talks to Americans spending their limited vacation time on this punishing activity. (8 minutes)Act Three: Emanuele Berry talks to Ira about Season 13 of the reality TV show, Survivor, known to fans as the “race war” season. (8 minutes)Act Four: Years before his famous dictionary, Noah Webster wrote a book that took on a life of its own and served an unexpected purpose. (8 minutes)Act Five: Emmanuel Dzotsi investigates a musical phenomenon very particular to the United States: singers embellishing the end of the national anthem. (9 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.