Programs

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

“What is the sweetest thing in the world?” After co-host Latif Nasser’s sons ask him this deceptively simple question, he goes on a quest to find it. Is it a West African Katemfe berry? Or an industrial sugar substitute cooked up in a lab? Or an ingredient hiding in plain sight in all of our pantries? A simple mystery that will make you question what sweetness even is, how our tongues (and other body parts you wouldn’t expect) determine what we like, and how far you would go to taste something sweeter than anyone has ever experienced. Thank you to Latif’s sons for indulging us, to Nicola Twilley and Cynthia Graber at Gastropod, to Anni Laffitte, Nazli Parvizi at Museum of Food and Drink, to food icons Claire Saffitz and Sam Seneveratne who did a live show version of this episode with us at the Tribeca Festival. And thank you to Davy Gardner and his wonderful team of audio folks at the Tribeca Festival.Thank you to Jialin Deng who composed the song that was our ‘sonic seasoning’. And to Laura Rickman and everyone else at Columbia University’s Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute for hosting us. And big thanks to experimental psychologist Charles Spence at Oxford, sweetness chemist Grant DuBois, Danielle Reed at Monell Chemical Senses Center, and nutritional scientist Sarah Berry at King’s College London who all talked to us about their research. And Brian Everett of Honest Organic Farms.And a very special thanks to Sean Oomens, inventor of producer Jess Yung’s favorite candy, nerd gummy clustersEPISODE CREDITS: Reported by – Latif Nasserwith help from – Jessica Yung, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Jessica Yung, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, and Natalia RamirezProduced by – Jessica Yung with help from –  Mona Madgavkar, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Gabby Santas, and Maia Appleby Melamedwith mixing help from – Jeremy BloomFact-checking by – Sophie Samieeand Edited by – Pat WaltersEPISODE CITATIONS:Videos:Youtuber Chemiolis tried to make Luguduname himself (https://zpr.io/MmUbGfwwFrFH) Articles -Race to Redesign Sugar (https://zpr.io/VpsMxfPRbxaz) by Nicola TwilleyThe Search for Sweet (https://zpr.io/JmeDkVhrd2dK) by Burkhard BilgerHow My Trip to Quit Sugar Became A Journey Into Hell (https://zpr.io/ni6xgC38Qmyf) by Caity WeverHow Much of Our Existence Do We Owe to Sugar? (https://zpr.io/M2py48SxnQAT) by Jackie Flynn MogensenScientists Find Sugar In Space (https://zpr.io/e94UtUuhPtbT) by Rebecca DzombakSign 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.

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot interview legendary soul songwriter David Porter, about his memoir, Soul Man. He recounts his pivotal role in turning Stax Records in Memphis into one of the greatest record labels in American history. The hosts also review the new album from Alabama Shakes. 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:Sam & Dave, "I Thank You," I Thank You, Atlantic, 1968The Beatles, "With a Little Help from My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Alabama Shakes, "Another Life," I Must Be Dreaming, Island, 2026Alabama Shakes, "Waist Deep," I Must Be Dreaming, Island, 2026Alabama Shakes, "Tea Time," I Must Be Dreaming, Island, 2026Alabama Shakes, "Garden," I Must Be Dreaming, Island, 2026Sam & Dave, "Soul Man," Soul Men, Stax, 1967Johnnie Taylor, "I Had A Dream," Wanted: One Soul Singer, Stax, 1967Clyde McPhatter, "A Lover's Question," (Single), Atlantic, 1958Bing Crosby, "The Old Grey Mare," On The Sentimental Side, Collectors' Choice Music, 2010Rufus Thomas, "Cause I Love You," Walking The Dog, Stax, 1963Sam & Dave, "A Place Nobody Can Find," (Single), Stax, 1965Sam & Dave, "You Don't Know Like I Know," (Single), Stax, 1966The Soul Children, "Give 'Em Love," Soul Children, Stax, 1969Albert King, "Personal Manager," Born Under A Bad Sign, Stax, 1967Phoebe Bridgers, "Lost Boys," Lost Weekend, Dead Oceans, 2026See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A thousand spacecraft could head for our closest neighboring planetary system in just a few decades. Don’t book your ticket just yet, though – each craft would weigh about as much as a penny. But working together, they could provide a few sharp pictures of the system, and even look for signs of life. A team of scientists and engineers published the idea earlier this year. The team proposed sending the probes to Proxima Centauri. It’s the closest star outside the solar system – four-and-a-quarter light-years away. And it has two confirmed planets. One of them is about the size and mass of Earth, and it’s in the region that’s most comfortable for life. The probes would be equipped with tough but thin “sails” 13 feet wide. A powerful laser would fire at each probe for eight minutes. The pressure of the light would boost the probes to 20 percent of the speed of light. It would take them 21 years to reach their target. The probes would use lasers to stay in touch with each other, and with Earth. About 300 probes could survive the trip. Their instruments could hunt for evidence of life in the planets’ atmospheres. There’s a lot of work to make it happen – advances in materials, lasers, computers, and even our knowledge of the distance to Proxima Centauri. But the researchers said the current rate of advancement should make such a trip feasible in the decades ahead. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's an episode dedicated exclusively to Panamanian music of all genres, from dancehall reggae and salsa, to rock and jazz. Featured artists include Ruben Blades, Los Rabanes, El General, Danilo Perez, The Exciters and more.

Cryptic messages on a cell phone and a teeter-totter at a construction site: these are clues people found, trying to make sense of a death. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.(00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks to a guy about a crazy experiment he devised when he was a kid. It almost killed him. (5 minutes)(00:06:45) Act One: We begin with a woman whose sister has died. She has questions. Her name is Nadia Bowers, and she wrote this to someone she thinks might be of help. (17 minutes)(00:29:53) Act Two: There’s a problem with having a Facebook account after you’re dead that you’ve never, ever, ever thought about. Producer Stephanie Foo tells this story, about Dave Maher. (14 minutes)(00:45:49) Act Three: A guy goes to a funeral for someone he doesn’t know at all, and has to piece together everything about him. Producer Dana Chivvis reports. (16 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org / This American Life privacy policy. / Learn more about sponsor message choices.