Programs

This episode was recorded on September 27th, 2026 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV. The lineup includes S.G. Goodman, Horse Feather, Daniel Kimbro, and Rainbow Girls. https://bit.ly/4zHRs5F

Today we revisit an episode first aired in 2019. In it we ask a question: When an animal disappears in the winter, where does it go? Oddly enough, this question completely stumped European scientists for thousands of years. And even today, the more we learn about the comings and goings of the animals, the deeper the mystery seems to get. We visit a Bavarian farm with an 11 year old, follow warblers and wildebeests around the world, and get a totally new kind of view of the pulsing flow of animals across the globe.  LATERAL CUTS:Have kids? Or, are you just one at heart? Do any of those kids want to know more about Monarchs? Check out a whole episode from our sister program, Terrestrials.The Hideout: A Monarch Butterfly Mystery (https://zpr.io/r6w6WwSZMun8)EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by – Robert Krulwich and Jackson RoachProduced by – Pat WaltersOriginal music and sound design contributed by – Jeremy BloomSign 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 are joined by Jamie Fisher, author of Nobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith. Jamie traces the turning points in Smith's career through five essential songs. The hosts also review the new album by Fontaines D.C. and pay tribute to Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins.–Content Advisory: There is discussion of self-harm and suicide in this episode. Listener discretion is advised. –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:Elliott Smith, "Between the Bars," Either/Or, Kill Rock Stars, 1997The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Fontaines D.C., "Marianne," Dopamine Chamber, XL, 2026Fontaines D.C., "Japan," Dopamine Chamber, XL, 2026Fontaines D.C., "Six Shot Morning," Dopamine Chamber, XL, 2026Fontaines D.C., "Mimesis," Dopamine Chamber, XL, 2026Cybotron, "Clear," Clear, Fantasy, 1983Model 500, "No Ufo's (Vocal)," No Ufo's (Vocal) (Single), Metroplex, 1985Elliott Smith, "Angeles," Either/Or, Kill Rock Stars, 1997Heatmiser, "Dead Air," Dead Air, Frontier, 1993Elliott Smith, "Roman Candle," Roman Candle, Cavity Search, 1994Elliott Smith, "Say Yes," Either/Or, Kill Rock Stars, 1997Elliott Smith, "Sweet Adeline," XO, Bong Load, 1998Elliott Smith, "Can't Make a Sound," Figure 8, DreamWorks, 2000Elliott Smith, "Coast to Coast," From a Basement on the Hill, Kill Rock Stars, 2004Elliott Smith, "Miss Misery," XO (Deluxe Edition), Interscope, 2024Westside Cowboy, "Kick Stones (The Boys)," It Goes On, Island, 2026See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mars and Jupiter are siblings – planets born at the same time, from the same disk of debris around the infant Sun. And they’re fairly close together – the fourth and fifth planets out. But other than that, they don’t seem to have much in common. They don’t look alike, their composition is different, and they’re wildly different sizes. The two planets will huddle close together in the morning sky the next few days. They climb into good view by about one o’clock, and are high in the sky at dawn. Jupiter looks like a brilliant star. Mars is just above it as they rise tomorrow, but will slide past Jupiter over the following few days. At their closest, they’ll be separated by about one degree – the width of a pencil held at arm’s length. Jupiter is the largest and heaviest planet in the solar system – about 11 times the diameter of Earth. It’s a big ball of gas with a small, dense core. It formed far enough from the Sun that it was surrounded by lots of ice and gas, which it pulled in to grow to its enormous proportions. Mars is only a little more than half of Earth’s diameter – roughly five percent the diameter of Jupiter. It’s a dense ball of rock and metal. It formed much closer to the Sun, where there was much less ice and gas. And Jupiter’s gravity might have stirred up things where Mars was born, limiting its growth. So Mars remained small – a mere fraction the size of its giant sibling.   Script by Damond Benningfield

We spotlight some of our favorite artists' career high points, those creative peaks that create enduring musical legacies. Featured artists include Los Lobos, Babasonicos, Julieta Venegas, Bebel Gilberto, Kinky, Jose Jose & more.

The doomed project of trying to translate what’s in your head into someone else’s head. Start a Life Partners free trial to watch our new video, A Night of Stories and Improv.(00:00:00) Prologue: A while back, Ira woke up with double vision and learned that he had cataracts. After his cataract surgery, he realized the color blue looked very different to him. Now he always wonders: does everyone see the same blue as I do, or is their blue different? (3 minutes)(00:03:26) Act One: Shaun Bengson has known since he was a kid that he’d very likely lose his hearing as he got older and develop tinnitus. And even after it started, he didn’t do the sensible things that would slow its progression. Shaun and his wife, Abigail, discuss their decisions — and non-decisions — with Ira. And Shaun plays a simulation of what the world now sounds like to him. (27 minutes)(00:32:50) Act Two: Cluster headaches are sometimes called the most painful medical condition. Researchers who study them wanted to know if that was actually true. They asked cluster patients to compare their headaches to other famously painful conditions. Producer Ike Sriskandarajah, who gets these headaches, was excited to read the findings. But should he tell his pregnant wife? (14 minutes)(00:46:35) Act Three: Molly’s mom died suddenly last fall, and it flipped the axis of her world. But one day, a friend told her about a special object that really helped him cope with his own father’s death. Molly decides to track this object down. (8 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org / This American Life privacy policy. / Learn more about sponsor message choices.