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This episode was recorded on August 17th, 2025 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV. The lineup includes Vanessa Collier, Margaret Glaspy, Matt Andersen, Amythyst Kiah, and Ron Sowell. https://bit.ly/3KBVSX2

Ella al-Shamahi is one part Charles Darwin, one part Indiana Jones. She braves war zones and pirate-infested waters to collect fossils from prehistoric caves, fossils that help us understand the origin of our species. Her recent hit BBC / PBS series Human follows her around the globe trying to piece together the unlikely story of how early humans conquered the world.  But Ella’s own origins as an evolutionary biologist are equally unlikely. She sits down with us and tells us a story she has rarely shared publicly, about how she came to believe in evolution, and how much that belief cost her. Special thanks to Misha Euceph and Hamza Syed.EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by – Latif NasserProduced by – Jessica Yung and Pat Walterswith help from – Sarah QariFact-checking by – Diane Kellyand Edited by  – Pat Walters EPISODE CITATIONS:Videos – “Human” (https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human), Ella’s show on the BBC and PBSSignup 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.

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot chat with record producer and author Arthur Baker about his new book, Looking for the Perfect Beat: Remixing and Reshaping Hip-Hop, Rock and Rhythms. The hosts also review the new album from Wednesday.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3eEvRnGMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah  Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundops Featured Songs:Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force, "Looking for the Perfect Beat (Original 12" Version)," Looking for the Perfect Beat, Tommy Boy, 1982The Beatles, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Wednesday, "Elderberry Wine," Bleeds, Dead Oceans, 2025Wednesday, "Candy Breath," Bleeds, Dead Oceans, 2025Wednesday, "Townies," Bleeds, Dead Oceans, 2025Wednesday, "Gary's II," Bleeds, Dead Oceans, 2025Wednesday, "The Way Love Goes," Bleeds, Dead Oceans, 2025New Order, "Confusion," Confusion, Factory, 1983Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force, "Planet Rock," Planet Rock: The Album, Tommy Boy, 1986Run-D.M.C., "It's Like That," Run-D.M.C., Profile, 1984Thundercat, "Walk On By (feat. Kendrick Lamar)," Drunk, Brainfeeder, 2017Marvin Gaye, "Sexual Healing," Midnight Love, Columbia, 1982New Order, "Thieves Like Us," Thieves Like Us, Factory, 1983Bruce Springsteen, "Dancing In The Dark (Blaster Mix)," Dancing In The Dark, CBS, 1985Artists United Against Apartheid, "Sun City," Sun City, Manhattan, 1985Warpaint, "Love Is to Die," Warpaint, Rough Trade, 2014See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Moon barrels through the Pleiades star cluster this evening. It’ll pass directly in front of the cluster, briefly blocking most of its stars from view. The Pleiades is the most famous of all star clusters. It’s also known as the Seven Sisters, but under dark skies – with no Moon in the way – you might actually see nine stars or more. But that’s only the beginning. The cluster contains more than a thousand stars. In fact, it was the first cluster to be recognized as a cluster – a group that’s moving through the galaxy together. That recognition came in 1767. John Mitchell, a clergyman and scientist, was looking at several tightly packed groups of stars. He studied the Pleiades in the greatest detail. And he calculated that there was only a one-in-500,000 chance that the grouping could be random. Instead, something had to be holding the stars together. His idea was confirmed when astronomers measured the motions of the cluster’s stars. They’re all moving in the same direction, and at the same speed. Today, we know that’s because they were born together, from a single giant complex of dust and gas. They’re bound to each other by their mutual gravitational pull. But they won’t stay together. The cluster is being pulled apart by the gravity of the rest of the galaxy. So the Pleiades probably will dissipate in about 250 million years – with its member stars going their own way. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's a new music episode featuring the latest and greatest from Kinky, Amigas!, The Warning, Nonpalidece & Fito Paez, Angélica Garcia, Systema Solar, Di Wav & Casa de Kello and more!

When Zohran Mamdani won the primary race for New York mayor, the Democratic establishment's lukewarm response echoed the treatment of another charismatic, unconventional candidate decades earlier. This week, we bring you the story of Harold Washington, the greatest politician you've probably never heard of, and the backlash that ensued when he became Chicago's first Black mayor. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: As New York City’s Democratic establishment attempts to resist the candidacy of Zohran Mamdani, we look back at another mayoral candidate who upset the established political machine. (7 minutes)Act One: A history of the brief mayoral career of Harold Washington and its lessons for Black and white America, as told by people close to him. (39 minutes)Act Two: Ira revisits interviews with Chicago voters from the 1997 and 2007 rebroadcasts of this episode. In 1997, ten years after Harold Washington’s death, not much had changed in Chicago. By 2007, attitudes had begun to shift slowly, and another Black politician from Chicago was on the rise — Barack Obama. Ira also speaks to David Axelrod, an advisor to both Harold Washington and Barack Obama. (10 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.