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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.

The planets Mars and Uranus will stage an especially close encounter the next couple of mornings. Uranus is quite faint, but its proximity to Mars can help you pick it out. Uranus is a giant – about four times the diameter of Earth. But it’s so far away that it’s faint. Under especially dark skies, people with good eyesight can just make it out. Moonlight or light pollution mask it from view, so you need binoculars to find it. And even then, it looks like a meager star, perhaps with a hint of blue-green. Methane in its upper atmosphere absorbs red light, so only the blue and green can reach us. Mars is much smaller – only a bit more than half of Earth’s diameter. But it’s also much closer, which makes it easier to see. Even with the eye alone, it’s no problem to make out the planet’s orange color. That’s produced by iron oxide in the rocks and the tiny dust grains that coat much of the surface. That color will become easier to make out over the coming months, as Earth and Mars get closer and closer. For now, look for Mars low in the east-northeast beginning a little before dawn. It’s quite easy to make out. Tomorrow, Uranus will stand a little to the lower left of Mars, so both of them will fit in a binocular field of view. And Uranus will be even closer above Mars on Saturday – a faint giant appearing to almost touch the Red Planet. We’ll talk about a much brighter planet tomorrow. 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.

We try to tell the story of life in America through portraits of life on four different corners, in four different states across the nation. Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.Prologue: Host Ira Glass talks about the Four Corners tourist monument where Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico meet. (2 minutes)Act One: Sarah Vowell has a theory that you can tell the entire history of the United States by standing on one street corner—specifically at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive in Chicago—and describing all the events that happened within eyeshot of the corner. She covers three centuries of history, from Louis Joliet to Keanu Reeves. (21 minutes)Act Two: Scott Richer and Julie Riggs of Louisville, Kentucky, were supposed to have their first kiss at the corner where South Fourth Street meets the alley behind the West End Baptist Church. But it went wrong. (7 minutes)Act Three: Writer Mike Paterniti tells a story of dogs and a community of dogwalkers that formed on the grounds of an old cemetery at the corner of Vaughn and Clifford in Portland, Maine. (14 minutes)Act Four: Writer Achy Obejas reads a piece of short fiction from her book, We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? (11 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.orgThis American Life privacy policy.Learn more about sponsor message choices.