Anne Pasternak (Brooklyn Museum) and Michael Roth (Wesleyan University) tell Stephen Dubner how they keep the peace in the middle of a culture war.
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From childhood, we're taught that honesty is the best policy. Yet in everyday life, we hedge, soften our words, and leave things unsaid. This week, we talk with psychologist Steven Pinker about why indirect speech is such a fundamental part of human relationships.
How long can you stay focused on a task before your attention is drawn elsewhere? In our latest YouTube video, we explore what the science says about our shrinking attention spans, and how you can begin to reclaim your focus.
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This is an abbreviated version of Checkup's topic on a new law in Quebec that would ban the purchase of energy drinks for kids under 16 years of age. We'll hear what Canadians think about the law. And we'll hear from both sides of the debate -- a registered dietitian who helped push the law forward, and a representative from the Canadian Beverage Association will weigh in.
This summer, Quebec became the first jurisdiction in North America to ban energy drinks for kids under 16 years of age. Hear both sides of the debate, from registered dietician and researcher who helped push for the ban, and a representative from the Canadian Beverage Association. And, of course, we hear your views and stories about energy drinks and caffeine.
The US-Canada trade war is on... and the war of words is getting heated. Canadians weigh-in on what is becoming a nasty dispute with the United States. Content creator Tod Maffin has advice on how to up your "buy Canadian" game. And the Alberta premier's chief of staff will explain why they're not interested in putting an export tax on oil heading to the US.
The world lost a legend recently, and we wanted in some small way to pay tribute to the great Dolly Parton. So we’re playing you an episode from a series we had a small part in back in 2017, Dolly Parton’s America.
The series kicked off with a simple question: How did the queen of the boob joke become a feminist icon? Helen Morales, author of “Pilgrimage to Dollywood,” gave us a stern directive – look at the lyrics! So we dive into Dolly’s discography, starting with the early period of what Dolly calls “sad ass songs” to find remarkably prescient words of female pain, slut-shaming, domestic violence, and women being locked away in asylums by cheating husbands. We explore how Dolly took the centuries-old tradition of the Appalachian “murder ballad”—an oral tradition of men singing songs about brutally killing women—and flipped the script, singing from the woman’s point of view. And as her career progresses, the songs expand beyond the pain to tell tales of leaving abuse behind.
How can such pro-woman lyrics come from someone who despises the word feminism? Best to let Dolly tell you herself. EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Jad Abumrad and Shima Oliaee
Produced by - Jad Abumrad
with help from - W. Harry Fortuna
Original music from - Alex Overington
Sound design contributed by - Alex Overington
and Edited by - Suzie Lechtenberg
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Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of an updated series originally published in 2023.)
SOURCES:
Patricia Allan, museum consultant, former curator of world cultures for the Glasgow Museums.
Andrea Bayer, deputy director for collections and administration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Victor Ehikhamenor, Nigerian writer and artist.
Patty Gerstenblith, professor emeritus of law at DePaul University College of Law.
Tom Wilkening, professor of economics at the University of Melbourne.
RESOURCES:
"After Seizures, the Met Sets a Plan to Scour Collections for Looted Art," by Robin Pogrebin and Graham Bowley (The New York Times, 2023).
"Nigeria Benin Bronzes: Buhari Declaration 'Blindsides' Museum Officials," by Barnaby Phillips (B.B.C., 2023).
"Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy," by the Smithsonian Ethical Returns Working Group (2022).
"Protecting Antiquities: A Role for Long-Term Leases?" by Michael Kremer and Tom Wilkening (Working Paper, 2015).
EXTRAS:
“Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
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First up on the podcast, will it ever make economic sense to produce drugs and biomedical supplies in space? Associate Online News Editor Michael Greshko discusses his story on the researchers attempting to make biomanufacturing in space a reality, with News intern Julia Vaz.
Next on the show, producer Kevin McLean chats with Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, a professor in the department of birds and mammals at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, about how narwhals have helped collect hard-to-reach oceanographic samples. Data collected by these long-toothed cetaceans revealed far more warm Atlantic water is pressing into the fjords of East Greenland than previously thought.
Finally, the latest in our book series on biographies. This month, books host Angela Saini talks with writer Priyambada Jayakumar about her biography of M. S. Swaminathan.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
Image credit: Vast
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