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A journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, and new ways to think and create. Based on riveting TEDTalks from the world's most remarkable minds.

TED Radio Hour

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Listen Live

Host Stephen Dubner has surprising conversations that explore the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature-from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. Dubner talks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs - and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt.
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Freakonomics

Host Stephen Dubner has surprising conversations that explore the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature-from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. Dubner talks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs - and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt.

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The Pulse

The Pulse Archive

Frustrated woman with nervous problem feel anxiety and confusion of thoughts illustration
The Pulse
Health

The Undercurrent of Anxiety

Anxiety can feel like a buzzing electric current that fuels our thoughts and behaviors. There are the well-known symptoms — chest pains ...

Air Date: June 25, 2021

Listen 49:19
Maiken Scott attempts to tamp down her over-the-top startle response. (Courtesy of Maiken Scott)
The Pulse
Health

Can you tamp down your over-the-top startle response?

Jumping at the slightest little thing can be annoying and embarrassing. Why do some people startle so easily, and can they do anything about it?

4 years ago

Listen 14:42
(melitas /Big Stock Photo)
The Pulse
Health

How to stop worrying and learn to love the unknown

People can reframe their relationship with uncertainty and that can help relieve some of their anxiety.

4 years ago

Listen 5:52
Illustration of two heads smelling foods and objects floatting around their heads
The Pulse
Science

How the Nose Knows

Our sense of smell can bring us quick bursts of joy, like a whiff of bread baking, that freshly brewed cup of coffee, or your favorite pe ...

Air Date: June 18, 2021

Listen 49:54
Astronaut Jack R. Lousma, STS-3 commander, wearing communication kit assembly mini headset, gathers three freefloating plastic trash bags filled with empty containers, paper towels, straws, etc. Lousma will stow them in a designated stowage volume. (NASA)
The Pulse
Science

Exploring the space-time-stench continuum, where no nose has gone before

Why NASA is creating — and then sniffing out — some of the foulest smells known in the universe.

4 years ago

Listen 10:23
(Sergio Mazurini /Big Stock Photo)
The Pulse
Science

Is an irresistible human pheromone possible?

Cultural preferences play a huge role in determining what and who smells good to some and bad to others. Factors other than fragrance are involved.

4 years ago

Listen 7:56
Three plastic water bottles
The Pulse
Science

The Miracle and Menace of Plastic

Plastic gets a bad rap — over the years, it’s become synonymous with environmental destruction, cheap fakery, needless consumption, a ...

Air Date: June 11, 2021

Listen 49:24
Save Download Preview Stethoscope lying on the money
The Pulse
Health

Health care vs. Money

The United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world — and that spending is going up every year. In some re ...

Air Date: June 4, 2021

Listen 49:04
Cystic fibrosis patient Jacob Jaramillo taking his first dose of Trikafta. Trikafta costs $360,000 a year per patient, a big price the Canadian government has hesitated to approve. (Courtesy of Jacob Jaramillo)
The Pulse
Health

Canada has universal health coverage. So why is a new ‘miracle drug’ so hard to get?

Trikafta costs $360,000 a year per cystic fibrosis patient, a big price the government has hesitated to approve.

5 years ago

Listen 7:12
Hahnemann Hospital windows are decorated by employees as the hospital prepares to close. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The Pulse
Health

How Philadelphia escaped disaster in the face of a dozen shuttered maternity wards

Births are a high-risk, low-return part of the health business. The city’s hospitals rallied together a decade ago. Is a new challenge ahead?

5 years ago

Listen 20:58
The Pulse
Science

The Pulse Presents: A.I. Nation

Artificial intelligence has seen huge advances in the last decade, very notably in the technology of natural language processing. NLP has ...

Air Date: June 2, 2021

Listen 33:22
Flavia Schaub
The Pulse
Science

Think pet, not threat with Artificial Intelligence

Intelligent machines will play a much larger role in the future than they do now, and we’re trying to imagine that future as we’re ra ...

Air Date: June 2, 2021

Listen 18:37
A human hand and robot hand reaching for a bright light surrounded by digital machinery
The Pulse
Science

The Promise and Pitfalls of AI

In a lot of ways, artificial intelligence acts as our personal butlers — it filters our email, manages the temperature in our homes, fi ...

Air Date: May 28, 2021

Listen 51:53
The cover of the book
The Pulse
Health

A New Look at Menopause

Menopause typically happens during a time of life when women need to be on top of their game; managing their careers, raising children, a ...

Air Date: May 25, 2021

Listen 36:29
Illustration of peoples hands reaching up for vials of DNA
The Pulse
Science

When DNA Research Doesn’t Benefit All of Us

There’s long been an idea that sharing our DNA for research benefits the greater good — that it leads to new insights, new medication ...

Air Date: May 21, 2021

Listen 49:13
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