America’s founders recognized that without a king, their fledgling nation would require knowledgeable citizens. But now in the digital age, this essential need is ever-more critical to our democracy. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.
In these special Humankind documentaries, ‘Beyond War’ takes a look back at the last time the U.S. military had major involvement in the Middle East. We examine the true human costs of organized violence (for both soldiers and civilians). And what happens when citizens protest against war? To see additional resources and our other programs, […]
Emboldened by a U.S. Justice Dept. estimate that ten percent of prisoners serving time are actually innocent, journalist Rob Warden describes his Chicago-based efforts to free inmates who are wrongly convicted. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.
In these special Humankind documentaries, ‘Beyond War’ takes a look back at the last time the U.S. military had major involvement in the Middle East. We examine the true human costs of organized violence (for both soldiers and civilians). And what happens when citizens protest against war? Hear 4 half-hours. To see additional resources and […]
An elderly physician and Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Bernard Lown, pleads for a revolution in health care that would place greater emphasis on personal interaction between doctor and patient. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.
Today over two million people partake of the storytelling, the good humor, the words of wisdom and the gallons and gallons of free coffee made available to attenders of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. AA’s basic text has been translated into more than 60 languages and has sold over 35 million English copies. To see additional resources […]
90 years ago this month Alcoholics Anonymous was born when a troubled drunkard realized that connecting with fellow-sufferers creates a safe zone where they can stay sober. That insight has saved millions of lives worldwide – all at no charge. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on […]
A conversation with the long-time director of the UN Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, who also directs the Yale Climate and Energy Institute. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.
In this documentary, we explore what it’s like to experience “moral injury”— when soldiers witness or participate in war-time acts that violate their conscience. The impact they undergo confirms an enduring truth: on the battlefield, everyone is a victim. How does one come to terms with a deeply painful incident from the past? When deep […]
Some people give no charity at all. But of Americans who do, the average family donation is 2-3% per year. This program examines how people arrive at the amount of their charitable contributions, where the money is contributed to, and what holds donors back from giving more, especially if they could afford to without hardship. […]
After war, our veterans face a new battle: emotional and spiritual conflict that is normal to human beings who’ve experienced intense brutality.In the Civil War this condition was called “soldier’s heart”, in WW1 it was known as “shell shock”, and today many veterans are diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To see additional resources and […]
Chicago dramatist Meade Palidofsky uses theater as a therapeutic tool in her work with juvenile offenders who write and perform plays while incarcerated — and in the process see their lives through a new lens. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in […]
Facing a personal crisis, hospital patients and their loved ones often receive needed emotional support from a quiet army of chaplains, who are skilled at empathetic listening to people gripped by difficult and confusing emotions. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in […]
A veteran negotiator in world hot-spots including the Middle East, Louise Diamond practices a citizens-based diplomacy that sometimes finds cooperation at the grass roots level, even when governments are hostile. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.
Charlie Starbuck, an affable tax attorney, single-handedly has increased the “canopy” of San Francisco by planting more than 7,500 trees, as part of the movement known as Friends of the Urban Forest. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH […]
How does the widespread low level of literacy among American adults affect the functioning of our democracy? Are voters in this group vulnerable to political manipulation? To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.
About half of American adults read at or below a 6th-grade level. What challenges do they face – at work, in health care, when helping children with schoolwork? And how does the profusion of low-information voters affect our democracy? To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR […]
This episode explores the very human level at which some nurses interact with patients at their most vulnerable moments. What spiritual questions about life and death arise in such encounters? We do nurses turn for their own support? And we look at the concept of “compassion fatigue” and ways nurses can maintain open-hearted care. To […]
It’s been said that we’ve learned how to speak but not necessarily how to communicate. Rarely are we taught the art of deep listening or how to respond to someone without accusation or blame or the ability to articulate our own needs without putting others on the defensive. To see additional resources and our other […]
In this documentary we explore how federal courts enforced fugitive slave laws. Historians, actors and legal scholars re-create the famous case of a young escaped slave who was sent back by a Boston judge, provoking America’s largest abolitionist protest. To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are heard on NPR […]
In the second half of our documentary on the history of Alcoholics Anonymous, we examine the AA recovery principles that have promoted sobriety for millions of recovering alcoholics and have created a template to help people worldwide who struggle with many forms of addiction. To view additional resources for this episode please visit our website at humanmedia.org. […]
Herbal remedies: Do they work? Are they safe? In The Medicine Garden, a special series drawn from our archives, you’ll take a fascinating tour of this relatively low-cost form of health care. It’s an approach to healing that has become enormously popular among Americans dissatisfied with conventional medicine.
In this episode, we hear from physician Ralph Snyderman, MD, a proponent of preventive medicine, who believes that our health care system should place greater emphasis on preventive practices (such as healthy diet and stress management), because it is more humane to avoid disease than to cope with it, and because it is a far […]
Have we entered an age of unrelenting chaos? As we grope for a “new normal”, has humanity reached a kind of turning point? In this timely audio documentary, you’ll hear inspiring stories of survivors. We also listen to health care providers, clergy and others who offer specific guidance to help people navigate these choppy waters. […]
Take a trip to a pristine spot in Maine for an afternoon spent with Palestinian and Israeli youth as they come together to play, connect, and discuss the imperiled region they struggle in eleven months out of the year. Despite the hardened conditions in which they were raised, the teenagers here reveal an innocence and […]
As we grope for a “new normal”, has humanity reached a kind of turning point? It feels that way — in the wake of the Covid pandemic, intensifying impacts of climate change, the war in Ukraine, mounting threats to our democracy, repeated mass shootings and so much more. In this second part of our documentary, […]
After war, our veterans face a new battle: emotional and spiritual conflict that is normal to human beings who’ve experienced intense brutality. In this documentary, we examine the effects of military violence and how people begin the journey of healing from it. We hear deeply moving stories of veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and […]
The Prisoners Literature Project, an all-volunteer service based in Berkeley, California, packages and ships books to people who are incarcerated, as a humanitarian gesture and one that helps inmates prepare for re-entry into society.
In the wake of shocking violence at abortion clinics, two apparent enemies — women representing pro-choice and pro-life factions in the Boston area, where shootings had occurred — were forced to communicate, for the sake of everyone’s safety. What unfolded over many months was one of the most mysterious and moving conversations among people of […]
Christal Presley, an English teacher in Virginia who experienced “secondary trauma” in response to the extreme behavior of her father, a Vietnam-era veteran with PTSD, tells how the family began a journey of recovery.
