Phillip Dettmer: The World in a Nutshell
A high school dropout who went on to create the immensely popular YouTube channel Kurtzgesagt (In a Nutshell) ignites curiosity about science in unique ways.
Aug 23, 2022•35 min
Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
Learn to connect better with others in every area of your life. Immerse yourself in spirited conversations with people who know how hard it is, and yet how good it feels, to really connect with other people – whether it’s one person, an audience or a whole country. You'll know many of the people in these conversations – they are luminaries in our culture. Some you may not know. But what links them all is their powerful ability to relate and communicate. It's something we need now more than ever.
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Episodes
Carl Bergstrom: Why Birds Don’t Lie and We Do
Trying to figure out how to stop the spread of misinformation on social media, Carl Bergstrom draws from his studies of how birds stick to the truth when communicating about things that matter – like sex and food.
Aug 16, 2022•41 min
Lucy Cooke: Where Females Call the Shots
Are men more fit to lead, and more interested in sex than women? Lucy Cooke takes on these myths and more, telling Alan how she visited women biologists around the world who have studied species as different as songbirds, lions and bonobos. What she discovered is eye-opening – especially if you’re a man.
Aug 09, 2022•39 min
Frans de Waal: Gender, Apes, and Us
Gender fluidity is tolerated a lot more among our cousins— chimpanzees and bonobos— than in our species. The famed primatologist Frans de Waal tells Alan what he’s found after decades of studying our closest relatives.
Aug 02, 2022•42 min
Paul Dooley: Movie Dad
Alan and Paul Dooley started out as actors around the same time and in this conversation they have a reunion. In the years between, Paul has gone from standup comedy to playing a multitude of dads in movies. And at 94 he’s still going strong.
Jul 26, 2022•41 min
Katie Mack: When Time’s Totally Up
The end of absolutely everything won’t happen for a long, long time. But Katie Mack can describe the different ways the universe might die with clarity and even humor.
Jul 19, 2022•43 min
Ed Yong and Liz Neeley: They Have Storytelling Down to a Science
Stars in the field of science communication, they know how to make the rest of us want to learn about something we don’t think we care about. They even creatively inspire each other.
Jul 12, 2022•43 min
Arthur Brooks: Investing in Happiness
When he realized that the skills that had led to his successes in the first half of life needed to be replaced by other skills for the next half, social scientist Arthur Brooks began investigating what we need to do now to prepare for happiness and fulfillment as we grow older.
Jul 05, 2022•43 min
Mónica Guzmán: She Never Thought of It That Way
Her realization that if she’d led the life her parents have, then she would have voted for Trump too, was an insight that contributed to her decision to write her new book, I Never Thought of It That Way . The book is both a diagnosis of, and a prescription for, the ugly polarization that is gripping today’s America.
Jun 28, 2022•42 min
Emanuel Ax: Reaching Out Through Music
Alan talks with longtime friend, the great pianist Emanuel Ax. How does practice lead to the unexpected magic of spontaneity? What role does the audience play? And taking music to the places whereit’s needed most.
Jun 21, 2022•41 min
James Burrows: He Gave Us Thousands of Reasons to Laugh
He brought us classics like Cheers, Taxi, Will and Grace, Frasier, Friends and The Big Bang Theory. He's directed over 1,000 episodes of TV comedy. Jim Burrows and Alan compare notes on what it takes to make a show a success.
Jun 14, 2022•42 min
Conny Aerts and George Whitesides: Starquakes and Tiny, Tiny Factories
She listens to quakes in stars far, far away, to help predict if they host earth-like planets. He makes it possible to build factories so small you can’t even see them.
Jun 07, 2022•41 min
Huda Zoghbi and Christopher Walsh: Hunting Genes that Damage our Brains
Two of the winners of the just-announced Kavli Prizes in neuroscience on what inspired their breakthrough research. And how their discoveries may help not only those with rare, devastating brain disorders, but also provide a better understanding of more common conditions such as autism.
Jun 01, 2022•48 min
Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda - Season 17 trailer
Alan and Executive Producer Graham Chedd chat about and play excerpts from Alan's conversations with some of the guests in the new season, beginning next week. Guests include classical pianist Emanuel Ax, director James Burrows, and primatologist Frans de Waal. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
May 31, 2022•33 min
Ardem Patapoutian and Emmanuelle Charpentier: Touching the Horizon
Ardem Patapoutian discovered more about our sense of touch than we ever knew and Emmanuelle Charpentier co-invented the most powerful biomedical tool we’ve ever had. Celebrating two past winners of the Kavli Prize a week before the 2022 laureates are announced.
May 24, 2022•40 min
Mike Brown and Millie Dresselhaus: Exploring the very big and the very small
Mike Brown, the man who demoted Pluto, is now hot on the trail of a new planet 9, much bigger than Earth and way beyond Neptune. And the brilliant career of his fellow Kavli Prize winner, Millie Dresselhaus – the “Queen of Carbon” and pioneer of nanoscience – is remembered by her biographer, Maia Weinstock.
May 17, 2022•43 min
Kashmir Hill: Reporting from the Future
Putting herself as she says, “inside the tech worlds to come,” reporter Kashmir Hill explores how the technology that’s making our lives easier is also eroding our privacy. Her experiences are both amusing and downright scary.
May 10, 2022•42 min
David Linden: How Come You’re So Special?
While filling out an on-line dating app – listing his traits and those of an ideal partner – neuroscientist David Linden began to wonder what makes each of us unique. Why is even each person in a pair of identical twins unique? The answer, he tells Alan, is far richer and more interesting than the old false division of "nature versus nurture".
May 03, 2022•45 min
Bette Midler: How She Became Divine
The multitalented singer, actor, songwriter, author tells Alan how her childhood in Hawaii shaped not only her career but also now moves her to bring nature back to the city of New York.
Apr 26, 2022•41 min
Saul Perlmutter: The Man Who Upended the Universe
After making the astonishing discovery that what he and his fellow cosmologists thought they knew about the universe was wrong, Saul Perlmutter began a course at his university explaining why catching mistakes is at the heart of science. It’s also a lesson in life for the rest of us.
Apr 19, 2022•45 min
Hope Jahren: What You Can Do to Save the Planet
The author of the wonderful memoir Lab Girl turns her turns her ability to be both clear and vivid to providing a path forward for a new generation tackling the climate crisis.
Apr 12, 2022•39 min
Billy Collins: When Words Have a Mind of Their Own
His poems are loved by millions. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, Billy Collins achieves both depth and accessibility in the same moment. His words often surprise us because they have a way of surprising him .
Apr 05, 2022•39 min
Chris Hadfield: Song of an Astronaut
His descriptions of living in space make you feel you’re on the ship with him. His performance of the David Bowie song Space Oddity in a video he beamed down to earth was a worldwide hit. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is a veteran of three space missions, including as commander of the International Space Station. He takes us with him.
Mar 29, 2022•43 min
Sarah Ruhl: What if you couldn’t smile?
A successful playwright with plenty to smile about – a new play opening on Broadway and the birth of twins – suddenly lost her ability to smile. Her struggle to regain it is the subject of her new book, a story that – perhaps surprisingly – will give you plenty to smile about.
Mar 22, 2022•40 min
Gal Beckerman: How Quiet Whispers Lead to Radical Roars
In a widely praised new book, The Quiet Before, Gal Beckerman paints vivid pictures of how throughout history, radical change has only come about through quiet preparation.
Mar 15, 2022•41 min
Natalie and Natasha Batalha: Looking for Life on Alien Worlds
As the James Webb Space Telescope starts peering out into space this summer, mother and daughter astronomers Natalie and Natasha Batalha will each have major roles in the search for signs of life on planets beyond the solar system.
Mar 08, 2022•43 min
Michael Keaton: From Standup to Drama
His outstanding career acting in both movies and television – most recently his highly praised performance in the Hulu series Dopesick – had its beginning in standup comedy. “It was an opportunity to have a stage for 15 minutes and… perform.” Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
Mar 01, 2022•39 min
Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda - Season 16 trailer
Alan and Executive Producer Graham Chedd chat about and play excerpts from Alan's conversations with some of the guests in the new season, beginning next week. Guests include actor Michael Keaton, poet Billy Collins, and astronaut (and space oddity) Chris Hadfield. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
Feb 22, 2022•40 min
Kate Crawford: Artificial Intelligence – neither artificial nor intelligent
Twenty years of exploring the technical, social and environmental impact of AI has convinced Kate Crawford that we should be much more skeptical about where AI is useful – and concerned about where it is harmful. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
Feb 15, 2022•44 min
Stephon Alexander: Einstein, Coltrane… and the Universe
His jazz informs his physics and his physics informs his jazz, as cosmologist Stephon Alexander seeks a new understanding of the Universe. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid
Feb 08, 2022•39 min
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