A Whale-Oiled Machine – 99% Invisible
In the 1800s, whaling was a vast and brutal industry–sometimes as deadly for the sailors involved as it was for the whales. And the global epicenter of whaling could be…
Sirens, succubi & sex symbols: a history of female monsters
From the dangers of childbirth to female sexuality, myths and legends about female monsters like mermaids and sirens can tell us a lot about different societies’ attitudes towards women over…
CuriosiD: Why are there so many Coney Islands in Detroit? – WDET 101.9 FM
The short answer Coney Island restaurants started to smother the nation’s car capitol in the early 20th century. Some Greek immigrants who arrived in the U.S. at that time passed…
Chris McCandless with Blair Braverman – You’re Wrong About
This week, survival correspondent Blair Braverman tells Sarah the story of a Supertramp. In 1996, Jon Krakauer’s book Into the Wild described a young man, Chris McCandless, who changed his…
Grieving a Friendship w/MariNaomi
Join host Ned Buskirk in conversation with award-winning author & illustrator MariNaomi, talking about their new & ninth book, I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME, a collage-comics graphic memoir about a…
How to build a planet
We’re going to tackle a few very small questions in this episode, like how to build a planet from scratch – and then, how to build governments on that planet.…
Napster With Niko Stratis
This week, a tale of two Shawns/Seans, their impossible dream, and the file sharing service that lived fast, died young, and helped create the internet as we know it. Plus,…
One Year: The Day the Music Stopped – 99% Invisible
The problem seems not to be new technology but who owns the means of production.
The Human Touch
I’ve been following parallel media stories about visual artists in two different fields. Each story is about artists who create fantastical images, but they’re worried they can no long practice…
Making a Spectacle: A Fashionable History of Glasses, an interview with Jessica Glasscock, part 1
Fashion historian Jessica Glasscock joins us for a two-part episode on the fascinating, 750 year history of eyeglasses and eyewear. Jessica is the author of the new book Making a…