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Episodes
Tara VanDerveer: A Vision for Victory
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She is one of the greatest basketball coaches in history, and an inspiration to generations of young women. Tara VanDerveer was head coach of the Stan...
Billie Jean King: Racquet Revolutionary
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She is a sports icon and a trailblazer for women. She won 39 Grand Slam tennis titles during her career, and she fought for equal pay and equal opport...
Jane Goodall In Memoriam: A Dedicated Pursuit
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As a girl in England, Jane Goodall dreamed of traveling to Africa to study animals in the wild. In 1960, that dream brought her to Tanzania, to obse...
Lotte Bjerre Knudsen: Shivering with Curiosity
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ozempic is one of the most important new medications in a generation. The driving force behind it is the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, w...
Gustavo Dudamel: The Power of Music
22 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When he was just 26 years old, Gustavo Dudamel arrived from Venezuela to become conductor and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He immed...
BestOf(2024)_Johnny Cash: True To His Own Voice
28 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Johnny Cash had a voice that could make a mountain quake. And his impact on the world of music is so legendary that this week a new 11 feet tall bronz...
In Memoriam_James Earl Jones: The Voice of Triumph
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of James Earl Jones, who has died at the age of 93, we bring you this encore episode. James Earl Jones had a voice like no other. It reverber...
In Memoriam_Edna O'Brien: Love, Loss and Literature
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of Edna O'Brien, who died this week at 93, we invite you to listen to this re-broadcast of our episode. Edna O'Brien's first novel, "The Coun...
Pete Townshend: Who I Am
20 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the greatest and most admired rock n’ rollers of all time talks about his long and fascinating life in music. Pete Townshend, guitarist and...
Willie Mays: For the Love of the Game_In Memoriam
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We invite you to honor and celebrate the great Willie Mays, who died this week at the age of 93, by taking a listen to the stories he told about his l...
Jeff Koons: Contemporary Art Phenomenon
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Koons is one of the most successful artists of our time. For 40+ years, his iconic works have brought a sense of playfulness to museums worldwide...
Best of (Nobel Prize Edition) - Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: The Vaccine Revolution
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID-19 vaccine came out at warp speed because of the work of these two scientists. This week, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
Best Of - Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gordon Lightfoot has died, at the age of 84. He spoke with the Academy of Achievement last year, and we featured that interview in an episode. To hono...
T.J. Stiles and David Blight: The Epic Life
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
These two Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers have spent their careers delving into the lives of Americans who changed the course of U.S. history. T.J....
Best of - Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding: Jazz Invention
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wayne Shorter was a legendary saxophonist and composer whose career began in the 1950's and spanned the development of modern jazz. Mr. Shorter died t...
Best Of - Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam: Truth Seekers
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty years ago today (January 27, 1973), the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War came to an end, with the signing of the Paris Pea...
Best Of - Maya Angelou (Part 2): In the Spirit of Martin
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we treat you to a re-broadcast of this episode from 2017. Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King Jr. were close f...
Best Of - Nora Ephron: Unstoppable Wit
26 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Contemplating what movie to watch this holiday week? You can't go wrong with "When Harry Met Sally," perhaps the greatest rom-com of all time. Nora Ep...
Best of - John Irving: A Literary Life
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
2022 was a big year for John Irving, the author of "The World According to Garp," "A Prayer for Owen Meany," and "The Cider House Rules." He turned 80...
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
He had a slew of international hits in the 1960's and 70's, including "If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown" and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." ...
Roger Daltrey: Rock Icon
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Who changed rock n roll, with the use of synthesizers, feedback, power chords and a wild onstage presence They were rock gods. And they created ...
Best of - Milton Friedman: Champion of Capitalism
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Americans struggle to pay their bills in the face of inflation, policymakers and economists are debating the best way to control rising prices. C...
Best of - Sonia Sotomayor: Power of Words
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15 - Oct 15) by taking a new listen to our 2017 episode on United States Supreme Court Justice Son...
Mike Wallace and Art Buchwald: Blues Brothers
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One was an aggressive, no-holds-barred television interviewer. One was a newspaper columnist, who employed gentle satire to swipe at the rich and the ...
Best Of - B.B. King: King of the Blues
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
BB King began life as a humble Mississippi cotton farmer, and ended up one of the most influential guitarists and singers of the past century. Jimi He...
Best of - David McCullough, Stephen Ambrose and David Herbert Donald: Time Travelers
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It is the rare writer who can make history so compelling, so alive, that people will flock to read it. David McCullough, who died last Sunday, was o...
Best of - Bill Russell: Giant of a Man
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The most astonishing winning streak in the history of sports, belonged to the Boston Celtics. They won eleven championships between 1957 and 1969, e...
Best of - John Hume and David Trimble: A Vision of Peace
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
These two remarkable men, from opposite sides of the 30-year "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, bravely reached across the divide and waged peace. They w...
Best of - Frank McCourt: Teacher Man
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
No one could tell a story better than Frank McCourt. His first book, Angela's Ashes, remains one of the most compelling accounts of poverty, alcoholis...
Best of - Steve Jobs and Tony Fadell: Inventing the Future
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Fifteen years ago, a sleek pocket-sized device was introduced that would change much about how we interact in the world: the iPhone. This is the intim...
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman: The Vaccine Revolution
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The COVID-19 vaccine came out at warp speed because of the work of these two scientists. For many years they had been investigating the secrets of m...
Best of - Lauryn Hill: Family, Faith & Hip-Hop
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lauryn Hill has had an outsized impact on the world of hip-hop, soul and R&B. She entered the music world in the mid-1990’s as one third of the band...
Best of - Daniel Inouye and Norman Mineta: In Defense of Liberty
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Norman Mineta spent three years in a internment camp for Japanese-Americans when he was a child. But this shameful period in American history did no...
Best of - Naomi Judd: Dream Chaser
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a tribute to Naomi Judd, who died suddenly on Saturday night at the age of 76, we are re-posting our episode from 2017. Ms. Judd's life and stori...
Andrea Ghez and Donna Strickland: Frontiers of Knowledge
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Only four women have ever received the Nobel Prize in Physics. This episode features two of them! Andrea Ghez unlocked a secret of the universe when s...
Best of - Edward Teller: Destroyer of Worlds
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Russia's war in Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin's threat to unleash nuclear weapons, has put the world on edge. In 2018 we explored the complicated histor...
General C.Q. Brown and Lt. Col. James Harvey: Wings of Freedom
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Tuskegee Airmen were some of the bravest and best pilots to ever fly for the United States Armed Forces. One of the last surviving members of th...
Best of - Coach John Wooden: Character for Life
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During March Madness, can you think of anything more satisfying to do between games than listen to an interview with legendary UCLA coach John Wooden?...
Best of - Lynsey Addario: Portraits of Love and War
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, a shocking photograph was seen around the world. It showed a Ukrainian mother and her two children - lying dead on the street - killed by R...
Best of - Andrew Young: My Life, My Destiny
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Young has worn many hats: pastor, congressman, ambassador & mayor, but his first role in public service was as Martin Luther King Jr’s strate...
Best of - Rosa Parks and Judge Frank Johnson: Standing Up for Freedom
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the fall of 1955, Rosa Parks refused to stand for a white passenger on the bus, Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen to lead the boycott that followed...
Tenley Albright: Miracles on Ice
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Every time the Olympics roll around, we’re regaled with inspiring stories of the athletes. Well, it’s hard to imagine a more inspiring story than ...
E.O. Wilson, Richard Evans Schultes and Wade Davis: Pl(ants) of the Gods
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
E.O. Wilson was sometimes called "the father of biodiversity," sometimes "a modern-day Darwin," and sometimes simply "Ant Man." His recent death was a...
Best of - Sidney Poitier: Trailblazing Screen Legend
08 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sidney Poitier changed America’s view of black men. And he changed Hollywood. The star of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Defiant Ones,...
Best of - Archbishop Desmond Tutu: The Power of Faith
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Desmond Tutu was the moral force that helped bring down Apartheid in South Africa. As a young priest, he was not very political, despite the fact that...
Edna O’Brien: Love, Loss and Literature
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Edna O'Brien's first novel, "The Country Girls," was banned in Ireland, and burned in her own home parish. The year was 1960, and young Irish women ...
Best of - Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski: Images of the Imagination
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Spielberg hired Janusz Kaminski as the cinematographer for "Schindler's List” twenty-five years ago, and they have worked together, hand-in-g...
Best of - Stephen Sondheim: Maestro of Broadway
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He grew up next door to Oscar Hammerstein and became his greatest protege. In 1957, he wrote the lyrics for "West Side Story," and for the next 60 yea...
Best of - Carole King and Hal David: More Than Beautiful
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While listening to this episode, we dare you to NOT sing out loud. Carole King and Hal David were each one half of a legendary songwriting duo, and ea...
Zahi Hawass and Kent Weeks: Golden Age of the Pharaohs
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Much of what we've learned over the past half-century about the ancient Egyptians, we've learned from these two archaeologists. They've both made majo...
Best of - General Colin Powell: My American Journey
25 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Colin Powell, who died on October 18, 2021, wore many hats during his distinguished career in public service, among them: Secretary of State, Chairman...
Best of - Johnny Cash: True To His Own Voice
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He had a voice that could make a mountain quake. And his impact on the world of music is legendary. As fans prepare to celebrate the arrival of a new ...
Denton Cooley, Willem Kolff and William DeVries: King of Hearts
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The 1960's, 70's and 80's brought about a revolution in the treatment of heart and kidney disease. Dialysis, organ transplants, coronary bypass, ope...
Best of - George Lucas: The Force Will Be With You
20 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
George Lucas’s only dream as a teenager was to race cars, but he went on to create the most popular films in motion picture history. Along the way...
Christiane Amanpour: Life on the Front Line
06 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
She is one of the most recognized, respected and admired journalists in the world. Christiane Amanpour has covered just about every war and conflict o...
Hamid Karzai: Chaos Rules
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Two decades ago, he rode into Afghanistan on a motorcycle with just three compatriots, hoping to overthrow the brutal Taliban regime. Against all odds...
Best of - James Michener: Master Storyteller
16 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
James Michener was born to tell stories. He was one of the most popular and best-selling American novelists of all time… able to merge equal parts f...
Robert Ballard: Modern-Day Captain Nemo
02 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
He’s a modern-day Captain Nemo - the person responsible for much of what we’ve learned about the Earth’s oceans over the past sixty years. He’...
Nadine Gordimer, Athol Fugard and Elie Wiesel: Messengers of Humanity
19 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
These three writers used the power of their pens to expose and explore man's inhumanity to man. You'll hear the presentations they gave at the Acade...
Best of - Sir Roger Bannister: The Mile of the Century
12 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the morning of May 6th, 1954, Roger Bannister achieved what most people believed was not humanly possible: he ran a mile in under four minutes. I...
Twyla Tharp and Justin Peck: High Priests of Creative Movement
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
These two choreographers have pushed dance in bold new directions and brought it to a much wider audience. Both Twyla Tharp and Justin Peck are classi...
Best of - Mike (Coach K) Krzyzewski: Inspiring Greatness
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coach K, as Mike Krzyzewski is best known, has had more wins than any other men's basketball coach in the NCAA... by a long shot. He's also the prou...
Richard Leakey and Donald Johanson: The Quest for Humankind
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What makes us human? And how did we get here? It's only human to want to know. These two renowned paleo-anthropologists have unlocked enormous gaps in...
Best of - Bill Russell: Giant of a Man
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When the NBA playoffs come around each year, it's always worth revisiting the story of Bill Russell. Russell was the force behind the most astonishi...
Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Robert Zemeckis: The Magic of Film
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A stunning assemblage of filmmakers who shaped cinema in the late 20th century: Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro and Robert Zemeck...
Best Of - Willie Mays: For the Love of the Game
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Willie Mays was featured in one of our very first episodes. We're taking a second listen today, to celebrate the legendary center fielder's 90th birth...
Carol Guzy: Visual Storyteller
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are only a handful of people who've won four Pulitzer Prizes. One of them is photo-journalist Carol Guzy. She has spent most of her life using h...
Sal Khan: The World's Teacher
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Khan Academy may be the most revolutionary tool created for learning since the advent of pencil and paper. It is a critical educational equalizer - pr...
Larry Ellison and Ted Turner: Prophets of Innovation
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One of these tycoons changed the way businesses collect and use data. The other transformed television and created the 24 hour news cycle. One was b...
John Mather, Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess: Masters of the Universe
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Much of what we know about the universe, we've learned in the past 25 years. These three astrophysicists, all Nobel laureates, were key to unlocking s...
Audra McDonald: Trusting Your Own Power
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From the time she was nine years old, she knew she wanted to be on Broadway, but Audra McDonald has succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. She has earne...
Best of - August Wilson and Lloyd Richards: The Voice of Genius
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the past few weeks, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring playwright August Wilson, and Netflix released a film version of Wilson's celeb...
Larry King: The King of Talk
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
No one could shmooze quite like Larry King. He turned it into an art, and turned himself into a legendary broadcaster. He often didn't prepare for h...
Best of - Hank Aaron: Field of Dreams
23 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Babe Ruth's home run record held for almost four decades. But then Hank Aaron came along and smashed it. On the way to making baseball history, Aa...
Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam: Truth Seekers
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
These two brave reporters risked their lives and their reputations during the war in Vietnam, to reveal the truth to the American people about what wa...
Best of - Benazir Bhutto: Paying the Ultimate Price
11 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most Americans simply could not believe their eyes this week, when a violent mob staged an insurrection in the US Capitol. It was the kind of thing th...
Trevor Nunn: A Love Letter to Theater
28 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He's one of the greatest all-time directors of Shakespeare, and has directed every one of the Bard's plays. But he's also directed 34 shows on Broad...
Judy Collins: Amazing Grace
14 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There's no mistaking Judy Collins' voice. She sang us through the 1960's and '70's, and hasn't stopped since. Today at 81, her voice is still strong a...
Shelby Foote, Arthur Golden and Carol Shields: Literary Pursuits
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Three remarkable novelists, from very different backgrounds, peel back the curtain on how they write, why they write, and what they write. Arthur Go...
Wayne Thiebaud and Fritz Scholder: Palette of American Life
14 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In celebration of painter Wayne Thiebaud's 100th birthday, we feature a conversation with the artist and with one of his most renowned students, Fritz...
Willie Brown: The Political Life
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
No one could work a room like Willie Brown. He was the consummate politician and public servant, and a true American original. He started life in a sm...
David McCullough, Stephen Ambrose and David Herbert Donald: Time Travelers
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The best-known biographies of Presidents Lincoln, Adams, Eisenhower, Truman, Nixon were written by the three great historians featured here. They talk...
Best of - Louise Glück: Revenge Against Circumstance
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Louise Glück, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature, uses simple, unsentimental language in her poems to evoke overwhelming emotions. That ra...
Sandra Day O’Connor, Erma Bombeck and Hilary Swank: The Power Within
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, a comedic newspaper columnist and an Academy Award-winning actress have in common? On the face of i...
Best of - Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Justice For All
19 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has died at the age of 87, we are re-posting this episode. It originally aired in September of 2016. Ju...
Cal Ripken Jr.: The Iron Man
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Show up. Be there for your team. Play your best. These are the values that Cal Ripken Jr. embodied - every single day of his career. His commitment ...
Joyce Carol Oates and Gore Vidal: Words Become Me
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is a story about two of the greatest and most prolific writers in post-WWII America, who grew up in dramatically different circumstances. Joyce...
John Hume and David Trimble: A Vision of Peace
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
These two remarkable men, from opposite sides of the 30-year "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, bravely reached across the divide and waged peace. They w...
Best of - Olivia de Havilland: The Last Belle of Cinema
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Olivia de Havilland, who just passed away at the age of 104, was the last of the Hollywood's leading ladies from the Golden Age. She is best known f...
Pitbull (Armando Christian Pérez): I’m Possible
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He grew up on the tough streets of Miami in the 1980s, dealing drugs and learning how to survive. But this first generation Cuban-American took the ...
Best of - John Lewis: The Spirit of History
19 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In honor of Congressman John Lewis, who died of pancreatic cancer on July 17th, we are re-posting this episode. It was originally published in January...
Ron Howard: Imagine Success
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He has had one of the longest, most celebrated and careers in Hollywood history, and it's still on overdrive. As a director, Ron Howard has worked in ...
Best of - Maya Angelou: Righteousness and Love
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Maya Angelou took the harshest experiences in her life and turned them into words of triumph, justice and hope. Her memoirs and her poems told of her ...
Orhan Pamuk and Carlos Fuentes: The Art of Fiction
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two world-renowned novelists, from different corners of the globe, talk about why they write. Orhan Pamuk, from Turkey, is the 2006 winner of the Nobe...
Bryan Stevenson and John Hope Franklin: Voices of Conscience
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Both of these men grew up under segregation, 50 years apart, and each became an important force for truth and for justice. John Hope Franklin was a ...
Best of - Coretta Scott King: The Courage to Dream
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The United States seemed poised for a new day in 1963, when the March on Washington drew a quarter million people. And yet, throughout the intervening...
Stephen Jay Gould: This View of Life
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
He knew from the age of five that he was going to become a paleontologist, but he also became one of the most important evolutionary theorists since D...
Lt. Michael Thornton and Lt. Tommy Norris: Portraits of Valor
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 1972, a Navy Seal named Thomas Norris carried out one of the most dangerous and daring rescue missions of the war in Vietnam. Six months later, he ...
Julie Taymor: Creativity on the Edge
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
She is best known for creating "The Lion King" on Broadway, but Julie Taymor has spent her whole career pushing the bounds of creativity - in theater,...
Best Of - Jonas Salk: Vanquisher of Polio
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of our very first episodes featured a rare interview with Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the Polio vaccine at a time of tremendous panic. Today, as...