Aug 31, 2026
What happens when a political party loses the trust of the people it says it represents?
And perhaps even more importantly: how does it earn that trust back?
My guest today has some unusually direct answers.
Joe Cunningham made political history in 2018 when he became the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win...
Aug 24, 2026
What if science finally proved that there really is an afterlife?
And what if it also proved that not everyone gets to experience it?
That's the provocative premise behind Don Schechter's debut novel, Ascendants.
Set in 2060, the novel imagines a world transformed by a scientific discovery: certain people...
Aug 21, 2026
What does a place do to you when you leave it behind—but it never really leaves you?
In 1990, a young journalist named Earl Swift set out to hike the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. More than 2,000 miles later, he emerged changed: more disciplined, more resourceful, and deeply connected to the outdoors.
But...
Aug 20, 2026
What if one of the central assumptions about cancer is wrong?
For more than half a century, cancer research has largely focused on the idea that cancer begins with mutations in genes that disrupt the normal controls on cell growth.
But what if the fundamental problem isn't primarily genetic mutation?
What if cancer is...
Aug 19, 2026
Conspiracy theories can feel like a uniquely modern phenomenon.
QAnon. Pizzagate. The "Big Lie." The Epstein Files. False claims about vaccines, medicines, elections, and political opponents.
But what if conspiracy theories aren't a new disease infecting American politics?
What if they've been part of the...