IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices

Series produced by Guy Rathbun

Series image

This weekly show is devoted to political, social, economic, ecological, philosophical and religious ideas.

This series has been broadcast on public radio, and podcast on National Public Radio for the past 10 years, and has included such luminaries as Robert Reich, Chris Hedges, Michael K. Hudson, Vincent Buligosi, Richard Heinberg, and many more.


561 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Monique W. Morris
Black girls make up for more than one-third of all girls with school related arrests. Yet, they comprise just 16-percent of female students.

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  • Added: Aug 23, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Professor Karlos HIll
This is a difficult story to tell. Most Americans are sickened that it’s even part of our heritage: The practice of lynching. It’s so distant, most...

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  • Added: Aug 31, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Elizabeth Schwartz
The first time a US Supreme Court ruling came out in favor of the LGBT community was in 1958. That was the beginning of a slow and arduous process...

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  • Added: Sep 06, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Alan Schwartz
A high percentage of children in the United States are getting diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, as it’s become known.

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  • Added: Sep 13, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Kathryn Smith
The Glass Ceiling: That’s a term that’s been bandied about for some time. Those women who reach the top of their field whether it’s in business or ...

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  • Added: Sep 20, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Professor Vincent Hendricks
We think that with today’s technology, we’re better informed. Therefore it follows we have more knowledge. Not so fast.

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  • Added: Sep 27, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Chuck Collins
I have heard that inequality in America is at its highest point since the age of the Robber Barons. If true, many suspect it may get worse before i...

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  • Added: Oct 03, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Baylen Linnekin
Food Waste, hunger, inhumane livestock conditions, disappearing fish stocks … just a few of the serious issues we have with our food supply. We exp...

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  • Added: Oct 11, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Kimball Taylor
At first it was a curiosity … then a nuisance that evolved into a phenomenon. Abandoned bicycles scattered across the desert at the US/Mexican boar...

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  • Added: Oct 17, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Michael Ableman
In his book, Street Farm, Michael Ableman shares the inspirational stories about the people in one of the worst urban slums in North America: Vanco...

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  • Added: Oct 25, 2016
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Professor Vincent Hendricks
A new beast is on the scene, and it just may be part of the information age. The multi-headed monster is known as Post-Factual Democracy.

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  • Added: Nov 01, 2016
  • Length: 28:59
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: UW-Madison Bee Hive
It’s called “colony collapse disorder” or CCD. A number of years ago US beekeeping operations realized they lost between 30 and 90 percent of their...

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  • Added: Nov 09, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: William W. Goldsmith
There is deep concern for the health of American cities. Frustration with inequality is spreading. Public schools are lagging behind expectation. I...

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  • Added: Nov 14, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: George Lakey at Occupy Philly
The Scandinavian countries … Sweden, Norway and Denmark … boasts the world’s happiest, most productive people. They have equality, low unemployment...

Bought by KGNU Community Radio and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 29, 2016
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Cedric de Leon
The “right to work.” The phrase sounds fair and equitable. After all, who shouldn’t have a right to work if they wish to? Twenty-six states now hav...

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  • Added: Dec 06, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Seth Abramson
An unexpected turn has unfolded with the 2016 elections. The Washington Post broke the story on Friday, December 9 that Russia not only hacked Amer...

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  • Added: Dec 13, 2016
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: Marc Levinson
The 25-years after World War II were a golden age for much of the world. The end of that era in 1973 brought financial crisis, high unemployment, e...

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  • Added: Dec 15, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Richard Cahan
In 1942, the government rounded up more than one hundred thousand Japanese living in the U.S. They were incarcerated for the duration of the war.

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  • Added: Dec 26, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Ruta Sepetys
It’s known as the single greatest maritime disaster in history. Yet, it is a little known story. This casualty of World War II was far deadlier tha...

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  • Added: Jan 04, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Sarah van Gelder
No matter how we voted in this last election, all of us can agree on one thing. Our country, and the world, faces significant problems: Racism to c...

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  • Added: Jan 11, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1