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
Language at the Speed of Sight
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Mark Seidenberg
An international survey in 2011 found that students in Shanghai outperformed American students in every category. President Obama referred to the r...

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  • Added: Jan 19, 2017
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 1
The Future of Democracy: Sec. Leon Panetta
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Piece image
It’s not unusual for a new president to find the adjustment from candidate to leader to be jolting but President Trump’s first week in office has b...

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  • Added: Jan 26, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Ronald Epstein
As a third-year Harvard Medical student, Dr. Ronald Epstein witnessed two vastly different events during surgery.

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  • Added: Feb 01, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
War Torn: Stories of Courage, Love, and Resilience
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Kenneth E. Miller
It’s estimated that roughly 200 million people are affected by wars across the globe. One-third of those are refugees.

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  • Added: Feb 07, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power & the Necessity of Military Force
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Eliot A. Cohen
“Speak softly and carry a big stick” are the words of Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. When President Garfield was assassinated two weeks later, ...

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  • Added: Feb 14, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped the First Lady
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Susan Quinn
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took up residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in 1932, Eleanor looked upon the move to the White House with...

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  • Added: Feb 22, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Direct Action
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Direct Action, Credit: Verso
You’ve probably noticed quite a number of protests across America in recent weeks. Activists everywhere are speaking up. This is not spontaneous ac...

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  • Added: Feb 28, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
On Behalf of the President
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Lauren A. Wright
First ladies have been a vital part of American policy and politics since the election of George Washington.

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  • Added: Mar 06, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Big Bang in a Little Room
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Black Hole Echos, Credit: Scientific America
At some point in our lives, most of us will begin to question how our universe began. Depending on whom you ask, you’re going to get a variety of r...

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  • Added: Mar 15, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality and the Struggle for Oral Health
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
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Twelve-year old Deamonte Driver died following brain surgery in February 2007. His original diagnosis was meningitis. After his death, the culprit...

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  • Added: Mar 23, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Science Under Attack – part 1
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: March for Science
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order. Its purpose is to reverse efforts to shrink America’s carbon footprint.

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  • Added: Mar 30, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
Science Under Attack part 2
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Ben Santer, Credit: Commonwealth Club
President Donald Trump has sent conflicting message about climate change. One time he calls it an urgent problem. Then he refers to it as a hoax.

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  • Added: Apr 05, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
Science Under Attack part 3
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Rush Holt
The Trump Administration is calling for drastic cuts in scientific research and development.

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  • Added: Apr 09, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The One Percent Solutiion
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Gordon Lafer
Americans may vote for polar opposite candidates … liberal or conservative. Their vote may express ideological differences. But, on principles and ...

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  • Added: Apr 19, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Death of Expertise
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Tom Nichols
Research is not plugging a question into a browser. Yet, we treat the Internet as though it has intelligence. And, in turn, that makes us intelligent.

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  • Added: Apr 26, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Living With Cancer: A Step by Step Guide ...
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Living With Cancer, Credit: John Hopkins University Press
One of the most disorienting statements anyone can hear from their doctor is --- they have cancer. In spite of advances in life-saving drugs and tr...

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  • Added: May 02, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Despot's Accomplice
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Brian Klaas
By all appearances, the world is becoming less democratic.

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  • Added: May 11, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Assassin of Youth
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Book jacket cover
In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics appointed Harry J. Anslinger as the commissioner. He became the first drug czar with a flair for demonizin...

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  • Added: May 15, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Broken Ladder
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Keith Payne
Inequality in America today is staggering. It’s on a scale that none of us has seen in our lifetime. Yet, very few are even trying to address a pro...

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  • Added: May 25, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Insight
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Tasha Eurich
All of us now know someone who spends a lot of time on Twitter. It’s a world where style trumps substance. He who talks the loudest is most likely ...

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  • Added: Jun 01, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1

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