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
A Body Undone: Living on After Great Pain
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Christina Crosby
On an early October evening in 2003, Christina Crosby was on a 17-mile bike ride. Nothing unusual for this athletic professor at Wesleyan Universi...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Apr 05, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Education of an American Journalist
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Gerald Moore
When Gerald Moore decided to try his had at journalism, his reasoning was very good. He needed a job. But what began, as a way to pay the rent beca...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 30, 2016
  • Length: 28:59
  • Purchases: 1
Snowball in a Blizzard: A Physician’s Notes on Uncertainty in Medicine
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Steven Hatch
In his book, Dr. Steven Hatch cuts to the chase. Readers get a sense of the challenges in all areas of modern medicine.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 23, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The German War
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Nicholas Stargardt
The Holocaust during World War II -- Horrifying images and stories that have come to symbolize an international conflict. What the story doesn’t t...

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  • Added: Mar 17, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
I Heart Obama
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Erin Aubry Kaplan
In his nearly two terms as president, Barack Obama has solidified his status, as something black people haven’t had for fifty years: a folk hero.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Mar 10, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Uppity Women: Women's History Month Special
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Vicki Leon
This is a series of quotations from women who were passionate about their politics, power and immortality. They sought justice, equality, knowledge...

Bought by KVSC and KCBX


  • Added: Mar 02, 2016
  • Length: 29:28
  • Purchases: 2
The Powerhouse: America, China and the Great Battery War
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Steve LeVine
There’s no doubt that the invention of a super battery would shake up the world. Think about it. It would endanger the ruling Saudi Arabian family ...

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  • Added: Feb 25, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Meaning of Science
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Tim Lewens
From the origins of human culture to space exploration, the achievements of science have been extraordinary.

Bought by KCBX and KCBX


  • Added: Feb 18, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
The Spirit of '74: How the American Revolution Began
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Ray Raphael
We’ve all read about “the Boston Tea Party,” as well as the famous “shot heard ‘round the world”. These two important events occurred 28-months apa...

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  • Added: Feb 10, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Integration Nation
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Susan Eaton
Immigration. That’s a major hot button issue. In recent years, a handful of states have passed laws designed to make it easier to deport unauthor...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Feb 03, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Runaway Inequality
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Runaway Inequity , Credit: Labor Institute Press
It’s become a critical fact of life in America: Runaway inequality.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Jan 27, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Scholar Denied
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Aldon D. Morris
Before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, he had to announce the death of W.E.B. Du Bois. The crowd fell into tears.

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  • Added: Jan 20, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
We Have the Technology
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Kara Platoni
Researchers are changing the way we experience our world. They’re engineering scents that stimulate lost memories, they’re searching for the elusiv...

Bought by KVSC and KCBX


  • Added: Jan 06, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Harness the Sun
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Philip Warburg
American is standing on the brink of an extraordinary revolution: an energy revolution.

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 29, 2015
  • Length: 28:59
  • Purchases: 1
Shaping the Future of Work
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Tom Kochen
Over the past 35-years, the economy has been reasonably productive. It’s worked well for investors and high-level executives, but not for ordinary ...

Bought by KCBX


  • Added: Dec 17, 2015
  • Length: 28:59
  • Purchases: 1
Lives in Limbo
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Roberto Gonzales
Children of undocumented workers frequently don’t find out about their illegal status until they’ve graduated from high school. What happens to the...

Bought by KCBX and KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash.


  • Added: Dec 16, 2015
  • Length: 28:56
  • Purchases: 2
Chemicals Without Harm
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Ken Geiser
We are surrounded by chemicals every day. They’re in our clothing, cosmetics, household products, electronics, and even our children’s toys.

Bought by KVSC, KCBX, and KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash.


  • Added: Dec 09, 2015
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
The Master Algorithm
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Pedro Domingos
Data is the new science. Big data holds the answers. It’s a simple thought that acknowledges the power of data in our lives.

Bought by KVSC, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 30, 2015
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
We Too Sing America
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Piece image
An increase in the acts of terrorism around the globe raises the fear levels in America. Islamophobia in the Bible Belt, and anti-immigrant, anti-M...

Bought by KVSC, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 23, 2015
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 3
Two Percent Solutions for the Planet
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Courtney White
We live in an era of big problems, and we tend to spend our time thinking of big solutions. Thinking big, however, can have a paralyzing effect on ...

Bought by KVSC and KCBX


  • Added: Nov 19, 2015
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2

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