RadioWest

The writer Alexandra Fuller joins us to talk about her latest book, a novel about two Native American cousins on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. (Rebroadcast)

Monday, we’re talking about Trump adviser Stephen Miller with The Atlantic's McKay Coppins. Miller whips up crowds at Trump rallies and chastises the White House press corps. Basically, he’s a troll.

William Mumler was a 19th-century photographer who took portraits of people and the ghosts of their departed. And he made a good living at it until he was arrested for fraud. (Rebroadcast)

The swastika evokes visceral reactions in the Western world, but for years it symbolized good fortune and well-being. We talk to designer Steven Heller about the swastika’s history, and ask if it can ever be seen in its original context again.

Jaron Lanier, one of Silicon Valley's most influential figures, wants to convince you to delete your social media accounts. He has ten arguments for why you should do that. One of them: Social media is turning us all into jerks.

Tuesday, we're talking about Robin Williams’ life and inspirations, and what his public persona can tell us about the inner life he mostly kept to himself. Our guest is biographer Dave Itzkoff.

America's birthrate is tanking. People who study fertility and families say there are lots of reasons for that: college debt, political uncertainty, climate change, rising home prices, delayed marriage. We’ll talk about what all this means for the future, and what can be done to reverse the trend.

Since life first evolved on earth more than four billion years ago, it has passed in and out of existence five times. Make that six. An extinction event is happening right now. So what can we learn about the previous ones? (Rebroadcast)

We think of the Revolutionary War as brave patriots fighting for a noble cause, which is true. But as the historian Holger Hoock reminds us, it was also a bloody and brutal conflict, and its outcome was shaped by its cruelty.

Tuesday, we continue our Through the Lens series with director Kimberly Reed’s documentary DARK MONEY. It follows an intrepid journalist fighting to expose the real-life impacts of the Citizens United ruling on Montana’s politics.

Monday, we’re talking about what happened in the Supreme Court this term. There are a lot of decisions to discuss. And of course, Justice Kennedy announced his retirement. So, what does it all mean?

Why do so many cultures and faiths teach some version of an afterlife? Friday, skeptic Michael Shermer joins us to talk about our obsession with immortality and what it means for life here and now. (Rebroadcast)

The writer Michael Pollan is with us to talk about his new book on psychedelics. It’s about their potential to heal mental illnesses, and to explore the subject, Pollan took a few trips himself.

Wednesday, we’re going to try to give A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. It’s actually the title of geneticist Adam Rutherford’s new book. It describes the history of humankind through genetics.

Tuesday, we're talking about what advice columnists have had to say over the years about life and love. Author Jessica Weisberg says our questions are the same, it’s the answers that have changed.