• 29 minutes 23 seconds
    Bill Siemering

    Hear Bill Siemering, the visionary who helped to found NPR and wrote its initial mission statement, articulate the important role public broadcasting plays in our democracy.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    27 August 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 14 seconds
    Breaking the Cycle

    The stories of people in recovery from alcoholism, who had to work through denial and sometimes harsh consequences on the road to sobriety, which can present its own ongoing emotional challenges.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    20 August 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 11 seconds
    The Social Brain

    Daniel Goleman is a former New York Times science reporter specializing in how brain function affects the way we feel and perceive life, particularly how people develop different levels of empathy.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    13 August 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 26 seconds
    Facing the Unthinkable

    The 2023 film ‘Oppenheimer’ reminds us of our unfinished business in the nuclear age. Hear Ira Helfand, an emergency room physician, describe the main barrier to addressing this problem: our denial that nuclear arms could cause the gravest emergency of all.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    6 August 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 11 seconds
    The Power of Belief, Pt2

    We travel to a Detroit program for pediatric cancer patients founded by a rabbi whose daughter died of cancer. He teaches martial arts to young patients, helping them find inner strength.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    30 July 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 23 seconds
    The Power of Belief, Pt 1

    What is the role of a patient’s attitude in facing a serious illness? Are the benefits that many people derive from faith also available to cancer patients who feel uncomfortable with religion? What are the connections between a person’s beliefs and their ability to attain physical healing?

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    23 July 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 9 seconds
    Waste and Want

    A community service organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts rescues food that would be routinely discarded by grocers, produce companies and others and delivers it to those in need including pantries and elderly meal sites.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    16 July 2026, 7:01 am
  • 27 minutes 3 seconds
    Judicial Independence, Pt2

    Have our courts – intended by America’s founders to be an independent arbiter of justice – turned into another political battlefield? Are today’s judges mere “politicians in robes”? This public radio documentary series looks at crucial flashpoints in recent decades. Will rulings follow the predictable blocs of liberal and conservative justices, strongly associated with the party of the president who appointed them?

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    9 July 2026, 7:01 am
  • 26 minutes 37 seconds
    Judicial Independence, Pt1

    Have our courts – intended by America’s founders to be an independent arbiter of justice – turned into another political battlefield? Are today’s judges mere “politicians in robes”? This public radio documentary series looks at crucial flashpoints in recent decades. Because federal judges are nominated by the president and confirmed the U.S. Senate, inevitably the process is somewhat politicized. But as hyper-partisanship has corrosively swept across American life, we’ll explore whether our judiciary has been infected.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

     

    2 July 2026, 11:06 am
  • 29 minutes 19 seconds
    Home Cooking

    We explore the significant benefits of home-cooked meals, including improved family dynamics, greater likelihood of healthy ingredients, lower costs, reduced carbon footprint and taking time together to appreciate the food we receive.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    25 June 2026, 7:01 am
  • 29 minutes 15 seconds
    Income Inequality

    We consider the dramatic increase in income inequality—now at levels that preceded the Great Depression—and how this wealth gap relates to a host of conditions, from personal illness to incarceration.

    To see additional resources and our other programs, please visit humanmedia.org . Humankind specials are  heard on NPR and PRX member-stations, in association with GBH Boston.

    18 June 2026, 7:01 am
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