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Radiolab is on a curiosity bender. We ask deep questions and use investigative journalism to get the answers. A given episode might whirl you through science, legal history, and into the home of someone halfway across the world. The show is known for innovative sound design, smashing information into music. It is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 2 days ago31 min
The Sweetest Thing
“What is the sweetest thing in the world?” After co-host Latif Nasser’s sons ask him this deceptively simple question, he goes on a quest to find it. Is it a West African Katemfe berry? Or an industrial sugar substitute cooked up in a lab? Or an ingredient hiding in plain sight in all of our pantries? A simple mystery that will make you question what sweetness even is, how our tongues (and other body parts you wouldn’t expect) determine what we like, and how far you would go to taste something sweeter than anyone has ever experienced. Thank you to Latif’s sons for indulging us, to Nicola Twilley and Cynthia Graber at Gastropod, to Anni Laffitte, Nazli Parvizi at Museum of Food and Drink, to food icons Claire Saffitz and Sam Seneveratne who did a live show version of this episode with us at the Tribeca Festival. And thank you to Davy Gardner and his wonderful team of audio folks at the Tribeca Festival.Thank you to Jialin Deng who composed the song that was our ‘sonic seasoning’. And to Laura Rickman and everyone else at Columbia University’s Mortimer B Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute for hosting us. And big thanks to experimental psychologist Charles Spence at Oxford, sweetness chemist Grant DuBois, Danielle Reed at Monell Chemical Senses Center, and nutritional scientist Sarah Berry at King’s College London who all talked to us about their research. And Brian Everett of Honest Organic Farms.And a very special thanks to Sean Oomens, inventor of producer Jess Yung’s favorite candy, nerd gummy clustersEPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Latif Nasserwith help from - Jessica Yung, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Jessica Yung, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, and Natalia RamirezProduced by - Jessica Yung with help from - Mona Madgavkar, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Gabby Santas, and Maia Appleby Melamedwith mixing help from - Jeremy BloomFact-checking by - Sophie Samieeand Edited by - Pat WaltersEPISODE CITATIONS:Videos:Youtuber Chemiolis tried to make Luguduname himself (https://zpr.io/MmUbGfwwFrFH) Articles -Race to Redesign Sugar (https://zpr.io/VpsMxfPRbxaz) by Nicola TwilleyThe Search for Sweet (https://zpr.io/JmeDkVhrd2dK) by Burkhard BilgerHow My Trip to Quit Sugar Became A Journey Into Hell (https://zpr.io/ni6xgC38Qmyf) by Caity WeverHow Much of Our Existence Do We Owe to Sugar? (https://zpr.io/M2py48SxnQAT) by Jackie Flynn MogensenScientists Find Sugar In Space (https://zpr.io/e94UtUuhPtbT) by Rebecca DzombakSign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing <a href="mailto:radiolab@wnyc.org" rel=
- 1 weeks agonarrative1h 3m6-min read
23 Weeks 6 Days
This episode of Radiolab tells the harrowing and deeply personal story of journalist Kelly Benham and her husband Tom French, who faced an agonizing decision when their daughter was born at 23 weeks and six days—just one day shy of the 24-week viability threshold. The story explores the emotional, ethical, and medical complexities of extreme prematurity, culminating in a powerful update on the now-teenage Juniper, who reflects on her life shaped by trauma, resilience, and connection with horses.
- 2 weeks agonarrative58 min5-min read
60 Words
A single 60-word sentence passed by Congress three days after 9/11, known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), has become the legal foundation for America’s post-9/11 wars, drone strikes, and indefinite detentions — a sweeping, open-ended mandate that has never been repealed and continues to shape U.S. military and legal policy two decades later.
- 3 weeks agonarrative1h 4m7-min read
Dolly Parton's America: Sad Ass Songs
This episode of Radio Lab explores the profound cultural and emotional resonance of Dolly Parton through a deeply personal and journalistic lens, revealing how her music, persona, and humanity transcend entertainment to become a unifying force in a fractured America. It reframes her from a punchline into a symbol of resilience, empathy, and quiet revolution.
- Aug 21, 2026narrative51 min5-min read
Patient Zero
This Radiolab episode explores the concept of 'Patient Zero' across three powerful stories: Typhoid Mary, the myth of Patient Zero in the AIDS epidemic, and the contested origin of the high five. It reveals how cultural narratives often simplify complex origins into singular figures, obscuring deeper truths about disease, identity, and human connection.
- Aug 14, 2026narrative25 min4-min read
Nigel and the Real Gannet
This Radiolab episode tells the poignant true story of Nigel, a gannet who lived on New Zealand’s Mana Island, forming a deep bond with a concrete decoy bird in a failed conservation effort to establish a new colony. Though his lonely devotion captured global attention, the story ultimately reframes solitude not as tragedy but as individuality, challenging how we project human emotions onto nature.
- Aug 7, 2026narrative36 min5-min read
Red Herring
For over a decade, the Swedish military believed it was under constant threat from Soviet submarines, responding with military force to a mysterious underwater sound—only to discover it was the collective farting of herring, a biological phenomenon mistaken for espionage. This story reveals how fear, institutional secrecy, and cognitive bias can distort reality, even in high-stakes national defense.
- Jul 31, 2026narrative1h 17m6-min read
The Shoe Thrower
This Radiolab episode explores the story of Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George W. Bush in 2008, unpacking the deep personal, political, and cultural motivations behind the act and its lasting global resonance as a symbol of resistance. It reveals how a moment dismissed as impulsive was in fact a calculated, symbolic protest born from years of trauma, censorship, and moral outrage over the Iraq War.
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About Radiolab
Radiolab is on a curiosity bender. We ask deep questions and use investigative journalism to get the answers. A given episode might whirl you through science, legal history, and into the home of someone halfway across the world. The show is known for innovative sound design, smashing information into music. It is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser.
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