Desperately Seeking Symmetry
Radiolab
07/11/25
•57m
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This hour of Radiolab, former co-hosts Jad and Robert set out in search of order and balance in the world around us, and ask how symmetry shapes our very existence -- from the origins of the universe, to what we see when we look in the mirror.
Along the way, we look for love in ancient Greece, head to modern-day Princeton to peer inside our brains, and turn up an unlikely headline from the Oval Office circa 1979.
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Videos -
Back in the day, when we first aired this episode, the film collective Everynone, filmmakers Will Hoffman, Daniel Mercadante and Julius Metoyer III were inspired with our yearning for balance, and aimed to visually reveal how beautiful imperfect matches can be.
Radiolab Presents: Symmetry (https://youtu.be/zEQskIsHKT8)
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Previous Episode
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On [The Divided Dial]: Fishing In The Night
July 4, 2025
•38m
Have you heard On the Media’s Peabody-winning series The Divided Dial?
It’s awesome and you should, and now you will. In this episode they tell the story of shortwave radio: the way-less-listened to but way-farther-reaching cousin of AM and FM radio. The medium was once heralded as a utopian, international, and instantaneous mass communication tool — a sort of internet-before-the-internet.
But, like the internet, many people quickly saw the power of this new technology and found ways to harness it. State leaders turned it into a propaganda machine, weaponizing the airwaves to try and shape politics around the world. And as shortwave continued to evolve, like the internet, it became fragmented, easily accessible, and right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists and cult leaders found homes on the different shortwave frequencies.
And even today - again, like the internet - people with money are looking to buy up this mass-communication tool in the hopes of ... making more money.
This is episode one from the second season of The Divided Dial a limited series from On The Media.
- Listen on Spotify (https://zpr.io/hKCcFEGTLb5a)
- Listen on Apple Podcasts (https://zpr.io/tQ86YmEmiivR)
- Listen on the WNYC App (iTunes, Android)
- Listen to the full Divided Dial series (https://www.onthemedia.org/dial)
- Follow On The Media on Instagram @onthemedia
The Divided Dial was supported in part by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.
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Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
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Next Episode
More Perfect: The Hate Debate
July 18, 2025
•37m
Back in 2017 our colleagues at More Perfect gathered a room full of people together to debate a straight forward question: Can free speech go too far? Today, eight years have passed and plenty has changed, but this question feels alive as ever.
And so we’re re-airing More Perfect’s The Hate Debate. Taped live at WNYC's Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, Elie Mystal, Ken White and Corynne McSherry duke it out over whether the first amendment needs an update in our digital world.
Special thanks to Elaine Chen, Jennifer Keeney Sendrow, and the entire Greene Space team. Additional engineering for this episode by Chase Culpon, Louis Mitchell, and Alex Overington.
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Videos -
If watching is more your speed, you can see the event, in its entirety, here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/azcIcVDyVTM?si=ZqpQHQfvTKr2jS0z
There’s other Radiolabs for that -
Further recommended listening What Up Holmes and Post No Evil.
Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (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 radiolab@wnyc.org.
Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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