Culture & The Arts

  • #1950: The Great Cow Magnet Caper

    This week on The Best of Car Talk, could cow stomach magnets have improved the gas mileage on Tim’s Jaguar? Or is that udderly (sorry) ridiculous? Meanwhile, down in Antarctica, summer is coming, but Matt’s vehicle is still having trouble when the thermometer dips below a balmy minus 40 degrees. And, Tom and Ray are in the holiday spirit with some creative gift suggestions for men, comforting advice for Adrian who wants to put a wreath on her car but is worried it will spontaneously combust, and a lesson for Scott that it is the stingy man who spends the most. All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.

  • SYSK Selects: How Currency Works

    Even if you entirely eschew the concept of money, we’ll bet you’d be hard pressed not to trade in some form of currency. Learn how everything from cows to cacao beans to tiny shells from Maldives have served as currency at some time or another. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

  • The Kakistocracy Depends on the Cacophony

    On the Gist, birds and Debird.In the interview, Mike talks to journalist and CNN correspondent Peter Bergen about Trump’s national security team, the internal feuds, and why the key players of this team have all left, three years later. His new book is Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos.In the spiel, the Republicans need all the noise to continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • You’re Giving Your Boss A Loan

    Getting paid twice a month is like loaning money to your boss. What if you got paid every day? | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.

  • Tough Love and Geopolitics, with Susan Rice

    Neil deGrasse Tyson explores geopolitics with Ambassador Susan Rice, PhD, co-host Chuck Nice, neuroscientist Heather Berlin, PhD, and cybersecurity expert Stephen Garcia. (WARNING: strong language, discussions of suicide and mental health, other adult topics.)NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons and All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.Thanks to this week’s Patrons for supporting us: Paul Weist, Alexandra Uribe Coughlan, Annie C Hickman.Photo Credit: StarTalk.

  • 305: From BackStory to You: A History of Giving and Receiving

    ‘Tis the season for giving. Whether it’s the latest gadget or the coziest sweater, many Americans are spending the month of December searching for that perfect gift. But throughout American history, gift giving has taken on many different forms. And the a

  • Body of Law: Beyond Roe

    A majority of Americans polled by CSPAN last year couldn’t name a Supreme Court case. Of those who could, Roe v. Wade was by far the most familiar, with 40 percent able to name it. (Only five percent could name Brown v. Board of Education.) And since it