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Society & Culture

Humankind on Public Radio

David Freudberg

Weekly podcast from public radio’s award-winning program Humankind

Episodes

20 of 103 episodes

Helping Prisoners to Heal, Pt2

When prisoners are freed — as more than 9 in 10 eventually are, they often are harshly stigmatized. Nationwide, nearly half of those paroled...

22:46Oct 22, 2026

Helping Prisoners to Heal, Pt1

More than a million Americans are locked in jails and prisons. Helping them recover from earlier trauma can safeguard society. Hear the stor...

31:38Oct 15, 2026

Libraries Reimagined, Pt3

In this segment, we examine the importance of early literacy, starting with the simple act of reading aloud to a very young child. Librarian...

27:36Oct 8, 2026

The Illumination of Rumi

To the astonishment of publishers, Jalaluddin Rumi has become the best-selling poet in America. Rumi’s sensational popularity is notab...

29:14Oct 1, 2026

Uncommon Ground, Pt2

The dialogues among women with opposing views on abortion gave new insight into how to handle difference, without dehumanizing those we disa...

27:10Sep 24, 2026

Uncommon Ground, Pt1

In the wake of shocking violence at abortion clinics, two apparent enemies — women representing pro-choice and pro-life factions in the Bost...

27:35Sep 17, 2026

The Power of the Pardon, Pt2

In today’s pay-to-play political environment, and with almost no rules, is the pardon ripe for abuse? In effect, it’s a “get out of jail fre...

29:57Sep 10, 2026

The Power of the Pardon, Pt1

The Constitution allows the president to grant pardons – originally intended as a way to show mercy. But is the pardon ripe for abuse? Hear...

24:42Sep 3, 2026

Bill Siemering

Hear Bill Siemering, the visionary who helped to found NPR and wrote its initial mission statement, articulate the important role public bro...

29:23Aug 27, 2026

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,...

29:14Aug 20, 2026

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, par...

29:11Aug 13, 2026

Facing the Unthinkable

The 2023 film ‘ Oppenheimer’ reminds us of our unfinished business in the nuclear age. Hear Ira Helfand, an emergency room physi...

29:26Aug 6, 2026

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 yo...

29:11Jul 30, 2026

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 availab...

29:23Jul 23, 2026

Waste and Want

A community service organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts rescues food that would be routinely discarded by grocers, produce companies an...

29:09Jul 16, 2026

Judicial Independence, Pt2

Have our courts – intended by America’s founders to be an independent arbiter of justice – turned into another political battlefield? Are to...

27:03Jul 9, 2026

Judicial Independence, Pt1

Have our courts – intended by America’s founders to be an independent arbiter of justice – turned into another political battlefield? Are to...

26:37Jul 2, 2026

Home Cooking

We explore the significant benefits of home-cooked meals, including improved family dynamics, greater likelihood of healthy ingredients, low...

29:19Jun 25, 2026

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...

29:15Jun 18, 2026

Generous Giving

We examine current trends in charitable giving by individuals and foundations with Stacy Palmer, long-time editor of The Chronicle of Philan...

29:26Jun 11, 2026