Radiolab

Ella al-Shamahi is one part Charles Darwin, one part Indiana Jones. She braves war zones and pirate-infested waters to collect fossils from prehistoric caves, fossils that help us understand the origin of our species. Her recent hit BBC / PBS series Human follows her around the globe trying to piece together the unlikely story of how early humans conquered the world.  But Ella’s own origins as an evolutionary biologist are equally unlikely. She sits down with us and tells us a story she has rarely shared publicly, about how she came to believe in evolution, and how much that belief cost her.  Special thanks to Misha Euceph and Hamza Syed. EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by - Latif Nasser Produced by - Jessica Yung and Pat Walters with help from - Sarah Qari Fact-checking by - Diane Kelly and Edited by  - Pat Walters   EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos -  “Human” [https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human] (https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human [https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/human]), Ella’s show on the BBC and PBS 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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.

This is the story of a three-year-old girl and the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl is a legal battle that has entangled a biological father, a heart-broken couple, and the tragic history of Native American children taken from their families. We originally released this story back in 2013, when that girl’s fate was still in the balance of various legal decisions. We thought now was a good time to bring the story back, because the Act at the center of the story is still being questioned. When then-producer Tim Howard [http://www.radiolab.org/people/tim-howard/] first read about this case, it struck him as a sad but seemingly straightforward custody dispute. But, as he started talking to lawyers and historians and the families involved in the case, it became clear that it was much more than that. Because Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl challenges parts of the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, this case puts one little girl at the center of a storm of legal intricacies, Native American tribal culture, and heart-wrenching personal stakes. LATERAL CUTS: What Up Holmes? [https://radiolab.org/podcast/what-holmes] The Gatekeeper [https://radiolab.org/podcast/gatekeeper] EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Tim Howard Produced by - Tim Howard EPISODE CITATIONS (so many): BACKGROUND AND REPORTING FROM A RANGE OF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES * "Couple forced to give up daughter [https://www.postandcourier.com/news/special_reports/couple-forced-to-give-up-daughter/article_47ccde36-f0eb-5158-b47e-ae36e4866fba.html]" An introductory article by Allyson Bird, for the Charleston, SC Post and Courier * "Supreme Court Takes on Indian Child Welfare Act in Baby Veronica Case [http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/16/supreme-court-takes-indian-child-welfare-act-baby-veronica-case-148855]"  A report for Indian Country Today by Suzette Brewer, who has also written a two-part series [http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/06/fight-baby-veronica-part-i-149219] on the case. * "Supreme Court hears Indian child custody case [https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/supreme-court-hears-indian-child-custody-case/article_63baa9f3-00b8-5e8e-8587-c9eb9246cba3.html]" Tulsa World article by Michael Overall which includes Dusten Brown's account of his break-up with Veronica's mother, and his understanding about his custodial rights. Plus photos of Dusten, Veronica, and Dusten's wife Robin in their Oklahoma home_._ * Randi Kaye's report for CNN on the background of the case, and interviews with Melanie and Matt Capobianco: "Video: Adoption custody battle for Veronica [https://www.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2012/02/22/ac-kaye-veronica-custody-appeal.cnn]" * Nina Totenberg’s report for NPR: "Adoption Case Brings Rare Family Law Dispute To High Court [http://www.npr.org/2013/04/16/177327391/adoption-case-brings-rare-family-law-dispute-to-high-court?ft=1&f=1070]" * Reporting by NPR's Laura Sullivan and Amy Walters on current ICWA violations in South Dakota [http://www.npr.org/2013/02/06/171310945/south-dakota-tribes-accuse-state-of-violating-indian-welfare-act]. * Dr. Phil's coverage: "Adoption Controversy: Battle over Baby Veronica" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_H1zFn80Hc] ANALYSIS AND EDITORIALS * Op-ed by Veronica's birth mom, Christy Maldonado, in the Washington Post: "Baby Veronica belongs with her adoptive parents [http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/baby-veronicas-birth-mother-girl-belongs-with-adoptive-parents/2013/07/12/40d38a12-e995-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html]" * Colorlines report "The Cherokee Nation’s Baby Girl Goes on Trial [https://colorlines.com/article/cherokee-nations-baby-girl-goes-trial/]:" * Americans remain dangerously uninformed about the basics of tribal sovereignty, and what it means for the relationship between the United States and Native tribes and nations. * The Weekly Standard's Ethan Epstein argues that ICWA is "being used to tear [families] apart]: "Mistreating Native American Children [https://archive.org/details/the-weekly-standard-2012-08-20/page/n13/mode/2up]" * Andrew Cohen considers the trickier legal aspects of the case for the Atlantic in "Indian Affairs, Adoption, and Race: The Baby Veronica Case Comes to Washington [http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/indian-affairs-adoption-and-race-the-baby-veronica-case-comes-to-washington/274758/]:" * A little girl is at the heart of a big case at the Supreme Court next week, a racially-tinged fight over Native American rights and state custody laws. * Marcia Zug's breakdown of the case (Marica Zug is an associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina School of Law who she specializes in family and American Indian law) "Doing What’s Best for the Tribe [http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/08/baby_veronica_returns_to_her_biological_father_affirming_icwa_south_carolina_s_supreme_court_made_the_right_decision_.html]" for Slate: * Two-year-old “Baby Veronica” was ripped from the only home she’s known. The court made the right decision. * Marcia Zug for the Michigan Law Review: "Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl: Two-and-a-Half WAys To Destroy Indian Law [https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr_fi/vol111/iss1/5/]" * From Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies: "The Constitutional Flaws of the Indian Child Welfare Act [http://reason.com/archives/2013/04/22/the-constitutional-flaws-of-the-indian-c]" * Rapid City Journal columnist David Rooks poses a set of tough questions about ICWA: "ROOKS: Questions unasked, unanswered [http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/rooks-questions-unasked-unanswered/article_efa51d54-a5d9-56dc-8f45-4455206d356c.html]" * Editorial coverage from The New York Times: * "A Wrenching Adoption Case [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/opinion/a-wrenching-adoption-under-the-indian-child-welfare-act.html]" * "Adoptive Parents vs. Tribal Rights [http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/24/adoptive-parents-vs-tribal-rights]" CONTEMPORARY, HISTORIC, AND LEGAL SOURCE MATERIALS * Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl on the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) Blog [http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/adoptive-couple-v-baby-girl/] * Audio from the oral arguments in the Supreme Court [http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2012/2012_12_399] * Official website for ICWA [https://www.icwlc.org/] (the federal Indian Child Welfare Act) * 1974 Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs "on problems that American Indian families face in raising their children and how these problems are affected by federal action or inaction [https://narf.org/nill/documents/icwa/federal/lh/hear040874/hear040874.pdf]." PDF * The National Indian Child Welfare Association [http://nicwa.org/] * The First Nations Repatriation Institute [https://www.wearecominghome.org/], which works with and does advocacy for adoptees 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter [https://radiolab.org/newsletter])! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/ [https://members.radiolab.org/]) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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.

Over the course of millions of years, human voices have evolved to hold startling power. These clouds of vibrating air carry crucial information about who we are–and we rely on them to push ourselves up and out into the physical world. This week, we’re on a journey to understand how we got our unique sonic fingerprint, the power it affords us, and what happens when it’s taken away. Special thanks to Alice Wong, Wren Farrell, Hector Espinal and his parents, Crisaly and Hector Espinal, Mary Croke, Nancy Kielty, Beth McEwen, Robin Feuer Miller, Roomful of Teeth [https://www.roomfulofteeth.org/], Amanda Crider, Caroline Shaw, Judd Greenstein, Leilihua Lanzilotti, Rebekka Karijord, and Michael Harrison. EPISODE CREDITS:  Reported by -Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty Produced by - Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty Original music and sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloom and Matt Kielty with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom Fact-checking by - Anna Pujol-Mazzini and Edited by  - Alex Neason EPISODE CITATIONS: Books -  * Disability Intimacy [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717123/disability-intimacy-by-edited-by-alice-wong/] by Alice Wong * Year of the Tiger [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688504/year-of-the-tiger-by-alice-wong/] by Alice Wong * This is the Voice [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/This-Is-the-Voice/John-Colapinto/9781982128753] by John Colapinto Websites - * DisabilityVisibilityProject.com [http://disabilityvisibilityproject.com] Audio/Artists - Roomful of Teeth ( [https://www.roomfulofteeth.org/]https://www.roomfulofteeth.org/) * Partita for 8 Voices written by Caroline Shaw * AEIOU composed by Judd Greenstein [http://%20juddgreenstein.com/] * On Stochastic Wave behavior by Leilehua Lanzilotti [http://leilehualanzilotti.com/] * Fugue by Rebekka Karijord, taken from the record “The Bell Tower" [https://bfan.link/the-bell-tower], featuring Roomful of Teeth. * Just Constellations, composed by Michael Harrison [https://www.michaelharrison.com/] Sign up for our newsletter! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up [https://radiolab.org/newsletter] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [radiolab@wnyc.org]. Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

In the 1920s, a Russian biologist studying onion roots made a surprising discovery: underground, down in the darkness, it seemed like the cells inside the onion roots were making their own … light.  The “onion root experiment” went on to become something of a cult classic in science, and eventually the biologically-made light was dubbed “biophotons.” In the ensuing century, biophoton discoveries moved from onion roots to bacteria, frog embryos, and humans. Today, scientist Nirosha Murugan is on a career-defining journey to learn more about the light. As she and her colleagues study this mysterious phenomenon, they find themselves racing from question to question, wondering what gives off light, where it might be coming from, and what, if anything, it could tell us about life, disease, and even death.  EPISODE CREDITS:  Hosted by - Molly Webster Reported by - Molly Webster Produced by - Sarah Qari with help from - Molly Webster Fact-checking by - Natalie Middleton EPISODE CITATIONS: Videos - The “Life Flash [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM]” video! Note that fluorescent dye was added to the experiment, by the researchers, to enhance the zinc sparks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM])  Articles - The Onion Root Experiment [https://www.brmi.online/gurwitsch] (https://www.brmi.online/gurwitsch [https://www.brmi.online/gurwitsch]) Enjoy this Wikipedia rabbit-hole about Fritz Albert Popp [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz-Albert_Popp] (https://zpr.io/nxJFcAMvZkBz [https://zpr.io/nxJFcAMvZkBz]) Original Paper on zinc sparks [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4845039/] (https://zpr.io/GfbazBqU3e3y [https://zpr.io/GfbazBqU3e3y]) at the time of fertilization, a moment referred to as the “life flash” Read more about the “death flash,” [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167494309002593#:~:text=Results,ELEs%20are%20not%20uncommon%20occurrences] (https://zpr.io/TqG3mcCGYEgQ [https://zpr.io/TqG3mcCGYEgQ]) and other end-of-life phenomenon, as reported by medical caregivers Research from Nirosha’s lab on photon emissions [https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)00279-2] (https://zpr.io/mtpbwSeY4iEp [https://zpr.io/mtpbwSeY4iEp]) and brain activity Research from Nirosha’s lab on biophoton emission [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7226102/] (https://zpr.io/3in9LSmzW6m5 [https://zpr.io/3in9LSmzW6m5]) and cancer diagnosis 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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.

How a group of 80’s Cuban misfits found rock-and-roll and created a revolution within a revolution, going into exile without ever leaving home.  Reporter Luis Trelles brings us the story of punk rock’s arrival in Cuba and a small band of outsiders who sentenced themselves to death and set themselves free. We originally released this episode back in 2015 in a collaboration with Radio Ambulante, but the story is so fascinating (and, in many ways, still relevant) that we haven’t stopped thinking about it.  Special thanks to the bands VIH, Eskoria, Metamorfosis and Alio Die & Mariolina Zitta for the use of their music.  Radio Ambulante launches their 15th season on September 30th!! Check it out, here!! [https://radioambulante.org/en] (https://radioambulante.org/en [https://radioambulante.org/en])  EPISODE CITATIONS: Find some of Radio Ambulante’s other stories about the Frikis here - The Survivors [https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF] (https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF [https://zpr.io/Kh8KWWi6SqaF]) When Havana was Friki [https://radioambulante.org/en/audio-en/when-havana-was-friki-2] (https://zpr.io/HrXsgibzvbJj [https://zpr.io/HrXsgibzvbJj]) Please put any supporting materials you think our audience would find interesting or useful below in the appropriate broad categories. 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] (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab [http://members.radiolab.org] (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram [http://instagram.com/radiolab], Twitter [http://twitter.com/radiolab] and Facebook [http://facebook.com/radiolab] @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org [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.