IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices

Series produced by Guy Rathbun

Series image

This weekly show is devoted to political, social, economic, ecological, philosophical and religious ideas.

This series has been broadcast on public radio, and podcast on National Public Radio for the past 10 years, and has included such luminaries as Robert Reich, Chris Hedges, Michael K. Hudson, Vincent Buligosi, Richard Heinberg, and many more.


324 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
War Torn: Stories of Courage, Love, and Resilience
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Kenneth E. Miller
It’s estimated that roughly 200 million people are affected by wars across the globe. One-third of those are refugees.

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  • Added: Feb 07, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Dr. Ronald Epstein
As a third-year Harvard Medical student, Dr. Ronald Epstein witnessed two vastly different events during surgery.

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  • Added: Feb 01, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Future of Democracy: Sec. Leon Panetta
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Piece image
It’s not unusual for a new president to find the adjustment from candidate to leader to be jolting but President Trump’s first week in office has b...

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  • Added: Jan 26, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Language at the Speed of Sight
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Mark Seidenberg
An international survey in 2011 found that students in Shanghai outperformed American students in every category. President Obama referred to the r...

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  • Added: Jan 19, 2017
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 1
The Revolution Where You Live
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Sarah van Gelder
No matter how we voted in this last election, all of us can agree on one thing. Our country, and the world, faces significant problems: Racism to c...

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  • Added: Jan 11, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Salt to the Sea
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Ruta Sepetys
It’s known as the single greatest maritime disaster in history. Yet, it is a little known story. This casualty of World War II was far deadlier tha...

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  • Added: Jan 04, 2017
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Un-American: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Richard Cahan
In 1942, the government rounded up more than one hundred thousand Japanese living in the U.S. They were incarcerated for the duration of the war.

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  • Added: Dec 26, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
An Extraordinary Time
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Marc Levinson
The 25-years after World War II were a golden age for much of the world. The end of that era in 1973 brought financial crisis, high unemployment, e...

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  • Added: Dec 15, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
A Call to Postpone the Electoral College Vote
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Seth Abramson
An unexpected turn has unfolded with the 2016 elections. The Washington Post broke the story on Friday, December 9 that Russia not only hacked Amer...

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  • Added: Dec 13, 2016
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 2
Right to Work
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Cedric de Leon
The “right to work.” The phrase sounds fair and equitable. After all, who shouldn’t have a right to work if they wish to? Twenty-six states now hav...

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  • Added: Dec 06, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Viking Economics
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: George Lakey at Occupy Philly
The Scandinavian countries … Sweden, Norway and Denmark … boasts the world’s happiest, most productive people. They have equality, low unemployment...

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  • Added: Nov 29, 2016
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 2
Saving Our Cities
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: William W. Goldsmith
There is deep concern for the health of American cities. Frustration with inequality is spreading. Public schools are lagging behind expectation. I...

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  • Added: Nov 14, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Vanishing Bees
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: UW-Madison Bee Hive
It’s called “colony collapse disorder” or CCD. A number of years ago US beekeeping operations realized they lost between 30 and 90 percent of their...

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  • Added: Nov 09, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Post-Factual Democracy
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Vincent Hendricks
A new beast is on the scene, and it just may be part of the information age. The multi-headed monster is known as Post-Factual Democracy.

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  • Added: Nov 01, 2016
  • Length: 28:59
  • Purchases: 1
Street Farm
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Michael Ableman
In his book, Street Farm, Michael Ableman shares the inspirational stories about the people in one of the worst urban slums in North America: Vanco...

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  • Added: Oct 25, 2016
  • Length: 29:01
  • Purchases: 2
The Coyote’s Bicycle
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Kimball Taylor
At first it was a curiosity … then a nuisance that evolved into a phenomenon. Abandoned bicycles scattered across the desert at the US/Mexican boar...

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  • Added: Oct 17, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 2
Biting the Hands that Feed Us
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Baylen Linnekin
Food Waste, hunger, inhumane livestock conditions, disappearing fish stocks … just a few of the serious issues we have with our food supply. We exp...

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  • Added: Oct 11, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Born on Third Base
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Chuck Collins
I have heard that inequality in America is at its highest point since the age of the Robber Barons. If true, many suspect it may get worse before i...

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  • Added: Oct 03, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
Infostorms
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Professor Vincent Hendricks
We think that with today’s technology, we’re better informed. Therefore it follows we have more knowledge. Not so fast.

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  • Added: Sep 27, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Gatekeeper: Missy LeHand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency
From: Guy Rathbun
Series: IdeaSphere: A Platform for Today's Voices
Caption: Kathryn Smith
The Glass Ceiling: That’s a term that’s been bandied about for some time. Those women who reach the top of their field whether it’s in business or ...

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  • Added: Sep 20, 2016
  • Length: 29:00
  • Purchases: 1

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