Humankind on Public Radio

A rabbi whose daughter died of cancer teaches martial arts to young patients, helping them find inner strength.

Whether or not people of faith, cancer patients go deeply into themselves to ponder their lives.

Author Cynthia Wachtell describes contrasting views of war in American literature, including the Civil War reflections of Walt Whitman and the fervent anti-war beliefs expressed by Mark Twain in several works.

In this documentary, we look in-depth at the most controversial ruling in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court—the Dred Scott case. In that decision, the Chief Justice ruled that black people have “no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” Shortly afterward, a fellow justice resigned in disgust from the Supreme Court. […]

The dialogues among women with opposing views on abortion gave new insight into how to handle difference, without dehumanizing those we disagree with. Hear how the participants struggled to find understanding, to abandon needlessly inflammatory language and to establish meaningful friendships, however unlikely. Although no one expected determined advocates to abandon their belief systems, their […]

In the wake of shocking violence at abortion clinics, two apparent enemies — women representing pro-choice and pro-life factions in the Boston area, where shootings had occurred — were forced to communicate, for the sake of everyone’s safety. What unfolded over many months was one of the most mysterious and moving conversations among people of […]

This documentary features recent interviews with associates of Martin Luther King Jr. on his philosophy of nonviolent social change. In addition to archival sound from the civil rights movement, we hear interviews with King associates Dr. Vincent Harding, a King speechwriter and first director of the King Center in Atlanta; Dorothy Cotton, who served as […]

When new medications are being tested, researchers have long been aware of the “placebo effect”—that someone’s mental attitude and preconceptions can impact how that person reacts to the drug. Routinely, scientists attempt to distinguish the placebo effect from the effect of the drug’s active ingredients, to determine how well the medicine itself works. But what […]

In Providence, Rhode Island, a former Israeli army sergeant, Teny Gross, has become a powerful force in combating youth gang violence, in part by recruiting ex-offenders to serve as street workers, who offer intervention and advocacy for vulnerable kids.

A century later, we recall the remarkable Christmas Truce that spontaneously occurred — contrary to orders — among opposing troops in the frozen WWI battlefield of Flanders, Belgium.

Christal Presley, an English teacher in Virginia who experienced “secondary trauma” in response to the extreme behavior of her father, a Vietnam-era veteran with PTSD, tells how the family began a journey of recovery.

As dramatized in a Bob Dylan song and ‘The Hurricane’ starring Denzel Washington, ex-prize fighter Rubin Carter tells how he was wrongly convicted of a triple homicide and ultimately exonerated by a federal judge, and trained his mind in prison to transcend hatred. After a court declared his murder conviction a miscarriage of justice, Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter has been a tireless advocate for other wrongly-convicted inmates who face an uphill battle behind bars, in a nation that imprisons more people than any other.

As dramatized in a Bob Dylan song and ‘The Hurricane’ starring Denzel Washington, ex-prize fighter Rubin Carter tells how he was wrongly convicted of a triple homicide and ultimately exonerated by a federal judge, and trained his mind in prison to transcend hatred. After a court declared his murder conviction a miscarriage of justice, Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter has been a tireless advocate for other wrongly-convicted inmates who face an uphill battle behind bars, in a nation that imprisons more people than any other.

Alcoholics Anonymous marks its beginning when one hopelessly addicted drunk realized that connecting with a fellow-sufferer would create a safe zone in which both could stop their downward spiral. In the second half, we examine the AA recovery principles that have promoted sobriety for millions of recovering alcoholics and have created a template to help people worldwide who struggle with many forms of addiction.

Alcoholics Anonymous marks its beginning when one hopelessly addicted drunk realized that connecting with a fellow-sufferer would create a safe zone in which both could stop their downward spiral. In the second half, we examine the AA recovery principles that have promoted sobriety for millions of recovering alcoholics and have created a template to help people worldwide who struggle with many forms of addiction.