Innovation Hub

Los Angeles has spurred countless culinary concoctions, including the chili burger, Korean tacos and the Cobb salad. Listen as our host Kara Miller takes a trip to California and learns how immigrants shaped LA’s food scene.

We’re hardwired to trust people, luck matters a lot more than you think, and the lead crisis is so much bigger than Flint. That’s this week’s Innovation Hub.

The case against empathy, the case for technocrats, and a look at the birth of PR. That’s all in this week’s Innovation Hub.

It’s impossible to imagine the modern world without code. But according to Philip Auerswald, we might all be coders - without even realizing it.

The global economy is getting more competitive. What can the U.S. do to keep up?

America thinks of itself and its companies as exceptional. And because of that, we’ve ignored the pitfalls of globalization. For decades, blue-collar American jobs have moved to China. Why some of those same jobs are now moving to Africa. Julia Child was a chef, author, TV star... and coder? How expanding our definition of coding helps us look at the world in a whole new way.

Manufacturing jobs may have moved to China… but not all of them have stayed there.

Big philanthropists like Bill Gates and the Koch Brothers are reshaping our society. But, we don’t really have much of a say as to how. We look at the rise of big philanthropy.

The Walking Dead. The Hunger Games. The Handmaid’s Tale. Why is so much of our most popular science-fiction bleak and depressing?

Is it a completely good thing when a billionaire gives away their money? David Callahan walks us through the new world of philanthropy. Why does so much of our most popular science-fiction feature bleak, depressing futures? We talk to a science-fiction writer to find out. Our tax system is inefficient, unfair, and infuriating. TR Reid tells us how to fix it.

Americans spend a lot of time, money and energy filing taxes every year, and yet our tax system is both less fair and less efficient than other systems around the world. Author T.R. Reid says the U.S. government should look to other countries’ tax models to fix our own.

Dark money, microbes, oppressive ads, and overconfidence. It’s this week’s Innovation Hub.

Science gave us penicillin, the moon landing, and the theory of evolution. But scientists also make mistakes. NPR’s Richard Harris tells us why, and what the consequences are.

Human rights are hotly-debated, but when did that debate begin? UCLA’s Lynn Hunt talks about what might have been the formative moment for human rights - and how we’re constantly changing our definition of equality.

When did the fight for human rights begin? According to Lynn Hunt, the 18th century. And why? One answer is rather unexpected: the rise of the novel. Childhood experiences can drastically affect a person’s health for the rest of their life. We talk to a doctor about what that means for medicine. Science gave us penicillin, the moon landing, and the theory of evolution. But scientists can also make really big mistakes.

There’s a health epidemic that doctors have been ignoring for decades. We talk with Dr. Vincent Felitti about how childhood trauma can affect adults’ health.

Loneliness is a drag. But it’s also bad for your health. We find out why feeling lonely is as dangerous as obesity.

The key to advancing medicine might be found right in your backyard. Harvard’s Jeff Karp finds inspiration in nature to create medical solutions for humans.

Parents won’t shut up about their kids being precious. And with American birth rates declining, they’re actually right. Geckos can help us perform surgery, and kingfishers can help us design trains. We dive into the world of biologically-inspired design. Being lonely isn’t just bad for your emotional health, it’s bad for your physical health. We talk about why Americans are lonelier than ever and what can be done about it.

Our kids are our future, so what happens when we start having fewer of them? Dowell Myers and Fariborz Ghadar explain.