A Russian dissident, a Jesuit priest, and an American mule skinner are but a few of the bold visionaries who crafted the scientific story of cosmic origins. The collective insights of these and numerous creative thinkers advanced human understanding from mythology to mathematics, yielding falsifiable alternatives to ancient folklore and campfire tales. Listening to the Big Bang tells the dramatic human story—filled with colorful characters, unsung catalysts, and glorified heroes—which made the Big Bang the leading cosmological theory.

In the six lectures of Great Heroes and Heroines of Hawaiian Heritage, you will meet some of the key figures of Hawaiian history from the 19th and 20th centuries, a tumultuous period in Hawaii’s transformation from a secluded group of independent islands to the 50th US state and a bustling tourist destination. With Leilani Basham of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa as your guide, you’ll be introduced to the political leaders, scholars, activists, and artists who have been integral to Hawaii’s story and the preservation of Hawaiian culture.

Across the six lessons of Reconnect with Nature: Lessons from the Natural World, author and conservationist Jennifer Verdolin draws on Indigenous traditions and contemporary science to inspire you to integrate more of the natural world into your life, no matter where you live. You’ll learn about our deep biological need for nature and about the influence that natural environments and other animals have on your day-to-day life. You’ll also be provided with activities and tools to help you be more observant about the natural world around you.

Humpback whales are among the most intelligent animals on Earth. Some scientists believe they might even surpass humans in self-awareness, empathy, and communication skills. In this episode, we swim with a whale as he teams up with other humpbacks to use bubbles to catch fish, rescues a sea lion, and puts his own spin on melodies sung by whales across the Pacific Ocean. This is the world in its natural state, defined by seasons, routines, and cycles. By the time this whale is ready to close one eye and go to sleep, you will be too.

In the six lectures of The Great Gatsby at 100, you will join Sheila Liming of Champlain College to revisit the context and culture of the Roaring ‘20s, which inspired the story of the mysterious Jay Gatsby and his disastrous pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. As you’ll discover, while Gatsby is framed as a love story, it’s also a story of the American experience, revealing the unspoken rules of wealth and class and the false promises of self-made success in a world of Old Money privilege.

Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

In this chilling true crime series, we tell the stories of pillars of the community who betrayed the trust of those around them and challenged what we all think about the people we’ve come to rely on. Police officers, teachers, doctors and nurses, we believe these people are here to protect us from harm, not cause it. This series looks at some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by people in positions of trust and examines the ripples their actions left on their community.

Final Thoughts: Jerry Springer tells the fascinating story of a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who became the beloved mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio before morphing into a symbol of cultural decline. Through dozens of intimate and revealing interviews with those who knew Springer best—from his big sister to his early political aides to the producers who shaped his show—listeners will be transported into the world of this singular figure’s rise to notoriety, and his fascinating struggle to reconcile his status as “the king of trash TV” with his lifelong dream of returning to politics.

What causes a bank to fail? The most basic explanation is simply that it runs out of money. But there are a lot of ways for banks to lose money, and understanding what causes these institutional failures can help you get a clearer picture of economic perils in our current moment.

AI has become the new religion. Are we going to follow it? Do we even have a choice? Or have the tech evangelists captured our future? Join Christopher Wylie and Coda Story’s Isobel Cockerell as they journey from exclusive crypto parties in Dubai, to the slums of Kenya where thousands of hidden workers are training AI models, to the hacker palaces of San Francisco where tech’s true believers talk about merging computers with our brains.

儒林外史是由清代小说家吴敬梓创作的章回体长篇小说全书共五十六回按也有人认为最后一回非吴敬梓所作约四十万字描写了近两百个人物小说假托明代实际反映的是康乾时期科举制度下读书人的功名和生活作者对生活在封建末世和科举制度下的封建文人群像的成功塑造以及对吃人的科举礼教和腐败事态的生动描绘使小说成为中国古代讽刺文学的典范也使作者吴敬梓成为中国文学史上批判现实主义的杰出作家之一

BILLIONAIRE FOR SALE is a darkly comic romantic thriller about being held to ransom. By your family. By your marriage. By mysterious kidnappers who burst into your best friend’s villa and seize you at gunpoint. Tess realizes she’s made a mistake marrying billionaire Jeremy McCarthy, and questions her unfulfilling life with him. Just as she’s ready to leave her lavish life behind, masked gunmen crash into her world and kidnap her husband and three friends. Now, instead of walking away, Tess is pulled into a dangerous world of high-stakes negotiations and even higher personal stakes.

Kumandra’s first-ever Talent Showcase is only a week away, and Raya, her friend Boun and his siblings are determined to win the Grand Prize with their delicious new dishes! The key ingredient is the fabled dragon spice that makes everything taste magical. The only problem—no humans have ever found it. Raya and her friends set sail on the Shimporium in search of the mysterious spice. But will they survive their mission to find what the dragons have kept secret for centuries?

Your career is one of the most important investments you’ll ever make. But how can you communicate your value and make it stand out in an increasingly fast-paced, competitive, and media-driven business world? According to career coach and author Octavia Goredema, the key to accomplishing your professional goals is to create a consistent and compelling personal brand that highlights your skills, accomplishments, and personality. And that is just what she will teach you to do in the five lessons of Brand Yourself for Success.

When struggling DJ Faith Adler comes to couch surf with her best friend Tori in NYC, she finds herself drawn into the world of Tori's eclectic friend group. Right from her chaotic first night, Faith's new friends take her under their wing and help her navigate the ups and downs of trying to make it as an artist in the big city. There's Tori, the bubbly one; Ginah, the high-strung but loyal one; Matt, the flirtatious one; and David, the cynical one.