Ranked #1
American Icons: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
American Icons: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
This is the story of America’s fight against authority. Ken Kesey had worked in a mental hospital, but his first novel w... Read more
12 Oct 2017
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50mins
Ranked #2
American Icons: Moby-Dick
American Icons: Moby-Dick
Herman Melville's white whale survived his battle with Captain Ahab only to surface in the works of contemporary filmmak... Read more
3 Aug 2017
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49mins
Ranked #3
Learning to Love “Fuller House”
Learning to Love “Fuller House”
John McPhee is the godfather of a certain kind of long-form creative non-fiction, and over the past half-century, he’s w... Read more
14 Sep 2017
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50mins
Ranked #4
When music punches you in the face.
When music punches you in the face.
Some of our favorite recent stories about music.What drove Carrie Brownstein to actually punch herself in the face when ... Read more
10 Aug 2017
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50mins
Ranked #5
Across the Multiverse
Across the Multiverse
Universe not big enough for you? There’s always the multiverse — many universes, scattered through time and space. In on... Read more
15 Jun 2017
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49mins
Ranked #6
Off Script
Off Script
This week, Kurt goes through the looking glass into the world of conspiracy thrillers. Plus, Matt Walsh breaks down how ... Read more
13 Jul 2017
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49mins
Ranked #7
American Icons: Native Son
American Icons: Native Son
This is the novel about racism that America couldn't ignore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi... Read more
20 Jul 2017
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49mins
Ranked #8
Twin Peek
Twin Peek
This week, we head back to “Twin Peaks.” “Fargo” showrunner Noah Hawley talks about the impact of David Lynch’s cult TV ... Read more
11 May 2017
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49mins
Ranked #9
A Wild and Crazy Anniversary
A Wild and Crazy Anniversary
It was 40 years ago when Steve Martin released the concert album, “A Wild and Crazy Guy.” These days Martin is known a... Read more
24 Jul 2018
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10mins
Ranked #10
American Icons: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ — Part One
American Icons: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ — Part One
A half century later, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still shaping our future. With no help from CGI, the ... Read more
9 May 2019
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50mins
Ranked #11
Tupac and Art Rock
Tupac and Art Rock
This week, an episode about groundbreaking pop music: The music that preceded and followed Radiohead’s landmark album, “... Read more
22 Jun 2017
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50mins
Ranked #12
All Shakespeare All the Time
All Shakespeare All the Time
On the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, we look at the ways his work continues to change and adapt. In ... Read more
24 Nov 2016
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49mins
Ranked #13
The Agonies of Small Talk
The Agonies of Small Talk
Sitting down with some of the smartypants whom the MacArthur Foundation just awarded its genius grants. Jesmyn Ward bega... Read more
9 Nov 2017
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50mins
Ranked #14
Extra: The Symphonic Side of Wynton Marsalis
Extra: The Symphonic Side of Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis is a jazz icon — a renowned trumpet player and composer, he is also the music director of the Jazz at Li... Read more
26 Nov 2019
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24mins
Ranked #15
One tall woman
One tall woman
Kurt Andersen speaks with Laurie Metcalf, the actor who is striking gold everywhere: she was nominated for an Oscar for ... Read more
26 Apr 2018
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50mins
Ranked #16
American Icons: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ — Part Two
American Icons: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ — Part Two
A half century later, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still shaping our future. With no help from CGI, the ... Read more
30 May 2019
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49mins
Ranked #17
American Icons: Monticello
American Icons: Monticello
Monticello is home renovation run amok. Thomas Jefferson was as passionate about building his house as he was about foun... Read more
5 Jul 2018
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50mins
Ranked #18
American Icons: Buffalo Bill
American Icons: Buffalo Bill
This was the American spectacle that colonized our dreams. He was the most famous American in the world — a showman and ... Read more
4 May 2017
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49mins
Ranked #19
Walden pondered
Walden pondered
In “Walden,” Henry David Thoreau helped shape the way we think about nature and our place in the world. An American Icon... Read more
9 Aug 2018
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50mins
Ranked #20
American Tricons
American Tricons
Three stories from the American Icons series. How “Amazing Grace,” a song written by a slave trader, came to be a civil ... Read more
19 Apr 2018
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49mins