Yann Martel’s new novel Son of Nobody contains two narratives: a lost epic about the Trojan War and a personal tragedy that plays out in the book’s footnotes. The two protagonists are Psoas, a common Greek foot soldier, and Harlow Donne, a graduate student who discovers Psoas’ story by chance. In today’s episode, Martel joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about the author’s decision to give footnotes a “starring role” in the novel and whether war gives his characters a sense of purpose.
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Engines of Our Ingenuity - The Engines of Our Ingenuity 2687: What Lives Within Us
Episode: 2687 Getting to know the organisms that live on and in the human body. Today, what lives within us.
Audio Poem of the Day - Off on Holiday
By Kira Alexis Tucker
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The Commentary Magazine Podcast - Mourning in Michigan
On our last show before Passover we discuss Michigan senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's comments on the death of Ayatollah Khamenei published by the Free Beacon, and the democratic dilemma regarding more radical candidates. Plus, the absurd Dark Money accusations against AIPAC, and Eliana and Christine recommend the movie Nuremberg.
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The Ezra Klein Show - Michael Pollan’s Journey to the Borderlands of Consciousness
Consciousness is this amazing, mind-bending riddle. It’s the only thing any of us truly knows. We experience everything else in life through it. And yet we barely understand it. We don’t know what it’s made of or how it works or why it exists.
But scientists and theorists have been trying to answer those questions, and have made some startling discoveries. The science writer Michael Pollan, known for books like “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “How to Change Your Mind,” spent five years on the vanguard of this research. And his new book, “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness,” shows that the closer you look at consciousness, the weirder it gets.
I asked Pollan to walk through some of the places his mind wandered on this journey — including the role of the body and feelings in consciousness, fascinating studies that provide evidence for plant sentience, the researchers who have abandoned their old theories after trying psychedelic drugs, and the possibility that consciousness may not emerge from inside us at all. “I’ve entered this ‘never say never’ realm with this research,” Pollan told me.
Mentioned:
“The Descriptive Experience Sampling method” by Russell T. Hurlburt and Sarah A. Akhter
“What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” by Thomas Nagel
The Hidden Spring by Mark Solms
Descartes’ Error by Antonio Damasio
“The Oxford Handbook of Spontaneous Thought” by Kalina Christoff and Kieran C. R. Fox
Book Recommendations:
The Blind Spot by Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser and Evan Thompson
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
Being You by Anil Seth
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Kristin Lin. Fact-checking by Kim Freda. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota and Isaac Jones. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Michelle Harris, Rollin Hu, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
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Pod Save America - SHOCKING GOP Plan to Fund War with Health Care Cuts
Congressional Republicans consider massive cuts to federal healthcare spending in order to raise $200 billion to fund Trump's war in Iran. Jon and Lovett discuss how that plan could affect Republicans in the midterms, Trump's ballooning economic crisis, and his desperate attempt to calm the markets by saying negotiations have made "great progress" while simultaneously threatening Iran with war crimes. Then, the guys check in on how the war is playing among young Republicans at CPAC, House Republicans' fight with Senate Republicans over funding DHS, and Trump's real top priority — the construction of his poorly designed ballroom. Then, Josh Turek, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, stops by the studio to talk to Tommy about "prairie populism" and the president's disdain for disabled Americans.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
NPR's Book of the Day - Geoff Bennett on the history of Black comedy from vaudeville to sitcoms
PBS Newshour co-anchor Geoff Bennett is out with a new book that presents portraits of Black artists who shaped comedy. Black Out Loud is a history that starts with vaudeville and runs through the ‘90s, when sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, In Living Color and Family Matters carried the responsibility of representing a varied Black experience. In today’s episode, Bennett speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about vaudeville and minstrelsy as the DNA of Black comedic performance, the impact of Amos ‘n’ Andy, and comedians like Bert Williams, Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
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The Indicator from Planet Money - Who’s afraid of private credit?
There is a $3 trillion dollar black box at the center of the economy. It’s called private credit. These are direct loans from private investors to private companies. They’re often riskier, less regulated than traditional bank loans – and far less transparent. Spooked investors are scrambling to cash out, and some funds aren’t letting them. It’s all fueling fears of another financial crisis.
On today’s show, the private credit exodus.
Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour.
Related episodes:
What could break next?
Who’s financing Meta’s massive AI data center?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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On today’s show, the private credit exodus.
Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour.
Related episodes:
What could break next?
Who’s financing Meta’s massive AI data center?
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy
Engines of Our Ingenuity - The Engines of Our Ingenuity 3367: Scientific American’s Blunder
Episode: 3367 In which Scientific American Magazine gets wrong, the airflow during singing. Today, Scientific American gets it wrong.
Chapo Trap House - 1023 – Camusbian feat. Katherine Krueger (3/30/26)
We talk about the Return of Rahm, the Democrats looking for a hot candidate, and Katherine’s Disneyland memories. But mostly we let Felix explain the Rob Schneider-Andrea Dworkin-Albert Camus connection. Kind of a gas leak episode here folks.
Pitch Katherine pieces for The Intercept at katherine.krueger@theintercept.com.