Dispatches from The Well

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A bright sun rises over the curved horizon of a dark planet in space, with a faint glow outlining the planet’s edge against a starry background.

Finding meaning in the darkest sky on earth

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35 min

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with

Kmele Foster

Finding the secret of human existence in an atom-smasher

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38 min

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with

Kmele Foster

A playground for geniuses: Inside the Santa Fe Institute

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42 min

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with

Kmele Foster

A woman in a sleeveless dress looks up at a bird shape formed by clusters of white dots against a dark background.

Stories: How humanity makes its meaning

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36 min

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with

Kmele Foster

Consciousness: Not just a problem for philosophers

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44 min

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with

Kmele Foster

A monkey dressed in human clothes paints a nude human figure in a studio setting, holding a palette and brush.

3 rebellious creators tell us the meaning of life

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32 min

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with

Kmele Foster

Illustration of a spacecraft, an astronaut, and a planet against a dark purple background.

How should we be thinking about the future?

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36 min

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with

Kmele Foster

The Well

This research team studies gratitude. Here’s what they’ve found.

Is gratitude to a deity different from gratitude to other people? Psychology and neuroscience professor Sarah Schnitker explains.

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3 min

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with

Sarah Schnitker

A person is leaping between two buildings against a clear blue sky.

The alarm bells are sounding for young men. Will we listen?

“It’s certainly clear that the issues of boys and men haven’t gone away in the last few years. If anything, they’re getting even more attention, which is good when it’s the right kind of attention.”

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21 min

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with

Richard Reeves

Lawrence Wright: Fiction goes where reporting cannot follow

“As a reporter, you can look into the eyes of the people you’re talking to and try to evaluate what they’re thinking when they say what they say. But you are not really gonna get into their brain. There’s only one artistic form that allows you to do that. “

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16 min

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with

Lawrence Wright

Jesse Eisenberg: How to rewire your anxiety into authenticity

“The way my mind works is just out of anxiety and catastrophization.”

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11 min

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with

Jesse Eisenberg

A human hand is positioned palm up below a floating anatomical model of a human brain against a plain light blue background.

Perception Box

How humans create reality through language and beliefs

Language is a huge part of human development, even the language we keep to ourselves. Three experts explain how words and beliefs can change our brains and our lives:

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3 min

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with

Agustín Fuentes