Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

After finding himself the subject of a trivia parlor game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, the actor turned the concept of how we’re all connected into a philanthropic project that enables us all to help those we may not even realize we’re connected to. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alan and Executive Producer Graham Chedd chat about and play excerpts from Alan’s conversations with some of the guests in the new season, beginning next week. Guests include actors Kevin Bacon and Mayim Bialik; the first woman conductor of a major orchestra, Marin Alsop; and author and old friend of Alan’s, Roger Rosenblatt. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Few people have the same knack for explaining the unexplainable as Dennis Overbye, who for over 20 years has been illuminating the mysteries of the universe – and the minds of the scientists trying to understand those mysteries – in the pages of the New York Times. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nobel prizewinner Bob Lefkowitz tells the story of an extraordinary group of young physicians chosen to work at the National Institutes of Health during the Vietnam War. Their brief time there transformed medical research and saved millions of lives. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a Chinese doctor changed the genes of two baby girls he thought he’d be acclaimed. Instead, his experimental treatment alarmed scientists and ethicists around the world. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacqueline Novogratz has recognized the need among the poor for something more than just money: dignity. Employing a new kind of capitalism, her company, Acumen, has invested $128 million to build more than 128 social enterprises across Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. These companies have leveraged an additional $611 million and brought basic, critical services like affordable education, health care, clean water, energy and sanitation to more than 300 million people...

The physicist and best-selling author argues that “the mind of God” can be found in “a symphony of strings – cosmic music resonating through hyperspace.” Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Her breakthrough discovery of a gene that doubles the lifespan of a tiny worm offers the possibility of extending the lifespan of people. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Rudd and Alan Alda talk acting, from being spontaneous and "in the moment," to odd ways to learn lines. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She finds justice among the bones. Like helping to convict the genocidal murderers of Kosovo. And, she's just been made a Baroness! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.