Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Six months after he first briefed Alan on the then novel coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci explains both why it turned out to be so unpredictable and dangerous and the gains science has made in understanding how to bring it under control. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Lithgow talks with Alan about his new book of satirical verse and drawings – and the joys and challenges of writing satire at a time when events themselves can defy belief. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may not be what you think. With insights from studying unhappy students at Yale University, where she is a professor of psychology, Laurie Santos teaches Yale’s most popular class – and is now sharing those insights on how to be happier in her podcast, the Happiness Lab. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having experienced 30 years of frustration since writing the first popular book setting out the facts of climate change, Bill McKibben is now hopeful that – maybe in the nick of time – there is enough momentum for action that the planet as we know it may be saved from destruction. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She studies what may be the most disgusting molecule known to humankind. And that’s made Clara Sousa-Silva a key member of the team that may have detected life in the clouds of Venus. Her foul (and lethal) molecule has been discovered in those clouds – and the only current explanation for its presence is that it is being made by living organisms. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a 12-year-old, multiple Emmy winner Alan Zweibel decided that Rob in TV’s The Dick van Dyke show led the life he wanted to live. Since then he’s written for funny people from Borscht Belt comedians, to the cast of Saturday Night Live, to stars like Billy Crystal and Larry David. It’s all in his new book Laugh Lines. In a way, his life has been a history of modern comedy. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In exploring the role that chance plays in our lives – and how to understand and control it – psychologist and author Maria Konnikova set out to learn how to play poker, a game she knew nothing about. She succeeded so well that she won hundreds of thousands of dollars on the professional poker circuit. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his new album, The Ever Fonky Lowdown, Wynton Marsalis offers a passionate musical take on what ails our democracy. His conversation with Alan also ranges over his early career, his dedication to education and why Louis Armstrong really was the greatest. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The author of The Handmaid's Tale and its sequel, The Testaments, lets us in on her process of storytelling, involving both a “panoramic view ” and rolling revisions: “I’m more of a downhill skier – just get to the end and then you can go back and see where you screwed up along the way, count the trees you’ve hit.” Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A leading scientist who studies how genes make bodies, Cassandra Extavour almost became a musician and still sings professionally. She works with an extraordinary insect gene called oskar. Hundreds of millions of years ago oskar borrowed a fragment of a bacterial DNA that made sexual reproduction possible in the vast majority of animals– including you, me, and scientists who sing. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.