Innovation Hub

California is on a collision course with the federal government. And we’re going to take a look at the crash.

California is a place where big ideas collide against bigger realities, where scientists are trying to turn sunlight into fuel, and where Hollywood became Hollywood. This week, we go there.

It’s a feat that seems like alchemy: turn sunlight into fuel. We talk with CalTech scientist Nathan Lewis about how we may be able to do it one day soon.

Beyond “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Sunset Boulevard,” what was the transition to talkies really like for Hollywood?

Bioengineering mice to stop Lyme disease, a new approach to refugee aid, and rethinking one of the seven deadly sins. This week, stories about the best way to help people.

Can’t stop checking your phone? Blame your distant ancestors.

There are fans. And then there are superfans. Author Zoe Fraade-Blanar explains the difference between the two.

There’s a reason you constantly check your phone. Sharon Begley explains the science behind our compulsions. Plus, who was Steve Jobs’ Steve Jobs? Edwin Land. We explore the life and legacy of the founder of Polaroid. Finally, fandom is a multi-billion dollar industry. Zoe Fraade-Blanar tells us how companies use our obsessions to make money.

Who was Steve Jobs’ Steve Jobs? Edwin Land. We explore the life and legacy of the founder of Polaroid.

Older Americans have the AARP. Gun owners have the NRA. But one of the biggest swaths of our population has very little political power.

Whether you’ve encountered them in real life, or just in the video for Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” Rorschach tests are everywhere. Damion Searls tells us about their history and impact.

It can be difficult to know what people are thinking. So how can we unearth our real selves? Google, says Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Older Americans have the AARP. Gun owners have the NRA. And now, kids have Common Sense Media. What can a couple of inkblots say about you? Apparently, a lot. We talk with Damion Searls about the rise of the Rorschach test.

Racism doesn’t just exist in the South, men really care about penis size, and having mutual friends doesn’t mean your relationship will work out. Turns out, there’s a lot you can learn from online data.

Science gave us penicillin, space travel, and computers. But, it also gave us TNT, guns, and heroin. Paul Offit tells us about when science goes wrong.

Who pulls the levers of the global financial system? Superhubs. Sandra Navidi explains who they are and what they’re doing.

You may spend a third of your life asleep… but how much do you know about it, really? Benjamin Reiss walks us through the history of sleep.

Scientists experiment, test, hypothesize… and sometimes they discover something completely and utterly by accident.

Science is great. Except when it gives us stuff like heroin and TNT. Paul Offit explains what we can all learn from science’s mistakes. A small, insular group controls the world’s financial system. No, they aren’t lizard-people. They’re superhubs. The way we sleep now was invented in the 18th century. Benjamin Reiss takes us on a tour of sleep’s history.

It feels great to carve out a few leisure hours each week. But, Professor Julie Rose says that free time should be a right, not a privilege.

Pretty soon, a lot more people are going to live to 100. We talk with Andrew Scott about how that’s going to reshape our society.

What happens when people regularly start living past 100? Plus, if you haven’t made that big scientific discovery yet, don’t worry: there’s time. Finally, we work four more weeks a year now than we did in the 1970s. And that’s a problem.

Unlike in music, science has few one-hit wonders. We talk with professor Albert-Laszlo Barabasi about how age and skill figure into scientific discoveries.

These days, people retire to sun, sand, and shuffleboard. But, it wasn’t always that way. We learn the story of one man who changed the way many people spend their golden years.

No ratings, no stars, and no commercials. We talk with C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb about the secret to success, even when nobody's watching.

Scrolling through your newsfeed and noticing something… eerie? Facebook can be an echo chamber. Professor Cass Sunstein tells us how social media has contributed to groupthink. Plus, which channel has no ratings, no stars, and no commercials, and wants to keep it that way? And finally, our president may have been ubiquitous on Twitter for the past few years. But his first love will always be TV. And it loves him right back. IndieWire executive editor Michael Schneider explains.

The Trump phenomenon was built, in large part, by television. Michael Schneider tells us how the former star of The Apprentice is shaking up Hollywood - and creating some unexpected winners.

Our Facebook newsfeeds have become echo chambers. To break out, professor Cass Sunstein says we should embrace a diversity of information.

Our memories are terrible, mice can lead us astray, and Americans didn't always love chicken. This week, we've got a show packed with surprising facts about both human brains and animal realities.

What does social innovation look like? How about prisons in New Zealand that try to keep prisoners out, not in.

Brewster Kahle isn’t just a librarian, he’s the internet’s librarian. And it turns out, that’s a really important job.

Why do federal and local governments pay private contractors to lock inmates up? The answer is surprising.

With President Trump in office, are international students turning away from the US? Inside Higher Ed’s Elizabeth Redden joins us to explain.

Internet librarian is a real job. And it’s real important. Plus, in 2016, two of the largest private prison companies made 4 billion dollars in revenue. But are they saving us any money. And finally, Social innovation looks like a lot of things. Among them, a prison in New Zealand that try to keep prisoners out, not in.

The American Dream isn’t dead, it’s just found a new home. Plus, it's our geography that makes this country great, says Robert Kaplan. From the Great Migration to President Obama’s political career, here’s how one newspaper saw - and shaped - history.

From the Great Migration to President Obama’s political career, here’s how one newspaper saw - and shaped - history.

The American dream has found a new home: Canada. Author and former Canadian diplomat Scott Gilmore believes that Canada has become a more realistic setting for modern-day, rags-to-riches stories.

What made America great? Well, according to author Robert Kaplan is has a lot to do with our landscape.

What was it like when men and women started going to elite colleges together? Turns out… pretty awkward.

Academics skew liberal. Plus, forty percent of Americans read at -- or below -- a basic level. Finally, Going co-ed wasn’t easy for the Ivies. Just ask the Dartmouth alums who wrote this appeal in 1970: "For God’s sake, for Dartmouth’s sake, and for everyone’s sake, keep the damned women out."

Millions of American adults can’t read at a high enough level to keep track of their health care or help with their kids’ homework. Professor Mark Seidenberg says a disconnect between reading researchers and teachers is partly to blame.

Yes, liberal thought does dominate in academia, and professor Sam Abrams says it’s a problem for higher education.

Beyond the headlines, beyond the soundbites, what is the state of inequality in America? Alan Berube of The Brookings Institution, and Harvard’s Alexandra Killewald joins us to answer that question.

The innovations that have made our health care so effective also contribute to what makes it so expensive. MIT economist (who also worked on the Affordable Healthcare Actt) Jon Gruber says we should do a cost-benefit analysis on new drugs to keep costs low.

The gig economy has exploded over the past decade. Could Paul Ryan's new health care proposal halt that progress?

How does inequality affect our lives? Alan Berube and Alexandra Killewald explain. Then, according to Walter Scheidel, there are ways to significantly reduce inequality. But they're all... uncomfortable. Then, why does America spend more on health care than any other country in the world. And finally, you can thank Obama for your next Uber ride. But don’t get too comfortable: here’s how the new health care proposal might affect the gig economy.

There’s a way to reduce inequality… but you aren’t going to like it.

Dating in the digital age equates to a slew of websites and apps that all purport to offer paths to love. But, while we may have more ways to find that special someone than ever before, actually forging those bonds isn’t quite as easy as swiping right.

Should you respond to that suspiciously attractive suitor on OkCupid? Should you invest your money in a “too good to be true” land deal? Before you trust anyone, listen to Maria Konnikova talk about the history and psychology of cons.

Americans are becoming increasingly dependant on our calendars. But what happens when you start to schedule free time? Bad things, says Selin Malkoc.

North Korea invented its own time zone. Arizona and Hawaii refuse to participate in daylight savings. Steve Hanke thinks it’s time to overhaul, well, time.