MP3… Richard Jones is the author of the book Soft Machines: Nanotechnology and Life and a blog on the subject also named Soft Machines. From the University of Sheffield in the UK, where he is …

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… The Internet was once a world without borders, a place where one’s physical location was the last thing to affect our online experience. Today, a new wave of location-based services is turning …

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… Robert Shapiro says the challenges facing the Obama Administration will have repercussions for all of us for many years to come. [Kojo Nnamdi]

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… The head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gives an update on the state of the oceans. She explains how climate change is affecting the Pacific and Atlantic and …

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… The genetic material in our cells make us who we are. But since 1982, the U.S. Patent and Trade Office has issued tens of thousands of patents to private companies …

MP3… A first look at Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine, with Stephen Wolfram. This is uncut audio from David Weinberger’s 55 minute interview with Stephen for Radio Berkman. Look for the more concise version …

MP3… For Linden Lab’s founder and chairman Philip Rosedale, the open-ended social experiment that is Second Life doesn’t end at the borders of the virtual world he envisioned and brought to life. The …

MP3… An interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World. Our brain processes information about the world outside us (via our senses) …

MP3… David Edwards describes how contemporary creators achieve breakthroughs in the arts and sciences by developing their ideas in an intermediate zone of human creativity where neither art nor science is easily defined. …

MP3… The open source movement launched over the past few decades by computer programmers has morphed into a parallel “open innovation” movement. The emergence of cross-sectoral “distributed intelligence” points to the promise of …

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… Many of us associate our teenage years with mood swings, risky behavior and a sense of invincibility. And scientists say there’s a reason for that: adolescents brains are actually wired …

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… Demand for electricity is expected to spike by some 40% in the next two decades. And experts warn blackouts and rolling brownouts aren’t far away if the grid is not …

MP3… Joshua Cooper Ramo, partner at Kissinger Associates and author of The Age of the Unthinkable, discusses China’s efforts to divorce itself from the dollar and the future of US-China economic relations. And …

MP3… As our savings plummet and our debts soar, many of us are starting to wonder not only when we’ll get back on track, but whether the track we’ve been on all these …

MP3… If necessity is the mother of invention, there’s certainly plenty of necessity to go around these days. But are we doing all we can to incubate the innovations we most urgently need? …

MP3… A rise in sea levels isn’t the only impact global warming is having on the world’s oceans. A growing body of evidence suggests that climate change is also affecting ocean currents and …

MP3… Many of us feel that the Web is ushering in a new era of global consciousness. But Howard Bloom thinks life has been a collective mind from the very beginning. He made …

MP3… What to do about lies on the internet? John Seigenthaler, distinguished journalist, a JFK friend, was said on Wikipedia to have plotted JFK’s assassination. But Wikipedia has no responsibility for this statement. …

RealAudio… Scott Belcher, president and CEO of Intelligent Transportation Society of America, looks at the ways technology can make for “smart” roads and bridges. [Brian Lehrer]

MP3… Across the globe we are building, editing, and contributing to a growing body of knowledge and tools at everyone’s fingertips. Volunteers in leaderless organizations contribute to online initiatives and articles. Software developers …

MP3… Resilience … the capacity to absorb shocks to the system without losing the ability to function. Can whole societies become resilient in the face of traumatic change? In April 2008, natural and …

MP3… Even in hard times, the search engine giant Google continues to boom while GM bites the dust. Is this another dot-com fantasy or could this culture of innovation, informality and antic spirit …

MP3… In hard times most of us are grateful for any job, but as we face increasing unemployment, poverty, and climate change, the Obama administration proposes to put thousands of Americans to work …

MP3… Gregory Berns, Distinguished Chair of Neuroeconomics at Emory University, talks about his new book, Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently. [Spark]

RealAudio / WindowsMedia… The bankruptcy filing by the Tribune Company is the latest sign of trouble for the news business. A panel joins guest host Katty Kay to discuss how the on-going …