Richard Panek

Richard Panek explains how we know that only 4 percent of the universe consists of the matter that makes up people, planets, stars, and galaxy. The other 96 percent of the universe is completely unknown. The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality tells the story of how scientists reached this conclusion, and what they’re doing to find dark matter, dark energy, and to help paint a complete picture of the universe.

This week we 1) expose the myth of the tambourine man, 2) question the viability of veganism when you're eating from a dumpster, 3) encourage marriages to dissolve and, 4) once and for all, explain Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Our first show of the year 2003 CE will change ...

This week we've got a collection of unflappable amateurs - astronomers, would-be models, record collectors and mah jong players. Not to mention the brave souls who put their writing to the test in this month's "Five Sounds in Search of an Author" contest.

What's the Next Big ...

In the weeks immediately following the attacks on the World Trade Center, we tried to capture the city's conflicted state of mind - fearful, defiant, optimistic and grief-stricken - checking in with people we knew and people we'd never met before. Their voices have stayed with us. Six months later, ...