The Arik Korman Show

Writer, journalist, and academic Ellen Ruppel Shell discusses why baby eels are worth $2,500 a pound, how we can disrupt the baby eel black market, and what we're really eating when we order unagi at a Japanese restaurant. Ellen's new book is Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels .

University of Sydney professor Peter Godfrey-Smith , author of the bestselling Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness , discusses how life on Earth has changed our planet, whether there might be life on other planets, and what the future of humanity could look like. Professor Godfrey-Smith's new book is Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness, and the Maki...

Yale professor Ebony Reed , a seasoned journalist who is also the Chief Strategy Officer at the Marshall Project, a news outlet focused on the justice system, discusses the intersection of race and money, how the current Black/white wealth gap compares to the gap after the Civil War, and how we should talk to our kids about wealth. Ebony’s new book, co-authored with Louise Story, is Fifteen Cents...

Luke Raley , outfielder and first baseman for the Seattle Mariners , discusses how he manages stress when he walks up to the plate, how he stays grounded in reality as a major league baseball player, and what advice he has for young people who want to become professional athletes.

Daniela Rus , Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, discusses how smart robots actually are, what the differences are between robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and why Iron Man is her favorite superhero. Dr. Rus' new book is The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots .

Adam Gopnik , staff writer at The New Yorker , discusses how to overcome our anxiety about trying new things, how to redirect our kids away from having too much screen time, and what ultimately gives us the most happiness in life. Adam's latest book is All That Happiness Is: Some Words on What Matters .

R. Derek Black (they/them), a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Chicago whose father was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and started Stormfront, the Internet's first white supremacist website, discusses how it felt to be the heir apparent to a white nationalist movement, how they interacted with family after renouncing white nationalism, and how we can come together as a...

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah , New York Times bestselling author and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University, discusses whether you can be a fan of consumer sports like the NFL and still criticize them, how we can disrupt America's systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and why it's important to value and respect the leadership of our youth. Nana's latest book is Cha...

Communication, collaboration, and conflict management expert Elaine Lin Hering discusses how to create a sense of safety in the workplace or at home so that people will feel comfortable speaking up, how much conflict is healthy in an organization or a family, and how to teach our children when to speak up. Elaine's new book is Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live Mo...

Novelist, screenwriter, and Russian translator Katya Apekina discusses what to say to our kids about the Russia-Ukraine war, what it's like trying to raise a bilingual, bicultural child, and what it feels like to leave your family behind and move to a new country. Katya's new novel is Mother Doll .

Burnout management coach and TikTok star Emily Ballesteros discusses what burnout does to us, what the impacts are of not having a "third place," and how hard we really need to work. Emily's new book is The Cure for Burnout: How to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Life .

Iconic Washington winegrower Dick Boushey discusses how the Washington wine industry has changed over the years, what advice he would give to people who want to get into the winegrowing business, and what he's looking forward to at this year's Taste Washington March 16th and 17th at Seattle's Lumen Field Event Center. Info at TasteWashington.org

Jamie Peha , Executive Director of the Auction of Washington Wines and the Host and Editor-in-Chief of Table Talk Northwest, discusses how she navigated her unique career path, how we can help our kids appreciate fine wine and good food, and how Jamie sees Washington wine evolving. The 8th Private Barrel Auction takes place on March 15th at The Winemakers Reserve in Woodinville. Info at auctionofw...

Award-winning journalist Prachi Gupta discusses what to do when family members become estranged, what it's like being labeled as a model minority, and what it would take for everyone in the United States to feel seen and valued for who they really are. Prachi's debut memoir is They Called Us Exceptional and Other Lies That Raised Us . She will speak at Seattle University's Pigott Auditorium on Feb...

National Public Radio Science Correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce discusses what we can say to our kids to soothe their fears, what it's like being a national science correspondent for NPR, and what Nell's primary role is as a parent. Her new book is Transient and Strange: Notes on the Science of Life .

Kliph Nesteroff , who has been called the “premier popular historian of comedy,” by The New York Times , discusses how cultural taboos have changed over time, whether the political right is better organized than the left, and when free speech should be limited. Kliph's new book is Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars .

Adam Nicolson , author of many books on history, landscape, and great literature, discusses how the pushback that the Greek philosophers endured in their time compares with today's red states versus blue states, slavery's role in how the Greek philosophers were able to make a living, and how we can make philosophy relevant to our kids, given their reality. Adam's new book is How to Be: Life Lesson...

David Brooks , one of the nation’s leading writers and commentators who is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times and appears regularly on PBS NewsHour and Meet the Press, discusses how we can get over our fear of connecting with others, how we can help our kids see others deeply and feel seen themselves, and how we can apply his principles to geopolitics. David's new book is How to Know a Pers...

Dan Ariely , bestselling author of Predictably Irrational and a Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, discusses how stress and ostracism lead to misbelief, what we can do as individuals to bring our country back together, and how big of a national problem misbelief actually is. Dan's new book is Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things .

Amy Schneider , a 40-game Jeopardy! champion - the most successful woman ever to compete on Jeopardy! and the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, discusses how her ADHD became a Jeopardy! superpower, how she discovered her gender identity, and how good she is at bar trivia. Amy’s new book is In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Li...

Wynton Marsalis , internationally acclaimed musician, composer, educator, and a leading advocate of American culture, discusses what he says to kids who want to be musicians, what makes the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra unique, and what he is trying to tell the world through his music. Wynton and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra perform in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre on October 5th. In...

Cat Bohannon , a researcher and author with a Ph. D. from Columbia University in the evolution of narrative and cognition, discusses why gynecology was the most important human invention, why not conducting medical research on females is dangerous, and how the female body drives evolution. Cat's new book is Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution .

Dan Egan , author of the New York Times bestseller The Death and Life of the Great Lakes , discusses what extreme measures people have used to find phosphorus, how phosphorus is misused in U.S. agriculture, and how it's so essential to all life on earth. Dan's latest book is The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance .

Acclaimed author Simon Winchester discusses whether we should limit the information we take in, how much information leaders should have, and which knowledge is truly important today. Simon's latest book is Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge from Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic .

Writer Ben Purkert discusses how masculinity has evolved, how we can help our sons feel good about who they really are, and why it's important to examine what it means to be a man. Ben's debut novel is The Men Can't Be Saved .