June 14, 2024
Joyce Jeffries and the Cutters
Limestone work used to be quite dangerous. Joyce Jeffries remembers workers, including her grandfather, dying or getting injured. It’s gotten safer though. This week, Joyce, and others, on limestone.
May 10, 2024
If My Hands Could Look Like Hers
First, a conversation with artist Honey Hodges about immigrating to the U.S., and the opportunity to care for someone who has always taken care of you, and making collages. Then, naturalist Jim Eagleman reminds us why we should go outside in the winter, and at night.
May 3, 2024
Indiana's Oil and Gas Boom Still Echoes Today
Scholar and writer Ava Tomasula y Garcia tells the story of the Calumet Region, how the gas boom started with a bang, brought major industry and new racial dynamics, and why “the Rust Belt” is a bit of a misnomer.
April 19, 2024
Orli Shaham On Where Music Is and Where It’s Going
Is classical music in trouble? Pianist Orli Shaham believes most people, “given half a chance,” will seek out deeper art forms at some point in their lives. This week, Orli Shaham on helping people find their way to classical music, and more.
April 12, 2024
Mixtape: Stories of Love, Music, and More
It’s a mixtape! Five songs (okay, stories), by five different producers. Three are about being behind the scenes. One’s about your dad retiring. And an investigation into love.
March 22, 2024
Jad Abumrad on Talking with Humans
Radiolab founder Jad Abumrad has been interviewing interviewers lately: journalists, therapists, conflict mediators, salespeople. We talk about what it takes to have a meaningful conversation.
March 8, 2024
Inner States presents Inferno at Whiting
This week, Inner States presents Episode 3 of Fire!: An American Burning. Inferno at Whiting is about the 1955 Whiting Refinery fire in Whiting, Indiana. It’s also about how oil – and fire - are at the heart of the modern world.
February 16, 2024
Your Neighborhood Shapeshifter
This week, a profile of the alien who roams downtown Bloomington, a werewolf, two witches, and the childhood that led to an article about the secret government facility under Bloomington's water treatment plant. Plus, a discussion about how shapeshifters help us think about gender.
February 9, 2024
Singing for Ukraine
When Iryna Voloshyna started a Slavic choir at IU in 2021, she didn’t realize it would be a local expression of a political situation halfway around the world. But then, in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and suddenly the choir was in high demand.
February 2, 2024
Don’t Fight Your Political Enemies. Out-Organize Them.
It’s easy to want to fight our political enemies, but it’s often more effective to out-organize them. On this week’s Inner States, we look back to a time – not so long ago – when Midwesterners did just that. Historian Cory Haala tells us about Progressive Populists in the 1980s and 1990s.
January 26, 2024
Becoming a Participant in the Landscape
Sam’s day job involves removing invasive plants and restoring native ones. Fire is one of the ways he does that. He’s a lifelong hunter, too - that’s what got him into landscape restoration. This week, a walk in the woods with Sam Shoaf.
January 19, 2024
Don't Go Pro
Diana Hong practiced for 13 years to become a professional golfer. But at the last minute, she became a stand-up comedian instead. This week, stories about people who almost achieve their dreams, and then hook left.
January 12, 2024
Postcard from Paoli
This week on Inner States, a postcard from Paoli, Indiana, where a tomato products warehouse has been transformed into a community space and enhanced the already existing magical realism of the town.
January 5, 2024
How to Watch Old Movies
Jack Lindner reminds us why we should watch old movies on film. Then IU Cinema Director Alicia Kozma talks about how to approach movies that have, shall we say, "outdated" attitudes about social issues.
