New episodes of Without premiere October 18th
It's true that you never know how good you've had it until something you had is gone -- usually forever. That's the simple but powerful premise of Without, the award-winning podcast hosted by international bestselling author Omar El Akkad. The podcast is back for Season two, and is a Sony Music Entertainment and Hyperobject Industries production. It is written by Omar El Akkad.
The series takes listeners on an exploration of the things we stand to lose, the things we should be losing, and what might still be saved. New episodes will drop weekly starting October 18th. Topics will include Libraries, Death, Batteries, White Rhinos, Drug Laws, Intimacy, Glaciers, Social Security, Mosquitos and Local Journalism.
Today, Libraries have been tasked with shouldering all the social burdens no other government-funded institution will touch, from homelessness to addiction. As a result, libraries have become not only one of our most overextended public services, but also a central battleground in this country’s raging culture wars.
October 25 - Death
Over the past few years, some of the richest people (mostly men) on the planet have funded all kinds of research labs and institutions whose core mission is to eradicate aging and stave off death. But how close are we really to living forever?
November 1 - White Rhinos
Since the 1500s, roughly 881 animal species have gone extinct, but today, a whopping one million species are on the verge of extinction, with animals dying off at a rate not seen in the last 10-million years. We tell the story of a single subspecies, of which only two members remain, a number that makes it all but certain this animal will vanish within our lifetime.
November 8 - Batteries
Whatever going green is – be it using electric cars or installing solar panels – it doesn’t happen without big, expensive batteries. And that’s an issue, because it’s not exactly the most environmentally friendly way to save the world.
November 15 - Drug Laws
The drug crisis in the United States continues to worsen — deaths from opioids in particular more than doubled to 105,000 from January 2015 to January 2023, according to the CDC. Some states are enacting stiffer penalties for drug dealers, while others are decriminalizing drugs to see if that will change things. But none of these approaches are working yet. What do we need to make it work?
November 22 - Touch
It’s undeniable–touch is growing scarcer in our digitizing world. Throughout this episode, we learn about the physio- and psychological significance of touch and speak with folks finding support through the nascent Cuddling industry.
November 29 - Glaciers
A world without glaciers would mean sea levels would dramatically rise. Our coastland would be overwhelmed, we’d experience food shortages, people and wildlife would be displaced. Or maybe not – no one can predict the consequences with absolute certainty. We speak with scientists to gather as much data as we can in the search for answers.
Every episode of Without is a thought experiment – what would the world look like if something we’ve become used to were no longer around? In some cases, it’s something we’re already losing – species, natural phenomena, places. In other cases, it’s things we probably should learn to live without – fossil fuels, nuclear weapons. In other cases, it’s purely a speculative thesis – what would happen if the internet totally collapsed tomorrow?
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