This Radiolab meets a Cold War negotiator who, in order to quit smoking, backs himself into a tactical corner, and we visit a clinic in Russia where patients turn to a radical treatment to help fight their demons.

This week on Radiolab, the "Soul Patch" is not the way you style your facial hair, but the duct tape that keeps your life from falling apart. We'll explore stories of unlikely (and surprisingly simple) answers to seemingly unsolvable problems. 

What do you think of when you look at mirror images? The Radiolab crew takes us from the Big Bang to a brain scan then looks through the lens of Greek philosophers to uncover why we are desperately seeking symmetry.

The Vermont Senate advanced legislation this morning aimed at boosting development of cell phone and broadband service around the state. The bill relaxes regulatory and environmental oversight for companies trying to put up telecommunications facilities. The goal is to have full statewide coverage by the end of 2013.

If natural selection boils down to survival of the fittest, why would one creature stick its neck out to help another?

When NPR has a high-profile scandal -- like the secretly videotaped comments by an executive and the resignation of its president -- it focuses scrutiny on member stations, like VPR, and their relationship to the national network.

Governor Peter Shumlin has pledged to extend broadband and cell phone coverage across the state by 2013. Karen Marshall, the chief of ConnectVT, discusses what is being done to make that happen.

Governor Shumlin has pledged to extend broadband and cell phone coverage to all corners of the state by 2013. Karen Marshall has been tasked with making that happen.

Brooke Gladstone joins Jad and Robert to revisit some of your favorite Radiolab segments -- with her journalistic analysis.

This week, State of the Re:Union travels through Appalachia. We'll learn about mountain-top-removal mining through the miners and communities of West Virginia. In Kentucky, we hear a local radio DJ who's gone from bluegrass and blues to Blackalicious, with an unexpected key audience.

This Saturday, State of the Re:Union takes a look at how Texans are keeping Austin weird.

VPR remembers the courage and strength of the civil rights movement with this documentary on Martin Luther King JR. Day

In this episode, State of the Re:Union explores the rich range of cultures and communities coming together in the country's middle.

The war in Afghanistan is no longer solely a fight against insurgents. "Afghanistan's Other War" with Steve Zind is about how soldiers are wielding words instead of weapons to help train soldiers and bolster Afghanistan's government. Stay tuned for a special episode of Humankind after  "Afghanistan's Other War."  We explore the "end of literacy and triumph of spectacle,"  with Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges, who believes a popular culture of distraction damages not only our democracy but also our sense of who we are as human beings.

Tech savvy foodies can share their favorite ingredients and recipes on Twitter. "Follow" Marialisa Calta as she decodes "Eat Tweet," on The VPR Table Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

An associate professor of law at McGill University says people using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are opposed to a new copyright bill currently being debated in Canada that would significantly update how consumers and other users are allowed to use copyrighted material like music, video games, and ebooks.

In this episode of The Moth, a socialite-turned social activist regretfully inherits her mother's gruesome hunting trophies, a hospital orderly with an attitude problem is put to the test and Tony Hendra takes us on the set of the hilarious mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." 

A dubious distinction from a small sampling of a Seven Days survey is being used against Peter Shumlin by his political opponents in commercials and press releases.

Senator Bernie Sanders is working on ways to improve access to high-speed broadband computer service in Vermont's rural communities.

At schools across Vermont the end of the school day is the time when students flip open their cell phones to check emails and text friends. Because cell phone use and technology in general has become such a big part of teenagers' lives - many schools are educating students early on how to use it more safely.  

Experts worry that too many children are spending their extra hours in front of the television or a computer.

NPR President Vivian Schiller discusses NPR programs, the future of public radio and the shifting media landscape.  And Summer School continues with a lesson in catching dragonflies.

VPR's Mitch Wertlieb gets a kind of primer on the technological opportunities and challenges V-TEL will face, from Chris Campbell of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.

A Vermont company has won $116 million in federal grants and loans to get high-speed computer access to practically every home in the state.

FairPoint Communications may ask a federal court to overrule Vermont's rejection of the company's bankruptcy reorganization plan.