Open Source with Christopher Lydon

Latest Episodes
From Boston to Bethlehem
Were here with a capsule of memory from late last year. It was a spark of generosity in Liz Walkers story that lit up the Christmas season for lots of us, and maybe the path ...
A Geopolitical Check-Up
Were with the one-off diplomat, strategist, and historian Chas Freeman. Chas Freeman. Call this Curious Citizen Meets the Most Knowledgeable Straight-Talker Anywhere Near the U.S. Government. At a
Blyth is Back
Were with the celebrated Scots-accented peoples economistcelebrated above all when hes home with the locals in his own old pub in Dundee, settling all the arguments there are around money and powe
Not Your Standard Book Chat
Were with the Nobel Prize novelist from Turkey, Orhan Pamuk. Its not your standard book chat: closer to head-butting than conversation, as youll hear. But its polite enough and nobody gets hurt. C
The Roy Haynes Century
Were saluting one mans century in American music. Roy Haynes was the jazz drummer from Boston who shaped the bebop sound in Harlem 80 years ago. He got nicknamed Snap Crackle for his own crisp, ...
Joshua Cohen’s Camp
Were with the writers writer Joshua Cohenbeyond category, but ever ahead of the game. Hes a realist, a fantasist, a satirist, New Jersey-born and at home in Israel. Joshua Cohen. Its his imaginat
United States of Fear
Fintan OToole has made a brilliant career watching Ireland (his home country) transform itselfits Catholic culture, its vanishing population, its frail economyinto something very modern and profoun
Amber’s America: Love and Outrage
In the long weekend of solemn suspense before our presidential election in 2024, our guest is Amber. I met Amber on a call-in radio show almost 30 years ago, and weve been talking ever since. ...
Playground
Richard Powers may just be the bravest big novelist out there. His new book is titled Playground, in which AI plays with the natural world. The question is whether and how the digital transformation m
A Jerusalem Tragedy
For our shattering Age of October 7, Nathan Thrall has written a double masterpiece, in my reading. Already a Pulitzer Prize-winner for non-fiction, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama is a searching wor