Audio Documentaries

The APM Reports documentary unit, formerly American RadioWorks, produces programs about education, history, justice and more.

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August 21, 2014

The Science of Smart

Researchers have long been searching for better ways to learn. In recent decades, experts working in cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience have opened new windows into how the brain works, and how we can learn to learn better.

September 1, 2013

Second-Chance Diploma: Examining the GED

Most test-takers hope the GED will lead to a better job or more education. But critics say the GED encourages some students to drop out of school. And research shows the credential is of little value to most people who get one.

August 1, 2013

One Child at a Time: Custom Learning in the Digital Age

Learning with a personal tutor is one of the oldest and best ways to learn. Hiring a tutor for every student was never a realistic option. Now, new computer programs can customize education for each child.

September 13, 2012

Keyboard College: How Technology is Revolutionizing Higher Education

Digital technologies and the Internet are changing how many Americans go to college. From online learning to simulation programs to smart-machine mentors, the 21st-century student will be taught in fundamentally new ways.

September 6, 2012

The Rise of Phoenix: For-Profit Universities Shake Up the Academy

For-profit colleges have deep roots in American history, but until recently they were a tiny part of the higher education landscape. Now they are big players.

August 30, 2012

Grit, Luck and Money: Preparing Kids for College and Getting Them Through

More people are going to college than ever before, but a lot of them aren't finishing. Low-income students, in particular, struggle to get to graduation.

September 3, 2011

Don't Lecture Me: Rethinking the Way College Students Learn

College students spend a lot of time listening to lectures. But research shows there are better ways to learn. And experts say students need to learn better because the 21st century economy demands more well-educated workers.

September 1, 2011

Who Needs an English Major?

The most popular college major in America these days is business. Some students think it doesn't pay to study philosophy or history. But advocates of liberal arts programs say their graduates are still among the most likely to become leaders, and that a healthy democracy depends on citizens with a broad and deep education.

August 12, 2011

Some College, No Degree: Getting Adults Back to School

In an economy that increasingly demands workers with knowledge and skills, many college dropouts are being left behind.

February 12, 2011

Power and Smoke: A Nation Built on Coal

The production of electricity in America pumps out more greenhouse gases than all of our cars, trucks, planes, and ships combined, and half of our electricity comes from burning coal.

January 12, 2011

Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race and Inequality

Equal access to transportation was once a central issue of the Civil Rights Movement. But today, disparities still persist.

January 8, 2011

State of Siege: Mississippi Whites and the Civil Rights Movement

Mississippi led the South in an extraordinary battle to maintain racial segregation. Whites set up powerful citizens groups and state agencies to fight the civil rights movement. Their tactics were fierce and, for a time, very effective.

January 1, 2011

Say It Plain: A Century of Great African-American Speeches

Spanning the 20th century, this collection is a vivid account of how African Americans sounded the charge against racial injustice, exhorting the country to live up to its democratic principles.

January 1, 2011

Say It Loud: A Century of Great African-American Speeches

Titled after the classic 1969 James Brown anthem, "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," this anthology illuminates the ideas and debates pulsing through the black freedom struggle from the 1960s to the present. These arguments are suffused with basic questions about what it means to be black in America.

August 12, 2010

Testing Teachers

Teachers matter. A lot. Studies show that students with the best teachers learn three times as much as students with the worst teachers. Researchers say the achievement gap between poor children and their higher-income peers could disappear if poor kids got better teachers.

June 12, 2010

War on Poverty

When Lyndon B. Johnson became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he put the power of his presidency behind a remarkable series of reform initiatives. The legislation was geared toward boosting economic opportunity, a theme captured by his administration's catchphrase, the Great Society.

June 1, 2010

The Great Textbook War

What should children learn in school? It's a question that's stirred debate for decades, and in 1974 it led to violent protests in West Virginia. Schools were hit by dynamite, buses were riddled with bullets, and coal mines were shut down. The fight was over a new set of textbooks.

November 12, 2009

Workplace U

A new movement turns conventional wisdom on its head, and makes a job the ticket to an education. The idea is to turn workplaces into classrooms and marginal students into productive workers.

November 1, 2009

Rising By Degrees

The United States is facing a dramatic demographic challenge: Young Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of the population, and they are the least likely to graduate from college.

October 12, 2009

Early Lessons

The Perry Preschool Project is one of the most famous education experiments of the last 50 years. The study asked a question: Can preschool boost the IQ scores of poor African-American children and prevent them from failing in school?

June 26, 2009

Behind the Scenes: Hard Times in Middletown Debrief

Producer Laurie Stern talks with Stephen Smith about wrapping up their documentary Hard Times in Middletown.

June 19, 2009

Behind the Scenes: Bridge to Somewhere Debrief

Producer Catherine Winter talks with Stephen Smith about wrapping up the documentary Bridge to Somewhere.

June 12, 2009

Behind the Scenes: A Better Life Debrief

Producers Kate Ellis and Ellen Guettler talk with Stephen Smith about wrapping up their documentary A Better Life: Creating the […]

June 5, 2009

Behind the Scenes: Foreclosure City Debrief

Producer Krissy Clark talks with Stephen Smith about life after her documentary.

May 12, 2009

Bridge to Somewhere

President Barack Obama wants to create jobs by building infrastructure. So did another president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to put people to work by building roads, bridges, dams, sewers, schools, hospitals and even ski jumps. The structures that New Deal agencies built transformed America.

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