May 23, 2008
This summer, in a 17-mile long tunnel outside Geneva, Switzerland, a particle accelerator called the Large Hadron Collider is gearing up to smash protons at nearly the speed of light. Physicists hope it will help solve mysteries of the universe and lead to an elusive Unified Theory. Studio 360's Eric Molinsky looks into the colorful and complex design of the largest machine on the planet.
Kurt talks with a Columbia University astrophysicist who's eagerly awaiting data from the Large Hadron Collider. Levin, also an author, wrote the historical novel A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines.
Studio 360 commissioned the author Lydia Millet to write a short story inspired by the LHC's "grand opening." What happens if the worst happens? Millet's acclaimed 2005 novel Oh Pure and Radiant Heart was about the physicists who created the atom bomb. Actor Martha Plimpton (nominated for a Tony for her role in "Top Girls" on Broadway) reads "Telford."
And Janna Levin considers if the LHC will create a black hole.
Danny Sagan, a listener, grew up in New Jersey listening to arena rock. One night, he tagged along to a grimy club across the river in Manhattan for an ear-splitting punk rock concert -- and it set him on the path to being an architect. Produced by Studio 360's Derek John with Adda Birnir.
Weigh in: Is there a work of art that changed your life?
Kurt and Richard Price wander through the gritty-turned-hipster neighborhood at the center of Price's novel Lush Life. Cultures clash violently in the book -- they visit the scene of the crime.
Wall-sized color photographs of water, sky, sand, and bathers make up Richard Misrach's series On the Beach. Studio 360's Sarah Lilley discovered that Misrach's photos are more complicated than they look.
Studio 360 is a co-production of
Public
Radio International and
WNYC New York Public Radio, and is funded in part by
Ken and Lucy Lehman, the
National Endowment for the Arts, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and
DK Eyewitness Travel. Studio 360's American Icons series is supported in part by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Our series on creativity and science is supported in part by the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Our series on Underground Heroes is supported in part by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. 
