Strange Customs with Sasha Sagan

The season 1 finale of Strange Customs brings Sasha Sagan to an extraordinary Chicago exhibition for a conversation with the artist, Dario Robleto. Situated at the intersection of art and science, the show also has its inspiration and roots in Sasha's own family.We'll also hear from Harvard art historian Dr. Jennifer Roberts about the ways art and science share a mission to extend our vision beyond the horizon.

Host Sasha Sagan talks to NYT best-selling novelist KILEY REID (Such a Fun Age) about a tradition that has evolved out of necessity from family and community participation to an economic arrangement with strangers.We'll also hear from sociologist DR. TAMARA MOSE about the roots of the tradition that still echo in unfair practices today.

Sasha Sagan talks with actor-director LILY RABE about a supposedly heartwarming tradition that strikes terror and shame in both their hearts.We'll also hear from DR. ANDREA VOYER, a sociologist and historian of social norms at Stockholm University, about her research using etiquette as a lens on changing societies.

Sasha is joined by science communicator BILL NYE and historian of technology DAVID ROONEY to discuss a concept that measures, slices, defines, and controls our lives more than any other.Bill Nye photo by Neil Grabowsky / Montclair Film under CC-BY 2.0

Sasha Sagan talks with humanist rabbi GREG EPSTEIN about an ancient tradition they both participate in each year, with themes and messages they find both inspiring and abhorrent. How can a thoughtful person engage a tradition shot through with such contradictions?We'll also hear from historian of religion DR. CAROLE CUSACK about how this tradition and others like it connect with the deep cycles of the earth and its creatures.

Actor KIRSTEN DUNST tells Sasha about the big lie she told her husband, the constant lies that bond her to her son—and why it's all good.We'll also hear from folklorist DR. JEANA JORGENSEN about the cross-cultural history of messing with each other.

Sasha Sagan talks to astrophysicist SARAFINA EL-BADRY NANCE about the way we bring the world into our awareness and keep it there.We'll also hear from USC neuroscience researcher MARY HELEN IMMORDINO-YANG about the unexpected ways we achieve this everyday process.

Sasha Sagan talks to actor TROIAN BELLISARIO (Pretty Little Liars, Life on Mars) about a tradition older than our species, and the unusual (and slightly terrifying) way Troian once experienced it.We'll also hear from professor and author RANDI HUTTER EPSTEIN (Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank) about the often strange and disturbing history of the tradition.

Sasha Sagan talks to author and linguist AMANDA MONTELL about our strange habit of communicating with patterns of vibrations emanating from our faces.We’ll also hear from linguist DR. SONJA LANEHART about how these patterns vary, spread, and change—and how they help define who and what we are.

Sasha Sagan sits down with actors KATIE LOWES and ADAM SHAPIRO to explore a common custom that seems rooted in antiquity but is younger than Cher.We’ll also hear from author RACHAEL LENNON about the surprising origins of the custom and how we might coax it away from its problematic features and into the 21st century.

Sasha Sagan talks to constitutional attorney ANDREW SEIDEL and professor of criminology DR. MEREDITH ROSSNER about an area of life that we don't usually think of as being full of ritual. But it's saturated with it—for better and worse.

Sasha Sagan talks to NICOLE RICHIE about her long, happy relationship with a very common, very strange custom.We'll also hear from experimental psychologist DR. ROHAN KAPITANY, a specialist in rituals and supernatural beliefs, about this and other lesser deities who populate the minds of our children—usually because we put them there ourselves.

Sasha sits down with author and adventurer JEDIDIAH JENKINS to explore a human custom that can be fun and games—or life and death.We’ll also hear from historian JORDAN GIRARDIN about the surprising origins of the custom and the ways we're still not getting it quite right.

Why do we do things the way we do them? Sasha Sagan kicks off Strange Customs with actor, author, and activist BRANDON KYLE GOODMAN in a thoughtful and hilarious conversation about an ancient custom that is a major part of Brandon’s life—but one they couldn’t have participated in even a few years ago.We’ll also hear from historian STEPHANIE COONTZ about how changeable and varied this “traditional” custom has actually been over the centuries.

Why do we do things the way we do them? We take on customs from our ancestors, act them out, then teach them to the next generation, often without thinking. But when we take a step back, they can seem bizarre, arbitrary...and sometimes, profoundly beautiful.Join Sasha Sagan, author of "For Small Creatures Such as We," as she talks to smart, funny, interesting celebrities and scholars, uncovering just how weirdly wonderful we Earthlings can be.