@Sir Joshua from Planet Earth:

I find it odd that you think people are behaving 'unintelligently if they are 'so worried about what defines them or makes them different than the next person'.

Deeper understanding about who you are and how you are different than others around you doesn't necessarily lead to division/segregation. In many ways, it can do the opposite, because you get to realise (AND appreciate) how rich and diverse this planet's population is.

Besides, the urge to define yourself is only natural, because that directly feeds into the instinct to want to belong somewhere, and be accepted into a 'tribe', something that ensured our survival as a species.

Seriously? A whole segment on the "Race" program about Sunni's versus Shiites? No one talks about Protestant-Catholic racial relations. Come on guys. Do your research.

"you can definitely see and feel racism"

I loved this show - mostly because of the different perspectives that were included; I don't know about others, but I don't really look to radio for conclusions about the world. I found the "Sorting People" segment to be somewhat problematic. It seemed that it concluded with a hasty generalization: it was suggested that even self-identification in terms of race is fluid or fuzzy. But they failed to interpret these "results" in light of the fact that they had mostly surveyed Hispanic students. And Hispanic-ness isn't a race! And of course, while when interacting with White/Anglo Americans, Hispanic-ness does define individuals to a great extent, when dealing with other Hispanics, country of origin is much more important! Minor point, really, and the conclusion may hold anyway, but I thought it worth bringing up.

Funny. I'm about to say something I once would have had the urge to turn my head upon. The more I learn about the world (Countries, cultures, etc) the more I begin to Love America. No I won't reside here for the entirety of my life, though I feel a love here, in such a place where you really can pretty much do and be what you want to be. Sure, Ameirca has it's share of BS, race, crimes, and such, though this country has an external freedom that so many people only dream of. Here, you are free enough to BE without the threat of death....heh, then again, death does come. So yes and no. Though still, good job America. As far as the whole race thing goes, these humans are acting quite odd and dare I say unintelligent being so worried about what defines them or makes them different or more special that the next person. It's as if a bunch of people with self esteem problems came about and said "I know there's a reason why I'm better than you and I'll scour the earth, the universe and our very genome to find it!" Pshaw! Funny humans. Get a life :)

I'm a huge RL fan but find this to be a particularly weak show. I don't have a strong opinion on race but as so far as the evidence given. . .

1) In ?hypertension? was said that country, actually diet, was the important factor. Okay, it is primary but that does not exclude a significant racial effect.

2) The counter to blacks being (genetically) good at sports was a black who WAS as a kid but decided against? What?

3) Isn't Shite vs. Sunni a religious rather than racial conflict?

@ Ali Abbas,

In answer to your question of "how do all the different races get along so well in Brooklyn."

There is a very simple answer for that, which I believe is true anywhere.

When people are happy, they don't worry about things like that. It's that simple.

That's why one of the major ideas of this country is to pursue, and have happiness.

Bush pushed Iraq to the very edge, where every ounce water, every gram of food, every square cm of roof over your head could mean the difference between life and death. It makes sense that people would turn to any possible thing such as race to stay on top. I hope his hard work won't take the rest of the world down that path too. He will be gone soon.

I agree with Alicia - the segment by Ali Abbas was the most gripping, terrifying and disheartening piece I have heard on radio in years, and perhaps the most vivid piece of reporting to come out of the war. Abbas should be shopping a screenplay based on his stories. And it should end with him sitting on the NYC subway, wondering who long the US can hold its diversity in place.

I thought of Abbas' story listening to Bush in Baghdad yesterday at the immortal shoe-throwing press conference. The Iraqis would probably give up all the "freedom" Bush brought them for the security and peace and non-sectarian society that Saddam had worked so hard to maintain. Yes, there was violence - but in certain known situations. The violence in Iraq is unpredictable and omnipresent. How can a person remain sane in such conditions?

This was an interesting program, however, I think we are not given the whole story in the first section. When we are introduced to the black man who discovers from a cheek swab genetic test that he is 0% black, we are not told what that cheek swab measures. It is my understanding that those cheek swabs only look at only maternal or paternal ancestry. For example it would only see your mother's mother's mother's mother's, etc lineage or your father's, father's, father's etc lineage. Therefore you could theoretically be half black on both sides and the test would not see that, as most of your genetic line is not represented (ie, your mother's father's genetics are not seen at all). Perhaps this was not the case for the test in question, but I don't think that these types of tests look at the whole genome of the individual, as is implied in the episode.

Out of all the programs I've ever heard from Radiolab, this has to be one of the best. This story gave such a gripping perspective of the violence in a world that we as Americans see everyday on television but have no inkling of its often unbelievably brutal reality. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end, anxiously awaiting the fate of Ali, Ahmar, and Ali's brother. I was so glad to hear that they managed to leave without a scrape, but it also reminded me of the unlucky who ended up at the hospital. It was a spectacular piece, and I hope to see more like this in the future.

What a fascinating and informative program. I enjoyed how the program tackles certain preconceptions about race (i.e., blacks are good at sports) and addresses how those ideas are rooted in something other than biology. I think this would be a wonderful resource for teachers, including myself, who want to offer undergraduates a primer about why race does/does not matter. I hope the link to the program stays up for awhile, so I can have access to this for my students. Excellent work!

Listening to how a Shi'a or Sunni can be recognised sometimes only by name reminds me of the "Troubles"in Northern Ireland where sometimes it was the way a word was pronounced or whether you called the city Derry or Londonderry would identify you as Catholic or Protestant (and therefore Nationalist or Unionist.) I just highlight this to show that Ali Abbas situation not only happens in an Arab conflict but has happened in other places in the world, so that people will not think that the arabs are acting that way.. it is people who act that way. I also wish the lessons learned and changes made to bring peace to Northern Ireland - chiefly the inclusion of all people in the political process there - could be modelled for the improvement of the political situation in Iraq and in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

More interesting than the microbiological and genetic perspective is the macro lens of continents and civilizations, through which it’s obvious that Africa lags well behind Europe and Asia, but isn’t that just because the living is so easy in Africa and, as Aristotle taught, without the goad of need man would never get off his arse?

Isn’t it obvious that “race” is essentially a socio-cultural construct, and that the striking physiological differences, such as color and body shape, are just longterm and ever-modifiable responses to diverse environmental conditions?