“If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.” So declared “A Nation at Risk,” the report commissioned by President Reagan in 1983. Anxiety about the quality of our schools has hardly subsided since then; what we forget, however, is that Americans have worried about education since the earliest days of our nation.

“RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope” tells the little-known story of Robert Kennedy's 1966 visit to South Africa during the worst years of apartheid. Featuring never before seen archival footage, and interviews in South Africa and the United States, filmmakers Larry Shore and Tami Gold tell the story of Senator Robert Kennedy’s influential June 1966 visit to South Africa during the worst years of Apartheid.

In this episode, Radiolab steers its way through a series of stories about getting lost, and asks how our brains, and our hearts, help us find our way back home.

America Abroad takes a look at the long war against counterfeiters. Companies have been fighting the proliferation of knockoff Rolexes and Gucci bags for years. Now both business and – quite literally – people’s lives are at risk as counterfeiters move in on markets for everything from drugs to car parts. Globalization and the Internet make it tougher and tougher to catch the copycats.