No longer content just to assemble devices, Chinese firms want to design them and the infrastructure around them—and in some sectors they look set to succeed. Our correspondent visits indigenous communities along the icy sliver of water between Russia and America. And why North Korean students get illegal tutoring. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer
Listener Britt McEachern is a tour guide in San Francisco, and spends a lot of time walking around city streets. He's noticed grids of glass embedded in the sidewalk and wants to know what they are. Take a journey with reporter Jessica Placzek to learn the purpose and origins of these gems beneath your feet.
Reported by Jessica Placzek. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Jessica Placzek, Katie McMurran and Rob Speight. Additional support from Julie Caine, Paul Lancour, Kyana Moghadam, Suzie Racho, Ethan Lindsey and Patricia Yollin.
When President Trump passed his tax overhaul in 2017, Democrats and Republicans were excited about the prospect of one specific provision. ‘Opportunity zones’ were meant to spur investment in low-income communities. Two years later, it’s unclear if that has actually happened. Billionaires, on the other hand, are benefitting from the program left and right.
There aren't that many options for putting your loved ones to rest. There's burial. There's cremation. Now, later this year in Washington state, it'll be legal to compost a human body. Soil scientist Lynne Carpenter-Boggs tells us how the process works and why she describes it as "beautiful." Carpenter-Boggs is also a research advisor at Recompose, a human composting company in Washington. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.
What to know today about several new laws now in effect across the country, why it was a tense two days at the U.S. embassy in Iraq, and remembering an NBA icon.
Plus: we're talking about research showing AI finds cancer better than doctors, the first doll with a hearing aid, and another music milestone for Mariah Carey...
Those stories and many more in less than 10 minutes!
Then, hang out after the news for Thing to Know Thursday's bonus interview about actually achieving your new year's resolution in 2020. Guest Tonya Dalton shares how to embrace "JOMO" to be more productive and even suggests replacing your to-do list.
At 16, Casey Diaz went to prison for murder. The son of an alcoholic father, Diaz grew up in a rough neighborhood and first saw three men killed when he was 8. By the time he was 11, he had joined a gang. But after years in prison, Diaz, the author of new book “The Shot Caller,” had a radical conversion, and his transformed life began to have an impact on others, including a founder of MS-13. Enjoy this top episode from 2019.
What is the proper balance to protecting natural resources while respecting the value of those lands for alternative uses? Jonathan Wood with the Pacific Legal Foundation comments.
Taylor Monahan is the founder and CEO of MyCrypto. In this interview as part of The Breakdown’s end of year coverage, she argues that the level of discourse in crypto matured in 2019, with more focus on things that actually matter. That’s important, because in 2020, she predicts a major fork-in-the-road moment, where the industry as a whole could either stay on the path set out in its cypherpunk roots, or be significantly co-opted and corrupted by the entrance of corporate and government actors into the space.
When she was around 13, Eliana Bookbinder began questioning her gender after reading a lot online. But in time, she came to realize she was a woman—and now she’s fighting for feminism. Daniel Davis and Katrina Trinko interview Bookbinder to learn more about her journey.
