Danielle’s path to software engineering began when she was accepted into MIT’s Women’s Technology Program, an education and mentorship opportunity for high schoolers interested in engineering or computer science. She later earned her CS degree from MIT.
Danielle’s first role out of college was a junior developer working on Meteor, a full-stack JavaScript framework that was just starting a GraphQL project they called Apollo. She tells the team how Meteor started looking at GraphQL and how that became Apollo.
If McDonald’s is a REST API, then Chipotle is GraphQL. Think about it!
Arts therapies appear to ease a host of brain disorders from Parkinson's to PTSD. But these treatments that rely on music, poetry or visual arts haven't been backed by rigorous scientific testing. Now, artists and brain scientists have launched a program to change that. NPR's brain correspondent Jon Hamilton tells us about an initiative called the NeuroArts Blueprint.
Our books today give the reader a peek into showbiz. Sarah Polley was a child actor but that led to her being put into many dangerous situations, which she details in her new memoir, Run Toward The Danger. She told NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer that she's not sure kids should be acting in a professional environment at all. Next, Isaac Butler deep dives into method acting in his new book The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act. Butler told NPR's Scott Simon that method acting can create some beautiful performances but it's not an excuse to be terrible.
We speak with Richard Detweiler about his new book The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs: Lives of Consequence, Inquiry and Accomplishment (MIT Press, 2021).This multi-year project, which entailed interviews with a national sample of over 1,000 college graduates aged 25-64, provides convincing evidence of the benefits the liberal arts in enabling individuals to lead more fulfilling lives and successful careers. He uses an innovative definition of the liberal arts which focuses on the distinctive: 1) purpose, 2) context, and 3) content of a liberal arts education, measuring the frequency and intensity of these elements across different higher education institutions. He also shares insights from his tenure as President of Hartwick College and the head of the Great Lakes College Association.
Two years into the pandemic, Ravi, Cory, and Rikki look back on how much has changed since COVID-19 entered our lives. Standardized testing may be getting less standard. We discuss what makes the testing debate so key to our education system. Journalists are under attack in Ukraine – the most chilling front of Russia’s assault on the truth. And a majority of Americans agree: the Supreme Court needs reform. We’ll talk about what’s on the table.
Illinois’ senior senator will have a front row seat to history being made, as Judge Jackson could soon be the nation’s first Black female Supreme Court Justice. But the Republican National Committee has called Jackson a radical, left wing activist. How will Sen. Durbin keep the hearings from turning into a bitter partisan process?
The senator also shares his concerns over what’s next in Ukraine, and gives a look ahead to Democrats’ priorities for the midterms.
Guest: Sen. Dick Durbin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants America to help impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. The U.S. favors other avenues of support, providing weapons and equipment. Now there are signs the Russian advance is stalling. Could there be a diplomatic endgame in sight?
Marie Yovanovitch is skeptical. The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine tells NPR a no-fly zone should be kept on the table, citing the unpredictability and ruthlessness of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Yovanovitch has written a new memoir, Lessons From The Edge. More from her conversation with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly here.
Former Naval Intelligence Officer Steven Horrell says there's an emerging possibility of a so-called 'frozen conflict' in Ukraine, with Russian forces failing to advance but also refusing to leave.
Analysis of wastewater from sewage systems has provided an early warning system for the presence of Covid-19 in communities – showing up in the water samples before people test positive. It’s also possible to identify the variants and even specific genetic mutations. Davida Smyth of Texas A&M University has been using this technique in New York and found intriguing results - forms of the virus not present in humans. The suggestion is that mutated forms may be infecting other animals, possibly those present in the sewers.
An analysis of long Covid, symptoms of fatigue, and ‘brain fog’ which occur long after initial infection, show that around a quarter of those infected develop these symptoms. Lucy Cheke of Cambridge University discusses the implications.
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of the region in supplying raw materials and energy to other countries, gas, cereal crops, and fertilisers in particular. As crop scientist John Hammond from Reading University explains, the stopping of fertiliser exports from Russia, in particular, could impact food security in many countries.
And with unseasonal fires already burning in the Western US Caroline Juang of Columbia University’s Earth Observatory gives us her analysis of the driving factors in the intensification of fires year-on-year.
(Image: USA, New York, steam coming out from sewer. Credit: Westend61/Getty Images)
Baby got Back Matter today as Dennis Duncan author of "Index, a History of The", holds forth on the surprisingly surprising story of the index. Plus, the President alleges War Crime, and March Madness' productivity costs are entirely fabricated, obviously ridiculous, and a mainstay of sports coverage.
