If you’ve done your share of flying, you are probably familiar with the three-letter airport codes which identify every commercial airport in the world.
Airports like DFW, LGA, and HOU are easy to figure out. However, why is there an X in LAX? How did Washington Dulles wind up with IAD? And what is the deal with almost every airport code in Canada?
Learn more about airport codes and the weird logic behind them on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
A young philosopher and Guinness World Record holder in pull-ups argues that the key to happiness is not goal-driven striving but forging a life that integrates self-possession, friendship, and engagement with nature.
What is the meaning of the good life? In Happiness in Action: A Philosopher's Guide to the Good Life (Harvard UP, 2022), Adam Adatto Sandel draws on ancient and modern thinkers and on two seemingly disparate pursuits of his own, philosophy and fitness, to offer a surprising answer to this age-old human question.
Sandel argues that finding fulfillment is not about attaining happiness, conceived as a state of mind, or even about accomplishing one’s greatest goals. Instead, true happiness comes from immersing oneself in activity that is intrinsically rewarding. The source of meaning, he suggests, derives from the integrity or “wholeness” of self that we forge throughout the journey of life.
At the heart of Sandel’s account of life as a journey are three virtues that get displaced and distorted by our goal-oriented striving: self-possession, friendship, and engagement with nature. Sandel offers illuminating and counterintuitive accounts of these virtues, revealing how they are essential to a happiness that lasts.
To illustrate the struggle of living up to these virtues, Sandel looks to literature, film, and television, and also to his own commitments and adventures. A focal point of his personal narrative is a passion that, at first glance, is as narrow a goal-oriented pursuit as one can imagine: training to set the Guinness World Record for Most Pull-Ups in One Minute. Drawing on his own experiences, Sandel makes philosophy accessible for readers who, in their own infinitely various ways, struggle with the tension between goal-oriented striving and the embrace of life as a journey.
Adam Adatto Sandel is a philosopher, Guinness World Record holder for Most Pull-Ups in One Minute, and an award-winning teacher. Author of the critically acclaimed book The Place of Prejudice: A Case for Reasoning within the World, Sandel has taught at Harvard University and is currently an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn.
Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O’Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics, found at https://fifteenminutefilm.podb... and on Twitter @15MinFilm.
Greg Marchildon interviews Molly P. Rozum, the author of Grasslands Grown: Creating Place on the U.S. Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies (U of Nebraska P & U of Manitoba P, 2021). Molly Rozum is currently the Ronald R. Nelson Chair of Great Plains and South Dakota History at the University of South Dakota. She received her PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked on the history of this transnational region throughout her career. Although she grew up and was educated in the United States, she has spent time in Canada as a visiting professor and researcher. In this book, Rozum explores how the northern grasslands in North America were perceived by second and third generations of those who settled in the region to live, work, farm and ranch, including their relationship with the Indigenous peoples.
This interview was produced with the support of The Champlain Society. The mission of The Champlain Society is to increase public awareness of, and accessibility to, Canada’s rich store of historical records.
Gregory P. Marchildon is the Ontario Research Chair in Health Policy and System Design with the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
What to know about President Biden’s trip to Florida to survey the damage from Hurricane Ian, and the show of unity between political rivals while he was there.
Also: we’ll explain the new court ruling about the decade-only DACA program, and what it means for hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
Plus: a settlement for the deadly shooting on a movie set, how Ukraine is trying to host the world’s biggest soccer tournament, and the two reasons a SpaceX launch is historic…
Those stories and more news to know in around 10 minutes!
President Biden visited Florida on Wednesday to survey the damage from Hurricane Ian, which has left at least 100 people dead in that state. So far, many of those victims are older adults. Dr. Sue Ann Bell, a disaster researcher at the University of Michigan, tells us why older people are especially vulnerable during natural disasters.
The OPEC Plus coalition, led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, said it will cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day, which is expected to push energy prices higher around the world. The move would benefit Russia, and help finance its war against Ukraine.
And in headlines: anti-government protests in Iran entered a third week, actor Alec Baldwin agreed to settle with the family of Halyna Hutchins, and longtime lesbian icon Velma Hinkley comes out in the latest Scooby Doo movie.
Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
The Supreme Court is back. The nine justices will be hearing several blockbuster cases this term and weighing in on everything from affirmative action to election districts, and even a case that involves Californian’s access to bacon.
“Last term was certainly a very big term with big cases,” Zack Smith, Heritage Foundation legal fellow, says, adding he suspects this “term will shape up to be an equally as important term in many ways.”
Smith and GianCarlo Canaparo, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow, join the show to discuss the big Supreme Court cases to watch this term.
Paris Marx is joined by Adrienne Buller to discuss how the tech and finance industries are selling us false solutions to the climate crisis that are designed for their own benefit.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Adrienne originally wrote about the problem with the finance industry’s approach to climate change for Novara Media. She recently wrote about the failure of green capitalism for the Guardian and the power BlackRock wields for Jacobin.
Common Wealth recently produced a report on Asset Management Capitalism.
Elon Musk called ESG a scam after Tesla was booted from the S&P 500’s ESG fund.
With the war turning towards Ukraine’s favor, Vladimir Putin is becoming more isolated and more dangerous. Can Ukrainians expel the Russians—or the Russians expel Putin—while avoiding the worst-case scenario?
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Scorpions: They're found pretty much everywhere, and new species are being identified all the time. Arachnologist Lauren Esposito says there's a lot to love about this oft-misunderstood creature. Most are harmless — they can't even jump — and they play a critical role in their diverse ecosystems as a top invertebrate predator.
Want to hear us talk about other newly identified animal species? We'd love to know! We're at @NPRShortWave on Twitter, and our email is shortwave@npr.org.
