Month: February 2023

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The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling - Chapter 1: Plotted In Darkness

Host Megan Phelps-Roper writes a letter to J.K. Rowling—and receives a surprising invitation in reply: the opportunity for an intimate conversation in Rowling’s Scottish home.

Produced by Andy Mills, Matthew Boll, and Megan Phelps-Roper, with special thanks to Candace Mittel Kahn and Emily Yoffe.

This show is proudly sponsored by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE believes free speech makes free people. Learn more at thefire.org.


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Short Wave - The Fungal Science Behind HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’

The video game series that spawned the new hit HBO drama, The Last of Us, is the zombie genre with a twist. Instead of the standard viral pandemic or bacterial disease that's pushed humanity to the brink, but a fungus that has evolved to survive in human bodies in part due to climate change.

Short Wave's Aaron Scott talks with fungal researcher Asyia Gusa about the science that inspired The Last of Us and the real threats fungal researchers see in the ever-warming world.

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Call and Response’ is an ode to the women and girls of Botswana

Gothataone Moeng says she knows the characters in her collection of short stories, Call and Response. They bear similarities to her sisters, cousins, and aunties – but they're their own reflections of life, love, shame, expectations and joy in Gaborone and Serowe, Botswana. In today's episode, Moeng talks to NPR's Scott Simon about some of the different lessons her protagonists are learning, and how spending time back home in her village after a long time away reopened doors to a rhythm of life she'd almost forgotten about.
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It Could Happen Here - The Balloon Wars and US China Relations

Mia uses American balloon mania to talk about the material and political arc of US-China relations

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Read Me a Poem - “Not Only the Eskimos” by Lisel Mueller

Amanda Holmes reads Lisel Mueller’s poem “Not Only the Eskimos.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.

 

This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.


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Chapo Trap House - 708 – Sydney 9000 (2/20/23)

We give a slightly premature send-of to President Carter. Then, Nikki Haley enters the GOP primaries, WaPo ranks democratic primary possibilities, and MTG reveals she’s maybe the only congresswoman losing money on the job. Finally, we take a look at two journalists who are terrified at the possibility of being seduced & destroyed by Microsoft’s terrifying Bing AI.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Rebecca Makkai’s New Novel ‘I Have Some Questions For You’

Rebecca Makkai pulls from her own life to explore the country’s problematic obsession with true crime in her new novel. Reset talks with her about the intersection of cancel culture, systemic racism and the fetishization of the missing white woman in I Have Some Questions For You.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Voting Tips For Chicago’s Municipal Election

Early in-person voting and mail-in voting are underway for Chicago’s 2023 municipal elections. Whether you’ve dropped off your ballot or are waiting until election day on Feb. 28, we’ve got you covered. Reset breaks down voting options and voter turnout with Max Bever, director of public information at the Chicago Board of Elections.
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Consider This from NPR - Social Justice and Climate Justice: How One Environmental Leader Is Moving Forward

The Sierra Club has been at the forefront of the American environmental movement for decades. However, the group has also face criticism for racist and exclusionary attitudes embedded in some of its founding ideals.
The Sierra Club's new executive director, Ben Jealous, explains how he aims to advance the group's climate goals, while also reckoning with that past.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

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