We hear about the freedom and independence a visually impaired man found by running with an AI guide. Also: South Africa's hospital train; an usual diplomatic job share; and the dog whose love of binmen has gone viral.
Presenter: Jackie Leonard. Music composed by Iona Hampson
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Quickie with Steve: Minimoon; News Items: Dead Internet Theory, Classroom CRISPR, CAM Market, ADHD Increasing; Who's That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: Changing Names, Net Metering and Residential Solar; Science or Fiction
Steve Slagg is no stranger to Chicago’s queer and DIY music scene. You can often find him playing the keys in local indie-rock band Mooner.
But now, Slagg is taking the lead as the front person in his latest album I Don't Want to Get Adjusted to This World. In it, Slagg explores themes of queerness, spirituality and nature. He stops by Reset for more about his musical journey.
For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
The Secret Police and the Soviet System: New Archival Investigations (U Pittsburgh Press, 2023) compiles an array of recent scholarship that draws on newly available archival evidence. This interview with the book's editor, Dr. Michael David-Fox, summarizes what these new findings add up to, and highlights specific arguments made by the collection's authors. While Russian archives are presently difficult to access, Ukrainian archives have proved to contain a trove of information about the Soviet-era secret police. The authors in this collection have broken much new interpretive ground, and the essays are universally engaging and provocative.
About the book: Even more than thirty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the role of the secret police in shaping culture and society in communist USSR has been difficult to study, and defies our complete understanding. In the last decade, the opening of non-Russian KGB archives, notably in Ukraine after 2015, has allowed scholars to explore state security organizations in ways not previously possible. Moving beyond well-known cases of high-profile espionage and repression, this study is the first to showcase research from a wide range of secret police archives in former Soviet republics and the countries of the former Soviet bloc—some of which are rapidly closing or becoming inaccessible once again. Rather than focusing on Soviet leadership, The Secret Police and the Soviet System integrates the secret police into studies of information, technology, economics, art, and ideology. The result is a state-of-the-art portrait of one of the world’s most notorious institutions, the legacies of which are directly relevant for understanding Vladimir Putin’s Russia today.
Aaron Weinacht is Professor of History at the University of Montana Western, in Dillon, MT. He teaches courses on Russian and Soviet History, World History, and Philosophy of History. His research interests include the sociological theorist Philip Rieff and the influence of Russian nihilism on American libertarianism.
For decades, the nation of Ethiopia has dreamed of creating a damn on the Blue Nile River.
Such a dam would provide an enormous amount of electricity for a country that is one of the lowest electricity consumers in the world. Such a project would be a massive undertaking and it would also bring a great deal of prestige to the country.
What was once a dream began to become a reality in the 21st century, and today is producing energy for the country. However, the project has also caused problems with many of its neighbors.
Learn more about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, how it was built as well as how it has impacted the country and its neighbors, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Kamala has offered very few details on her climate and energy plans while openly promoting American fossil fuel production. Yet a lot of climate and environmental groups seem to adore her. What’s going on here?! Max and Erin explain how, even though Harris might sound pretty moderate on the campaign trail, Biden has actually tilted the energy economy so heavily that she’s set up for success. What’s Harris’ strategy in showcasing fracking? How can she weild the Supreme Court in her favor? And, at this point, is just being “good” on climate change really enough?
With Election Day just about a month-and-a-half away, both presidential candidates are focusing on turning out the vote. But what kinds of voter registration trends are we seeing during this unprecedented election cycle? What people and events caused spikes in voter registrations – and what does that really mean for Election Day?
TargetSmart Senior Adviser Tom Bonier joins me to break down what he’s seeing in this year’s registration data – from what’s surprised him most, to the impact of Taylor Swift’s endorsement, to what he’s watching for next...
On this month’s edition of Gabfest Reads, Political Gabfest host David Plotz talks with author Elizabeth Strout about her new book, Tell Me Everything. They discuss how Strout conceives of interconnected stories and characters across her work, including the return of beloved characters like Olive Kitteridge. They also dig into the importance of listening and the ways ordinary lives can be extraordinary.
Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Chief Justice John Roberts has been labeled by some as the serious centrist at the court, and he seemed to embrace and internalize that. But the New York Times’ revelations about behind-the-scenes maneuvers favoring Trump in last term's insurrection cases shattered that illusion once and for all. The Chief’s stance in these cases surprised the Roberts-as-twinkly-eyed-institutionalist brigade, but did not, apparently, shock this week’s guest, Linda Greenhouse. Greenhouse was the New York Times Supreme Court correspondent for 30 years, and is the author of Justice on the Brink: A Requiem for the Supreme Court.
As we head into another pivotal Supreme Court term, Dahlia Lithwick and Greenhouse turn their expert SCOTUS watching lens on how the High Court got so leaky, why the Chief was so unprepared for the public backlash to his decision in the immunity case, and whether the Chief is so much Team Trump that we should worry about the election cases inevitably headed his way.
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and weekly extended episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.
Hey, Short Wavers! Today we're sharing an excerpt of the new NPR podcast How To Do Everything.
How To Do Everything is half advice show, half survival guide, and half absurdity-fest — and it's not made by anyone who understands math. In fact, it comes from the same team that brings you NPR's news quiz Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!
We think you'll like their vibe, and we especially think you'll like this excerpt from their recent episode. It features astronaut Frank Rubio, who holds the record for the longest time spent in space. How To Do Everything hosts Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag ask what advice he has for two NASA astronauts whose mission to the International Space Station was recently extended by ... a lot of time. Listen to find out how astronauts do laundry in space, get a haircut and blow out birthday candles.
For more episodes of How To Do Everything, follow the show on Apple or Spotify.
How To Do Everything is available without sponsor messages for supporters of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me+, who also get bonus episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me featuring exclusive games, behind-the-scenes content, and more. Sign up and support NPR at plus.npr.org.