Most viruses that become epidemics in humans begin in other animals. It's how scientists suspect COVID-19 emerged. And now, less than five years after the start of the pandemic, some scientists are concerned about another disease that could do something similar: bird flu, or H5N1. Over the past year, the virus has spilled into cows and other animals — even infecting some people working closely with the animals. Some scientists hope to build a more resilient public health system by finding ways to detect and to track viruses as they spread in animals.
One team in New York City is doing this by tapping high school students from underrepresented backgrounds. Together, they create a more equitable field of biologists while they also sniff out what could be the next pandemic.
This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.
Want to know more about pandemic surveillance or virology? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!
In Richard Powers' new novel Playground, technology and the environment meet on the island of Makatea in French Polynesia. The book weaves stories together from across decades, but revolves around core themes like awe for the vastness of our oceans and the centrality of play in the story of human survival. In today's episode, Powers talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about some of the many inspirations behind Playground, including games, a book on coral reefs gifted to him by his sister, and Silicon Valley's obsession with seasteading.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
The federal indictment of Eric Adams is just the latest in a long line of embarrassing blow-ups, scandals, and unforced errors by the New York Democrats. Can they pull themselves together and deliver for the national party this time?
Guest: Ross Barkan, journalist, essayist, and contributing writer to many places, including Slate, the Nation, and the New York Times Magazine.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.
Americans have a responsibility to be civically engaged in their communities and when it comes to solving social challenges, faith-based communities have the best track record, according to Stacy Blakeley, the CEO of The Policy Circle.
During a study examining the foster care and refugee crises today, The Policy Circle, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging civic engagement, discovered that “faith-based groups [be they Christian, Jewish, or other] had a remarkable ability to solve for the social challenges in our communities,” Blakeley tells "The Daily Signal Podcast."
This begs the question, according to Blakeley, why are faith communities “so much more effective, for instance, than a government program?” That question led The Policy Circle to launch the Faith and Civic Life Initiative to explore the role religious organizations can, and should, play in addressing some of America’s greatest challenges.
The new initiatives kicks off Monday with an event at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Blakele joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share the unique mission and history of The Policy Circle and how Americans across the country can take part in the Faith and Civic Life Initiative.
As Boeing workers strike and airplanes are grounded for new and terrifying reasons, Mia looks back at how the shareholder revolution crushed Boeing's engineers.
Industrialist Aliko Dangote is known as a mild-mannered cement tycoon who often drives himself to business meetings. How did he become the world’s richest black person? Dangote rapidly dominated Nigeria’s cement, sugar, flour and fertiliser markets. He says his mission is to make Nigeria’s economy self-reliant, without requiring Western investment or imports. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng look back on Dangote’s life - from a childhood selling sweets in the playground to becoming a watchword for success in Nigeria. Then they decide if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.
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Making money in the stock image business requires a sharp eye for trends, a very specific type of model, and a race against A.I. Zachary Crockett takes his shot.
Historian Robert Caro's book "The Power Broker" details how urban planner Robert Moses reshaped New York through the roads and bridges he built, and the lives of the communities he destroyed.
It's a definitive account of how power is acquired, how it works and how it's wielded in this country.
That book, along with his four books on President Lyndon Johnson, have made Caro one of the most significant American authors of the last half century.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Historian Robert Caro's book "The Power Broker" details how urban planner Robert Moses reshaped New York through the roads and bridges he built, and the lives of the communities he destroyed.
It's a definitive account of how power is acquired, how it works and how it's wielded in this country.
That book, along with his four books on President Lyndon Johnson, have made Caro one of the most significant American authors of the last half century.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Historian Robert Caro's book "The Power Broker" details how urban planner Robert Moses reshaped New York through the roads and bridges he built, and the lives of the communities he destroyed.
It's a definitive account of how power is acquired, how it works and how it's wielded in this country.
That book, along with his four books on President Lyndon Johnson, have made Caro one of the most significant American authors of the last half century.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.