Month: January 2025

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Opening Arguments - The Vacancies Act – How Trump Has Used and Abused It, and Might Again

Brought to you by Trade Coffee! Get up to 3 bags free with any new Trade subscription at drinktrade.com/OA

OA1117 - As Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees continue to work their way through the confirmation process, we welcome Stanford Law professor Anne Joseph O’Connell to learn more about one of the most important legal protections we have against a fully imperial presidency. Professor O’Connell is one of the leading academic experts on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the legislation which Trump may or may not have intentionally circumvented in his last term to install acting heads of departments which would otherwise require Senate confirmation, and provides some essential background and context for what we might expect in his second term as his appointments continue to work their way through the confirmation process. Also covered: getting fired by Trump, defending pandas in court, Aileen Cannon and Clarence Thomas’s fringe theory about the unconstitutionality of special counsels, and what Professor O’Connell learned from her time clerking for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 

Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!

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Short Wave - Moths, Owls And Fungi With Over 20,000 Sexes…Oh My!

Put on your headphones. In today's episode, host Emily Kwong leads us on a night hike in Patuxent River State Park in Maryland. Alongside a group of naturalists led by Serenella Linares, we'll meet a variety of species with unique survival quirks and wintertime adaptations. We'll search out lichen that change color under UV light and flip over a wet log to track a salamander keeping warm under wet leaves. Emily may even meet the bioluminescent mushrooms of her dreams. Plus, we talk about community events to get outside, such as the City Nature Challenge and Great American Campout.

Do you have a question about changes in your local environment? Email a recording of your question to shortwave@npr.org — we may investigate it as part of an upcoming Short Wave segment!

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - How GoFundMe can affect your FEMA eligibility

With the LA wildfires still burning, we were left with a lot of questions. Today, we answer two of them: whether GoFundMe campaigns could interfere with receiving federal assistance and how much of those "proceeds" from special product sales actually go to wildfire victims.

Related episodes:
After the fires (Apple / Spotify)
Why is insurance so expensive right now? And more listener questions (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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NPR's Book of the Day - Han Kang’s latest novel ‘We Do Not Part’ deals with hidden chapters of Korean history

In this interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Han Kang says the idea for her latest novel came to her in a snowy, haunting dream. The Nobel Prize-winning author's We Do Not Part is itself dreamlike. The novel follows narrator Kyungha as she tries to rescue a friend's beloved pet bird in the midst of a snowstorm that has hit South Korea's Jeju Island. As the story goes on, Kyungha is confronted with the taboo, hidden history of a 1948 massacre that took place on the island. In today's episode, Simon and Han discuss how censorship by the South Korean government contributed to the obfuscation of that violent history, as well as the author's interest in finding lightness in themes like animals and snow.

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

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Tech Won't Save Us - Patreon Preview: Do We Live in a Simulation? w/ Émile P. Torres

Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Émile P. Torres, a postdoctoral researcher at Case Western University. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Trump’s Gift to Militias

Between Trump’s broad pardon for January 6 rioters and Facebook loosening restrictions on its platforms, it’s looking much easier for militia groups like the Oathkeepers and Proud Boys to recruit members, organize, and carry out violence.


Guest: Josh Kaplan, reporter for ProPublica.


Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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It Could Happen Here - The Decline and Fall of the American Post Office

Mia talks with Bad Mouth, a letter carrier and organizer, and Tommy Espinoza, a former union steward, about the new awful Post Office union contract and the campaign to privatize the Post Office through sabotaging service.

Sources:

https://www.nalc.org

https://www.fightingnalc.com

https://concernedlettercarriers.com

https://www.nalc.org/member-benefits/nalc-disaster-relief-foundation 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Economics of Everyday Things - 78. Porta-Potties

They're not always the nicest places to go — but for their owners, portable toilets are a lucrative revenue stream. Zachary Crockett lifts the lid.

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Ron Inman, vice president of Honey Bucket
    • Veronica Crosier, executive director of Portable Sanitation Association International