Month: March 2025

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Short Wave - What Scientists Got Wrong About COVID-19

Early in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists predicted the SARS-CoV-2 virus would mutate slowly. They were wrong. Hundreds of thousands of viral mutations and multiple seasonal waves later, we now know why. The answer changes researchers' understanding of viral evolution — and it could help predict the evolution of other viruses in the future. Emily talks about it all with Sarah Zhang, a health writer for The Atlantic.

Want to hear more virology or human biology stories? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - How specialization can lead to burn-out

Half of all workers are showing signs of burnout according to a survey of international workers. Burnout can come from feeling detached from your work's purpose, having too much work, or ... from specialization. Today on the show, we speak with Shigehiro Oishi, author of Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life.

Related episodes:
Is endless vacation a scam? (Apple / Spotify)
Why we work so much

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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 - A former Meta executive characterizes company leadership as “careless” in new memoir

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Meta executive, is now barred from discussing her criticism of the company. But before Meta gained an injunction against their former employee, she spoke with NPR's Steve Inskeep about her new memoir Careless People. The book charts Wynn-Williams' path from onetime Facebook megafan to Meta critic – and characterizes Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg as "careless" leaders comfortable cooperating with authoritarian regimes. In today's episode, Wynn-Williams and Inskeep discuss Meta's negotiations with China over censorship tools, Zuckerberg's relationship to President Trump, and alleged misconduct by Wynn-Williams' former boss, Joel Kaplan.

Editor's Note: Meta is a financial supporter of NPR.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - How Colleges Can Fight Back

The Trump administration is using federal money—and the withholding thereof—as a way to bring universities like Columbia and Penn to heel. But institutes of higher education have not yet begun to fight, and when they do, they’ve got strong legal arguments against incursions on their academic freedom.


Guest: Lee Bollinger, president emeritus, Columbia University



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


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It Could Happen Here - Rendition to El Salvador: How the Trump Administration Is Sending Asylum Seekers to Labor Camps

James and Gare discuss the rendition of 238 Venezuelan migrants to a prison labor camp in El Salvador.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Good Bad Billionaire - Sir James Dyson: Sucking up the cash

A blocked vacuum cleaner led to a billion-dollar idea for British inventor Sir James Dyson. After studying art, then reinventing the wheelbarrow, Dyson struck gold with his iconic bagless vacuum, but only after years of effort.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng take us back to the entrepreneur’s youth in post-War Norfolk and discover a childhood marked by tragedy. From his years as a jobless inventor, frustrated by existing technology, Dyson’s story is one of innovation, ambition and risk, with legal battles once leaving him on the verge of bankruptcy. But the engineer’s determination and obsession with perfection paid off, with his company now worth billions. The Dyson name has become synonymous not only with vacuum cleaners, but also fans, heaters, hand dryers and hairdryers. He’s even started his own engineering university. Simon and Zing look back at Dyson’s success story and find out how he made his fortune, before deciding if they think he’s good, bad, or just another billionaire.

Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast exploring the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad or just another billionaire?

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The Economics of Everyday Things - 85. Executive Recruiters

When a Fortune 500 company needs a new leader, it turns to a well-connected headhunter who assesses candidates with psychological tests and mock TV interviews. Zachary Crockett activates his network.  

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Julian Ha, partner at the executive recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles.
    • Jane Stevenson, global vice chair of board and CEO services at Korn Ferry.

 

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Chapo Trap House - 919 – Abruendance Agenda feat. Madinah Wilson-Anton & Matt Bruenig (3/24/25)

Delaware state rep Madinah Wilson-Anton returns to the show to brief us on Elon Musk’s attempts to rewrite the state laws of Delaware to help him secure a $50 billion+ compensation package. We discuss the “race to the bottom” in state business laws, and the new wave of assaults on basic legal legitimacy in pursuit of complete oligarchical control. Then, Matt Bruenig joins us to discuss the hot new word on all the wonks’ lips: ABUNDANCE. We review the Abundance Agenda, Matt gives us his takes on the policies, and we evaluate the Abundance potential as a viable organizing principle for the moribund Democratic party. Check out NLRB Edge, Matt’s labor law newsletter: https://www.nlrbedge.com/
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Consider This from NPR - How an obscure legal theory shaped the immunity decision and Trump’s second term

In Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the president has "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution" for official acts.

To reach that conclusion, the High Court grappled with this question: how much power a president should have?

And some legal scholars say the ruling draws on the unitary executive theory — which, in its most extreme interpretation, gives the president sole authority over the executive branch.

But did it pave the way for Trump's second term and the constitutional questions it's raised: From the dismantling of federal agencies established by Congress to the deportation migrants to third party countries without due process?

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