Month: March 2025

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Short Wave - Could ‘Severance’ Become Our Reality?

What if we had the ultimate work-life balance? This fundamental question underlies the hit Apple TV+ show Severance – now in its second season. Ahead of the season 2 finale this Friday, producer Rachel Carlson sat down with the science consultant for the series, Dr. Vijay Agarwal. Vijay says the concept is "resoundingly" possible – and that scientists are closer than we might think.

More questions about the intersections of pop culture and science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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NPR's Book of the Day - A new novel from Karen Russell is a sprawling story set during the Dust Bowl

The Antidote opens on what seems like an ordinary Sunday in a fictional town in 1930s Nebraska. But by 3 p.m., apocalyptic clouds cover the sun and make the afternoon look like midnight. Karen Russell's latest novel is set during the Dust Bowl – a period when poor farming practices and drought led to a wave of severe and damaging dust storms. In this bleak setting, we're introduced to a cast of characters, including a woman who stores other people's memories and a photographer tasked with documenting the crisis. In today's episode, Russell speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the inspiration behind The Antitode's core characters, including the work of photographer Gordon Parks and an image that came to Russell as she finished her first novel.

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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The Indicator from Planet Money - Why is the federal government still killing coyotes?

The federal government spends millions of dollars each year on wildlife damage management, a program that includes killing thousands of coyotes. Yet this program may actually have the opposite effect on the coyote's population. Today on the show, why the government keeps spending money on a problem it can't fix.

Related episodes:
Shooting Bambi to save Mother Nature

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

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Democrats Had a Rare Opportunity. They Blinked.

Last week, Democrats averted a government shutdown—by voting for a MAGA-friendly Continuing Resolution, which may have just handed even greater power to Trump. Why?


Guest: Josh Marshall, editor-in-chief of Talking Points Memo



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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 - Understanding Rojava’s Tishrin Dam Resistance

In an episode recorded before the agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF, James talks with Jenni Keasden (@jkeasden) about the situation in Rojava and the resistance at Tishrin Dam. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Motley Fool Money - Pepsi, Poppi, and the Creosote Bush

To stay on top, the consumer giants need a player in every potential market.


(00:21) David Meier and Dylan Lewis discuss:


- February retail numbers showing continued consumer struggles, and why this upcoming retail earnings season will be a key read on the economy.

- Pepsi’s $2B acquisition of alt-soda Poppi, the venture capital-style of trend investing for consumer brands, and how Coke and Pepsi need to keep absorbing the next potential big thing.


(13:55) It’s no secret that a lot of investors have high hopes about the future of artificial intelligence. But how do genuine experts, people who have been studying AI and machine learning long before it entered the mainstream, feel about the future of the field?


Motley Fool analysts Andy Cross and Asit Sharma talk with Oren Etzioni, an AI Expert and Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, about the current and future states of artificial intelligence.


Check out Fool24 on TMF’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@MotleyFool


And Motley Fool members can get the replay here: https://www.fool.com/premium/4056/coverage/2025/03/06/ai-expert-dr-oren-etzioni-interview-3625-3pm


Companies discussed: DG, WMT, PEP, KO.


Host: Dylan Lewis

Guests: David Meier, Andy Cross, Asit Sharma, Oren Etzioni

Producer: Mary Long

Engineers: Dan Boyd

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Good Bad Billionaire - Martha Stewart: The original lifestyle influencer

Martha Stewart revolutionised home entertaining with her recipes, home decor and TV shows, becoming one of the world's most successful women in business. Known as the ultimate homemaker and the "original lifestyle influencer", she's also the USA’s first ever self-made female billionaire. But while the entrepreneur made her fortune as a domestic goddess, Martha Stewart is no trad wife. It took more than crafts and cookbooks to make her fortune. And then it all came crashing down.

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng are back with a new season of Good Bad Billionaire. In this episode, they're exploring the life of Martha Stewart, charting the lifestyle mogul’s career, from her influence over millions of American homes, to her time in prison, and her ultimate comeback – as a star of social media and the subject of a Netflix documentary, all with Snoop Dogg at her side. Then they decide if they think she’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 - 84. Mall Cops

Security guards make malls feel safer, but what can they do when there’s trouble? Zachary Crockett observes and reports.

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Gus Parsons, mall cop in the San Diego area.
    • David Levenberg, owner of Center Security Services.

 

 

 

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Chapo Trap House - 917 – Touchdown Tim Chitters feat. D.J. Byrnes & Eephus (3/17/25)

D.J. Byrnes of Ohio’s independent news outlet The Rooster returns to the show. We look at constituent outrage at elected officials, D.J.’s sojourn to DC, Cleveland’s $2.5 Billion stadium debacle, and D.J. relates an incredible story of bamboozling Vivek Ramaswamy. Then, Eephus director Carson Lund and writer & star Nate Fisher join Will to discuss the film, its inspirations, how they went about shooting it, Meat Raffles, and some of their all-time favorite Baseball Guys. Find D.J.’s chronicle of Ohio depravity at the Rooster: https://www.rooster.info/ Find showtimes for Eephus @ https://www.eephusfilm.com/