Month: April 2025

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The Best One Yet - 🐣 Peeps: A Backroom Marshmallow Mystery

Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/


Roscoe Rodda was in the fight of his life. His candy factory was right down the road from Milton Hershey’s—yes, THAT Hershey’s—and he needed to set himself apart. So Roscoe embraced a single holiday to get the competitive confectionery edge: Easter. Chocolate eggs, jellybeans… and a secret treat painstakingly sculpted behind closed doors: a marshmallow chick with inquisitive waxy black eyes. These chicks circulated in obscurity until a Navy engineer-turned- candymaker molded them into a squishy, sugary phenomenon. (Today, 1.5 billion Peeps are eaten worldwide, just during Easter alone.) Find out how Peeps went from secretive snack to Easter GOAT—and why some people love ‘em, some hate ‘em, but everyone loves exploding them in the microwave. Here’s why Peeps are the best idea yet.


Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet for the untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — and the bold risk takers who made them go viral.


Episodes drop every Tuesday, listen here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/

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Short Wave - Good Vibrations: How Fiddler Crabs Mate

The male European fiddler crab attracts his mate by performing a courtship dance. New research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology says that dance isn't just notable for its visuals — it's notable for its vibrations, too.
Researchers observed four different stages of the crab's courtship dance, each stage escalating the amount of seismic vibrational output. "It's 'come and find me in my underground house, ladies,'" says Beth Mortimer, a study author and biologist at the University of Oxford.

Interested in more seismic vibration communication? Send us an email at shortwave@npr.org.

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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NPR's Book of the Day - Two new children’s books view the natural world as a site of personal growth

Two new picture books explore how the outside world can transform our relationships with our communities and ourselves. First, Kiese Laymon is out with a children's book about three Black boys who connect during a transformative summer in the South. With City Summer, Country Summer, Laymon says he wanted to explore the experience of getting lost as a kind of experimentation. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about his wish to write a book about the emotional tenderness of Black boys. Then, The Littlest Drop is Sascha Alper's debut children's book, based on a parable from the indigenous Quechua people of South America. Brian Pinkney took over illustrations for the project after his father, Jerry Pinkney, died in 2020. In today's episode, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe brings Alper and Brian Pinkney together in conversation. The author and illustrator discuss the collaboration between father and son and Alper's desire to broaden the story beyond the climate crisis.

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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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | The U.S. vs Meta

This week, the FTC and Meta began a trial to determine if—by adding Instagram and WhatsApp to its portfolio with Facebook over a decade ago—the company became a monopoly in social media. If Meta loses, it could be forced to split up, losing Instagram—and its substantial ad revenue.


Guest: Paresh Dave, senior writer at WIRED.


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1A - Game Mode: The Switch 2 And The Future Of Gaming

The successor to the Nintendo Switch is (almost) here. But it's arrived at an awkward time for both Nintendo and gamers alike.

The Switch 2 was initially announced in January, but fans learned much more about it during a Nintendo Direct livestream a few weeks ago. It included information about the system's launch date (June 5), its hardware specs, the games Nintendo fans could expect to play at release, and, perhaps most importantly, prices for both the Switch 2 and its games.

That last part has put a damper on some of the enthusiasm for the system's launch. It will retail for $449.99. The price of Nintendo's games is also climbing.

Nintendo is citing a rise in the cost of the console's production as well as economic uncertainties like President Donald Trump's tariffs as reasons for the price hikes.

We dig into the latest for this installment of our series, "Game Mode."

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

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What Could Go Right? - The Progress Report: Brazil Could Go Right!

In this episode of the Progress Report, Zachary Karabell and Emma Varvaloucas dig into some seriously overlooked good news. Brazil and South Korea have both pushed back against anti-democratic power grabs—and won. From Bolsonaro facing trial to South Korea's president getting the boot after a wild six-hour martial law stunt, democracy is holding its ground. Emma also pulls a gem from a dense World Bank report: more people than ever now have some form of social protection, like pensions or cash transfers. Plus, a surprising stat from Nepal shows extreme poverty has plummeted—though the story behind it is a bit complicated. It’s a reminder that while progress doesn’t always make headlines, it’s definitely happening.


What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.


For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org


Watch the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theprogressnetwork


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The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester - 179: The One with the Metrostar Distinguished Technical Fellow

Hannah Hunt, Distinguished Technical Fellow at MetroStar and former Chief of Product at the Army Software Factory joins the show to share how her government experience is now shaping her impact from the private sector. She also offered candid insights on software factory success metrics, the challenges of scaling innovation within bureaucracy, and how emerging technologies like generative AI can be aligned with mission needs. Finally, we unpacked lessons learned from standing up transformative programs inside the Department of Defense and the importance of storytelling, empathy, and data in delivering value to government customers.

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It Could Happen Here - Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #12

The gang talks about concentration camps in El Salvador, an ICE arrest of another green card holder, and RFK Jr.’s autism eugenics. Plus updates on tariffs and DOGE.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/investing/us-stock-market/index.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live/trump-tariffs-live-updates-china-signals-readiness-for-talks-if-us-shows-respect-amid-numbers-game-191201017.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-ensures-national-security-and-economic-resilience-through-section-232-actions-on-processed-critical-minerals-and-derivative-products/

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/16/temu-cuts-us-ad-spend-drops-in-app-store-rank-after-trump-tariffs-.html

https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-issues-export-licensing-requirements-nvidia-amd-chips-china-2025-04-16/

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/dispatch-border-wall 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/interior-department-transferring-federal-land-army-border-wall/story?id=65702870 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/military-mission-for-sealing-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states-and-repelling-invasions/

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy03j9vddlt?post=asset%3Aaff18753-80c9-4445-963e-03b9438ef121#post

https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/dhs-issues-waiver-expedite-new-border-wall-construction-california

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/08/2025-05992/determination-pursuant-to-section-102-of-the-illegal-immigration-reform-and-immigrant-responsibility

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