Month: May 2025

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Short Wave - What’s The Environmental Cost Of AI?

By 2028, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory forecasts that U.S. data centers could use as much as 12% of the nation's electricity. The reason: generative AI. Since 2022, AI innovation by four leading tech companies — Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon — has led to annual increases in both energy and water consumption. So, in this episode, Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong probes huge water footprint of AI. We begin with the rise of data centers, then look at how computers came to need so much water and, finally, what tech companies are doing to try to turn the ship around.

P.S. Part 2 talks about the leading solutions in the green AI movement. So don't miss our Friday episode!

Curious about tech and the environment? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Why do shrimpers like tariffs?

Many businesses are scared of what President Trump's tariffs will mean for their industry. However, the shrimping industry is one that doesn't seem to be worried. In fact, shrimpers say they welcome them. On today's episode, why shrimpers are embracing the tariffs and whether economists agree that this tariff is good for Americans.

Related episodes:
Tariffied! We check in on businesses (Apple / Spotify)
Go ask ALICE about grocery prices (Apple / Spotify)
What the cluck is happening with egg prices? (Apple / Spotify)

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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 - The new novel ‘Fair Play’ is a self-aware take on the golden age of detective fiction

In the new novel Fair Play, Abigail is hosting a murder mystery party at an Irish country house on New Year's Eve. She's also in deep mourning for her brother. The story's opening reads as a typical setup for a crime novel. But Irish author Louise Hegarty's debut novel honors the golden age of detective fiction while simultaneously turning the genre on its head. In today's episode, Hegarty joins NPR's Ayesha Rascoe for a conversation that touches on Fair Play's meta elements, as well as its atypical relationship to grief.

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 - The Arts of the Deal

How Donald Trump is attempting to shape the arts to his own liking, from installing himself as head of the Kennedy Center to canceling grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, throwing organizations and projects of all sizes into uncertainty and chaos.

Guests:

Alisa Solomon, director of the Arts & Culture concentration at the Columbia Journalism School

Katy Waldman, staff writer for the New Yorker.

 

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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


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What Could Go Right? - The Supreme Court vs. Donald Trump with Stephen Vladeck

It’s time for a lesson on the U.S. Supreme Court. Zachary and Emma speak with Stephen Vladeck, CNN's Supreme Court analyst, law professor at the University of Texas, and author of the newsletter One First. The Supreme Court is at a crucial historical moment as it clashes with the Trump Administration. Stephen, Zachary, and Emma dive into the controversy around Trump’s emergency powers, the judicial pushback against presidential overreach, and the pivotal role of balance among the branches of federal government. Stephen highlights tariffs, immigration, and the nerdy nature of legal battles.


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


And follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk

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This Machine Kills - Patreon Preview – 404. The Parasites that Control Pharmaceutical Prices

We take a deep dive into the lesser-known industry of “pharmacy benefits managers” (PBMs) which are parasitical companies that sit in the middle of the incredibly consolidated and vertically integrated market of pharmaceuticals <=> hospitals <=> insurers <=> pharmacy benefits managers <=> pharmacies. Through the simple administrative business of making lists of drugs and networks of pharmacies, PBMs have managed to carve out a multi-billion dollar rent-seeking industry premised on controlling (and jacking up) how much drugs cost and where you can get them—and extracting as much money as possible from people who need those drugs. ••• Timeline of FTC lawsuit against PBMs and relevant documents: https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/221-0114-caremark-rx-zinc-health-services-et-al-matter-insulin ••• Concurring Statement of Commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Ferguson-Statement-Pharmacy-Benefit-Managers-Report.pdf ••• Market Power and Inequality: The Antitrust Counterrevolution and Its Discontents | Lina Khan and Sandeep Vaheesan https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2790/ ••• Inside the Mafia of Pharma Pricing | Matt Stoller https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/inside-the-mafia-of-pharma-pricing ••• A brief look at current debates about pharmacy benefit managers https://www.brookings.edu/articles/a-brief-look-at-current-debates-about-pharmacy-benefit-managers/ Standing Plugs: ••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite ••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble ••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
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It Could Happen Here - Trump vs. DC: Inside the Takeover You’re Not Hearing About feat. Bridget Todd

Just over 100 days into Trump’s second term, the damage in Washington, DC is already undeniable. From threatening local autonomy to J-6 insurrectionists getting off the hook, the nation's capital is under siege. 

Guest co-host Bridget Todd, host of There Are No Girls On The Internet, joins Weird Little Guys’ Molly Conger to break down what’s happening in DC—and why the rest of the country can’t afford to look away.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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