Month: June 2025

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NPR's Book of the Day - As prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern juggled leadership and motherhood

In 2017, Jacinda Ardern was sitting in a bathroom waiting to learn two things: whether she was going to be the prime minister of New Zealand – and whether she was pregnant. Ardern became only the second person in history to give birth while holding elected office at the top of government. And as prime minister, she had few people to turn to for advice on balancing the challenges of motherhood with leading a country. In today's episode, Ardern joins NPR's Mary Louise Kelly for a conversation about her new memoir A Different Kind of Power. They discuss what it was like to be a young woman running a country, the way Ardern has experienced parental guilt inside and outside of her political career, and how she knew when it was time to leave office.

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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Short Wave - Why Weed’s Signature Scent Has Changed Over Time

The skunky smell of cannabis may be going out of style. NPR's science correspondent Pien Huang visited the grow facility for District Cannabis, which sells weed in Washington D.C. and Maryland. On her tour, she learned why cannabis smells the way it does. Plus, how many strains have been bred — to smells like lavender, citrus and even cookies.

Read more of science correspondent Pien Huang's reporting on this topic here, or check out the entire special series, "How safe is your weed?"

Questions about the science behind the mysteries, events and... smells... all around us? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - The secret to Nintendo’s success

Nintendo has been a titan in the video game industry for decades, but that wasn't always the case. At its very core, Nintendo sees itself as a toy company which is evident in its products from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the Nintendo Switch 2.

Today on the show, we explore Nintendo's history and examine how a small playing card company in Japan became a multimedia giant.

Related episodes:
Forever games: the economics of the live service model
Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible
The boom and bust of esports
Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees
Video Game Industry Week: The Final Level

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Vaccine Skeptics Just Scored a Big Win

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, accusing members of serving industry interests and never recommending against a vaccine. Their role, however, was advising on usage for vaccines that the FDA already approved. 

As RFK Jr. restaffs the committee with his own “nonpartisan” members, where does that leave vaccines and the state of American health?

Guest: Noel Brewer, Gillings Distinguished Professor in Public Health at the University of North Carolina.

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


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The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester - 186: The One with the Global National Security Experts

Dr. David Bray, Former Chief Information Officer of the Federal Communications Commission and CEO at Lead Do Adapt Ventures, and the Honorable Ellen McCarthy, former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research join the show for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the evolving landscape of data, digital trust, and national security. We unpack how the explosion of connected devices, AI-generated content, and synthetic data is reshaping decision-making, security, and public trust at every level of government and society and explore challenges from authenticating digital content to decentralizing emergency response, and the urgent need to empower individuals and local communities in the face of complex, rapidly changing information ecosystems.

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It Could Happen Here - Anti-Vax America: Viral Texas

The viral measles outbreak that began in West Texas has taken the lives of two children and one adult, and has reached over eight hundred cases, with thousands potentially exposed to the disease. This episode serves as a deep dive into the outbreak, when it started, how it spread, and will set the stage for the remaining four episodes.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/05/20/measles-updates-texas-cases-pass-700-as-illness-reported-in-30-states/

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-measles-outbreak-in-west-texas-and-beyond

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2025/03/24/data-these-charts-show-how-measles-vaccination-rates-declined-in-texas-public-schools/ 

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2025/03/24/too-good-for-this-earth-parents-of-child-who-died-in-measles-outbreak-say-no-to-vaccine/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/measles-outbreak-texas-11682808 

https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8828106/

https://www.latimes.com/newsletters/la-me-ln-essential-california-20190507-story.html 

https://slate.com/technology/2025/04/measles-cases-epidemic-worst-case-vaccine.html 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/rfk-jr-plandemic-funding-1235173801/

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The Economics of Everyday Things - 96. School Buses

Districts across the country are facing shortages of school bus drivers. Can technology help? Zachary Crockett takes a seat in the back.

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Keith Corso, co-founder and CEO of BusRight.
    • Marc Medina, transportation supervisor for the Farmingdale School District in Long Island.
    • Jada Melendez, school bus driver in Burlington County, New Jersey.