Short Wave - A Surprising Culprit of Food Allergies

Food allergies have risen in the United States over the last few decades. Research suggests that 40 years ago the prevalence of food allergies was less than 1%. But today that number is closer to 6%. But this trend is not present in all countries — and what people are allergic to varies globally. Today, we dive into the complex world of food allergies with Dr. Waheeda Samady. She's the director of clinical research at Northwestern University's Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research.

Have a food science question? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Should “surveillance pricing” be banned?

When you walk into a store, you're probably used to seeing price tags on things, saying what they cost. 

But when you shop online, there is no price tag. There's just the price you see on screen. What if companies use your online data — like your location and browsing history — to charge you more than somebody else … or maybe less?

Today on the show: Surveillance pricing vs. personalized pricing. 

Related episodes: 

Is dynamic pricing coming to a supermarket near you?

Wendy's pricing mind trick and other indicators of the week

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 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 - ‘Beyond Fast’ chronicles one coach’s unlikely revolution in high school cross-country

When Sean Brosnan started coaching the Newbury Park High School cross-country team, the school hadn't qualified for a state championship in 25 years. But within just three years, they were state champions. Now, the coach has written a memoir with Chris Lear and Andrew Greif called Beyond Fast: How A Renegade Coach And His Unlikely High School Team Revolutionized Distance Running. In today’s episode, he talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about what it meant to ask his runners for total commitment.


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Consider This from NPR - One of ICE’s biggest detention facilities is plagued by problems

The Trump administration is moving fast on a plan to create several holding centers around the country for people detained in a nationwide immigration crackdown. One facility in particular has been rife with problems.


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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Jeffrey Pierre. With audio engineering by Hannah Gluvna. It was edited by John Ketchum and William Troop. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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State of the World from NPR - Some Major Western Countries Announce the Recognition of a Palestinian State

Over the last few days, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France and others recognized Palestine as a sovereign state. It’s a recognition Palestinians have been seeking for decades and that Israel says is a gift to Hamas. We get reaction from residents of the Occupied West Bank and from the U.N. General Assembly which is underway in New York.

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1A - ‘If You Can Keep It’: The Fight Over Funding The Government

It happens every year — sometimes even more frequently than that.


A fight is brewing over funding the government before a deadline at the end of September. On Friday, Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, passed a stop-gap measure to fund the government through Nov. 21.


This is all happening against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s summer of immigration raids, the deployment of the National Guard to Washington D.C., and the claw back of approved federal funding.


In this installment of 1A‘s weekly politics series, we talk about how this month’s government funding fight could turn into a shutdown, and what Democrats could demand in exchange for keeping the government open.

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Up First from NPR - Charlie Kirk Memorial, Trump Pressures DOJ, Palestinian State Recognition

President Trump and top officials turned Charlie Kirk’s memorial into both a tribute and a political rally, with Trump calling him a martyr and vowing to continue his fight. The president is also pressuring Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions of his political enemies, while forcing out a U.S. attorney who resisted. And several countries just recognized Palestine as a sovereign state, but in the West Bank many Palestinians say recognition without change on the ground means little.

Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Krishnadev Calamur, Kevin Drew, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.

It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ana Perez and Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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Short Wave - Should You Try Red-Light Therapy?

The anti-aging product market was worth roughly 53 BILLION dollars in 2024. One of the latest big trends: red light therapy. Social media is rampant with claims about all sorts of purported health benefits to using directed red light regularly … but does the research really live up to all the hype?


For answers, we turn to cosmetic chemist and science communicator Michelle Wong. Together, she and host Regina G. Barber sift through the thin (albeit growing) research on red light therapy to find out which claims are clearly backed by the literature – and which still need a bit more experimental data. 


Interested in more science behind skincare products? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.


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NPR's Book of the Day - In his new novel ‘The Secret of Secrets,’ Dan Brown takes on human consciousness

Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, is out with his sixth book starring fictional Harvard professor Robert Langdon. In The Secret of Secrets, Langdon is dragged out of his comfort zone by a noetic scientist and finds reality is much stranger than he once imagined. In today’s episode, Brown joins NPR’s Scott Detrow for a conversation about how the author’s perspective on human consciousness shifted over the course of writing his latest novel.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Can LA host a ‘car-free’ Olympics?

Los Angeles is synonymous with car culture. But now that it's hosting the 2028 Olympics, could that be changing? On today's show, LA's public transit building bonanza, and why some worry the new infrastructure will benefit tourists more than locals. 

Related episodes:
Why the Olympics cost so much 
Why building public transit in the US costs so much 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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