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The Indicator from Planet Money - Bitcoin miners are betting on AI over crypto

If you want to make Bitcoin, you need powerful computers and a lot of energy. Well, it turns out the same infrastructure needed for Bitcoin mining is pretty valuable in the era of AI. Today on the show, why some miners are starting to throw in the towel on crypto in favor of supporting AI infrastructure. 

Related episodes: 
Whose financing Meta’s massive AI Data Center?
This indicator hasn’t flashed this red since the dot-com bubble
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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Planet Money - Strange threadfellows: How the U.S. military shaped what we all wear

From nuclear fission to GPS to the internet, it’s common knowledge that many of the most resource intensive technologies of the last century got their start as military R&D projects in government-funded labs. But as Avery Trufelman explains in her fashion history podcast, Articles of Interest, the influence of the US military is, in many ways, even more intimate than that, shaping much of the clothing we all wear everyday. 

On today’s show, a tale of Army surplus economics. How military designs trickled down from the soldiers on the front lines to the hippies on the war protest line to the yuppies in line at Banana Republic. And why some of your favorite outdoor brands may just be moonlighting as U.S. military suppliers, while keeping it as under the radar as they can.

Pre-order the Planet Money book and get a free gift. / Subscribe to Planet Money+

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This episode of Planet Money was produced by Luis Gallo, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Yasmine Alsayyad, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

Articles of Interest is produced by Avery Trufelman, edited by Alison Beringer, fact checked by Yasmine Alsayyad, and engineered by Jocelyn Gonzalez.

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NPR's Book of the Day - In ‘The Unveiling,’ a disastrous cruise becomes an opportunity for cultural reckoning

Even if you’re scared of cruise ships, don’t turn away from Quan Barry’s The Unveiling. When film scout and photographer Striker boards an Antarctic cruise in search of locations for a new biopic, things start to go wrong — lots of things. But there’s much to learn from Barry’s quirky cast of characters, with a tech billionaire and a blended queer family among them. In today’s episode, Barry talks with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about the power of discovery on and off the ship, and the process of crafting a novel without a single chapter break.

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 - How Replaceable Are You?

In the 1970’s TV show called Six Million Dollar Man, a test pilot is in a horrible accident. The show’s famous line goes, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology.” Now, in the 2025 book, Replaceable You, science writer Mary Roach explores how people have collectively lived up to the task of rebuilding human bodies when they fail, as well as all the ways we may not quite be there yet. In this episode Regina G. Barber and Mary Roach discuss three chapters of the book, get into everything from iron lungs to private parts and try to answer the question, “How replaceable are you?”


Interested in more science behind the human body? Check out our episodes on synthetic cells and the first pig kidney transplant. Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.


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Consider This from NPR - View from Venezuela

Venezuela dominates the headlines, but very little attention is paid to what life is like inside the country.


In September, the Trump administration began a series of strikes targeting what U.S. officials call "narcoterrorists" in small vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. 

Those strikes are ongoing and have killed more than 80 people. Then, in October, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

She's been in hiding since last year, when Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in an election widely seen as fraudulent.

Machado is expected to receive her award on Wednesday, in Oslo. And if she does, she might not be let back into her country. 

Machado, who supports the Trump administration’s campaign in the region, says the end of the Maduro regime is imminent.

While the world is focused on Oslo and María Corina Machado's Nobel Peace Prize. We wanted to get the view from inside her country. We speak with a journalist in Venezuela about what daily life is like. 


For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Karen Zamora & Matt Ozug with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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State of the World from NPR - The Killing of a Mayor Sparks an Outcry in Mexico

The mayor of a city in the state of Michoacan, Mexico launched a full-frontal assault on organized crime in his community. Last month he was assassinated by a lone gunman. His death has lead to a protests across Mexico and calls for more to be done to combat drug cartels and corruption. 

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Up First from NPR - Trump Defends Affordability, SCOTUS & Presidential Power, Indiana Redistricting

President Trump heads to Pennsylvania to defend his record on affordability as polls show voters increasingly blame his policies for high prices.
The Supreme Court appears poised to grant presidents far greater power over independent agencies, signaling a major shift in how the federal government operates.
And Indiana lawmakers move toward a congressional map that could eliminate the state’s last two Democratic seats, intensifying a nationwide battle over mid-cycle redistricting.

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 Rebekah Metzler, Krishnadev Calamur, Kelsey Snell, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.

It was produced by Kaity Kline, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.

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

And our Senior Supervising Producer is Vince Pearson.

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NPR's Book of the Day - Deborah Willis on her seminal history of Black photography, reissued 25 years later

Deborah Willis is one of the foremost authorities on Black photography. The MacArthur “genius award” winner has dedicated her career to cataloging and showcasing Black photographers and photos of Black people. And her seminal work – Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present – has been reissued after 25 years. In today’s episode, Michel Martin visits Willis at New York University to talk about the expanded edition of the book and the gallery show inspired by it. 


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 - The Closest Thing To A Cure For Allergies

More than 100 million people in the U.S. have some allergy each year. That’s about every 1 in 3 adults. For many, the fix is a bandaid: over-the-counter allergy medications. But there’s another treatment that works to lessen these reactions rather than just manage people’s symptoms, allergy shots. The treatment has been around for over a century and is still popular today. Patients have to take the shots for a few years, and it’s the closest thing science has to a cure. Host Regina G. Barber speaks with Dr. Gina Dapul-Hidalgo about how this immunotherapy works and how certain guidelines to keep your child from developing common food allergies have changed.
Interested in more science behind allergies? Check out our other episodes:

Have another topic on human biology or consumer health you want us to investigate? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.


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The Indicator from Planet Money - How a former Fed vice chair would approach rate cuts

Federal Reserve is meeting to make its interest rate decision after the government shutdown delayed key economic data. Today on the show, we talk to the former Vice Chair of the Fed, Lael Brainard, about what she would do with interest rates in this critical yet foggy economic moment.

Related episodes: 
A little doomsday feeling is weighing on the economy
Can ... we still trust the monthly jobs report?

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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