Artem is a 12-year-old Ukranian boy who likes to spend summer days on his grandfather’s sunflower farm swimming with his younger brother, Yuri. But one night in February 2022, they hear sirens and bomb blasts – and soon, they’re fleeing war. Sam Wachman’s debut novel The Sunflower Boys was inspired by his ancestral ties to Ukraine and his experience volunteering with Ukrainian children. In today’s episode, he joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about national history, the boys he tutored, and the sense of mission behind his writing.
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Consider This from NPR - Your covid vaccine questions answered
The one thing certain about the COVID vaccine right now is that everything about it is changing.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the next round of COVID-19 vaccines for the fall season, but it’s significantly changed just WHO can get it.
That move comes amidst a broader effort by the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to change policy and guidance around many vaccines.
At this point — we’re guessing you have lots of questions about vaccination in general, but especially around COVID shots.
That’s why we asked our NPR listeners to submit their questions about the FDA’s new COVID vaccine guidance.
UCSF infectious disease doctor Dr. Peter Chin-Hong answers your questions.
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This episode was produced by Brianna Scott. It was edited by Courtney Dorning.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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State of the World from NPR - What a Parade in China Says About That Country’s View of the World
China holds a military parade that is about more that commemorating the end of World War II. We hear about which world leaders attended the ceremony and the message China is trying to convey about its role in the world.
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1A - ICYMI: Earthquake Aftershocks Rock Afghanistan
A 6.0 earthquake hit Afghanistan on Sunday night leaving more than 1,400 dead and at least 3,000 injured.
Rescue crews struggled to reach affected villages in remote areas of the country’s Kunar Province as powerful aftershocks continued to rattle the area.
All of this is happening in a country already reeling from deep cuts to aid funding, a struggling economy, and an influx of millions of Afghans forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.
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Rescue crews struggled to reach affected villages in remote areas of the country’s Kunar Province as powerful aftershocks continued to rattle the area.
All of this is happening in a country already reeling from deep cuts to aid funding, a struggling economy, and an influx of millions of Afghans forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.
Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
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1A - ICYMI: A Face-off Ahead Of Another Possible Government Shutdown
Congress returned to the Capitol on Tuesday after their month-long summer break. They’re already in a time crunch.
Lawmakers have around four weeks – or around just 14 legislative days – to pass a spending measure and avoid a government shutdown before Sept. 30.
Tensions between Republicans and Democrats are high. After the passages of President Donald Trump’s spending and rescission bills, Democrats say they are ready for a fight. But the potential for being blamed for a government shutdown also puts them in a tough spot.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the ball is in the Democrats’ court, but will Republicans play ball at all?
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Lawmakers have around four weeks – or around just 14 legislative days – to pass a spending measure and avoid a government shutdown before Sept. 30.
Tensions between Republicans and Democrats are high. After the passages of President Donald Trump’s spending and rescission bills, Democrats say they are ready for a fight. But the potential for being blamed for a government shutdown also puts them in a tough spot.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the ball is in the Democrats’ court, but will Republicans play ball at all?
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Planet Money - The million dollar mystery behind Milk.com
When we stumbled upon Milk.com, we were mystified. It appears to be someone’s personal website. But memorable domain names can be worth a million dollars or more. So, why is someone using this valuable internet real estate to post their resume and favorite recipes?
Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto assets that can sell for millions of dollars. These potential profits have attracted a unique breed of investor who buys and sells domain names, gambling on the value of everyday words.
On our latest show: What is a domain really worth? And we ask the owner of milk.com why he’s not selling — and if there’s a price that might change his mind.
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This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
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Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto assets that can sell for millions of dollars. These potential profits have attracted a unique breed of investor who buys and sells domain names, gambling on the value of everyday words.
On our latest show: What is a domain really worth? And we ask the owner of milk.com why he’s not selling — and if there’s a price that might change his mind.
Planet Money is writing a book! Sign up for updates about pre-sale special gifts and for book tour events.
Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
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Up First from NPR - Lawmakers Call For Epstein Files, Trump’s Crypto Token, China’s Military Parade
Members of Congress are trying to force a vote to make the Trump administration release more of the Epstein files. The cryptocurrency World Liberty Financial co-founded by the President and his sons started trading publicly this week. And, China held a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
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 Megan Pratz, Rafael Nam, Ryland Barton, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woefle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
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The Indicator from Planet Money - So long, farewell, super cheap tariff-free shopping
In late July, President Trump signed an executive order to get rid of de minimis, a kind of a loophole where packages valued less than $800 could come into the US without tariffs.
Last week, post offices from India to Austria to France suspended some types of packages to the US. We speak to an Australian jewelry maker, a logistics expert and an economist to learn how this is changing shopping in America.
Last week, post offices from India to Austria to France suspended some types of packages to the US. We speak to an Australian jewelry maker, a logistics expert and an economist to learn how this is changing shopping in America.
Related episodes:
Three ways companies are getting around tariffs
What olive oil tells us about Trump's tariffs
What is Temu?
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 Cooper Katz McKim. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Friends with Words’ is a book about language, from word origins to regional dialects
For Martha Barnette, griping about grammatical pet peeves is one of the least interesting ways to talk about language. Instead, the co-host of the radio show “A Way with Words” says she’d rather think about word origins, regional dialects, slang, or that phrase your grandma used to say. Her new book Friends with Words is full of surprising facts about language. In today’s episode, she talks with Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd about the “spark word” that launched her language journey, some of her favorite etymologies, and why people hate the word moist.
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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 - Have a Stutter? It Could Be Inherited
For a long time, scientists have suspected that stuttering — a common speech condition that affects an estimated 1 in every 100 people — could be heritable. Despite how common it is, it's still a remarkably understudied condition.
Geneticists Piper Below and Dillon Pruett were determined to fix that. With the help of 23andMe data, they recently identified 57 genetic regions linked to stuttering in the human genome. Their findings represent a new breakthrough in how researchers think about speech conditions, genetics and the conditions that are linked to them. They're what some are calling a "quantum leap" in the field.
Interested in more human biology and genetics episodes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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Geneticists Piper Below and Dillon Pruett were determined to fix that. With the help of 23andMe data, they recently identified 57 genetic regions linked to stuttering in the human genome. Their findings represent a new breakthrough in how researchers think about speech conditions, genetics and the conditions that are linked to them. They're what some are calling a "quantum leap" in the field.
Interested in more human biology and genetics episodes? Email us your question 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.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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