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.
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1A - The President And The National Guard
Donald Trump says the office of the president gives him the right to deploy the National Guard to U.S. states. But does it? And who decides?
The president signed an executive order last week calling for a restructuring of the National Guard. It also asks the nation’s defense secretary to create a rapid response force to be deployed to states for “quelling civil disturbances and ensuring public safety.”
Meanwhile, Trump says the city of Chicago is in need of National Guard presence due to a rise in crime. But the president has declined to say how the federal government can intervene outside of D.C., a federal enclave.
Violent crime in Chicago is on a decline. In the first half of 2025, gun violence is down 25 percent compared to last year and down 41 percent from the average reported between 2020 and 2024. That data is from the CBS News Chicago Gun Violence Tracker.
What could that deployment look like? And what has the response been from city officials?
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The president signed an executive order last week calling for a restructuring of the National Guard. It also asks the nation’s defense secretary to create a rapid response force to be deployed to states for “quelling civil disturbances and ensuring public safety.”
Meanwhile, Trump says the city of Chicago is in need of National Guard presence due to a rise in crime. But the president has declined to say how the federal government can intervene outside of D.C., a federal enclave.
Violent crime in Chicago is on a decline. In the first half of 2025, gun violence is down 25 percent compared to last year and down 41 percent from the average reported between 2020 and 2024. That data is from the CBS News Chicago Gun Violence Tracker.
What could that deployment look like? And what has the response been from city officials?
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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Consider This from NPR - Corporate America ditched DEI. What happened to the employees?
“Chief diversity officer” was once Corporate America’s hottest job.
Now corporate America has retreated from DEI and slashed thousands of jobs. So where does that leave the people who’ve built careers around that work?
Hear the story of one veteran executive who’s been job-hunting for more than a year.
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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink and Christine Arrasmith.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Rafael Nam.
Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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State of the World from NPR - Israel Begins its Invasion of Gaza City
The Israeli military has begun a push into Gaza City, with an expected ground invasion and forcible evacuation of nearly a million people living there. Many residents are already fleeing. But with the vast majority of Gaza declared off-limits by Israel, where are refugees able to go?
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Up First from NPR - Government Shutdown Looms, Brazil’s Ex-President on Trial, Earthquake in Afghanistan
Congress returns to Washington following the August recess as a deadline to avoid a government shutdown looms. The former President of Brazil is on trial for attempting to overthrow the government. And, the Taliban is calling for international aid as rescue efforts continue following a deadly earthquake in Afghanistan.
Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
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 Anna Yukhananov, Tara Neill, Ryland Barton, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. 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 - Inside the illegal vape boom
A booming underground vape market is thriving. It’s unapproved, unregulated, and risky. Today on the show, we hear from The Atlantic’s Nick Florko to dig into why illegal vapes have flooded the U.S., and what’s at stake.
Related episodes:
The vapes of wrath
How sports gambling blew up
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 - Kate Riley’s novel ‘Ruth’ was inspired by her year in an insular religious community
Author Kate Riley says her book Ruth was partly based on her year spent living in an insular religious community. The debut novel explores what it’s like to live in a world without total access to information, despite the protagonist's intense curiosity. In today’s episode, Riley speaks with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about the Peace Church tradition, how her interior life shaped the novel, and why this might be Riley’s first and last book.
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Short Wave - Stopping SSRIs Can Be Hard. Researchers Are Unsure Why
More than 1 in 10 people in the United States take an antidepressant. And the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant are SSRIs — or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. That includes drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Lexapro. But what happens when some patients decide they want to stop taking their SSRIs? While doctors know stopping SSRIs can sometimes cause unpleasant short-term side effects – like dizziness, anxiety, insomnia and nausea – some people report symptoms that last months, even years. So, with investigative reporter Emily Corwin and professor of clinical psychology Michael Hengartner, we’re diving into the research around the long-term effects of going off your antidepressants – what it shows and its limits.
Read more of Emily Corwin’s reporting on the topic here.
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Read more of Emily Corwin’s reporting on the topic here.
Want more stories on mental health? Email us 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.
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Consider This from NPR - Cumberbatch and Colman team up to play a couple at war
So many movies are made about the beginning of a relationship. That first spark of attraction. That first kiss.
The new dark comedy “The Roses” is about the other end – when it's all falling apart.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman star as Theo and Ivy, a couple who was once very much in love. Two children and a transatlantic move later, they’re now struggling to save their marriage.
No one thinks it’s going to work – including their therapist.
Cumberbatch and Colman sit down with host Mary Louise Kelly to discuss how they leveraged their real-life friendship to play two people who love to hate each other.
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 holiday episode was produced by Kira Wakeam and Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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State of the World from NPR - Encore: Tracking Wolves in Italy
In this encore episode, we hear about the return of wolves to Europe. After being hunted to near extinction, they have made a population comeback in recent decades with the help of conservation efforts. Now, the country with the most wolves in Europe is Italy. Our correspondent in Rome sets out for the Italian forest with an organization that takes small groups to try to see wolves in the wild.
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