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Short Wave - Solved: The Potato Origin Mystery

Usually, when two different species mate, it’s a disaster. At least, that’s what scientists had generally thought about hybrids, the offspring of these unions. But some researchers are starting to change their view as they learn of more beneficial hybrid events. The Atlantic science journalist Katie Wu details two of these hybridization examples: one in desert frogs and one in two ancient plants that <> led to the modern potato.


Interested in more biology episodes? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.


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The Indicator from Planet Money - What’s supercharging data breaches?

It may seem like data breaches have gotten a heck of a lot more common. Well, there’s something to that. The bad guys are getting badder faster than the good guys are getting better. 

This week, we’re bringing you five episodes on the evolving business of crime. Today on the show, we look at why the evolution of data breaches has been supercharged and why you don’t have to be a hacker to get into the game.

Related episodes: 

Are data breaches putting patients at risk? 

So your data was stolen in a data breach

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 and Tyler Jones. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

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NPR's Book of the Day - Mariana Enriquez’s new book connects her interest in cemeteries with Argentina’s past

Cemeteries are not everyone’s idea of fun, but they’re a source of fascination for author Mariana Enriquez. Her new nonfiction book Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave is a collection of personal short stories she gathered while traveling to final resting places across four continents. In today’s episode, the author joins NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe for a conversation about her past as a goth, the connection between graves and Argentina’s dictatorship, and where Enriquez would like to be buried.

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Consider This from NPR - Trump calls cartels terrorists. Is that enough to go to war?

Nearly a quarter century after the September 11th attacks, the Trump administration is using the language of terrorism to target a new enemy: Latin American drug cartels.


The president says we’re in armed conflict with drug cartels.

We talk to a Bush-era lawyer who says the powers of war are too extraordinary to use against crime.

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 Connor Donevan. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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State of the World from NPR - Political Gridlock in France

France’s prime minister resigns with his government having been in power for only 18 hours. The country has had five prime ministers in two years, and the political crisis facing President Emmanuel Macron and a divided parliament is deepening. This uncertainty is having an effect on the European Union’s second-largest economy. Our correspondent in Paris explains the situation.

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1A - ‘If You Can Keep It’: Trump’s New Vision For The Military

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined some stark changes to the U.S. military’s policies and norms at last week’s gathering of its top brass.

From new standards that question the fitness of women in combat roles, to deploying the military to U.S. cities, the White House is outlining a new vision for the armed forces. It’s also looking to eliminate existing channels to report abuse and harassment within the ranks and implement random polygraph tests.

We talk through all these changes, how they affect our troops, and what they mean for civilians.

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ atplus.npr.org/the1a.

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Up First from NPR - National Guard Portland, Gaza Talks In Egypt, SCOTUS Term Begins

A federal judge issues a late night order to stop President Trump’s latest attempt to deploy the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, warning the administration against efforts to get around court orders and the rule of law. In Egypt, Hamas and Israeli officials begin high-stakes talks that could end the war in Gaza and free dozens of hostages. And as the Supreme Court opens a new term, justices will take on major cases testing presidential power, birthright citizenship, and voting rights.

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 Alina Hartounian, Kate Bartlett, Krishnadev Calamur, Mohamad ElBardicy 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 - Fighting AI with AI

With only several seconds of audio, someone can clone a victim’s voice, call their bank, and potentially get access to … everything. Vocal deepfakes have gotten very good, but so has the technology to fight back. 

This week on The Indicator we're gonna bring you a special series on the evolving business of crime. In this episode, we hear from the company helping banks beat deepfakes, and we learn about the efforts to protect us all from AI voice fraud. 

Related episodes:
Can you copyright artwork made using AI? 
AI creates, transforms and destroys... jobs 

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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Short Wave - The Science Of Fear And Horror Movies

Creepy crawly season is upon us, Short Wavers! We're welcoming fall with a contemplation of fear and anxiety. In human history, fear kept us safe. It helped us flee from predators. Anxiety made us wary of potential dangers — like venturing into a known lion-infested area. But what happens when these feelings get out of hand in humans today? And why do some of us crave that feeling from scary movies or haunted houses?

For answers, we talk to Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist from Wayne State University. He likes studying fear so much he wrote a whole book called Afraid. In this episode, Javanbakht gets into the differences between fear and anxiety, many of the reasons people feel afraid and why things like scary movies could even be therapeutic. (encore)


Want to know more about the science behind what keeps you up at night? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!


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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘For the Sun After Long Nights’ is a history of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement

Three years ago, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Jina Amini was fatally beaten by Iran’s morality police. She’d been arrested for not following the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Her death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement, one of the largest uprisings in Iran in decades. Journalists Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy tell this story in their new book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising. In today’s episode, Jamalpour speaks with Here & Now’s Jane Clayson about the movement and Iran’s future.


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