Author: NPR

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NPR's Book of the Day - NPR’s Throughline: The Postal Service

The US Postal Service has played a key role in much of American history - from the Declaration of Independence to more recent mail-in voting. It was conceived of by the founders as the way to create a united, informed and effective American democracy. But today, the postal service's future is in danger. Winifred Gallagher spoke to NPR's Rund Abdelfatah about how the postal service created the United States and the case for investing in this pivotal institution.
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Short Wave - Safety Precautions For The Holiday Season

The Omicron variant is spreading across the U.S. as the holidays are upon us. Science Desk reporter Maria Godoy has the latest on the variant and tips for reducing your risk of contracting the virus this holiday season. Short Wave brings you a special episode courtesy of our colleagues at Life Kit.

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Consider This from NPR - Fox Hosts’ Texts To White House Official Contradict Coverage Of Jan. 6 Capitol Siege

On Jan. 6, three Fox News hosts desperately urged former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to get the president to tell supporters to stop attacking the Capitol building.

The texts, which were made public this week as the House of Representatives voted to hold Meadows in contempt, reveal a starkly different message than the one those same Fox hosts delivered to their audiences about the insurrection.

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik and investigative correspondent Tom Dreisbach discuss the gap between Fox's messaging behind closed doors and in front of the camera.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

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NPR's Book of the Day - Danielle Evans and Brit Bennett on the lies we tell ourselves

Today, two takes on stories we tell to make ourselves feel better and the consequences of believing them. First, author Danielle Evans' short story collection, The Office of Historical Corrections. The title story is about a fictional agency that fact checks in real time but, as she told former NPR host Noel King, it's less powerful than you might think. Then, the story of a Black woman's decision to pass as white and the decades-long fallout of that choice, in The Vanishing Half. Author Brit Bennett told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that the point of the story isn't to moralize.
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Short Wave - The James Webb Space Telescope Is About To Launch

Soon the highly anticipated James Webb Space Telescope will blast off into space, hurtling almost a million miles away from Earth, where it will orbit the Sun. Decades in the making, scientists hope its mission will last a decade and provide insights into all kinds of things, including the early formation of galaxies just after the Big Bang.

Curious about the extraterrestrial facets of our universe? Email the show your questions at shortwave@npr.org. We might be able to beg Nell to find answers and come back on the show.

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Consider This from NPR - The Story Behind the Summit: Leading A Global Climate Change Fight Into 2022

The COP26 Summit, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last month brought together people from all over the world. And everyone had stories of how climate change is already affecting their lives. But, did the conference accomplish what it set out to do?

Alok Sharma, president of COP26, gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what the conference felt like from the inside, why he apologized for the process, and what it was like trying to get delegates from nearly 200 countries on the same page.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

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Short Wave - Striving To Make Space Accessible For People With Disabilities

As spaceflight inches closer to becoming a reality for some private citizens, science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel chats with the New York Times disability fellow Amanda Morris about why one organization wants to insure people with disabilities have the chance to go to space.

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Empire of Pain’ explores the family behind Purdue Pharma

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the most recent public institution to announce that they are taking the Sackler name off of seven of their spaces due to their involvement with the opioid crisis. Author Patrick Radden Keefe wrote a book profiling the Sackler family called Empire of Pain: The Secret History Of The Sackler Dynasty that was one of the biggest of the year. It profiles the family that founded Purdue Pharma and their promotion of the drug Oxycontin.
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Consider This from NPR - Deadly Tornadoes Bring Heartbreak And Questions on Resiliency and Climate Change

Five days after tornadoes first touched down in the Midwest and South of the U.S., survivors are coming to grips with what they have lost.

Of the several states that the storms tore through last weekend, Kentucky was the hardest hit. At least 74 people have been confirmed dead there. Many more are unaccounted for.

As survivors, volunteers, and officials sort through and pick up what's left, how might they think about shoring up homes, businesses and buildings for the future? NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with University of Florida civil engineering professor David Prevatt about how to prepare buildings for tornadoes and hurricanes.

The severity and timing of these storms have also raised the question of whether climate change has anything to do with tornadoes. NPR correspondent Dan Charles reports.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Wish You Were Here’ … Stranded with me in the Galapagos Islands

Have you ever wanted to get stranded on a beautiful island? Maybe at the end of a vacation when you think you never want to leave. Well, that's what happens to the protagonist in Jodi Picoult's new novel, Wish You Were Here. It's a little less glamorous than what you might be picturing. It's March of 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic traps Diana O'Toole in the Galapagos Islands with very little wifi or cell service. Picoult told NPR's Scott Simon that this extreme isolation forced her main character to reevaluate how she really wanted to live her life.