Two years ago, a massive protest movement swept through Iraq. People were angry about corruption and a lack of basic services like electricity and health care in a country that brings in billions of dollars in oil revenue each year. That protest movement culminated in a parliamentary election, held earlier this month.
NPR international correspondent Ruth Sherlock reported on the election closely from inside Iraq. Through her reporting, and in conversation with host Ari Shapiro, Ruth explains why Iraq's election failed to deliver on hopes for reform — and what it revealed about America's long and costly investment in the country's democracy.
This episode contains excerpts from multiple stories Ruth Sherlock reported over the course of weeks inside Iraq. You can find more of her work here.
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Short Wave - How metaphors and stories are integral to science and healing
New York's Bellevue Hospital is the oldest public hospital in the country, serving patients from all walks of life. It's also the home of a literary magazine, the Bellevue Literary Review, which turns 20 this year. Today on the show, NPR's arts reporter Neda Ulaby tells Emily how one doctor at Bellevue Hospital decided a literary magazine is essential to both science and healing.
You can follow Emily on Twitter @EmilyKwong1234 and Neda @UlaBeast. As always, email Short Wave at ShortWave@NPR.org.
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You can follow Emily on Twitter @EmilyKwong1234 and Neda @UlaBeast. As always, email Short Wave at ShortWave@NPR.org.
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NPR's Book of the Day - How Drew Magary rediscovered himself after ‘The Night the Lights Went Out’
The humor writer Drew Magary was at a karaoke bar when his life changed in a flash: He collapsed and cracked his skull. By most accounts, the resulting traumatic brain injury should have been fatal, but he survived. As he recounts in his book The Night the Lights Went Out, recovering from that injury has been tough. Among other things, he permanently lost some of his senses. As Magary tells NPR's Lulu Garcia Navarro, recovery has required him to figure out who he is now, post injury — a challenge that makes for a good story, he says.
Consider This from NPR - Barack Obama And Bruce Springsteen On Their Belief In A Unifying Story For America
Last summer, when former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen sat down to tape their podcast, the country was facing a pandemic, joblessness and a contentious election.
And their conversations, they say, were an effort to offer some perspective and an attempt to try and find a unifying story for the country. The two talked about their dads, race, and the future of the country.
Those conversations have now become a book, titled Renegades: Born in the U.S.A. — and they spoke to Audie Cornish about it's publication.
You can watch a video of this interview and see images from the book here.
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And their conversations, they say, were an effort to offer some perspective and an attempt to try and find a unifying story for the country. The two talked about their dads, race, and the future of the country.
Those conversations have now become a book, titled Renegades: Born in the U.S.A. — and they spoke to Audie Cornish about it's publication.
You can watch a video of this interview and see images from the book here.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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Short Wave - Spiders can have arachnophobia!
If you're not so fond of spiders, you may find kindred spirits in other spiders! Researcher Daniela Roessler worked with jumping spiders and found that they know to get away from the presence of other possible predator spiders, even if they've never encountered them before. She talks with host Maria Godoy about her research and what Halloween decorations do to the poor spiders, if arachnids can have arachnophobia.
Read Daniela's research and watch a video of the experiment: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13953
The video is also on her Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/RoesslerDaniela.
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Read Daniela's research and watch a video of the experiment: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13953
The video is also on her Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/RoesslerDaniela.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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NPR's Book of the Day - Why Hillary Clinton wanted to write a political thriller about her greatest nightmare
The bestselling author Louise Penny is a prolific writer of mysteries and thrillers — but for her latest book, she decided to bring a partner into the fold, a novice to the world of mystery-writing: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Their book, State of Terror, brings readers into a world in which a president picks a former rival to be his secretary of state (sound familiar?) — and she must then contend with what Clinton calls one of her greatest fears: nuclear-armed terrorists. In this interview, Penny and Clinton discuss the messages they hope readers take away from the book.
Consider This from NPR - Booster Guidance For All 3 Vaccines; Shots For Kids Weeks Away
The CDC has now released booster guidance for all three vaccines available in the U.S. — making tens of millions of people eligible for another shot. And on Tuesday, an FDA panel met to review data from Pfizer on their vaccine for children ages 5 - 11.
NPR's Alison Aubrey explains what those data say about the vaccine — and how it might be rolled out.
Pediatrician Dr. Reah Boyd tells NPR how she's talking to parents about vaccinating their young children.
Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's Pien Huang, Rob Stein, and Selena Simmons-Duffin.
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 Alison Aubrey explains what those data say about the vaccine — and how it might be rolled out.
Pediatrician Dr. Reah Boyd tells NPR how she's talking to parents about vaccinating their young children.
Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's Pien Huang, Rob Stein, and Selena Simmons-Duffin.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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Short Wave - The opioid epidemic
Over the last 25 years, the opioid epidemic has been devastating to families and communities all over the U.S., and has caused half a million deaths. But it started as a way to treat severe pain. Today, host Emily Kwong talks to Patrick Radden Keefe, author of the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, about what went wrong in science to make the opioid epidemic what it is today.
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NPR's Book of the Day - In ‘The Matter of Black Lives,’ generations of Black thinkers probe American racism
Back in June 2020, during a summer of protests for racial justice, the New Yorker republished 'Letter from a Region in my Mind," a seminal James Baldwin essay calling out the ignorance of liberal white Americans. In the following months, writer Jelani Cobb put together a collection of essays from the magazine that fit a similar theme: Black writers, including Toni Morrison and Ta-Nehisi Coates, who wrote pieces for the New Yorker about race and racism that still ring true today. In this interview, Cobb reflects on the essays and what it took for those Black writers to break into the magazine.
Consider This from NPR - School Boards: A New Front Line In The Culture Wars
School board members across the country are being intimidated and threatened. Now the National School Boards Association wants the federal government to step in. The group said in a recent letter to President Biden that acts of school board harassment and confrontations seem to be coordinated.
The online newsletter Popular Information has written about national groups targeting school boards.
NPR Ed correspondent Anya Kamenetz travelled to Gwinnett County, Georgia, where school board members have been targeted with threats. Read more in her story, What it's like to be on the front lines of the school board culture war.
NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith has also reported on why school board elections will be an early test of what issues motivate voters.
Anya and Tamara recently discussed their reporting on school boards on the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen via Apple, Spotify, or Google.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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The online newsletter Popular Information has written about national groups targeting school boards.
NPR Ed correspondent Anya Kamenetz travelled to Gwinnett County, Georgia, where school board members have been targeted with threats. Read more in her story, What it's like to be on the front lines of the school board culture war.
NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith has also reported on why school board elections will be an early test of what issues motivate voters.
Anya and Tamara recently discussed their reporting on school boards on the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen via Apple, Spotify, or Google.
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.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy