Short Wave - What We Can Learn From Microscopic Life In Antarctica

Our colleagues at the TED Radio Hour introduce us to wildlife filmmaker Ariel Waldman. She says the coldest continent is brimming with invisible life that can only be seen through microscopes, including tardigrades (one of Maddie's favorite critters).

Listen to the full TED Radio Hour episode, Through The Looking Glass, here.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - 4 Countries Dominate Doses As Pressure Grows For Global Vaccine Solutions

More than half of worldwide vaccine doses have been administered in just four countries — India, China, the U.K. and the U.S. That kind of inequity will "extend the pandemic, globally," says Tom Bollyky, director of the Global Health program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

NPR's Tamara Keith reports on the growing pressure for the Biden administration to step up its vaccine diplomacy.

NPR's Lauren Frayer tours the largest vaccine factory in the world's top vaccine producing-country, India — a country poised for an even bigger role in global vaccine distribution. You can see photos and more from her report on the Serum Institute of India here.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's Jason Beaubien.

In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Short Wave - Is The Future Quantum?

NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel takes us to IonQ, one of the companies betting on a quantum computing future. Along the way, Geoff explains what little researchers know about how we might actually use this technology. There are hints though quantum computing could change everything from discovering new drugs to developing advanced materials.

Want us to cover another promising, complicated technology? Email us — we're at shortwave@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - First-In-The-Nation Effort Advances Debate Over What Form Reparations Should Take

The city of Evanston, Ill., authorized spending on a reparation program this week — believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Here's the report on Evanston's racial history we mention in this episode.

Alderwoman Cecily Fleming — an African American resident of Evanston — tells NPR why she voted against the plan.

And Dreisen Heath, researcher at the Human Rights Watch, argues that reparations can take many forms.

In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Short Wave - The Purple Urchins Don’t Die

NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer explains how scientists are getting creative to deal with the hordes of urchins overtaking kelp forests in the Pacific Ocean — and why this kind of drastic ecological change may become more common as the climate gets hotter.

Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - One’s Antifa. One’s In A Militia. How An Ancestry Match Led To An Unlikely Bond

Two distant cousins connect online, only to learn that one is a militant leftist and the other is in a right-wing militia. Their story shows the complexities of a timely question: Who's an extremist?

NPR's Hannah Allam followed both men for weeks, charting the growth of their relationship and revealing the moment they met in-person for the first time. NPR is withholding their last name, which the two men share, for security reasons.

In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Short Wave - Brood X: The Rise Of The 17-Year Cicadas

The cicadas are coming! After 17 years, Brood X is emerging this spring to mate. If you're in the eastern part of the United States, get ready to be surrounded by these little critters! Host Maddie Sofia talks with entomologist Sammy Ramsey, aka Dr. Buggs, about what cicadas are, where they've been for the last 17 years, and — of course — why they're so loud.

Email Short Wave at ShortWave@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - Colorado Shooting Reveals Limits Of State Gun Control — And Steels Activists For More

Colorado has universal background checks, a red flag law and the city of Boulder recently passed an assault weapons ban. None of it was enough to stop a man from shooting and killing 10 people at a Boulder grocery store this week.

State Rep. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting, reacts to the events of this week — and tells NPR why he still believes incremental action at the state level can help prevent gun violence.

Additional editing help in this episode from Bente Birkeland of Colorado Public Radio.

In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Short Wave - Meet The ‘Glacier Mice’

(Encore episode.) In 2006, while hiking around the Root Glacier in Alaska, glaciologist Tim Bartholomaus encountered something strange and unexpected on the ice — dozens of fuzzy, green moss balls. It turns out, other glaciologists had come across glacial moss balls before and lovingly called them "glacier mice."

NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce and Short Wave reporter Emily Kwong talk about glacial moss balls and delve into the mystery of how they seem to move as a herd.

Read more of Nell's reporting on glacier mice here.

Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - President Biden’s Next Big-Ticket Item: A Transformational Infrastructure Plan

America's infrastructure GPA is a C-minus, according to the American Society Of Civil Engineers, which this month called for massive investment in the nation's roads, bridges and transit system.

The Biden administration is preparing to propose that kind of investment — along with green energy policies and progressive programs that would total more than $3 trillion. NPR's Mara Liasson reports on the plan, which Biden has signaled he wants to pass with Republican support.

That's just one political balancing act Biden will have to negotiate. Another is with a key part of his political coalition: labor unions. NPR's Don Gonyea explains.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's David Schaper.

In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy