Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic Dune was once the domain of sci-fi diehards. But in recent years, the book has crossed over into the mainstream. In today’s Books We’ve Loved, Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by Throughline’sRamtin Arablouei, who makes a personal case for the story’s appeal – despite its density. Then, special guest, author Pierce Brown, shares whether he thinks Dune has reached Star Wars levels of cultural saturation.
Ramtin’s Recommendation: ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ by Arthur C. Clarke
Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by Ursula K. Le Guin
Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Saga’ by Brian K. Vaughn
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
Around the world, many countries are concerned about tackling the decline in birth rates and total fertility rates.
The US is no exception.
To tackle this issue the US government announced that it would provide subsidies for Americans seeking IVF treatment. The announcement was accompanied by one suspect sounding stat from US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
"Today the average teenager in this country has 50% of the sperm count, 50% of the testosterone as a 65-year-old man," he said.
We speak to Professor Allan Pacey, Professor of Andrology at the University of Manchester, and Adith Arun, a researcher at Yale University to find out whether this statement is accurate.
Producer/Presenter: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Mix: James Beard
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Music
The Lady With the Golden Stockings from the Sun Ra Arkestra
The Sage from the Chico Hamilton Quintet
Falling in Love with a New York Pigeon by Birb
Bocherini's fourth quintet as performed by the Ensemble of St. Martin of the Fields
From a Dream by Oregon
Jaybird from the great Charlie Parr
Pool of Love by Les Baxter
And House Tuner Theme from Will Bates' gorgeous score to The Sound of Silence.
Enough with the pomposity about gerrymandering—each party does it and the other one has a cow and then they switch positions and do it all over again. Latest example: Texas. Also, Tom Cotton defends the boat strike, JD Vance puts a "Golden Noel" label on an event celebrating a Jewish holiday, and we answer listener mail. Plus I recommend the hilarious performances of Walter Matthau in The Sunshine Boys and Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest. Give a listen.
The Mexican-War resulted in more territory for the new American empire, but the US government started it under false pretenses. A young US soldier who fought—Ulysses Grant—knew better, exposing the lies from Washington.
One of the most ubiquitous items of clothing in formal and business attire is the necktie.
Yet even a cursory check of paintings from several centuries ago shows that neckties have not been around forever. They are, in fact, a relatively recent invention.
Over the last century, neckwear has both defined fashion and changed with the times.
Learn more about neckties, how they developed, and why they exist in the first place on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reacts defiantly to two scandals: his department's decision to murder the survivors of a September strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, and a Pentagon report that found that Hegseth's infamous Signal messages put American troops at risk. Jon and Dan discuss what comes next for the former Fox News host, and then jump into the rest of the news, including Trump's disgusting comments about Somali Americans, his insistence that affordability is a Democratic "con job," and Mike Johnson's struggles to hold his caucus together after the GOP's underperformance in the TN-07 special election. Then, Dan talks to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about Democratic momentum heading into the midterms, the ongoing investigation into the double-tap strike, and Trump's pardon of embattled Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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