Sarah Perry's novel, Enlightenment, recently received a Booker Prize nomination. It follows the relationship between two friends, with a 30 year age difference, as they confront the role of the church, the outside world and the cosmos in their lives over the course of two decades. In today's episode, Perry speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about her religious upbringing, her pandemic telescope and the role it played in her writing.
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
After the end of the second world war, Berlin was a divided city controlled by the four major allied powers. Despite the different zones of control, people could move freely between them.
However, on August 13, 1961, the East German government decided to end the free travel of Berliners by building a wall around West Berlin.
For 28 years, the wall defined the city and served as a metaphor for the entire Cold War.
Learn more about the Berlin Wall on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Jobs numbers came out today and they weren't great: Unemployment hit 4.3% and only 114,000 jobs were added to the economy in July. The U.S. economy's downshifting gears ... but there are bright spots.
Care jobs grew. Like social assistance: 9,000 new jobs in July.
Social work organizations have been calling out for more men in particular ... and with unemployment rising for men, a lot of them want jobs. So why aren't they meeting?
Today on the show: Getting more men into so-called pink-collar jobs. We learn about an experiment that showed a surprising way to encourage men into industries traditionally represented by women.
In almost all sports, people will refer to what is known as having a home-field advantage.
Home-field advantage is a simple concept. It implies that teams playing in their home stadium, arena, or field have a slight advantage over the visiting team.
But is home-field advantage a real thing? And if it is, what are the reasons for it, and which teams and which leagues have the largest home-field advantages?
Learn more about home-field advantage and if it is, in fact, a real thing on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Sponsors
Sign up for ButcherBox today by going to Butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily at checkout to get $30 off your first box!
Today's episode highlights two books that deal with what it means to be a mom, a wife and a multi-faceted, complicated woman. First, NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben speaks with Claire Lombardo about her novel Same As It Ever Was, which jumps through different phases of protagonist Julia's life to understand her relationship with her son, her husband and an ex-best friend. Then, Danielle Kurtzleben asks Catherine Newman about Sandwich, which takes place during a family's summer vacation in Cape Cod and follows the main character Rocky finding her place between her adult children and her aging parents.
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
The modern Olympic Games are notorious for saddling host cities with burdensome cost overruns into the billions. Organizers for the Paris 2024 Olympics were aware of this and planned to put on one of the most cost-effective Olympics in recent memory. They still went over budget.
Today on the show, why the Olympics almost always costs host cities much more than they anticipate and what we can learn from the Olympic Games' original economic sin.
Related episodes: Peacock, potassium and other Paris Olympics Indicators (Apple / Spotify) Why California's high speed rail was always going to blow out (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
It has been called "the world's oldest profession," but it's not one that's often discussed openly. Of course, we're talking about sex work. Attitudes about certain parts of the industry—from porn to strip clubs—have evolved over time, and so has the language used to discuss it. Even the term "sex work" is relatively new. This week, reporter Steven Rascón brings us the story of the woman who coined the term, and the history of the sex worker rights movement.
This episode contains frank discussions about sexual acts, and sex work—some of which is criminalized in California. And it includes some outdated language.
This story was reported by Steven Rascón. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Nastia Voynovskaya, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.