Category: DailyShorts

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Bay Curious - Transamerica Pyramid: From ‘Architectural Butchery’ to Icon

The Transamerica Pyramid, located in downtown San Francisco, is a skyline staple. But when it was proposed, people hated the idea of a towering symbol of capitalism so close to neighborhoods like North Beach and Chinatown. Turns out the block where the pyramid stands has a long and storied history. We dig into all that, as well as how public perception of the pyramid's place in the skyline has changed over the past 50 years.


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This story was reported by Carly Severn. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and everyone on Team KQED.

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Curious City - There’s nature in Chicago. Go bathe in it.

“Forest bathing” is the exceptionally simple Japanese practice of taking a walk — or a seat — in the woods. Why? For your health, of course! In our last episode, we learned about Chicago’s urban forest — including the $416 million in benefits all those trees provide, in terms of energy cost savings, stormwater mitigation and air purification. Today, we’re taking advantage of that urban forest by taking a bath in it. (And no, there is no soap or water required.) Our guide is the co-founder of The Spiritual Guidance Training Institute, Jeanette Banashak, who’s also a faculty member at Erikson Institute downtown. Banashak has been leading forest bathing and nature companionship experiences for four years. She took Curious City to the Jarvis Bird Sanctuary on the North Side for what she called “a playful, slow, mindful, joyful walk [and] sit in the natural world.” The goal of forest bathing is to disconnect from urban life, de-stress and connect with nature. Banashak said the practice is rife with health benefits, from lowering blood pressure to improving immune function and calming your parasympathetic nervous system. And although the practice does not require a guide, Banashak has a dream of training facilitators of these experiences to offer weekly sessions, year-round, on every side of the city. Lucky for us, Chicago has plenty of parks, bird sanctuaries, and natural spaces in which you can forest bathe. So join us. All you need to do is make the time and press play.
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Everything Everywhere Daily - Operation Dragoon

In the summer of 1944, the Allied forces planned an audacious amphibious landing on the beaches of France.

It involved hundreds of ships, over a hundred thousand men, and meticulous planning. 

Those who landed would face fierce resistance from entrenched German forces. 

…and I am not talking about D-Day and the invasion of Normandy.

Learn about Operation Dragoon and the invasion of Southern France on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.


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Executive Producer: Charles Daniel

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NPR's Book of the Day - Susan Choi’s ‘Flashlight’ is about an alternate-universe version of her own family

A 10-year-old girl, Louisa, and her father take a walk on breakwater in Japan, where her family is living. Louisa is later found on a beach – her father has disappeared. She and her mother are left on their own – but the tragedy doesn't bring them closer together, at least for a long time. Susan Choi's new novel Flashlight follows this family across generations and a vast historical expanse. In today's episode, Choi speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about why her protagonist fends off love, her interest in the historical tensions between Korea and Japan, and the benefit of writing in chronological order.

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Everything Everywhere Daily - All About Hair

If you are listening to me speak these words and can understand what I’m saying, then you are a human being.
If you are a human being, you are also a mammal, and if you are a mammal, you have hair….or at least the biological capability to produce hair.

But why exactly do we have hair? What function does it serve? Why do we have less than other animals? And why do people have different types of hair?

Learn more about hair, what it does, and how it works on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.


***5th Anniversary Celebration RSVP***


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Subscribe to the podcast! 

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--------------------------------

Executive Producer: Charles Daniel

Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer

 

Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere


Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com


Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily

Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip

Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ 


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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘Sea of Grass’ chronicles the disappearance of the North American prairie

The North American prairie is home to bison, elk, wolves and bald eagles – and it's disappearing at a rapid rate. In their new book Sea of Grass, writers Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty chronicle the forces behind the loss of this ecosystem. In today's episode, they join Here & Now's Chris Bentley at a prairie outside of Chicago for a conversation about their research. They discuss the innovations in industrial agriculture that have transformed the prairie to farmland, the ecological consequences of that change, and what could be done to restore parts of the prairie.

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