Years ago, author GennaRose Nethercott promised herself she would sit at a cafe every morning and come up with three new creatures — beasts inspired by medieval bestiaries that combined scientific record with moral folk tales. The result, Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart, is a collection of short stories that show the magical yet spooky nature of human affection. In today's episode, Nethercott speaks with NPR's Elissa Nadworny about some of the monsters she came up with, and why she cherishes writing about darkness.
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Roses are red. Violets are blue. We have another Indicator Quiz for you! Today's episode tests one loyal listener on their econ knowledge about our recent defense series, and they give us their best Valentine's Day cocktail recommendation. Play along with us and see how you do!
Are you interested in being a contestant on our next Indicator Quiz? Email us your name, city and phone number to indicator@npr.org and put "Indicator Quiz" in the subject line.
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For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
If you take a look at the periodic table of elements, you will notice something interesting.
Go to the bottom and take a look at any element over, say, number 94. You will find a bunch of elements you have probably never heard of.
Don’t worry because most chemists probably aren’t familiar with them, either. They are not part of any chemical compounds, cannot be found in nature, and most have only existed for a fraction of a second.
Learn more about transuranium elements, what they are, and how we even know they exist on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.e
Author Sarah Ditum has an uncomfortable label for the late 90s and early 2000s: the upskirt decade. In her new book, Toxic, Ditum analyzes how digital cameras, the Internet and tabloid misogyny created a perfect storm to permanently alter the lives and careers of nine famous women. In today's episode, Ditum speaks with NPR's Scott Detrow about the infamous Britney Spears interview with Diane Sawyer, the growth of social media throughout that decade, and the way younger generations are now reclaiming autonomy over their public image.
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
China is in the economic doldrums in part due to its slumping real estate market. And one of the largest property developers in mainland China is a huge part of the story. Evergrande is drowning in about $300 billion of debt. And after months of attempting to restructure, one of its entities is now being forced to liquidate. We look at what that means and how the Chinese economy will be affected.
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For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Welcome the Wretched, a new book by legal scholar César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, makes the case that the immigration and criminal legal systems in the U.S. have become way too intertwined over time – and they should be separated. In today's episode, Cuauhtémoc García Hernández walks Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes through the history of how we got to this point of criminalizing immigration. He also explains why he doesn't think immigrants should be deported for breaking the law, and how racism operates in immigration enforcement.
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
One of the central figures in the drama of the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire was Marc Antony.
He was a rather odd figure in Roman History. He came from an upper-class, but not necessarily elite, family.
Neither was he wasn’t a great general. Yet he was at the right place at the right time, and his actions played a huge part in the republic's collapse.
Learn more about Marcus Antonius, aka Marc Antony, and how he found himself at the center of Roman history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
One day every year, the United States celebrates its biggest non-official holiday: Super Bowl Sunday.
The championship game of the National Football League is almost always the biggest television audience of the year and one of the most expensive tickets for any sporting event.
However, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, it wasn’t even called the Super Bowl.
Learn more about the Super Bowl and how it became so big on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the third mission to land on the moon.
It never achieved its mission objective.
Despite having failed in its goal, it still managed to return to Earth and, in its own way, achieved a type of success it could never have planned for.
Learn more about Apollo 13, the most successful failure in the history of space flight, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.