Category: DailyShorts

All That She Carried is the history of a single bag. Historian and author Tiya Miles used what few historical records she could find to tell the stories of three generations of Black women with ties to that sack dating back to 1850. Miles' journey started because of a simple message embroidered on the bag by one of its owners, Ruth Middleton. She told Here & Now's Scott Tong that people have emotional reactions to seeing the sack, because it means the families survived to pass it down to future generations.

The planet Neptune was discovered in 1846. Ever since then, astronomers have felt there had to be another planet beyond the orbit of Neptune. Everyone assumed they found it with the discovery of Pluto in 1930, however, something still wasn’t quite right. 90 years later, the mystery planet hasn’t been found, but astronomers might be getting close. Learn more about Planet Nine, sometimes known as Planet X, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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Claire Oshetsky's new novel Chouette is... pretty strange, but also kind of wonderful? Oshetsky says the story is a parable about motherhood, in which a woman gives birth to an owl baby. The mother finds this strange not because the baby is an owl, but because she only had intercourse with the owl parent in a dream, and that owl was a woman. Still with us? Good. Oshetsky talked with NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben about how her own daughter consulted on writing the book, and what she learned from raising an autistic child.

Located in Vatican City, just off St. Peter’s Square lies one of the plainest and most uninteresting buildings you might ever find. It has no adornments and it is just a solid beige color. However, inside that bland structure, you will find one of humanity’s greatest artistic achievements, and to enjoy it you just might get a sore neck. Learn more about the Sistine Chapel, the building, the art, and its history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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Cookbook author and chef Bryant Terry edited and curated the new book, Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes From Across The African Diaspora. His goal was to preserve Black American recipes and their complex stories, but he uses more than just food to tell those stories. The book is also full of essays, art and music. Terry told Here And Now's Scott Tong that the cookbook is a "communal shrine to the shared culinary histories of the African Diaspora."

You’ve probably heard of artificial intelligence systems which have gotten so good that they can beat the best humans at Go, chess, and even Jeopardy. However, over 200 years ago one Hungarian engineer created a mechanical device that could defeat the world’s greatest chess players. Sort of. Learn more about The Mechanical Turk and how it convinced people for over 80 years that it could play chess, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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The Sahara desert is by far the largest desert in the world. It evokes images of sand dunes, camels and just being really really dry. However, it didn’t always use to be that way. Quite recently, at least geologically speaking, it was a place with grasslands and forests. While it disappeared and became a desert, some think a green Sahara might return. Learn more about how the Sahara desert wasn’t always a desert, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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The United States has created many cultural institutions which have spread around the world. People all over the Earth have enjoyed and benefited from rock and roll, Hollywood films, and the Internet. However, we’ve also created some things that have spread to other countries which, to be totally honest, are probably not our best look. Learn more about Black Friday, the surprising history of the term, and how it manifests around the world today, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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Our beloved friend and colleague Petra Mayer died suddenly a few weeks ago. This episode is for her. First, a conversation with NPR's Scott Simon and Sir Andrew Motion on The Folio Book of War Poetry, edited by Motion. Among her many nerdy interests, Petra was a self avowed "WWI poetry dork." The poetry is dark and moving, conveying universal feelings around loss. Then, a few quintessentially "Petra" pieces that capture her work and who she was. A conversation with romance author Beverly Jenkins and Petra talking about one of her favorite comfort reads, The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.

On the fourth Thursday in November every year, American’s celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. It is a holiday that originated in the Americas but has subsequently spread to many countries around the world. It is a holiday that is actually secular, but with some religious overtones, and has a unique set of traditions that aren’t really shared with any other holiday. Learn more about the history and traditions of Thanksgiving on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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