Category: DailyShorts

Author Elif Shafak struggled at first with how to write her new book, The Island of Missing Trees. The story she wanted to tell is about a family from Cyprus, a Mediterranean island that was the center of a conflict in the 1970s, but she didn't want the story to be about tribalism or nationalism. Which is why, Shafak told NPR's Steve Inskeep, much of the story is told from the perspective of a fig tree

It covers 70% of the Earth’s surface and is one of the most common substances on Earth, and it makes up 97% of the water on the planet. Despite being so common, it is also one of the most complex substances you’ll ever encounter. You can swim and surf in it, but you can’t drink it. Learn more about seawater, and why there is a whole lot more to it than you probably realize, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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The working world looks a lot different today than it did nearly two years ago, when the coronavirus pandemic sent many office staff to work from home indefinitely. Writers Anne Helen Peterson and Charlie Warzel take a look at what work, and our relationship to it, will look like going forward in their new book, Out of Office. NPR's Rachel Martin spoke with Peterson about why so many companies want their employees back in person. And, spoiler alert: it's not about productivity.

Despite what you might have been told, Christopher Columbus and his expedition were not the first Europeans to reach the Americas. Almost 500 years earlier, a small group of Norse settlers arrived on what is today the Island of Newfoundland. Yet, their presence on the continent was short-lived and no one ever came after them. Learn more about what Vinland, Vikings, and lactose intolerance might have shaped history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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In the 1980s, two superpowers battled each other for global supremacy. Across the world, the two goliaths collided on almost every front. In the end, it left a landscape littered with millions dead…..tired of listening to their commercials. Learn more about the Cola Wars and how they changed economics, culture, and soft drinks, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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In 1778, in the middle of the Revolutionary War, while camped outside New York City, General George Washington and Major Benjamin Tallmadge hatched a plan. They created a network of spies that would provide information about British military effort, which could be used by the colonists in fighting the war. It turned out to be pivotal in the war for independence. Learn more about the Culper Ring, and America’s first spy network, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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This Friday, we're featuring two thrillers. First, astronaut Chris Hadfield talked with former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro about his novel The Apollo Murders, which is set in the 70's around, you guessed it, the Apollo missions. It's got Soviet spies and secret space stations with machine guns mounted to the top. What more could a book need? Then a 2015 interview with NPR's Robert Siegel and author Anthony Horowitz about his James Bond novel Trigger Mortis, and what it's like giving a classic a 21st century twist.

Back in July of 2020, a man in the middle of a pandemic decided to launch a new podcast. It would be a daily podcast that would cover, well, everything. It was an ambitious project that everyone told him was crazy to do, but it pushed ahead and did it anyhow. Today, 16 months later, that podcast is celebrating its 500th episode. Learn more about Everything Everywhere Daily on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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The National Rifle Association is being sued. The nonprofit at the heart of the gun lobby is accused of diverting money from its charitable mission. NPR investigative journalist Tim Mak has been following the paper trail, much of it tracing back to Wayne LaPierre, longtime leader of the NRA. NPR's Steve Inskeep talked with Mak about his new book, Misfire, detailing congressional investigations, and what the New York state attorney general has identified as tens of millions of dollars of corrupt spending on private jets and six figure suits.