Celeste Ng's new novel Our Missing Hearts is set in a dystopian America, where children are taken away from their parents. The story is told from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy who goes in search of his missing mother. In an interview with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, Ng says she wanted to look at how people rationalize their faith in institutions, and how willing they are to look away from something that's wrong.
Located in the South Pacific Ocean is one of the most isolated islands in the world. It is over a thousand miles from the nearest human settlement.
There a civilization unlike any other in the world arose and ultimately fell. While the story of the island didn’t end with the fall of that civilization, the physical remains of that society have endured and have fascinated people for centuries.
Learn more about Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island, and the civilization and people who lived there on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In 1957, two chemists at the Clinton Corn Processing Company of Clinton, Iowa, developed a system for converting the sucrose found in corn starch into fructose.
Over 60 years later, the product they created can be found in a dizzying array of food products worldwide.
Learn more about High Fructose Corn Syrup, how it is made, how it is used, and the controversy surrounding it on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
In this episode, we hear two interviews with author Namwali Serpell. Her two novels look at some variation on what it means to be part of a mixed-race family. First, NPR's Scott Simon talks to Serpell about her 2019 debut The Old Drift in which the author considers how immigrants that came to Zambia gave the country a new identity through unity and love. Then, Serpell and NPR's Juana Summers discuss her second novel The Furrows, which looks at grief – and how it doesn't necessarily get easier with time.
Scott has lived all over the Bay Area and he still can't get over how different the weather can be from one place to another. He wants to know why the Bay Area has so many microclimates and where they are. And, as a bonus, we ask people in the know if the heat island affect is at play in Bay Area cities.
This story was reported by Daniel Potter. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Amanda Font and Brendan Willard. Our Social Video Intern is Darren Tu. Additional support from Kyana Moghadam, Jen Chien, Jasmine Garnett, Carly Severn, Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Jenny Pritchett and Holly Kernan.
For decades, Chicago has received a steady stream of refugees who have made the city home after escaping war and political conflict. They have come from countries like Bosnia, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently, several thousand asylum seekers came to the city on buses from Texas. Many of the institutions and organizations helping these newcomers to resettle are faith-based. On this week’s episode we take on a question about how faith-based groups approach this kind of work from a listener who works with refugees through his church.
This conversation between NPR's Ailsa Chang and actor Brandon Kyle Goodman looks at authentic relationships and the performance of queerness. Goodman is Black, non-binary, and grew up in a religious household. Among humorous stories of love – and self-love – their new book You Gotta Be You: How to Embrace This Messy Life and Step Into Who You Really Are touches on dating, white privilege, and dating those with white privilege. Goodman's origin story helps readers understand what it means to fully love oneself.
In February 1904, the Russian Empire found itself at war with the Empire of Japan over what was the territory of China.
The problem was the majority of the Russian navy was located in the Baltic Sea, and the war was in Asia.
They were sent on an incredibly long voyage to get the ships into battle.
Learn more about the disastrous voyage of the Imperial Russian Fleet and how it helped change the course of Russian history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
