NPR's Book of the Day - A new novel from Karen Russell is a sprawling story set during the Dust Bowl

As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Karen Russell’s novel The Antidote is set during the Dust Bowl – a period when poor farming practices and drought led to a wave of severe and damaging dust storms. In this bleak setting, we’re introduced to a cast of characters, including a woman who stores other people’s memories and a photographer tasked with documenting the crisis. In today’s episode, Russell speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about the inspiration behind The Antitode’s core characters, including the work of photographer Gordon Parks and an image that came to Russell as she finished her first novel.


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

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - 2025: The Movie(s) of the Year

If you were to sum up 2025 in a film, which would you pick? The question that nearly wrecked the brain of Slate’s chief movie critic.

Guest: Dana Stevens, Slate’s movie critic.

Dana’s ten best movies of 2025.

Her review of Sinners.

And her review of One Battle After Another.

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Indicator from Planet Money - Gilded Age 2.0? (Encore)

To hear President Trump tell it, the late 1800s, i.e. the Gilded Age, were a period of unparalleled wealth and prosperity in the U.S. But this era was also marked by corruption and wealth inequality. Sound familiar? On today's show, is history repeating itself?

This episode originally aired June 5, 2025. 

Related:
Trump's tariff role model For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.  

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Global News Podcast - President Trump warns Hamas to honour disarming promise

President Trump has warned that Hamas will have "hell to pay" if it does not disarm quickly as part of the Gaza peace deal. He said he hoped to reach phase two "very quickly". He was speaking during a visit by the Israeli prime minister. Also: Russia accuses Ukraine of launching a drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin's residences – a claim Kyiv has denied; the Bangladeshi politician and former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, has died aged 80; researchers monitoring shark populations in the Mediterranean say some shark species are in danger of disappearing; and a young man retraces his father's epic journey and cycles from the English city of Derby to Derby Street in Sydney, Australia.

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Read Me a Poem - Poem III from “Twenty-One Love Poems” by Adrienne Rich

Amanda Holmes reads “Poem III” from Adrienne Rich’s Twenty-One Love Poems.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.

 

This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Stack Overflow Podcast - How AI is helping us build better communities

MIT and Stanford professor Alex “Sandy” Pentland joins the show to explore the power of communities for shared knowledge and how AI could hurt or help the growth of these communities. Ryan and Sandy dive into the findings from Sandy’s new book Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI, the ethical implications of rapidly advancing technology, and AI’s potential to foster community dialogue and decision-making. 

Episode notes:

Sandy’s new book Shared Wisdom: Cultural Evolution in the Age of AI explores how we can build a flourishing society by using what we know about human nature to design our technology—rather than letting technology shape our society.

Connect with Sandy on Linkedin. Check out the work he’s doing with AI at deliberation.io and Loyal Agents.

Congratulations to user Harshal for winning a Populist badge on their answer to How to start search only when user stops typing?

TRANSCRIPT

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It Could Happen Here - CZM Rewind: They Don’t Care About Us: What Migrants Leave Behind

In part three of his series on the Darién Gap, James talks about what drives Venezuelan and African migrants to make the journey through the Darién Gap.

Original Air Date: 10.30.24

Sources:

https://www.notiparole.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAaDkSwh1Jk/?igsh=bmgyanBteW10czd5

https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/20/archives/a-new-canaldug-by-atom-bombs-nuclear-energy-is-the-key-to-replacing.html

https://www.themanual.com/outdoors/darien-gap-feature/

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/18/panama-darien-gap-jose-raul-mulino

https://americasquarterly.org/article/the-darien-gaps-fearsome-reputation-has-been-centuries-in-the-making/

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/10/27/the-darien-gap-a-deadly-extension-of-the-us-border

https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/supporting_resources/jmhs.pdf

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/20/snakes-swamps-whisky-british-explorers-went-ultimate-boys-adventure/

https://www.strausscenter.org/publications/asylum-processing-at-the-u-s-mexico-border-august-2024/

https://www.gob.mx/inm/prensa/el-gobierno-mexicano-y-el-inm-articulan-corredor-emergente-de-movilidad-segura-para-el-traslado-de-personas-extranjeras-con-cita-cbp-one

https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-03-23/kidnapping-and-escape-of-95-ecuadorian-migrants-in-chiapas-if-you-continue-informing-we-will-return-them-in-bags.html

https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Asylum-Policies-Harm-Black-Asylum-Seekers-FACTSHEET-formatted.pdf

https://respondcrisistranslation.org/en/newsb/cbp-ones-obscene-language-errors-create-more-barriers-for-asylum-seekers

https://www.msf.org/lack-action-sees-sharp-rise-sexual-violence-people-transiting-darien-gap-panama

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/78d30acb-8463-4c40-a5ae-ae2d0145c9ff/image.jpg?t=1751824393&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - CLASSIC: What is “Laying On Hands”?

In the ancient days, when medicine and spirituality were inseparable, people often used rituals and invocations to elicit help from divine sources. This practice continues today, through a number of techniques collectively known as faith healing. But what is it, exactly? How does it work? Could mere physical touch from the right person heal otherwise incurable medical conditions? Join Ben, Matt and Noel as they dive into fact and fiction of faith healing.

They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2e824128-fbd5-4c9e-9a57-ae2f0056b0c4/image.jpg?t=1749831085&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }