About 20 years ago, Mary Jo Bang read a poem that inspired her to take on a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. At first, she began with just three lines – but two decades later, she's completed all three parts: "Inferno," "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso." In today's episode, she joins NPR's Ari Shapiro for a conversation about translating Dante into contemporary language, why English is a "rhyme-poor" language, and the parallels between Dante's journey and her own.
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It's the Beigie Awards, our eight times a year salute to the art and science of telling stories about the economy. The most recent Beige Book shows that Americans are finding ways to spend less money ... including on their vacations. On today's show, we find out what Benjamin Franklin and Jersey Beach goers have in common.
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Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss the global push by governments to rapidly adopt AI at all costs and how citizens can critically rethink our dependence on these technologies while imagining a collective future that benefits everyone.
Dan McQuillan is a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the author of Resisting AI.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.
Kathryn Stacer had a question about her grandfather. We try to find an answer, but also consider whether the answer even matters.
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To wrap up our coverage of the World Series of Poker, we bring you a poker interview extravaganza. This year, Leo Margets became the second woman ever to make it to the Main Event final table—and the first since 1995. Nate and Maria chat with Leo about her approach to poker, why having fun helps her play better, and how she felt about her historic 2025 WSOP. Then, they interview poker legend Erik Seidel, who taught Maria to play the game. He talks about the camaraderie of the poker world, and shares his personal “no suffering” rule.
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The World Health Organization has demanded full access for aid into Gaza as well as a ceasefire, describing the situation there as "man-made mass starvation". Also: gaps in our knowledge of ancient Rome could be filled by AI.