Two teenage reporters, Teddy Fischer and Jane Gormley, interview the US Secretary of Defence.

Also: an unauthorized immigrant dreams of white picket fences; a Mexican street cart vendor in Los Angeles becomes an overnight celebrity; oil brings wealth and trouble to a small town in North Dakota; Laleh Khadivi’s latest novel is about a surfer-dude turned jihadi; plus we meet a man who listens to trees.

(Image: U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis listens to a reporter’s questions at the Pentagon on July 7, 2017 in Arlington, Virginia. Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Until recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin was deeply suspicious of the world wide web. What changed his mind?

Also: the curious parallels between love and quantum physics; the Native American tribe that invented lacrosse gets nation status in the sport’s World Cup; fans of 'The Bachelorette' react when the reality TV show features a Sikh convert; two immigrant entrepreneurs create virtual reunions; and the Colombian rock star Juanes just wants to make his world better.

(Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin uses binoculars as he visits an air show outside Moscow on July 18, 2017. Credit: Alexey Nikolsky/Getty Images)

In 1878, scientists all over the US witnessed a total eclipse of the sun. After that, American science was never quite the same.

Also: Sona Hosseini learns that being an astronomist….can be depressing; photographer Joel Sartore goes on a quest to take pictures of endangered animals before they disappear; why the American TV drama Twin Peaks took off in Russia; and we remember director George Romero who changed how we think about zombies.

(Image: A total solar eclipse is seen in Indonesia on March 9, 2016. Credit: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

David Eubank, an American relief worker, decides to bring his whole family with him to Mosul.

Also: Choi Seong-guk, a North Korean refugee, draws a popular online comic strip series about his defection; presenter Marco Werman joins the US Coast Guard on patrol; scientist Milo Nordyke remembers a time when the US government tried to use a nuclear bomb as a bulldozer; and Mexican-American musician Lila Downs dedicates her latest album to “dangerous’’ women.

(Image: Smoke plumes billow in Mosul on July 10, 2017. Credit: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia, it turns out, accidentally helped the US win its independence.

Also: we meet two sisters who will go to the Olympics together but on competing teams; we remember when North and South Korea teamed up to beat China at table tennis; we go a few rounds with a boxer who’s inspiring young women in Jordan; we learn why an all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan is going to be competing virtually in a US competition; and we get the backstory to a popular baseball podcast hosted by three fans of the sport who also happen to be blind.

(Image: People watch fireworks as they celebrate US Independence Day on July 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty

Five months after Jewish graves were vandalised in St. Louis, questions remain.

Also: a resolution condemning racism causes chaos at the Southern Baptist Convention; why refugees from Myanmar draw inspiration from the action movie, Rambo; the story of a murder that got manipulated to serve more than one political agenda; why a hate crime survivor tried to save the life of his attacker; plus Renee Goust has something to say to people who thinks she’s a “feminazi” and it comes in the form of a song.

(Image: Karen Aroesty is the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. Credit: Daniel A. Gross)

“People are absolutely losing it. Some they go to their work. Some they pluck them right out of bed from their families."

Why Iraqis in the US are getting sent back to Iraq; what it means for one immigrant to get to stay; the fight for paid leave for victims of domestic violence in Canada; a Ukrainian physicist who always tries to keep politics and science separate fails yet again; and the two comedians who started ArmComedy, their country’s first satirical news programme, explain what Armenians find funny.

Sam Heller, an expert on Syria, thinks that the US should evacuate the country’s residents.

Trump still uses his personal mobile phone. Security experts are baffled.

Citizen journalists try to figure out what’s going on in those videos of the Turkish president’s bodyguards clashing with protesters in Washington, DC.

Also: female war veterans tell their stories through comics; Kathy Eldon, the mother of slain photographer Dan Eldon, turns his life into a film; we visit an exhibit of the photos of Henryk Ross, official photographer of the Lodz ghetto; we learn about Stanley Greene, the African-American war photographer celebrated in Europe. Plus, Lilly Singh, an internet star, says she’s ready for her close up.