Condensed Soup

Japan is sending troops in to fight a rise in bear attacks. Do you know what to do if you run into a bear?

Japan deploys the military to counter a surge in bear attacks (Mari Yamaguchi, AP, Nov 5, 2025)

Japan deploys troops to combat record wave of deadly bear attacks (Arata Yamamoto and Peter Guo, NBC News, Nov 5, 2025)

Japan Deploys Military Forces After Spate of Bear Attacks (Newsweek, Nov 5, 2025)

Bear Attacks (National Park Service, accessed Nov 5, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in a cruise ship cabin.

Old subway cars and other modern discards have been building up artificial reefs along the East Coast. Once used to ferry city dwellers from place to place, now they're homes for fish.

No Longer Full of Commuters, Atlanta's Old Subway Cars Are Now Filled With Fish (Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, Sep 16, 2024)

Dumping subway trains into the ocean … in a good way (Phoebe Park, CNN, Feb 27, 2015)

Sinking 1,000 NYC subway cars in the Atlantic to create a reef didn't go as planned (Elissaveta M. Brandon, Fast Company, Jan 27, 2022)

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*This episode was recorded in a cruise ship cabin.

Norman Rockwell is famous for portraying the promise of the American dream -- but his heart lay in exploring how those promises are broken.

We're Norman Rockwell's family. Trump's DHS has shamefully misused his work. (The Rockwell family, USA Today, Nov 2, 2025)

Norman Rockwell + The Problem We All Live With (Amy Pastan, The Kennedy Center, accessed Nov 3, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in a cruise ship cabin.

China is sending astronauts to the moon -- and a space station! (Is it out of spite?)

China says it's on track to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 ahead of space station mission (Andy Wong, AP, Oct 29, 2025)

China's Shenzhou 21 docks with space station, sets the country's own speed record (Andy Wong and Fu Ting, AP, Oct 31, 2025)

Shenzhen: The city that built China's tech empire (Chen Xiangming, Taylor Ogan, ThinkChina, Oct 21, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in a cruise ship cabin.

Should a Disney World trip count as truancy? The first Condensed Soup at Sea episode starts off with some theme park tales that are less-than-usual.

Disney Donates $1 Million for Hurricane Melissa Relief Efforts in Jamaica (Jackie Gailey, WDWinfo (dot) com, Oct 31, 2025) U.K. Influencer Family with 22 Kids Reportedly Fined for Pulling Them Out of School to Go to Disney World (Colson Thayer, People, Nov 1, 2025)

A duck hit her while on a rollercoaster. Now she's suing SeaWorld. (Eve Chen, USA Today, Oct 30, 2025)

Woman sues SeaWorld Orlando after duck flies into her face while riding roller coaster (Mark Leonard, Wesh (dot) com, Oct 30, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in a cruise ship cabin.

Penny for your thoughts! Except they don't make them anymore. Pennies are leaving circulation -- we chat the fallout.

McDonald's rounding cash transactions as some locations run short of pennies (Mike Snider, USA Today, Oct 31, 2025)

Banks and retailers run short on pennies as the US Mint stops making them (Ken Sweet, ABC News / AP, Oct 30, 2025)

What does the end of the penny mean? Here's what experts are saying (Mike Snider, USA Today, Jun 8, 2025)

Businesses are running out of pennies in the US (Sakshi Venkatraman, BBC, Oct 31, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in a hotel room.

This is a companion episode to yesterday's chat on the SNAP benefits freeze. Now we tackle what we can do and how we can help our communities -- and a reminder that if you need help, it's okay to accept it.

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*This episode was recorded in a hotel room.

DoorDash is stepping in to help, as SNAP benefits are indefinitely paused on Saturday, November 1st. Here are some facts about SNAP benefits and the people that use them.

DoorDash unveils crisis plan as millions face possible loss of SNAP benefits (Bonny Chu, FOXBusiness, Oct 27, 2025)

As millions of Americans prepare to lose SNAP benefits, some states are moving to bridge the gap (Megan Lebowitz and Maggie Rhoads, NBC News, Oct 28, 2025)

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Key Statistics and Research (Jordan W. Jones, USDA Economic Research Service, accessed October 29, 2025)

SNAP Food Assistance is a Sound Investment in Our Nation's Health, Well-Being, and Economy (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Apr 4, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in a hotel room.

Have you heard of chessboxing? It's chess. And boxing.

Plus, a check-in with you and your communities.

James Canty Wins Heavyweight Chessboxing World Championship (Colin McGourty, Chess (dot) com, Oct 16, 2025)

Chess Boxing (Chess (dot) com, accessed Oct 28, 2025)

Chessboxing: the unique sport becoming a global hit (Justin Klawans, The Week US, May 29, 2025)

Chessboxing By Hook or By Rook (Brett Forrest, ESPN (dot) com, accessed Oct 28, 2025)

The improbable rise of chess boxing (The Economist, May 20, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in my bedroom.

A one-man passion project provides Brazilians with an arthouse cinema and a Brooklyn art lover creates a lending library in her home. All around the world, passion projects are making art accessible.

A man in Brazil turned his childhood dream into a small cinema for film lovers (Gabriela Sa Pessoa, AP, Oct 12, 2025)

Gallery Particulier Makes a New Art World Possible (Elizabeth Lepro, UP Magazine, accessed Oct 27, 2025)

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*This episode was recorded in my living room.