Short Run

By WBUR

Society & Culture

What's Short Run about?

The best long-form audio series from WBUR, Boston's NPR, all in one feed.

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Short Run episodes:

04.29.2024
Reverse Course: This machine creates drinking water ‘from thin air’ in driest parts of the world
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now's Reverse Course series, senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look...
04.25.2024
Reverse Course: Detroit debuts 'road of the future' with wireless EV charging
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now's Reverse Course series, senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look...
04.24.2024
Reverse Course: Shipbuilders harness the wind to clean up global shipping
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now's Reverse Course series, senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look...
04.23.2024
Reverse Course: Planes pollute the planet, but new technology could clean up the aviation industry
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now's Reverse Course series, senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look...
04.22.2024
Reverse Course: Battery-powered big rigs could haul the future of trucking
Short Run presents Here & Now's climate series "Reverse Course". Today's episode is about how the trucking industry is responsible for almost a quarter of all American greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. But roadblocks remain to going green. Take a...
03.14.2024
The Gun Machine presents: "Beyond All Repair," a new murder mystery podcast
Introducing Beyond All Repair, a new WBUR podcast from producer emeritus of Dear Sugars, Amory Sivertson. This series tells the story of a murder, but also the woman who was accused of that murder, Sophia. Sophia was newly married and 6 months...
03.11.2024
Short Run: Introducing "Elements of Energy" from WBUR's On Point
On Point's special series 'Elements of energy: Mining for a green future,' explores the environmental and human cost of mining, and asks what it would take for the U.S. to meet the Biden administration's green energy goals. Listen to this series...
11.22.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 8: "The Leftovers"
Growing up, host Alain Stephens bonded with his dad over guns — an interest Alain still holds today. But more than a decade ago, his family experienced a terrible loss. In this episode, Alain examines how that loss has shaped his...
11.08.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 7: "What the ATF"
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is supposed to regulate the gun industry and protect the American public from gun crime. But the ATF often falls short of that mandate. This is no accident. This episode of The Gun...
11.01.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 6: "The Church"
In 1999, at the end of a decade in which Gary, Indiana, had endured being labeled as the “murder capital of the nation,” then-Mayor Scott King filed a suit against gun manufacturers he believed were knowingly flooding his city with...
10.25.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 5: "The Client"
When criminals have access to some of the most powerful weapons in the world, how will police match or outgun them? What role does the gun industry play?
10.17.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 4: "Triggermen"
The byproduct of producing the world's most lethal guns is that criminals have them, too. We go back to the birthplace of the industry, Springfield, Mass., where nearly every young person we speak with has a story about big guns...
10.11.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 3: "Go West"
The Gun Machine host Alain Stephens and producer Grace Tatter dig into the scandal-ridden biography of the man who cracked the mass civilian market for guns, and who helped create an iconic genre defined by falsehoods that are misremembered as...
10.04.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 2: "Why We Carry"
In episode two of The Gun Machine, host Alain Stephens travels down to Florida to attend the Pew Party, where he talks to Black gun owners about why they carry and examines the link between our nation’s fraught history and...
10.04.2023
The Gun Machine Ep 1: "The Machine We Make"
Our country would look very different without the gun industry. And without the federal government? The gun industry might not exist at all. The premier episode of The Gun Machine introduces the story of how the U.S. has shaped, and been shaped...
09.20.2023
Introducing ‘The Gun Machine’
Every time there is a mass shooting in America, the first question is why. When we look for answers, we tend to focus on the incident itself - who the shooter was, why they did it, and who parachutes in...
08.31.2023
Coming Soon to Short Run: "The Gun Machine"
This September, we're bringing you a story that most Americans never learned in history class — a new podcast about the gun industry’s grip on our country. And their biggest partner, since the Revolutionary War: The government. Introducing The Gun Machine:...
04.28.2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 5
Some experts say that while populism can metastasize into authoritarianism, it doesn't have to. They argue that the roots of American populism made this country's democracy better. And that it's time to resurrect progressive populism. But other observers strongly disagree. The fifth...
04.28.2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 4
America’s urban-rural divide. It’s easy to think of American populism as disempowered rural residents versus the urban elite. But when it comes to influencing national policy, who has the real power? Episode four of On Point's special series 'The power of populism' is...
04.28.2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 3
It felt for a while like Wisconsin was ground zero in American politics. How has populism flourished in the Badger state? In the third episode of On Point's special series 'The power of populism', hear all about Wisconsin and the politics of...
04.28.2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 2
Populism is on the rise across the globe, from Turkey to Hungary to Brazil. And in the world's largest democracy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ushered in a sweeping, economic modernization plan for all Indians. But he's also cracked down on the...
04.28.2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 1
Populism is a defining force in American politics, and around the world. But what exactly is populism? Where does it come from, and where does it take us? In the first episode of On Point's five part series 'The power of populism',...
03.15.2023
Short Run introduces Violation, a new podcast about who pulls the levers of power in the justice system
We want to share a first listen of a new podcast we're working on at WBUR. Violation tells the story of two families bound together by an unthinkable crime. It explores America's opaque parole system and asks: How much time in prison is...
02.22.2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode V
All of a sudden, it’s less clear if Nixon’s wager is paying off. After years of collaboration and mutual economic benefit, relations between China and the U.S. are at a low point. What does the start of this important relationship...
02.22.2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode IV
The relationship between China and the U.S. is off and running — and now the two countries are collaborating on secret, sensitive intelligence. The fourth part of Here & Now's "The Great Wager" includes exclusive information about how Chinese and...
02.22.2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode III
The news of Nixon’s trip to China is public, and he’s getting credit for pulling off such a historic event. Now, he and his advisers have to work with the Chinese to forge a relationship between two very different countries....
02.22.2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode II
Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger make contact with China. But in the midst of the Cold War, they don’t want anyone to know. How will Kissinger get to Beijing without alerting anyone — and what’s Frank Sinatra...
02.22.2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager'| Episode I
President Richard Nixon has a plan: He wants to go to China. The only problem? The U.S. and China have had zero contact since the Communist Party took over China two decades before. In the first part of Here &...
01.18.2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode VI
In the final episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Dean Russell visit Google, the frontier of AI, to see just how close the field is to creating bots with minds of their...
01.18.2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode V
In the fifth episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Nora Saks dive into the ways artificial intelligence is changing modern love and online dating. Trying to find love (or even lock in one date) on dating...
01.18.2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode IV
In the fourth episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Quincy Walters share a cautionary tale about Tay, a Microsoft AI chatbot that has lived on in infamy. Tay was originally modeled to...
01.18.2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode III
In the third episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson explore a growing field of artificial intelligence: immortalizing the dead through predictive AI text. They talk with two individuals who used this tech...
01.18.2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode II
In the second episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson consider the possibilities of bots being used in governments around the world. How can bots increase transparency and shine a light on...
01.18.2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode I
In the first episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson delve into the history of ELIZA, the world's first chatbot therapist. Why did this computer's creator have a lot of complicated feelings about the...
12.14.2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode V'
Trust — in our institutions, our leaders, in each other — can erode away. But trust can also be rebuilt, even after devastating events. How can humans rebuild trust?
12.14.2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode IV'
Trust is essential for survival, for relationships, for a civilized society. But trust needs an unexpected ally: skepticism. But what happens when your skepticism turns into cynicism, or outright disbelief? In the fourth episode of On Point's series Essential trust,...
12.14.2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode III'
Brazilians don't trust each other. Some studies find that more than 60% of Brazilians don't trust the people in their own communities. In the third episode of On Point's series Essential trust, we look for lessons from Brazil as trust in...
12.14.2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode II'
What happens in our brains when we trust someone? In the second episode of On Point's series Essential trust, neuroscientists explain how our brains process trust, and why it's worth the risk.
12.14.2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode I'
Jane Goodall formed incredible bonds with chimpanzees in the wild. "First they were afraid. Then they became belligerent. And then when I wouldn't go away, ‘Well, I guess she's okay.’ They came to trust," Goodall said. But were those bonds similar to...
07.01.2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode IV'
The final episode of On Point's series Smarter health gets up close with the people working and developing AI technology, and the patients receiving AI care. How can this technology thrive in our complex and broken health care system?
06.30.2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode III'
Health care is heavily regulated. But can the FDA effectively regulate AI in health care? It's episode three of On Point's series “Smarter health."
06.29.2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode II'
There is a sophisticated computer model that can estimate a patient's chance of dying in the next year. It's being used at a Stanford hospital to encourage important end of life care conversations and decisions. But would you want to know...
06.28.2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode I'
American health care is complex. Expensive. Hard to access. Could artificial intelligence change that? In the first episode of On Point's series Smarter health, hear all about the potential of AI in health care — from predicting patient risk, to diagnostics, to...

What's Short Run about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Short Run episodes:

Reverse Course: This machine creates drinking water ‘from thin air’ in driest parts of the world

Reverse Course: Detroit debuts 'road of the future' with wireless EV charging

Reverse Course: Shipbuilders harness the wind to clean up global shipping

Reverse Course: Planes pollute the planet, but new technology could clean up the aviation industry

Reverse Course: Battery-powered big rigs could haul the future of trucking

The Gun Machine presents: "Beyond All Repair," a new murder mystery podcast

Short Run: Introducing "Elements of Energy" from WBUR's On Point

The Gun Machine Ep 8: "The Leftovers"

The Gun Machine Ep 7: "What the ATF"

The Gun Machine Ep 6: "The Church"

The Gun Machine Ep 5: "The Client"

The Gun Machine Ep 4: "Triggermen"

The Gun Machine Ep 3: "Go West"

The Gun Machine Ep 2: "Why We Carry"

The Gun Machine Ep 1: "The Machine We Make"

Introducing ‘The Gun Machine’

Coming Soon to Short Run: "The Gun Machine"

Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 5

Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 4

Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 3

Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 2

Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 1

Short Run introduces Violation, a new podcast about who pulls the levers of power in the justice system

Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode V

Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode IV

Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode III

Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode II

Short Run: 'The Great Wager'| Episode I

'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode VI

'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode V

'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode IV

'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode III

'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode II

'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode I

Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode V'

Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode IV'

Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode III'

Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode II'

Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode I'

Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode IV'

Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode III'

Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode II'

Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode I'

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