Short Wave

Six in ten Americans say in a new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll that they don't want Trump to be president again, but it's unclear whether the other GOP hopefuls can build a wider base of support without tarnishing their image among voters they'll need to win a primary.

And in his trip to Canada last week, Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed resettling asylum seekers, rising violence in Haiti, and a new area of attention: America's resurgent manufacturing economy.

This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. It is edited by Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Research and fact-checking by Devin Speak.

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Rice is arguably the world's most important staple crop. About half of the global population depends on it for sustenance. But, like other staples such as wheat and corn, rice is cultivated annually. That means replanting the fields year after year, at huge cost to both the farmers and the land. For years, scientists have been tinkering with rice strains to create a perennial variety – one that would regrow after harvest without the need to be resown. Today, Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber takes a look at one promising perennial rice effort. It's one of a series of interviews we conducted live at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Curious about extra thumbs, battery breakthroughs and sustainability in space? Check your feed for more live Short Wave episodes from the AAAS Sci-Mic stage in coming weeks!

Curious about other scientific innovations? As always, you can reach the show by emailing [email protected].

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely Republican presidential primary candidate, once strugged to win the vote of conservative Latinos in South Florida — but lately, many of those voters have really embraced his message.

And the tools to create artificial video, audio, and text have become far more powerful and much easier to use in the last few years. The technology is poised to reshape much of modern life — including, perhaps, the prevalence of disinformation.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and disinformation correspondent Shannon Bond.

The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. It is edited by Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Research and fact-checking by Devin Speak.

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After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Why did the Virgin Islands declare a state of emergency over a large blob of floating algae? What can a far-off asteroid tell us about the origins of life? Is the ever-popular bee waggle dance not just for directions to the hive but a map?

Luckily, it's the job of the Short Wave team to decipher the science behind the day's news. This week, co-host Aaron Scott, Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber and science correspondent Geoff Brumfield are on the case. Buckle up as we journey beyond the headlines and sail out to sea, blast off to space and then find our way home with the help of some dancing bees!

Have suggestions for what we should cover in our next news round up? Email us at [email protected].

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Top monetary officials including Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen say things have stabilized in the two weeks since panicked depositors rapidly withdrew their money from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, causing both to fail. But on top of revisiting recently relaxed banking regulations, policy makers are pondering how to handle the risk of bank runs in the age of smartphone banking.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. It is edited by Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Research and fact-checking by Devin Speak.

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A few weeks ago, raw data gathered in Janaury 2020 from Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China — the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic — was uploaded to an online virology database. It caught the attention of researchers. A new genetic analysis from an international team provides the strongest evidence yet for natural origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of one animal in particular: raccoon dogs. Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong talks with Katherine Wu, a staff writer at The Atlantic, who broke the story and explains the genetic evidence.

To dive into emerging genetic evidence of this pandemic's origins, read:
- Crits-Christoph et. al (2023), Genetic evidence of susceptible wildlife in SARS-CoV-2 positive samples at the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, Wuhan: Analysis and interpretation of data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control
- Katherine Wu's Atlantic article, The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic
- Michaeleen Doucleff's NPR reporting, What does science say about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?

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TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is set to address the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday and is expected to tout the company's billion-dollar restructuring effort to build a firewall between its Chinese owner and the data of the app's 150 million U.S. users. Lawmakers of both parties — having previously shied away from regulating U.S. tech giants — are laser-focused on the app as part of a broader effort to curb a perceived threat from China.

This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, tech reporter Bobby Allyn, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. It is edited by Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Research and fact-checking by Devin Speak.

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From text churned out by ChatGPT to the artistic renderings of Midjourney, people have been taking notice of new, bot-produced creative works. But how does this artificial intelligence software fare when there are facts at stake — like designing a rocket capable of safe spaceflight?

In this episode, NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel and Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong drill into what this AI software gets wrong, right — and if it's even trying to detect the difference in the first place.

Want to hear more about other advances in the tech space? Email us at [email protected]!

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The former president's announced on social media that he'd soon be arrested, apparently referring to an ongoing state investigation in New York over his hush money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Trump invited his supporters to protest. The president's post derailed the ongoing House Republican retreat in Florida, where GOP members denounced New York's investigation into the former president and are once again torn between distancing themselves from his alleged actions and alienating his base.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Susan Davis, and national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson.

The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. It is edited by Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Research and fact-checking by Devin Speak.

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Dotted across the Great Basin of the American West are salty, smelly lakes. The largest of these, by far, is the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

But a recent report found that water diversions for farming, climate change and population growth could mean the lake essentially disappears within five years. Less water going in means higher concentrations of salt and minerals, which threatens the crucial ecological role saline lakes play across the West, as well as the health of the people who live nearby.

On today's episode, Kirk takes Short Wave co-host Aaron Scott on an audio field trip to the endangered Great Salt Lake, and explains why losing the lake could be devastating for everyone from brine flies to the humans that live next door.

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