Short Wave

The video game series that spawned the new hit HBO drama, The Last of Us, is the zombie genre with a twist. Instead of the standard viral pandemic or bacterial disease that's pushed humanity to the brink, but a fungus that has evolved to survive in human bodies in part due to climate change.

Short Wave's Aaron Scott talks with fungal researcher Asyia Gusa about the science that inspired The Last of Us and the real threats fungal researchers see in the ever-warming world.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

President Biden traveled to Ukraine on Monday on an unannounced trip to mark the anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country. But back home, more Americans are growing weary of continuing to support a war that could stretch on for years.

This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh.

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

Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Connect:
Email the show at [email protected]
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Many of us are off today for President's Day. In the meantime, we want to share this episode from our friends at NPR's Life Kit podcast. In it, they discuss the importance of birds as an "indicator species" – their health helps us understand the health of our environment. Plus, they collect expert tips on how we can help birds survive, and thrive.

For more of Audrey's reporting, check out "North American birds are in decline. Here are 8 simple ways you can help."

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

A focus group of swing voters showed worry about President Biden's age — he'd be 82 at the start of a second term — but the voters said they'd still vote for him over Donald Trump.

A 2020 rematch, though, isn't a given: other Republicans like Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pence are likely to face Trump in the next year's primary contests.

This episode: politics reporter Deepa Shivaram, White House correspondent Scott Detrow, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and Iowa Public Radio lead political reporter Clay Masters.

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

Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Connect:
Email the show at [email protected]
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Is chocolate really that good for your health? How do solar flares affect life on earth? And what's the big deal about scientists identifying the chemical motivation for tsetse fly sex? Luckily, it's the job of Short Wave co-hosts Emily Kwong and Aaron Scott and Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to decipher the science behind the headlines. Hang out with us as we dish on some of the coolest science stories in this Valentines-themed installment of our regular newsy get-togethers!

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

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

In remarks Friday, President Biden said the three aerial objects shot down by U.S. military were most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions. And second gentleman Doug Emhoff is using his platform to combat antisemitism.

This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and White House correspondent Asma Khalid.

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

Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Connect:
Email the show at [email protected]
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

In Disney's new animated feature 'Strange World,' a band of multigenerational explorers journeys to the center of their fantastical homeland. Along the way, they fend off, make friends with, and unearth secrets about the curious creatures who call this place home. There's the filterlopes, six-legged deer-forms with fan-like antennae. Or scouts, squishy blue balls with 12 elastic limbs. But as fantastical as these creatures sound, each one is grounded in the physics and biology of its real-world counterpart.

Enter married couple Elizabeth Rega and Stuart Sumida, professors of anatomy and paleontology, respectively. They've worked as science consultants on more than 70 films, from 'Ratatouille' to 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' Film crews bring the duo onboard as biology experts, to help animators figure out how their animal creations — and sometimes their imaginary beasts — should look and move. But 'Strange World' may be their biggest undertaking yet; Elizabeth and Stuart entered at the earliest stages of production to help envision the kinds of creatures that would fill this world with science and wonder.

Short Wave's Aaron Scott talks to Elizabeth Rega and Stuart Sumida about their experiences as science consultants on film sets, and the science fueling Disney's imagined new world.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

A survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found that found more than half of Republicans believe the US should be a strictly Christian nation, adhering to the ideals of Christian nationalism or sympathizing with those views. While this remains a minority opinion nationwide, the study also found correlations between people who hold Christian nationalist views and Anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, and patriarchal views.

This episode: politics correspondent Susan Davis, politics correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, and politics correspondent Ashley Lopez.

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

Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Connect:
Email the show at [email protected]
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

A few years ago, a team of scientists set out on a field expedition in the rugged, dry Northern Territory of Australia. There, they found a plant that was both strange and familiar hiding in plain sight. After careful research during the pandemic, the newly described tomato recently made its debut in PhytoKeys, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Today, Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber talks to lead author Tanisha Williams about the plant's journey from the side of a trail in the Australian Outback to a greenhouse in rural Pennsylvania.

Check out more of our favorite plant episodes:
- When Autumn Leaves Start To Fall https://n.pr/3YuWOP6
- Traditional Plant Knowledge Is Not A Quick Fix https://n.pr/3E4CUSU
- New Discoveries In Underwater Plant Sex https://n.pr/3I4W9wC
- Yep, We Made Up Vegetables https://n.pr/3xo6yyw
- Micro Wave: Does Talking To Plants Help Them Grow?https://n.pr/40UO6v2

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy will lead fellow Republican lawmakers on a trip to Arizona this week, part of an effort by his caucus to boost the profile of border security as an issue through messaging that spuriously links migrants to drugs and crime.

This episode: political reporter Deepa Shivaram, congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, and immigration correspondent Joel Rose.

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

Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Connect:
Email the show at [email protected]
Join the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.
Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy