Short Wave

Her life is about to change: with Democrats expanding their control in the Senate, Vice President Harris tells NPR's Asma Khalid that she won't need to stay as close to Washington as she has in the administration's first two years — when she was her party's tie-breaking vote in the chamber. Harris says she will expand her travel in support of activists and organizers working to advance abortion access and voting rights.

This episode: 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 Katherine Swartz.

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

Math is a complex, beautiful language that can help people understand the world. And sometimes math is hard! Science communicator Sadie Witkowski says the key to making math your friend is to foster your own curiosity and shed the fear of sounding dumb. That's the guiding principle behind her podcast, Carry the Two and it's today's show: Embracing all math has to offer without the fear of failure. We encore this episode in between Carry the Two's seasons - their second one starts on January 3, 2023!

This episode was produced by Berly McCoy, edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact checked by Rachel Carlson. The audio engineer was Josh Newell.

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

Lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack advised four criminal charges be filed against former President Donald Trump over his role in the riot. One member noted that the U.S. does not have "a system of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the masterminds and ringleaders get a free pass." The Department of Justice, entirely independent from Congress, may or may not choose to follow through on the group's referrals.

This episode: politics correspondent Ashley Lopez, congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, and national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson.

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 Katherine Swartz.

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

Dietary supplements — the vitamins, herbs and botanicals that you'll find in most grocery stores — are everywhere. More than half of U.S. adults over 20 take them, spending almost $50 billion on vitamins and other supplements in 2021. Yet decades of research have produced little evidence that they really work. Aaron Scott talks to Dr. Jenny Jia about the science of dietary supplements: which ones might help, which ones might hurt, and where we could be spending our money instead.

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 this week's roundup, we explore the political implications of Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter alongside the release of information regarding the company's moderation policies, discuss legislation concerning the LGBTQ community that took effect in 2022, and contemplate just what beer actually is.

This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, disinformation correspondent Shannon Bond, correspondent Melissa Block, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

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 Katherine Swartz.

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

Brazil's president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is renewing calls to protect the Amazon and rein in the deforestation. Climate scientists are encouraged but so far there aren't a lot of specifics of how this might happen. NPR's Kirk Siegler traveled to a remote Amazonian research station that is also threatened by illegal logging and talks to host Aaron Scott about his trip.

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 new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows that most voters want to see bipartisan compromise in Congress, but the survey also shows that Americans are as entrenched as they have been for years. So what is it that voters really want? And on issues where voters of both parties appear to have overlap — including the idea that American democracy is facing serious threats — are they really talking about the same thing?

This episode: political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, voting correspondent Miles Parks, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

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

NPR Privacy Policy

On Dec. 5 at 1 o'clock in the morning local time, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California used lasers to zap a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel. The lasers hit their target with 2.05 megajoules of energy, and the pellet released roughly 3.15 megajoules. It's a major milestone, and one that the field of fusion science has struggled to reach for more than half a century: producing a fusion reaction that generates more energy than it consumes. While progress, the technology is still a ways off from its promise to produce energy without creating greenhouse gases. Today on the show, Regina G. Barber brings us two NPR stories that explain what this experiment showed and what else needs to happen to make fusion a practical energy source.

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

It could be the most rancorous contest for Speaker of the House in the modern Congress — even though there is no clear alternative candidate. What will the process look like and what concessions might McCarthy have to make to secure the top job?

This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, political correspondent Susan Davis, 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 Katherine Swartz.

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

Gene editing was a new idea in the mid-1970s. So when Harvard and MIT planned new research in recombinant DNA, alarm bells went off. "People were worried about a 'Frankengene,'" says Lydia Villa-Komaroff, then a freshly minted PhD. Amidst a political circus, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts banned research into recombinant DNA, forcing scientists like Villa-Komaroff into exile. But that turned out to be just the prelude to a breakthrough. In this episode, Dr. Villa-Komaroff tells Emily Kwong the story of overcoming the skeptics and coaxing bacteria into producing insulin for humans.

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