Short Wave

Under a court order, officials in Republican-controlled Cochise County, Ariz., finally certified their local midterm elections results after they missed the state's legal deadline and put more than 47,000 people's votes at risk. A bipartisan pair of former officials in the state are calling for the two members who initially voted against certification to be criminally investigated.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, voting correspondent Hansi Lo Wang, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

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.

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Note: A previous version of the story's audio contained the wrong date for an Arizona election certification deadline. The deadline was November 28, not November 8.

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When lightning strikes a giant tree in the tropical rainforest, there's usually no fire, no blackened crater — you might not even notice any damage. But come back months later, as Evan Gora does, and you may find that tree and dozens around it dead. Gora, a forest ecologist who studies lightning in tropical forests, says we are just beginning to understand how lightning actually behaves in these forests, and what its implications are for climate change. On today's episode, Evan Gora tells Aaron Scott about shocking discoveries in lightning research, and why Evan has developed a healthy respect for the hazards it poses – both to individual researchers and to the forests that life on Earth depends on.

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As Democrats plan for a presidential campaign season without Iowa at the top of the calendar, we look at the impact the decision could have on the state — and how the act of running for president itself may never be the same going forward.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, senior political editor & correspondent Ron Elving, and Iowa Public Radio's lead political reporter Clay Masters.

This episode was produced and edited by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Research and fact-checking by Katherine Swartz.

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It's easy to overlook the soil beneath our feet, or to think of it as just dirt to be cleaned up. But soil wraps the world in an envelope of life: It grows our food, regulates our climate, and makes our planet habitable. "What stands between life and lifelessness on our planet Earth is this thin layer of soil that exists on the Earth's surface," says Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a soil scientist at the University of California-Merced.

Just ... don't call it dirt.

"I don't like the D-word," Berhe says. Berhe says soil is precious, taking millennia to regenerate. And with about a third of the world's soil degraded, according to a UN estimate, it's also at risk. Prof. Berhe, who is also serving as Director of the U. S. Dept. of Energy's Office of Science, marks World Soil Day by telling Aaron Scott about the hidden majesty of soil and why it's crucial to tackling the climate crisis.

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The Democratic National Committee is meeting this week in Washington to decide whether Iowa should still have the first caucus in the party's presidential nominating contest. President Biden and others favor switching to a different state, arguing Iowa's population isn't representative of America as a whole.

Also, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of seditious conspiracy in a trial related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. What do the results of this and other related trials mean for the Justice Department's ongoing investigations?

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, political correspondents Susan Davis & Barbara Sprunt, and justice correspondent Ryan Lucas.

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

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Julia Ruth's job takes a lot of strength, a lot of balance, and a surprising amount of physics. She's a circus artist — and has performed her acrobatic Cyr wheel routine around the world. But before she learned her trade and entered the limelight, she was on a very different career path — she was studying physics. Julia talks with Emily (who also shares a past life in the circus) about her journey from physicist to circus artist, and how she learned her physics-defining acts.

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All eyes are on Georgia's Senate runoff election as Democrat Raphael Warnock fights for his first full term. He's up against Republican Herschel Walker, a former college football celebrity and political newcomer who faced a number of allegations of abuse and personal misconduct. The race, which concludes on Tuesday, won't determine control of the Senate, but will determine how much influence more conservative senators like Joe Manchin have in crafting legislation.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, WABE politics reporter Rahul Bali, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

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.

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An exhibit that blended science and technology for an immersive art experience went on display in Washington, DC and New York City in 2021 and 2022. It invited visitors to explore the cells in their brain. The installation was a partnership between the Society for Neuroscience and technology-based art space, ARTECHOUSE. In this encore episode, producer Thomas Lu talks to neuroscientist John Morrison and chief creative officer Sandro Kereselidze about the Life of a Neuron.

Curious about other ways science intersects with art? Email us at [email protected].

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Railroad unions rejected a Biden-brokered deal to prevent a national strike over concerns that it did not include paid sick leave. Now, the president is pushing Congress to implement it anyway. Biden — who has described himself as the most labor-friendly president in U.S. history — is worried that a rail workers' strike during the holiday season would devastate the economy.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, political correspondent Susan Davis, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

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.

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New York's Bellevue Hospital is the oldest public hospital in the country, serving patients from all walks of life. It's also the home of a literary magazine, the Bellevue Literary Review, which is now more than 20 years old. In today's encore episode, NPR arts correspondent Neda Ulaby tells Emily how one doctor at Bellevue Hospital decided a literary magazine is essential to both science and healing.

As always, you can reach the show by emailing [email protected].

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