A lot of us were taught that conception happens with a survivor-style sperm race — the fastest and strongest sperm fight to make it to the egg first. In this Back To School episode, we revisit this misleading narrative and learn just how active the egg and reproductive tract are in this process.

You can find Ariela @arielazebede, Lisa @CampoEngelstein, and Kristin @kristin_hook on Twitter. Email us at [email protected].

Editorial Note - The introduction of this episode has been updated to reflect anthropologist Emily Martin's crucial role in first making this issue widely known.

REFERENCES:
The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles, Emily Martin (1991)
Revisiting "The fertilization fairytale:" an analysis of gendered language used to describe fertilization in science textbooks from middle school to medical school, Lisa Campo-Engelstein & Nadia Johnson (2014)
Misconceptions about Conception and Other Fallacies: Historical Bias in Reproductive Biology, Virginia Hayssen (2020)

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The Supreme Court seems poised to uphold voting restrictions in Arizona, setting the stage for Republican legislatures to try to make it more difficult to vote for years to come. This comes at the same time as the House passed a bill expanding and protecting voting rights. Civil rights remain at the center of the debate over who has access to the vote.

This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, voting and disinformation reporter Miles Parks, and legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

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A growing number of cities are looking at restricting the use of gas in new buildings to reduce climate emissions. But some states are considering laws to block those efforts, with backing from the natural gas industry.

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President Biden announced yesterday an accelerated vaccination timeline in the United States, but some states are already moving to fully reopen—a move public health experts warn could lead to deadly mutations and a dangerous backslide.

This episode: White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

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The coronavirus has disrupted all of our lives, and that's especially true for healthcare workers. We hear reflections from Dr. Jamila Goldsmith and Mariah Clark, two emergency room workers. They tell us what the first year of the pandemic has been like for them, how their lives have changed, and what's around the corner as more people become vaccinated.

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FBI Director Christopher Wray defended his department saying it warned law enforcement ahead of the insurrection at the capitol. He also emphasized the ongoing threat to the United States posed by domestic extremists—including militia members and white supremacists.

This episode: White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, justice correspondent Ryan Lucas, and congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales.

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The Biden Administration has prioritized speed in its COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Also, a priority...distributing those doses to the populations most impacted by the coronavirus. Host Maddie Sofia talks with NPR science reporter Pien Huang about the challenges underserved communities face in getting the vaccine and the Biden Administration's plans to address vaccine equity in the pandemic.

For more reporting on the COVID-19 vaccine, follow Pien on Twitter at @Pien_Huang. You can email the show at [email protected].


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The former president's speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference is confirmation that Donald Trump won't go quietly into retirement—loyalty to Trump and white grievance politics will remain the Republican party's central tenets for the foreseeable future.

This episode: White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

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Today, we present a special episode from our colleagues at Code Switch, NPR's podcast about race and identity.

As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines unfolds, one big challenge for public health officials has been the skepticism many Black people have toward the vaccine. One notorious medical study — the Tuskegee experiment — has been cited as a reason. But should it be?

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President Biden hasn't reinstated family separation policies, but his choice to keep migrant children in a shelter facility has drawn criticism from activists. And the Conservative Political Action Conference has evolved in five short years into a Trump-centric affair.

This episode: White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

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