Short Wave

Vaccination rates are trending up and deaths are trending down since President Biden took office—but another hundred thousand Americans have died since he was sworn in. Public health experts suggest it was probably too late to prevent them. Biden's nearly two trillion dollar relief bill is set to be voted on later this week.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national political correspondent Mara Liasson, health correspondent Allison Aubrey, and congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell.

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It's likely there's a magnet wherever you're looking right now. In fact, the device you're using to listen to this episode? Also uses a magnet. Which is why today, NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel is taking us "back to school," explaining how magnetism works and why magnets deserve more respect.

If you're secretly hoping we cover a basic science concept near and dear to your heart, spill the tea! We'd love to know and can be reached via email at [email protected].

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Under questioning from senators about the attack on the Capitol, the law enforcement officials who oversaw the building's security were quick to lay blame elsewhere. And an NPR investigation offers context on everyone charged in connection with the insurrection.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional reporter Claudia Grisales, justice correspondent Ryan Lucas, and investigative correspondent Tom Dreisbach.

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James West has been a curious tinkerer since he was a child, always wondering how things worked. Throughout his long career in STEM, he's also been an advocate for diversity and inclusion — from co-founding the Association for Black Laboratory Employees in 1970 to his work today with The Ingenuity Project, a non-profit that cultivates math and science skills in middle and high school students in Baltimore public schools.

Host Maddie Sofia talks to him about his life, career, and about how a device he helped invent in the 60's made their interview possible.

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In his confirmation hearing to serve as Attorney General, Merrick Garland emphasized loyalty to the people of the United States over fealty to the president. Monday's hearing comes almost five years after Garland was denied a Supreme Court confirmation hearing by Republican Mitch McConnell.

This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

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Can people who are vaccinated still carry and transmit the coronavirus to other people? How effective are the vaccines against coronavirus variants? And what's the deal with side effects? In this episode, an excerpt of Maddie's appearance on another NPR podcast, It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, where she answered those questions and more.

Listen to 'It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders' on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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To round out our celebration of Black History Month, we're bringing you a special episode featuring acclaimed science fiction writer Octavia Butler from our friends at NPR's history podcast Throughline.

Octavia Butler's alternate realities and 'speculative fiction' reveal striking, and often devastating parallels to the world we live in today. She was a deep observer of the human condition, perplexed and inspired by our propensity towards self-destruction. Butler was also fascinated by the cyclical nature of history, and often looked to the past when writing about the future. Along with her warnings is her message of hope — a hope conjured by centuries of survival and persistence. For every society that perished in her books, came a story of rebuilding, of repair.

Read Throughline's article about Octavia Butler.

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Millions of Texans have been without power or potable water for days following unusually harsh winter weather. The Republican governor blamed the outages on renewable energy but that is only 10 percent of the story.

Plus, we look at "cancel culture." Where did it come from, and why are conservatives eager to use it as a political cudgel?

This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, White House reporter Ayesha Rascoe, business reporter Camila Domonoske, KUT's Ashley Lopez, and political reporter Danielle Kurtzleben.

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Today, what happens in your brain when you notice a semantic or grammatical mistake, according to neuroscience. Sarah Phillips, a neurolinguist, tells us all about the N400 and the P600 responses.

Plus, we dive into some listener mail — which you can send to us by emailing [email protected]. (Encore episode)

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President Biden has made reopening schools a benchmark for how his administration is handling the pandemic. It is a politically tricky goal, since those decisions will be made by local districts. We look at the roadblocks to achieving that goal and what the political fight might look like.

This episode: congressional correspondent Susan Davis, White House correspondent Scott Detrow, and education correspondent Cory Turner.

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