Short Wave

The 2016 movie 'Arrival,' an adaptation of Ted Chiang's novella 'Story of Your Life,' captured the imaginations of science fiction fans worldwide. Field linguist Jessica Coon, who consulted on the film, breaks down what the movie gets right — and wrong — about linguistics.

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Joe Biden has accepted the Democratic party's presidential nomination. In his acceptance speech, closing out the convention's final night, he pledged to be a president for all Americans.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, campaign correspondent Asma Khalid, campaign correspondent Scott Detrow, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

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Professional sports are back - but it's anything but normal. The most obvious difference is the glaring absence of fans in the stands. This has led to some creative experimentation with recordings of crowd noise being piped into venues. We talk to a sports psychology researcher about the effects that empty bleachers and lack of real crowd noise are having on players, coaches, referees and fans.

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Kamala Harris, in her speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention, accepted the vice presidential nomination with a nod to her mother and tied the death toll of the pandemic to structural racism.

Barack Obama attacked Trump directly, fretting about the impact another term could have on democracy in the United States. Hillary Clinton called for a landslide win for Biden.

Want more? We summed it all up here. And we'll have fresh analysis in our newsletter.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, campaign correspondent Scott Detrow, and political reporter Juana Summers.

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Encore episode. Storytelling can be a powerful tool to convey information, even in the world of science. It can also shift stereotypes about who scientists are. We talked to someone who knows all about this — Liz Neeley, the Executive Director of Story Collider, a nonprofit focused on telling "true, personal stories about science."

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The Democratic National Convention's second night featured speeches from Colin Powell, Bill Clinton, Jill Biden, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — another eclectic political mix designed to bolster Joe Biden's credentials as a unifier.

Activist Ady Barkan gave a speech about his struggle with ALS that laid bare how central health care and health coverage are to the Democratic political brand, despite intraparty differences.

Read a recap of the night here. And why not? Sign up for our newsletter, too.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, politics reporter Danielle Kurtzleben, and political reporter Juana Summers.

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Traditional farming depletes the soil and releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But decades ago, a scientist named Rattan Lal helped start a movement based on the idea that carbon could be put back into the soil — a practice known today as "regenerative agriculture."

NPR food and agriculture correspondent Dan Charles explains how it works and why the idea is having a moment.

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Those were the dual messages of the first night of the Democratic convention from former Republican governor of Ohio John Kasich and progressive firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders.

There was a heavy focus on the pandemic, including a powerful speech from Kristin Urquiza, the daughter of a Trump supporter who died after contracting the virus.

And, Michelle Obama wants people to make a plan about how they'll cast a ballot.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, campaign correspondent Asma Khalid, and senior political editor and correspondent Ron Elving.

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School districts, parents and teachers are all facing big decisions about how to return to the classroom this fall. NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey and education correspondent Cory Turner join Geoff Brumfiel to discuss what the science says about kids and COVID-19, what schools are doing to try to keep students and teachers safe and why there are so many differing approaches in school districts around the U.S.

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Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and others will speak at the mostly-virtual Democratic National Convention. And, will conventions ever be the same?

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This episode: campaign correspondent Scott Detrow, campaign correspondent Asma Khalid, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and national political correspondent Don Gonyea.

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