Short Wave

Swarms of locusts can destroy crops and livelihoods. Right now, countries in East Africa are dealing with the threat. At a lab in Tempe, Arizona, researchers are trying to figure out how to minimize the crop damage these voracious pests can cause. The answer, NPR's Joe Palca tells us, might be looking at what locusts like, and don't like, to eat. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at [email protected].

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The first full day of the Trump impeachment trial has been dominated by partisan fighting over the rules of the proceedings.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., released his resolution outlining the next steps, including a week of hours-long opening arguments, on Monday. By Tuesday, ahead of the debate, Senate leaders made additional changes to the trial timeline.

Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell called the resolution "a fair road map," that closely tracks precedents. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the rules "completely partisan." He said McConnell's resolution seems "designed by President Trump for President Trump."

This episode: campaign correspondent Asma Khalid, congressional correspondent Susan Davis and political reporter Tim Mak.

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Some very unusual mice with big muscles are back on Earth after a month on the International Space Station. NPR science correspondent Jon Hamilton shares the story of the two researchers behind the experiment. What they learn could help people with disabling bone and muscle diseases and another group with muscle problems, astronauts. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at [email protected].

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Every political rally can be distilled to a few elements: the music, the stump, and the call to action. But each candidate's rallies look a bit different than those of their competitors.

In this episode, NPR's Scott Detrow, Asma Khalid, and Don Gonyea talk through the rally styles of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg.

(We'll talk about President Trump's rallies in a later episode.)

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President Trump has announced his legal team for the Senate impeachment trial—and it includes ghosts of impeachment past. And a non-partisan government watchdog says Trump broke the law by withholding aid money to Ukraine that had been appropriated by Congress. Also, one tortoise gets too much credit for reviving his species.

This episode: White House correspondents Tamara Keith, Ayesha Rascoe, and Franco Ordoñez, Justice Department correspondent Ryan Lucas, and Senior Political Editor and Correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

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Already this year, natural disasters have wreaked havoc in Australia, Indonesia, and Puerto Rico. We look at some science behind the wildfires, floods, and earthquakes in those places with NPR reporters Rebecca Hersher and Jason Beaubien.

You can find more of Jason's reporting on Australia here and follow him on Twitter @jasonbnpr. Follow NPR's Adrian Florido on Twitter @adrianflorido and find his reporting from Puerto Rico here. Rebecca Hersher is @rhersher and here's her story about wildfire embers in Australia.

Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at [email protected].

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This week, President Trump inked deals in the two trade spats that have helped to define presidency: The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an incremental upgrade of NAFTA; and, a so-called 'Phase One' deal to deescalate his trade war with China.

It remains to be seen what, if any, impact the bilateral deals have on the U.S. economy, but it seems certain that the president will tout the agreements on the campaign trail—particularly in states with large agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, Chief Economics Correspondent Scott Horsley, and National Political Correspondent Mara Liasson.

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In 2015, Steffanie Strathdee's husband nearly died from a superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria he contracted in Egypt. Desperate to save him, she reached out to the scientific community for help. What she got back? A 100-year-old treatment that's considered experimental in the U.S. Strathdee, an infectious disease epidemiologist, tells us how it works, its limitations, and its potential role in our fight against superbugs. Follow host Maddie Sofia on Twitter @maddie_sofia. Email the show at [email protected].

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named seven Democratic members of Congress as the managers to argue the case for impeachment before the Senate.

"The emphasis is on litigators. The emphasis is on comfort level in the courtroom. The emphasis is making the strongest possible case to protect and defend our Constitution, to seek the truth for the American people," Pelosi said in a Wednesday press conference.

As early as Thursday morning, the impeachment managers will read the House resolution that appointed them as well as the articles of impeachment in full – on the Senate floor. Later that day, the Senate will proceed to the articles at 1 p.m. – or sooner.

This episode: White House correspondents Tamara Keith and Ayesha Rascoe, congressional correspondent Susan Davis.

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Accurate weather forecasting can be a matter of life or death. So countries with less money like Mozambique face a big challenge. They can't build and maintain their own weather radar or satellites. Instead, they rely on weather maps created by wealthier countries, like the U.S. NPR climate reporter Becky Hersher tells us what that means for Mozambique, a country where the weather's gotten worse as the climate changes. Reach the show by emailing [email protected].

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