Short Wave

With 26 weeks to go until Election Day, voters' opinions on the major candidates are forming. We explore the different — and similar — issues motivating people across all ages to go to the polls, like abortion, the economy & Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas.

This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, political reporter Elena Moore, and national political correspondent Don Gonyea.

This podcast was produced by Jeongyoon Han & Kelli Wessinger. It was edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

As the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump faces a lot of big decisions — perhaps none more so than who his running mate will be. We discuss who might be on Trump's shortlist, and what qualities he's looking for in a vice president.

This episode: political correspondent Susan Davis, senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, and White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez.

This podcast was produced by Jeongyoon Han, and produced & edited by Casey Morell. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

It's not unusual for siblings to quibble over ownership of something — a cherished toy, a coveted seat in the car — or whose fault something is. If you're Mercedes Sheen, you not only spent your childhood squabbling with your sister over your memories, you then turn it into your research career. Mercedes studies disputed memories, where it's unclear who an event happened to. It turns out these memories can tell us a lot about people — they tend to be self-aggrandizing — and how the human brain remembers things.

Check out more of NPR's series on the Science of Siblings.

Curious about more science about memories? Email us at [email protected].

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll highlights values differences between Democrats and Republicans, as well as a shift in President Biden's coalition of voters. And Donald Trump was fined nine thousand dollars for violating a gag order, meant to protect witnesses and jurors from harassment, during his criminal trial.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, political reporter Ximena Bustillo, and national political correspondent Don Gonyea.

This podcast was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Wildlife ecologists have seen white-tailed deer expanding their range in North America over many decades. And since the early-2000s these deer have moved north into the boreal forests of western Canada. These forests are full of spruce and pine trees, sandy soil and freezing winters with lots of snow. They can be a harsh winter wonderland. And ecologists haven't known whether a warmer climate in these forests or human land development might be driving the deer north. A recent study tries to disentangle these factors – and finds that a warming climate seems to play the most significant role in the movement of deer.

Read more in the journal Global Change Biology.

Curious about more wildlife news? Email us at [email protected].

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

NPR found that dozens of federal judges failed to disclose privately-funded travel to exclusive, often partisan events in exotic locales. And employees in the federal judiciary do not enjoy the same legal protections against workplace discrimination and harassment that cover most U.S. workers, which can help foster a hostile workplace environment.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and investigations correspondent Tom Dreisbach.

This podcast was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson visited Columbia University with fellow members of the House Republican conference and met with students who said they felt unsafe on campus in the midst of protests calling on the university to shed its investments related to Israel. Now, Johnson is moving forward with legislation aimed at combating campus antisemitism — though some Democrats are criticizing the effort as a political stunt that could curb legitimate criticism of the Israeli government.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national political correspondent Mara Liasson, and congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt.

This podcast was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

No matter what you're doing right now – sitting, standing, walking – you're moving. First, because Earth is spinning around on its axis. This rotation is the reason we have days. Second, because Earth and other planets in our solar system are orbiting the sun. That's why we have years. Third, you're moving because the sun and the rest of our solar system is orbiting the center of the Milky Way galaxy at over 500,000 miles per hour. If all of that isn't nauseating enough, everything in the entire universe is expanding outward. All the time.

But in the 1970s, astrophysicists noticed something strange about our galactic neighborhood, or Local Group. The whole clump of neighboring galaxies was being pulled off course at over one million miles per hour, towards something we couldn't see — the "Great Attractor." This Great Attractor sits in the "Zone of Avoidance," an area of space that is blocked from view by the stars and gas of the Milky Way. Today on the show, host Regina G. Barber talks to astrophysicist Jorge Moreno about this mysterious phenomenon: What it might be and what will happen when we eventually reach it.

Curious about other cosmic mysteries? Email us at [email protected].

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

A handful of Arizona Republicans are expected to join with Democratic lawmakers in order to repeal the state's near-total abortion ban. The move is an apparent effort to blunt the power of a November abortion access ballot measure that strategists say could spark a Democratic wave election in the state.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national political correspondent Mara Liasson, and KJZZ senior editor Ben Giles.

This podcast was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

After a series of classified national security briefings, Congress passed a law that will ban TikTok if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company. It is not clear what specific risks they're reacting to, but experts point to a widespread, if ineffectual, state-backed disinformation effort and other data-privacy concerns.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondent Susan Davis, and disinformation correspondent Shannon Bond.

This podcast was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy