Short Wave

Winter is upon us – and with the holiday travel and time spent indoors comes a triple threat of respiratory diseases: RSV, flu and COVID-19. Most of the country has been experiencing high or very high respiratory virus levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Host Regina G. Barber talks with NPR health correspondent Pien Huang about the annual 'tripledemic': what makes this winter different from winters past, who's most at risk and whether or not we're over the seasonal surge.

Want to hear about another health story making headlines? Email us about it at [email protected] — we might cover it on a future episode!

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The Iowa caucuses are over. Next up: the New Hampshire primary. The three remaining major Republican presidential candidates make their way east to petition voters. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley is hoping for a better finish in the state — does she have a chance after the Iowa blowout?

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, political correspondent Sarah McCammon, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.

Our producers are Casey Morell & Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Fact checking by Jeongyoon Han.

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Former president Donald Trump won the Iowa Republican caucuses with over 50 percent of the votes Monday night. Florida governor Ron DeSantis placed second and former U.N. ambassador & South Carolina governor Nikki Haley third. We look at what to expect as they all now head to New Hampshire.

This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

Our producers are Casey Morell & Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Time is a concept so central to our daily lives. Yet, the closer scientists look at it, the more it seems to fall apart. Time ticks by differently at sea level than it does on a mountaintop. The universe's expansion slows time's passage. "And some scientists think time might not even be 'real' — or at least not fundamental," says NPR science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel. In this encore episode, Geoff joins Short Wave Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to bend our brains with his learnings about the true nature of time. Along the way, we visit the atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, consider distant exploding stars and parse the remains of subatomic collisions.

Want to know more about fundamental physics? Email [email protected].

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If you work at home or in an office, you might spend a lot of your day sitting down and staring at a computer screen. That can have lots of negative effects – but it's hard to carve out significant time in the day to counteract that.

Our friends at NPR's TED Radio Hour wanted to know if small, frequent movement breaks might do the trick instead. Along with Columbia University Medical Center, they conducted a study of over 20,000 listeners and asked them to incorporate these movement breaks into their day. Today on the show, TED Radio Hour's Manoush Zomorodi digs into the surprising preliminary results with Columbia University researcher Keith Diaz.

Ideas to get moving? We want to hear them! Get in touch at [email protected].

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Republicans across Iowa will gather Monday night at 7:00 pm CT to caucus for a presidential candidate. What does that mean? We tell you how caucusing works, what you should watch for on Monday & how Iowans are reacting to former New Jersey governor Chris Christie suspending his campaign.

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

The podcast is produced by Jeongyoon Han, Casey Morell & Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Since they were discovered in 2019, strange, glowing circles of light in space have mystified researchers. Now called odd radio circles, or ORCs, these rings of light sit in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. They pulse out of the centers of some galaxies – and until now, no one knew why.

In this episode, host Regina G. Barber talks to Alison Coil, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at University of California San Diego, about her latest research. They break down what ORCs are, where they come from and what they might reveal about how galaxies evolve over billions of years.

Wondering about other happenings across the universe? Email us at [email protected] – we'd love to hear about it!

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The stream of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border hit record numbers at the end of 2023. The stream of illegal border crossing has slowed, but could a lack of agreement on immigration policy issues be a factor in a partial government shutdown next week?

This episode: political correspondent Ashley Lopez, congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd.

Our producers are Casey Morell & Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Former President Trump's attorneys appeared at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to argue Trump should have blanket immunity for actions he took while in office related to the January 6th insurrection. We discuss the opposing arguments, the judge's questions and what's next for this case.

This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.

The podcast is produced by Jeongyoon Han, Casey Morell & Kelli Wessinger. Our editor is Erica Morrison. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Human beings are hardwired for social connection – so much so that we think of even the most basic objects as having feelings or experiences. (Yup, we're talking to you, Roomba owners!) Social robots add a layer to this. They're designed to make us feel like they're our friends. They can do things like care for children, the elderly or act as partners. But there's a darker side to them, too. They may encourage us to opt out of authentic, real-life connections, making us feel more isolated.

Today on the show, host Regina G. Barber explores the duality of social robots with Eve Herold, author of the new book Robots and the People Who Love Them: Holding on to Our Humanity in an Age of Social Robots.

Curious about other innovations in technology? Email us at [email protected].

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