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From fierce political rivals to space exploration, check out these new podcasts
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Looking for new podcasts to get you through that 14-hour layover? The NPR One team has you covered with recommendations from the summer's hottest releases across public media.
The podcast episode descriptions below are from podcast webpages and have been edited for brevity and clarity.
In our wildest dreams, we’re able to warp across the universe to witness its mysteries and discover its quirks up close. In this series, we follow in the footsteps of Einstein’s thought experiments to do exactly that: blast off into space and travel to the most distant, weirdest parts of our universe. Regina helms our spacecraft, with Emily as her first mate. From liftoff, we adjust to the weightlessness of space and then make pit stops at key celestial objects, explaining basic physics principles as we go continually deeper (and earlier) into spacetime. We end with a (fun, we swear!) thought exercise on all the ways the universe could end.
In 2023, a mass shooter attacked The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, and three mothers were compelled to act. Their mission: help pass some kind of gun control in one of the reddest states in the country, a state where the Republican Party has a supermajority in the legislature. But these women aren't your typical gun control activists. They're lifelong conservatives, believers in the Second Amendment and – at first – sure that their own party will understand their concerns. In episode 1 of Supermajority from NPR's Embedded, host Meribah Knight follows the women as they enter the state capitol for the first time in their adult lives. Will these political newcomers get what they came for? And what happens if they challenge those in power to do it?
In Nashville, there are more people who work in the music industry per capita than any other city in the world. It's the perfect setting for Music Citizens, a series about the people behind the scenes who make music work. Episode 1 is about Bruce Fitzpatrick, owner of The End. We're doing this series at a time when independent music venues like The End are in trouble. And it's all precariously held together by one 80-year old man who does the job of 10 people.
Karelian Bear Dogs were bred in Finland hundreds of years ago for hunting. From bears to moose, these fearless dogs were on the frontline. Now, ironically, they are being used to save bears and other species. In some remote parts of the country grizzly bears have been known to wander into town, presenting a danger of encounters with humans. Now these Karelian Bear Dogs are being used to scare bears away and prevent future returns. We'll head to Montana to talk to the woman whose brainchild it was to bring this breed to North America to help with wildlife research, search and rescue, reducing conflict between humans and big wild animals, and ultimately becoming a furry ambassador for bears, cougars, wolves, and more. Fun fact: she is also the person who invented bear spray.
Extremely American - Boise State Public Radio
The Christian nationalist movement wants to make America a theocracy — a government under Biblical rule. Christ Church, embedded in a small, rural Idaho college town, is quickly gaining influence and political interest — but how did we get here? In the second season of Extremely American, host Heath Druzin spent a year inside the movement to understand their stark vision for America's future.
Start listening to, "Onward Christian Soldiers: Make It A Christian Town."
The Youth Development Center - NHPR
New Hampshire has sent its most troubled kids to the same juvenile detention center for more than a century. It's a place that was supposed to nurture them, that instead hurt them – in some of the worst ways imaginable. It's now at the center of one of the biggest youth detention scandals in American history. How did this happen – and how did it finally come to light?
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were our nation's first fierce partisan political rivals. What lessons can the famously long-winded hothead and his calculating, duplicitous political opponent offer our political brawls today? Historian Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky explains, and then we reflect: What makes some clashes more productive than others? And with passionate disagreement baked into our system of government, how do we make sure, in 2024, that we're truly fighting right?
Listen to, "How to fight right with Hamilton and Jefferson."
Planet Money Summer School - NPR
Planet Money Summer School is back for eight weeks. Join as we travel back in time to find the origins of our economic way of life. Today we ask surprisingly hard question: What is money? And where did it come from? We travel to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean for the answer. Then we'll visit France in the year 1714, where a man on the lam tries to revolutionize the country's entire monetary system, and comes impressively close to the modern economy we have today, before it all falls apart.
Start listening to, "History 1: Money and the stone coin at the bottom of the sea."
Host Davis Dunavin previews his upcoming adventure at sea! Among other things, you'll hear about quite a few pirates in this series, which is why we decided to call it Off the Plank.
America's first submarine dates to the Revolutionary War. Built by a Connecticut inventor, it sailed into New York Harbor in 1776 with a mission to blow up a British warship. It was ahead of its time — maybe a little too ahead of its time. There are a few places you can see replicas of the Turtle — and one of them is at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex.
NPR's Jessica Green and Jack Mitchell curated and produced this piece.
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