Épisodes

  • Bonus Episode: The Aphasia Choir

    Bonus Episode: The Aphasia Choir
    Feb 15 2025
    There are at least two million people in America who have thoughts and ideas they can't put into words.

    People who have had strokes or traumatic brain injuries often live with aphasia: difficulty using language, both written and spoken.

    But music mostly originates in the undamaged hemisphere of the brain, and people with aphasia can often sing. Today in our bonus episode, in partnership with the podcast Rumble Strip, we meet a member of The Aphasia Choir of Vermont.

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    9 min
  • Ousted Kennedy Center president says artists must feel "welcome and safe"

    Ousted Kennedy Center president says artists must feel "welcome and safe"
    Feb 14 2025
    President Donald Trump is now chairman of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Trump replaced 18 members of the board with allies who then elected him into the position.

    There is no precedent for this move – most presidents have been hands-off with the cultural center since it opened in 1971 – including President Trump himself during his first term.

    Already, artists affiliated with the center have departed and performers are canceling shows.

    For a decade, Deborah Rutter served as President of the Kennedy Center. This week, she was ousted from that position. In her first interview since then, she speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about the abrupt end to her tenure.

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    9 min
  • In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life

    In Panama economic needs threaten to erase a way of life
    Feb 13 2025
    Panama has been looking for solutions to a long-term problem. Every time a ship passes through the Panama Canal, more than 50 million gallons of fresh water from Lake Gatun pour out into the ocean.

    Nobody ever thought Panama could run out of water. It is one of the rainiest countries in the world. But a couple years ago, a drought got so bad that the canal had to reduce traffic by more than a third - which had a huge impact on global shipping.

    The Panama Canal needs more water. Authorities have decided to get it by building a dam in a spot that would displace more than 2,000 people along the Rio Indio.

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    9 min
  • Trump says the U.S. will 'own' Gaza — what that could mean for the Middle East

    Trump says the U.S. will 'own' Gaza — what that could mean for the Middle East
    Feb 12 2025
    The Gaza Strip – ground zero of Israel's war with Hamas – is only about twice the size of Washington, DC. It has about 25 miles of coastline along the Mediterranean Sea, with a population of about 2 million people.

    Last week, President Trump proposed relocating those people to other countries in the region, like Egypt and Jordan.

    Trump has said the Palestinians would not be allowed to return: UN officials and others say Trump's plan would amount to ethnic cleansing. Despite domestic and international concerns that the U.S. is empire building, Trump continues to double down on his plans for the U.S. to "own" Gaza.

    Trump says the U.S. is going to take over Gaza, though he offers few specifics. What could the proposal mean for Palestinians and the broader Middle East?

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    8 min
  • Are we in a constitutional crisis?

    Are we in a constitutional crisis?
    Feb 11 2025
    President Trump's blizzard of executive orders has run into a snowplow of legal challenges. There are dozens of cases challenging the White House's actions. Judges all over the country have found that the White House acted illegally.

    The challenges, and the rulings, continue to pour in.

    But Trump's team is punching back. After a judge blocked Elon Musk's DOGE team from accessing personal data and other Treasury department systems, Musk referred to him as "a corrupt judge protecting corruption" and called for his impeachment.

    Vice President JD Vance made the controversial claim on Sunday that quote, "judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power."

    Comments like these suggest Trump's circle may be willing to ignore court orders and defy judicial authority.

    So what happens if the executive branch ignores the judicial branch? Is that a constitutional crisis? Is the United States already in one?

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    12 min
  • What DOGE could mean for Medicare and Medicaid?

    What DOGE could mean for Medicare and Medicaid?
    Feb 10 2025
    Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is quickly expanding its reach through the federal government.

    It recently accessed systems at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Musk and his team now are looking at key payment and contracting systems for Medicare and Medicaid.

    That was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

    On X, Musk said he believes quote "big money fraud is happening."

    Medicare insures older people. Medicaid offers insurance to low income people and those with disabilities.

    These two health insurance programs serve tens of millions of people, and they consume a huge part of federal and state budgets. So how could DOGE impact these services?

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    9 min
  • Trump 2.0 or Project 2025?

    Trump 2.0 or Project 2025?
    Feb 9 2025
    Project 2025, is a 900-plus page blueprint for a conservative President. It was unveiled in the spring of 2023, well before Donald Trump had won the republican presidential nomination.

    It outlined a suite of very conservative policies that would, for example, outlaw the mailing of abortion pills and abolish the department of education. It even suggests a return to the gold standard.

    It became a democratic talking point, so much so that Trump repeatedly distanced himself from the plan and the authors.

    But now that Trump is in office, releasing his own detailed plans. A lot of them are strikingly similar to the ones laid out in Project 2025. And one of its chief architects is now the head of the critical Office of Management and Budget.

    Trump disavowed Project 2025 during the campaign. Now, as President, is he using it as a playbook?

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    9 min
  • Bonus Episode: "Margery," the medieval memoirist

    Bonus Episode: "Margery," the medieval memoirist
    Feb 9 2025
    For centuries, scholars only had one version of the life of Margery Kempe, an English mystic who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries — until a ping pong match revealed her story in her own words.

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    9 min