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Adriana Tapia

Thursday

The Shadows of the Constitution (2020)

The preamble to the US Constitution. Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty hide caption

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Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty

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The Shadows of the Constitution (2020)

The Constitution is like America's secular bible, our sacred founding document. In her play, What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck goes through a process of discovering what the document is really about – who wrote it, who it was for, who it protected and who it didn't. Through Heidi's personal story, we learn how the Constitution and how it has been interpreted have affected not just her family but generations of Americans.

The Shadows of the Constitution (2020)

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Thursday

The Supreme Court (2020)
Kaz Fantone

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The Supreme Court (2020)

When, why, and how did the Supreme Court get the final say in the law of the land? The question of the Court's role, and whether its decisions should reign above all the other branches of government, has been hotly debated for centuries. And that's resulted in a Supreme Court more powerful than anything the Founding Fathers could have imagined possible.

The Supreme Court (2020)

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Thursday

Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban
Isabel Seliger

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Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban

How did a small group of Islamic students go from local vigilantes to one of the most infamous and enigmatic forces in the world? The Taliban is a name that has haunted the American imagination since 2001. The scenes of the group's brutality repeatedly played in the Western media, while true, perhaps obscure our ability to see the complex origins of the Taliban and how they impact the lives of Afghans. It's a shadow that reaches across the vast ancient Afghan homeland, the reputation of the modern state, and throughout global politics. At the end of the US war in Afghanistan we go back to the end of the Soviet Occupation and the start of the Afghan civil war to look at the rise of the Taliban. Their story concludes Throughline's two-episode investigation on the past, present, and future of the country that was once called "the center of the world."

Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban

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Thursday

Afghanistan: The Center of the World
Isabel Seliger for NPR

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Afghanistan: The Center of the World

Afghanistan has, for centuries, been at the center of the world. Long before the U.S. invasion - before the U.S. was even a nation - countless civilizations intersected there, weaving together a colorful tapestry of foods, languages, ethnicities and visions of what Afghanistan was and could be. The story of Afghanistan is too often told from the perspective of outsiders who tried to invade it (and always failed) earning it the nickname "Graveyard of Empires." In this episode, we're shifting the perspective. We'll journey through the centuries alongside Afghan mystical poets. We'll turn the radio dial to hear songs of love and liberation. We'll meet the queen who built the first primary school for girls in the country. And we'll take a closer look at Afghanistan's centuries-long experiment to create a unified nation.

Afghanistan: The Center of the World

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Thursday

The Aftermath of Collapse: Bronze Age Edition (2021)
Deborah Lee

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The Aftermath of Collapse: Bronze Age Edition (2021)

What happens after everything falls apart? The end of the Bronze Age was a moment when an entire network of ancient civilizations collapsed, leaving behind only clues to what happened. Today, scholars have pieced together a story where everything from climate change to mass migration to natural disasters played a role. What the end of the Bronze Age can teach us about avoiding catastrophe and what comes after collapse.

The Aftermath of Collapse: Bronze Age Edition (2021)

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Thursday

Octavia Butler: Visionary Fiction (2021)
Joelle Avelino

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Octavia Butler: Visionary Fiction (2021)

Octavia Butler's alternate realities and 'speculative fiction' reveal striking, and often devastating parallels to the world we live in today. She was a deep observer of the human condition, perplexed and inspired by our propensity towards self-destruction. Butler was also fascinated by the cyclical nature of history, and often looked to the past when writing about the future. Along with her warning is her message of hope - a hope conjured by centuries of survival and persistence. For every society that perishes in her books comes a story of rebuilding, of repair.

Octavia Butler: Visionary Fiction (2021)

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Friday

World

An Afghan NGO Worker Worries About How Her Family Will Obtain Visas To Leave

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with an Afghan NGO employee who was able to leave the country under a special immigrant visa. Her relatives and colleagues, however, are stuck in limbo.

An Afghan NGO Worker Worries About How Her Family Will Obtain Visas To Leave

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Thursday

El Libertador and Venezuela's Rise and Fall (2019)
Deborah Lee for NPR

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El Libertador and Venezuela's Rise and Fall (2019)

Venezuela is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis as extreme poverty and violence have forced many to flee the country in recent years. How did a country once wealthy with oil resources fall into such turmoil? Through the lives of two revolutionaries turned authoritarian leaders separated by two centuries, we look back at the rise and fall of Venezuela.

El Libertador and Venezuela's Rise and Fall (2019)

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Thursday

Lives of the Great Depression (2020)

Deborah Lee Deborah Lee for NPR hide caption

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Deborah Lee for NPR

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Lives of the Great Depression (2020)

The Great Depression was a revolutionary spark for all kinds of things — health insurance, social safety nets, big government — all of which were in response to a national crisis. Through the personal accounts of four people who lived during the Great Depression, we look back at what life was like back then and what those stories can teach us about the last time the U.S. went through a national economic cataclysm. This is the second episode of our summer series "Movies for Your Mind." Summer movies like you've never heard before.

Lives of the Great Depression (2020)

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Thursday

Environment

New Study Links Rate Of Emissions To Extreme Weather

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Dr. Jennifer Francis, an expert who studies disproportionate Earth warming, about the new study linking the rate of emissions to the likelihood of extreme heat.

New Study Links Rate Of Emissions To Extreme Weather

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Thursday

Sports

Brazil And Argentina Prepare For Copa América Final Showdown

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Mauricio Noriega ahead of the Copa América final in which Argentina and Brazil will face off for the third time in the tournament's history.

Brazil And Argentina Prepare For Copa América Final Showdown

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Tuesday

Science

A 51,000-Year-Old Bone Carving Supports Neanderthals' Creativity

Scientists have discovered a giant deer toe bone, engraved by Neanderthals — a hint that our ancient cousins had conceptual imagination.

A 51,000-Year-Old Bone Carving Supports Neanderthals' Creativity

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Thursday

Science

A Subway Microbe Map Shows Life In Cities Around The World

A team of more than 900 international researchers and volunteers has assembled an atlas of microorganisms present in the subways of 60 cities around the world.

A Subway Microbe Map Shows Life In Cities Around The World

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Monday

The Americas

Neck And Neck In The Polls, Peru's Presidential Candidates Are Far Apart Politically

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Andrés Calderón, an independent lawyer and journalist, to check in about the Peruvian presidential election.

Neck And Neck In The Polls, Peru's Presidential Candidates Are Far Apart Politically

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Tuesday

Sports

U.S. Gold Gymnast Simone Biles Keeps Rewriting The Record Book

Christine Brennan, USA Today sports journalist, explains why Simone Biles' Yurchenko double pike feat on Saturday was remarkable — and why it wasn't awarded as such.

U.S. Gold Gymnast Simone Biles Keeps Rewriting The Record Book

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