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How IBM's gamble ushered in the computer age

Former IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr. sits at one of the electronic data processing machines made by his company, May 24, 1956. (AP Photo) ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Indicator from Planet Money

How IBM's gamble ushered in the computer age

In the book of corporate folklore, former IBM CEO Thomas Watson Jr. deserves a special spot. Specifically, the massive gamble he took in 1964 to introduce the System/360, which had the potential to undermine his own company's entire business model. Today on the show, an interview with author Marc Wortman on what Watson Jr.'s decision reveals about the fragile relationship between innovation and destruction.

How IBM's gamble ushered in the computer age

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Dr. Thomas Insel On Why The U.S Mental Health System Has Failed And What Can Be Done
Penguin Random House / Thomas Insel

Short Wave

Dr. Thomas Insel On Why The U.S Mental Health System Has Failed And What Can Be Done

For over a decade, Dr. Thomas Insel headed the National Institute of Mental Health and directed billions of dollars into research on neuroscience and the genetic underpinnings of mental illnesses. Health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee talks with Dr. Thomas Insel about his new book, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health and how he came to realize where the U.S's mental health care system had failed, despite scientific advances in the field.

Dr. Thomas Insel On Why The U.S Mental Health System Has Failed And What Can Be Done

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How do we make sense of the sounds around us?

How do our brains create meaning from the sounds around us? That is the question at the heart of a new book from neuroscientist Nina Kraus, called Of Sound Mind. kimberrywood/Getty Images hide caption

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kimberrywood/Getty Images

Short Wave

How do we make sense of the sounds around us?

Our colleagues at All Things Considered chatted with neuroscientist Nina Kraus about her new book Of Sound Mind. She shares how our brains process and create meaning from the sounds around us.

How do we make sense of the sounds around us?

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Author Torrey Peters On Seeing Through A Trans Lens

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Natasha Gornik

It's Been a Minute

Author Torrey Peters On Seeing Through A Trans Lens

Torrey Peters' new book Detransition, Baby, is about navigating identity, commitment, parenthood and divorce. The three main characters, a pregnant cis woman, her partner who is a detransitioned man, and his ex, a trans woman, are all considering how they might come together to create a family. Sam talks to Torrey about writing for trans readers, creating flawed characters and how the COVID-19 pandemic can be viewed through a trans lens.

Author Torrey Peters On Seeing Through A Trans Lens

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'Deep State' Author Says Trump Has Learned Nothing From The Russia Investigation

An April 16, 2019 photo shows the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Author Interviews

'Deep State' Author Says Trump Has Learned Nothing From The Russia Investigation

In an interview with NPR, New York Times columnist James B. Stewart says President Trump has surrounded himself with those "who will not stop him from doing what he wants."

'Deep State' Author Says Trump Has Learned Nothing From The Russia Investigation

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