The new school year can be exciting, but also stressful. Kids may be feeling anxious. Parents may be juggling new responsibilities. Experts share tips on how to manage this season of change.
An executive order from President Trump would extend the opportunity for 401k fund managers to include private equity in retirement portfolios. What are the risks and benefits?
Rayford Junior Miles — a World War II veteran from Alabama — came across as a classic tough guy. But to his granddaughter Melanie Harrison, he was just 'Papa.' Melanie spoke with her father, Jim Miles, to remember a grandfather with a soft heart and a comical communication style.
The human brain tends to slow down as we age — even healthy brains shrink. That can make learning and memory harder as people age. But some people’s brains shrink more slowly than their peers. This lucky group is called “SuperAgers.” They’re people aged 80 or older. But they have the memory abilities of someone 50-to-60 years old. This week in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, researchers from Northwestern University’s SuperAging Program summarized some of the secrets they’ve learned in the last 2.5 decades.
Want to hear about more stories about human health and aging? Email us and let us know at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
(Image credit: Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
Finding it hard to concentrate? Are you glued to social media for longer than you’d like? Well, maybe it’s not you… maybe it’s the phones. Brittany is joined by Magdalene Taylor, writer, cultural critic and senior editor at Playboy, and Fio Geiran, producer at TED Radio Hour and a writer of their Body Electric newsletter, to discuss this phrase: “it’s the phones.” They get into the effects that smartphones have on our brains and our culture, why some people are returning to “dumbphones,” and why it might take more than willpower to manage our relationships with our phones.
(Image credit: Nanzeeba Ibnat)
The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it would deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.
(Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein)
Israel's Security Cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City despite demands by families of hostages and mounting international calls for Israel to end the war.
(Image credit: Jehad Alshrafi)
The New York City mass shooter had been diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses and had been the subject of two "mental health holds" in Las Vegas, but none of that limited his legal right to own firearms.
(Image credit: Stephanie Keith)
Businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr became the head of Haiti's transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order as gangs underscored the challenges facing the Caribbean nation.
(Image credit: Odelyn Joseph)
The 14-day stoppage comes as a federal judge considers whether additional construction of the immigration detention facility in south Florida's Everglades is detrimental to the environment.
(Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
Thursday's move would compel colleges to report more data about the students they enroll and those who apply, including applicants' race and standardized test scores.
(Image credit: LA Johnson)
Using advanced DNA-analysis techniques researchers in New York City identified three more victims of the 9/11 terror attacks that occurred nearly 24 years ago.
(Image credit: Boston Herald)
The FBI is investigating at least 250 people who may be tied to online networks that target children.
These networks encourage kids to hurt themselves, other minors or even animals. In some countries, they have been tied to mass casualty and terrorism plots.
NPR's domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef has spoken with a family that experienced this firsthand.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
A photo of an emaciated child in Gaza has gone viral, with many in Israel claiming it depicts false information. Our producer in Gaza meets the child and his family, we hear about how he is doing now and about the food insecurity many in Gaza are facing.
(Image credit: Anas Baba)
President Trump plans to nominate Stephen Miran to fill a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve's board of governors, but only for the next six months.
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski)
At the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, Black artistry is on display. NPR critic Eric Deggans says it's cultivating a community.
(Image credit: Arturo Holmes)
The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.
(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski)
One of the brightest stars in the night sky seems to be orbited by a planet like Jupiter. The news is sure to cheer fans of the Avatar series, which centers on a moon that orbits a fictional gas giant planet in this particular star system.
(Image credit: R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC))
Americans get about 55% of our calories from tasty, cheap — and unhealthy — manufactured foods, the latest data from CDC says. For kids, the percentage is even higher.
(Image credit: Dan Kitwood)
Trump is calling for a "new" census that excludes people in the U.S. without legal status. The 14th Amendment requires the "whole number of persons in each state" in a key set of census results.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan)