Environment

The Panama Canal has been dubbed the greatest engineering feat in human history. It's also (perhaps less favorably) been called the greatest liberty mankind has ever taken with Mother Nature. But due to climate change, the Canal is drying up and fewer than half of the ships that used to pass through are now able to do so. So how did we get here? Today on the show, we're talking to Cristina Henriquez, the author of a new novel that explores the making of the Canal. It took 50,000 people from 90 different countries to carve the land in two — and the consequences of that extraordinary, nature-defying act are still echoing through our present.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Biden has been pushing new regulations to promote electric vehicle production to combat the climate crisis — and former president Trump is using those regulations as a talking point against Biden. To break down how cars became the latest weapons in the culture wars, host Brittany Luse is joined by NPR's transportation correspondent Camila Domonoske and Dan Brekke, a reporter and editor at KQED in San Francisco who covers transit. Together, they talk about why Americans are so invested in their cars — and how cars became more than just a policy battle. Then Brittany discusses a new HBO documentary series that is making waves right now: Quiet On Set. The show alleges a pattern of sexual harassment behind the scenes at Nickelodeon, and includes interviews with several former child stars describing experiences that range from taking part in sexualized gags to facing downright sexual abuse while working for the network. Brittany looks closer at the trouble with child performers with Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, co-hosts of the Eating for Free podcast. They discuss what makes child performers especially vulnerable to abuse — and they ask why society demands performances from children.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

"A total solar eclipse is so much more than something you just see with your eyes. It's something you experience with your whole body," says science writer David Baron.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Historic numbers of animals across the globe have become endangered or pushed to extinction. But some of these species sit in limbo — not definitively extinct yet missing from the scientific record. Rediscovering a "lost" species is not easy. It can require trips to remote areas and canvassing a large area in search of only a handful of animals. But new technology and stronger partnerships with local communities have helped these hidden, "uncharismatic" creatures come to light. Have other scientific gray areas you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Across the animal kingdom, menopause is something of an evolutionary blip. We humans are one of the few animals to experience it. But Sam Ellis, a researcher in animal behavior, argues that this isn't so surprising. "The best way to propagate your genes is to get as many offspring as possible into the next generation," says Ellis. "The best way to do that is almost always to reproduce your whole life." So how did menopause evolve? The answer may lie in whales. Ellis and his team at the University of Exeter recently published a study in the journal Nature that studies the evolution of menopause in the undersea animals most known for it. What they uncovered may even help explain menopause in humans. Curious about other animal behavior mysteries? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

What happens if your car runs out of power on a road trip? Is it better to buy an EV now or wait until you need a new car? A roundup of smart questions from our listeners.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On August 6, 1945, a stone-faced President Harry Truman appeared on television and told Americans about the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima. The attack on Hiroshima marked the first time nuclear power was used in war, but the atomic bomb was actually tested a month earlier in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico. At least hundreds of New Mexicans were harmed by the test's fallout. Radiation creeped into the grass their cows grazed, on the food they ate, and the water they drank. A program compensating victims of government-caused nuclear contamination has been in place since 1990, but it never included downwinders in New Mexico, the site of the very first nuclear test. This week, the Senate voted to broaden the bi-partisan legislation that could compensate people who have suffered health consequences of radiation testing. Now, the bill will go to a House vote.Generations after the Trinity Nuclear Test, will downwinders in New Mexico finally get compensation? 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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Fish populations are dwindling around the world due to overfishing. Here's how to make the right choices when dining out or buying fish at the market.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Why is it so complicated to save the Everglades?The Everglades is home to the largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere and a sanctuary for over three dozen endangered and threatened species. It also provides fresh water, flood control, and a buffer against hurricanes and rising seas for about 9 million Floridians.But climate change, pollution, agriculture and rapid development are causing potentially irreversible damage.In 2000, the state of Florida and the federal government struck an extraordinary deal to save the Everglades. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was the largest ecosystem restoration project in the world.But from the moment it was signed into law, things got complicated.Now almost 25 years later, the Everglades is as endangered as ever, and the problems have become even more difficult—and expensive—to solve.Today on The Sunday Story, Ayesha Rascoe talks with WLRN's Jenny Staletovich. Jenny has a new podcast series out called Bright Lit Place that tells the dramatic story of the Everglades, what's been done to the ecosystem, and what needs to happen to save it.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the last few years, a new trend has emerged on social media: de-influencing.Instead of selling, de-influencers encourage their followers to stop buying things they don't need. De-influencers are also using this trend as an opportunity to raise awareness about the negative impact of overconsumption on the environment.From plastic packaging to useless gadgets that end up in landfills, overconsumption doesn't just have a negative effect on our wallets, but also on our planet and climate change. We look at what role de-influencers can play in helping to address climate change and spreading the message of sustainable living.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.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy