Take a guided tour of Russia’s Internet troll factory

In an anonymous building on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Internet activist Lyudmila Savchuk spent two months spreading the gospel of Putin to her fellow Russians. Thirteen of her former colleagues were indicted as part of Robert Mueller's investigation. She thinks that's a good start.

C.P. Scott (left) and H.E. Gregory (right)/National Geographic A hunt through the archives dredged up grotesque history for National Geographic: Nearly a century of racist clichés As they prepared to spend a full issue diving deep into the issues of race (see: Michele Norris on whites’ fear of demographic change), the magazine's editors decided self-reflection was needed. A historian found that educated, skilled or politically engaged people of color were scarce, but in abundance were "exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages." One common photographic motif was native people in awe of Westerners’ technology. Drew Angerer/Getty Images If the GOP’s tsunami sirens weren’t sounding yet, they should be after that Pennsylvania election Democrat Conor Lamb won in a U.S. House district that Donald Trump took by 20 percentage points in 2016, despite huge outside spending by GOP groups, suggesting that few congressional races will be safe in November. To take back control of the House, Democrats need to pick up 24 Republican seats, but 118 had a closer margin than Pennsylvania's 18th in the presidential election. "We should be able to elect a box of hammers in this district," veteran Republican strategist Mike Murphy told The Washington Post. Maria Fabrizio for NPR As we age, some body parts can't recover. The heart isn’t one of them A sedentary life makes your heart and blood vessels less efficient, smaller, stiffer — like an old rubber band left in a junk drawer. But a two-year study at a Dallas hospital involving intensive exercise suggests it’s never too late to freshen up your ticker. "We took these 50-year-old hearts and turned the clock back to 30- or 35-year-old hearts," says one of the authors. Jolie Myers/NPR 'We are being brainwashed': A Russian activist details her stint inside Putin’s secret online influence machine Lyudmila Savchuk pretended for two months to be an everyday Russian woman blogging on LiveJournal. She says Russian authorities’ denials of the trolling schemes are ludicrous. “When anyone looks through the Kremlin-controlled newspapers or state TV, they can see that the propaganda in that media is the exact same stuff that the trolls are posting." Three favorite subjects: the European Union, the United States and President Putin. WikiMedia Commons West Coast salmon used to be enormous. We’re only partly at fault for their downsizing Some Chinook salmon born in the streams of the Northwest used to tip the scales at more than 100 pounds, but they’ve been shrinking for decades — a process that has accelerated in the past 15 years. Human fishing and other activity is a major cause. But a different big-eating mammal also appears to deserve much of the blame. You received this message because you're subscribed to our Best of NPR emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002