Sunday, April 7, 2019

What Cats Know; How Sexual Preferences Form; Tooth Fairy Exchange Rates

Plus, America's inescapable, 150-year opioid habit.
NPR

The Week's Best Stories And Podcasts 

Life lessons
Sara Wong for NPR

Twelve-year-old Lola Muñoz died less than two years after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Early on, she agreed to have her journey captured by photographer Moriah Ratner, who says Lola taught her that "nothing in the world is more valuable than time. I attribute much of my success and identity to her influence."

After the crash of Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737 Max 8 in March, a lot of attention has focused on the relationship between the jet maker and the agency charged with regulating it, the Federal Aviation Administration. Like many federal agencies overseeing a single industry — including railroads, oil rig operators and drug manufacturers — the FAA has ceded much of its regulatory duties to the company itself.

Yes, I heard you say "Mittens." Was there something you needed? Japanese researchers have found that cats react to hearing their names. In other important feline news, the USDA says it will stop using test kitties as incubators for the microbes that cause toxoplasmosis.

A White House whistleblower alleged that Trump administration employees overturned 25 denied security clearances. One senior official was allegedly denied security clearance after a background investigation revealed "significant disqualifying factors, including foreign influence, outside activities ... and personal conduct."

Some 3.4 million Venezuelans are seeking refuge abroad, with the largest number in neighboring Colombia. It used to be primarily migrant men looking for jobs over the border, but now increasingly whole families feel they have no choice but to go, relief workers say. Those traveling on foot, as most are, have been given a collective name: los Caminantes, or the Walkers.

Poet Katharine Lee Bates' trip up a Colorado mountain inspired her poem "America," later to become the song "America the Beautiful." The song and poem reflect a belief in community and social justice, values that came out of Bates' hardscrabble upbringing on Massachusetts' Cape Cod.

Podcasts You May Have Missed

Angela Hsieh/NPR

The opioid crisis is awful, but it’s not entirely new. The latest episode of Throughline looks at the long history of opioid abuse in the U.S. and the first crisis in the 19th century with morphine.

Global demand for hazelnuts is on the rise, but the industry has a problem. More than 70% of the world's hazelnuts come from just one place: Turkey. Planet Money uncovers how that leaves producers and Nutella lovers everywhere vulnerable.

Where do our sexual preferences come from? And how flexible are they? In the latest episode of the Invisibilia podcast, a young woman discovers a disturbing pattern in her dating life, one that challenges the notion of who she is and what she believes in — then sets out see if she can hack her desires.

When psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb's partner left her, she began seeing a therapist herself. Her new book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, reveals the lessons Gottlieb learned after viewing therapy from the other side and debunks many of patients' common misconceptions.

Videos Of The Week

The tooth fairy's economic woes
Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

Roughly 20 years ago, a kid who lost a tooth could expect to find an average of $1.30 under their pillow. As of 2018, a single tooth was pulling in an average of $4.13. That increase is five times the rate of inflation. Planet Money investigates what the tooth fairy can tell us about the economy.

If there's one thing NPR knows, it's how to produce great audio. NPR Music's Josh Rogosin, who captures audio for the Tiny Desk Concert series, walks you through the best (and more affordable) microphones for a variety of needs, and how to set them up.

Correction

The March 24 newsletter incorrectly stated that the DC-10 aircraft was manufactured by Boeing. It was produced by McDonnell Douglas.

-- by Christopher Dean Hopkins

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