Changing Relations At The U.S.-Canada Border; The Power Of #OkBoomer; Bye-Bye, Bei Bei

Plus, the "likeability trap" women face in the workplace.

Stories And Podcasts You May Have Missed Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for NPR While the southern border with Mexico gets all the attention, things are also tense on the northern border with Canada. The number of illegal crossers is on the rise, and residents complain that heightened security has changed the character of the once-neighborly frontier. The marathon of testimony in the impeachment inquiry this week confirmed that the Ukraine affair boils down to two big questions: What do the president's words mean? Can the president do what he did? What did a meal taste like nearly 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylonia? Pretty good, according to a team of scholars who have deciphered and are re-creating what are considered to be the world's oldest-known culinary recipes. The story going into the fifth Democratic debate was the rise of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Could he take the heat on Wednesday night? Here are five takeaways from the debate.  Meat raffles are part social event and part fundraiser, as people in western New York hang out and drink beer while they bid on slabs of meat. Even if they don't win, "everybody leaves with a smile." The popularity of #OkBoomer suggests there might be a yawning gap in attitudes between old and young. Those differences can sometimes play out in the workforce, which now includes five generations. Newsletter continues after sponsor message This Week's Listens Bye-bye, Bei Bei. Skip Brown/Smithsonian's National Zoo The Smithsonian's National Zoo is bidding farewell this week to one of its most popular bamboo-loving residents: Bei Bei. This episode of Short Wave is all about pandas — why it is important to keep their populations up and why we are all so panda crazy. (Listening time, 10:29) ► LISTEN The "likeablilty trap" women face in the workplace.  Journalist Alicia Menendez has noticed a problem: In the workplace, and in many aspects of their lives, women are forced into becoming inauthentic versions of themselves in order to be likeable. (Listening time, 33:27) ► LISTEN Speaking through art.  Searchlights illuminate the sky between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, but they have nothing to do with border enforcement. They're part of a large-scale binational art installation that allows strangers across the border to connect using a microphone and intersecting lights. (Listening time, 3:24) ► LISTEN Special Cybercrime Series Scammers hack human nature to steal billions.  Deborah Lee for NPR Cybercrime is all about timing. Mark, who runs a real estate company in Seattle and asked us not to use his last name, learned this the hard way. "The idea that someone was effectively able to dupe you ... is embarrassing," he says. "We're still kind of scratching our head over how it happened."   Be careful: Cybercrime language is evolving.  Cybercriminals have learned to refine what they say in scams, making them harder to detect and more likely to fool potential victims. Our Picture Show Pick Pakistan's melting glaciers are causing alarm.  Diaa Hadid/NPR For generations, farmers in the Harchi Valley in Pakistan's highlands enjoyed a close relationship with the glacier that snakes between two mountain peaks. It watered their fields, orchards and grazing lands. Now, their relationship is unraveling as pollution and global warming cause the Ultar glacier to melt and form unstable lakes that could burst their icy banks at any moment. Already this summer, much of Harchi's lands were destroyed in glacial floods. Music Notes There is a sea of change in pop.  Kevin Mazur/WireImage The Grammy Awards' category for new artists has always been the Hufflepuff house of the event, a mishmash of eccentrics, high achievers and hardworking industry favorites. Rarely has the field clearly pointed toward an exciting new musical era. But this year, it does just that. — By Suzette Lohmeyer What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback:  bestofnpr@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings  — including Daily News, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Best of NPR emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy