The surprising science behind pregnancy

Plus, what does race have to do with taxes?

View this email online by Suzanne Nuyen April 16, 2023 This week, NPR quit Twitter, we got a better look at a black hole and the NYC appointed a rat czar. Plus, Scott Simon tries his hand at fortune-telling.   Best of NPR When does life begin? Pregnancy has been a hot topic in state legislatures, and the definition differs from state to state. The debate has been essential after the fall of Roe v. Wade, as many states enacted stricter rules on abortion or attempted to roll back access to abortion drugs.  LA Johnson/NPR But pregnancy isn't simple. It's a complex, invisible process that begins before the sperm even enters the picture. NPR's LA Johnson's illustrations take us through the wild journey of the humble egg, from puberty to ovulation, menstruation and implantation.  Pregnancy is just one of many mysteries of the human body: 🩸 Most of us learn about periods as kids and never discuss them again. NPR's Life Kit gives us the period talk we should have gotten. 🩸 Perimenopause — the transition to menopause — is discussed even less. NPR's RItu Chatterjee talks to Short Wave about navigating perimenopause and advocating for your health. 🚽 Few things are worse than the burning feeling of a UTI. New research reveals that getting one UTI could change your DNA and make it more likely you'll get another one. Newsletter continues after sponsor message In case you missed it Andrew Burton/Getty Images  Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. In the aftermath of the explosions, Americans were glued to their phone and TV screens, watching for hours, waiting for the confusion and chaos to unfurl into a narrative. Aided by new platforms and fueled by faster reporting, that moment ushered in a new age of national response to local emergencies. Here’s a look at three big things that changed. The trial for the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News begins tomorrow. Taking the stand is chief political correspondent Bret Baier. His efforts to approach the news from a journalistic standpoint, covering major developments of the day while correcting misstatements of facts, has left him quite alone at the network, which has been pushed even farther to the right since the outset of the Trump years. ➡️ Dominion alleges Fox News' lies about election fraud cost the company $1.6 billion in damages. Here's the math behind that calculation.   Irish artist Pan Cooke lived thousands of miles away when Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, sparking a national reckoning over race and justice. He says police brutality was a subject he was "completely ignorant" to, so he started doing his research. It led him to create comics about Black people whose lives were cut short by violence to help others learn.  How do you shape the sound of an orchestra? For National Symphony Orchestra director Gianandrea Noseda, it's all about the right instruments. He's been secretly buying and loaning 17th-19th century Italian string instruments to his musicians since 2019. The seven violins and a viola used in the orchestra are worth up to $5 million. Podcast Picks LA Johnson/Getty/design by NPR Me & My Muslim Friends, from North Carolina Public Radio: Whether or not you have a Muslim friend, you can find one here as host Yasmin Bendaas and her friends discuss the diverse spectrum of Muslim identity.  🎧 Season 3's first episode is all about the joys and challenges of Ramadan.   Violation, from WBUR: How much prison time is enough? Who decides? What does redemption look like? WBUR and The Marshall Project explore these questions through a 1986 murder case that forever changed two families. 🎧 In the debut episode, author John Edgar Wideman gives a rare, in-depth interview about his son Jacob, who murdered his summer camp roommate when he was 16.    Code Switch: Fearless conversations about race, tackled with empathy and humor. Code Switch has it all — from politics and pop culture to history, food and everything in between. 🎧 This week, tax expert and author Dorothy A. Brown looks at the racial landmines in the U.S. tax code. Your race plays a big role in whether you're audited, what breaks you get and even which benefits you can claim. Scott's Thoughts Eric Risberg/AP A good weekend to you. I learned this week that ChatGPT is already being deployed to write messages inside … fortune cookies.    Term papers, local news, customer service responses — that I kind of expect. But fortune cookie messages? I’d like to think at least a sliver of human experience goes into the short missives you crack open and unroll at the end of a Chinese restaurant meal (but not, as it happens, in China).   I have sometimes tried to write a line that sounds like a fortune cookie. It’s tough to strike the balance that AI now purports to achieve so effortlessly. It may sound sentimental, but I’d like to think there are certain features of a fortune that can only be learned through actual living, not digital approximation. So, I’ve tried a few fortune cookie messages below. Read and compare!   🥠 Tip well. Your server works hard and has an excellent memory.   🥠 You will meet a tall, dark, gorgeous stranger, and they will say, “Excuse me, but I see someone over there I have to say hello to.”   🥠 You will meet the person of your dreams, and they will look a lot at the screen on their phone before saying, “Well, gotta run!”   🥠 You will meet the person of your dreams, then go back to sleep.   🥠 If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try skydiving.    🥠 The early bird gets the worm, but they are not very well-rested and will need to take a nap after lunch. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). This newsletter was edited by Carol Ritchie. 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 Music, Politics, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Best of NPR emails. 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