Podcast Episodes

Why Kratom Is At The Heart Of A Big Public Health Debate

Episode 1403

Kratom and 7-OH products are available in many smoke shops. But earlier this year, the FDA recommended certain 7-OH products be scheduled alongside opioids. This isn’t the first time kratom has come …

Published on 9 hours ago

Why Drones Are Catching Whale Breaths

Episode 1402

Scientists in the Arctic are catching the exhaled breaths of whales to better understand their health. How? Drones. Whales breathe through their blowholes, which are the equivalent of nostrils on the…

Published on 3 days, 9 hours ago

Drinking Turns Some Red With Asian Glow—And May Fight Tuberculosis

Ever gotten a scarlet, hot face after drinking alcohol or know someone who has? Many people felt it as they celebrate the holidays with loved ones, sipping mulled wine, cocktails or champagne. That's…

Published on 5 days, 6 hours ago

Why Suicide Prevention is 'Everyone's Business'

Written by Jo Lambert, ‘Hold The Hope’ is now being used as suicide prevention training material by the UK’s National Health Service Mental Health Trust. Emily Kwong speaks with Rhitu Chatterjee abou…

Published on 6 days, 9 hours ago

No, Raccoons Aren’t Pet-Ready (Yet)

Episode 1399

Dogs are man’s best friend. And it’s no secret that we at Short Wave love cats (Regina has four)! Both of these iconic pets have been domesticated – evolved and adapted to live alongside humans – for…

Published on 1 week ago

GLP-1 Pills Are On The Way. Here's What To Know

Episode 1398

You may have heard of Ozempic, and other GLP-1 drugs. They’re everywhere. And they typically involve weekly injections — which can have a sticker price of over a thousand dollars a month. And insuran…

Published on 1 week, 3 days ago

The Indicator: Take A Penny, Leave A Penny, Get Rid Of The Penny

In November, the U.S. stopped production of the humble penny after 232 years in circulation. On today’s show, Darian Woods and Wailin Wong from NPR's daily economics podcast The Indicator unpack the …

Published on 1 week, 4 days ago

"A Very, Very Big Deal." Countries Take On Fossil Fuels

Episode 1397

Many countries are frustrated with U.N. climate conferences. While some countries urgently want to transition away from fossil fuels — the main driver of global warming — others are blocking that lan…

Published on 1 week, 5 days ago

Could Architecture In Space Make A Greener Earth?

Humankind has the technology to go to space. Space architect Ariel Ekblaw says the bottleneck now is real estate: getting larger volumes of space stations in orbit. Her company is working on the equi…

Published on 1 week, 6 days ago

Is The Quantum Future Here?

This year, quantum science and computing came up a lot. There have been broad claims that quantum science and engineering could one day help cure diseases, design new materials, optimize supply chain…

Published on 2 weeks ago