Short Run
The best long-form audio series from WBUR, Boston's NPR, all in one feed.
Fri, October 18, 2024
Introducing a new miniseries from The Globe: "The Curse Breakers"
This new miniseries, The Curse Breakers , tells the incredible story of how 20 years ago, the 2004 Boston Red Sox finally overcame the so-called ‘Curse of the Bambino’, shaking off 86 years of bad luck, to finally win the World Series championship. Even if you’re not a die-hard baseball fan, this story is about more than just the game—it’s about resilience, hope and what it means to believe in something bigger than yourself. So get ready to relive the moments that redefined what it means to be a Red Sox fan. You can find the episodes of this miniseries in The Globe , a new podcast feed where you can listen to excellent audio features from The Boston Globe. If you like what you hear, check out The Globe podcast wherever you get you podcasts or visit globe.com/globepodcast.
S7 E5 · Mon, April 29, 2024
Reverse Course: This machine creates drinking water ‘from thin air’ in driest parts of the world
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now 's Reverse Course series, senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look at projects designed to make an impact. This episode looks at water conservation in the Navajo Nation. Up to 30% of the homes on the Navajo Nation still go without running water. But there’s new hope for many of these arid communities. They’re using solar-powered machines to pull moisture straight out of the air. Each one creates more than a gallon of fresh drinking water every day. Dive deeper into this episode here . Find out more about the Reverse Course series and listen to the previous nine episodes here .
S7 E4 · Thu, April 25, 2024
Reverse Course: Detroit debuts 'road of the future' with wireless EV charging
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now 's Reverse Course series, senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look at projects designed to make an impact. This episode looks at wireless electric vehicle charging. Detroit is testing a new way to charge electric vehicles that doesn’t require plugging in: Just park or drive your car on the right strip of road and watch the battery meter tick up. Dive deeper into this episode here . Find out more about the Reverse Course series and listen to the previous nine episodes here .
S7 E3 · Wed, April 24, 2024
Reverse Course: Shipbuilders harness the wind to clean up global shipping
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now's Reverse Course series , senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look at projects designed to make an impact. This episode looks at shipping goods by sea on large container ships, which creates about 3% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions each year. In pursuit of a cleaner alternative, some companies are using wind power to move cargo. Dive deeper into this episode here . Find out more about the Reverse Course series and listen to the previous nine episodes here .
S7 E2 · Tue, April 23, 2024
Reverse Course: Planes pollute the planet, but new technology could clean up the aviation industry
People are taking steps big and small to move the dial on climate change. This week, in Here & Now's Reverse Course series , senior editor Peter O’Dowd and producer Chris Bentley take listeners across the country for a closer look at projects designed to make an impact. This episode looks at big commercial airliners, some of the fastest-growing sources of climate-warming pollution on the planet. Scientists and entrepreneurs are trying to solve that problem with sustainable aviation fuels, such as electric batteries and hydrogen. Dive deeper into this episode here . Find out more about the Reverse Course series and listen to the previous nine episodes here .
S7 E1 · Mon, April 22, 2024
Reverse Course: Battery-powered big rigs could haul the future of trucking
Short Run presents Here & Now 's climate series "Reverse Course". Today's episode is about how the trucking industry is responsible for almost a quarter of all American greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. But roadblocks remain to going green. Take a deep dive on this story here . Find out more about the Reverse Course series and listen to the previous eight episodes here .
Thu, March 14, 2024
The Gun Machine presents: "Beyond All Repair," a new murder mystery podcast
Introducing Beyond All Repair, a new WBUR podcast from producer emeritus of Dear Sugars, Amory Sivertson. This series tells the story of a murder, but also the woman who was accused of that murder, Sophia. Sophia was newly married and 6 months pregnant when she was charged with murdering her mother-in-law in 2002. She gave birth to a son in jail that she hasn’t seen since, and for the last three years, she’s been telling me her story in hopes of getting justice for her mother-in-law, of having a chance of meeting her son, and of finally being believed. This is the first chapter of Beyond All Repair. Episode 2 is already waiting for you. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mon, March 11, 2024
Short Run: Introducing "Elements of Energy" from WBUR's On Point
On Point 's special series 'Elements of energy: Mining for a green future,' explores the environmental and human cost of mining, and asks what it would take for the U.S. to meet the Biden administration's green energy goals. Listen to this series by following On Point on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
S6 E8 · Wed, November 22, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 8: "The Leftovers"
Growing up, host Alain Stephens bonded with his dad over guns — an interest Alain still holds today. But more than a decade ago, his family experienced a terrible loss. In this episode, Alain examines how that loss has shaped his career — and what it means for the gun industry to be inextricable from the American government, and for many, American identity. With more than 100 Americans dying from shootings every day, how do we begin to calculate the cost of our country's current relationship with guns?
S6 E7 · Wed, November 08, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 7: "What the ATF"
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is supposed to regulate the gun industry and protect the American public from gun crime. But the ATF often falls short of that mandate. This is no accident. This episode of The Gun Machine draws on host Alain Stephens’ seven years of reporting on the ATF to chronicle how the gun lobby and its Congressional allies worked to limit the agency’s enforcement powers and resources. Stephens speaks to Steve Dettelbach — the ATF’s first permanent director in seven years — about the challenges agents face trying to do their jobs. Stephens also talks to retired ATF agent David Chipman about how controversial episodes like the Ruby Ridge standoff and the Waco siege turned public opinion against the agency, paving the way for budget cuts and legislative restrictions.
S6 E6 · Wed, November 01, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 6: "The Church"
In 1999, at the end of a decade in which Gary, Indiana, had endured being labeled as the “murder capital of the nation,” then-Mayor Scott King filed a suit against gun manufacturers he believed were knowingly flooding his city with illegal guns. But soon, the NRA would help ensure that such lawsuits were nearly impossible.
S6 E5 · Wed, October 25, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 5: "The Client"
When criminals have access to some of the most powerful weapons in the world, how will police match or outgun them? What role does the gun industry play?
S6 E4 · Tue, October 17, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 4: "Triggermen"
The byproduct of producing the world's most lethal guns is that criminals have them, too. We go back to the birthplace of the industry, Springfield, Mass., where nearly every young person we speak with has a story about big guns and the terror they cause in their community.
S6 E3 · Wed, October 11, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 3: "Go West"
The Gun Machine host Alain Stephens and producer Grace Tatter dig into the scandal-ridden biography of the man who cracked the mass civilian market for guns, and who helped create an iconic genre defined by falsehoods that are misremembered as facts today.
S6 E2 · Wed, October 04, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 2: "Why We Carry"
In episode two of The Gun Machine, host Alain Stephens travels down to Florida to attend the Pew Party, where he talks to Black gun owners about why they carry and examines the link between our nation’s fraught history and why it’s so easy to sell us guns today.
S6 E1 · Wed, October 04, 2023
The Gun Machine Ep 1: "The Machine We Make"
Our country would look very different without the gun industry. And without the federal government? The gun industry might not exist at all. The premier episode of The Gun Machine introduces the story of how the U.S. has shaped, and been shaped by, the gun industry — and how we all play a role.
Trailer · Wed, September 20, 2023
Introducing ‘The Gun Machine’
Every time there is a mass shooting in America, the first question is why. When we look for answers, we tend to focus on the incident itself - who the shooter was, why they did it, and who parachutes in to debate the state of regulation — or lack thereof — that allowed it to happen. What we forget is the centuries of history that got us to this long emergency of gun violence in America. Produced by WBUR, Boston’s NPR, in partnership with The Trace, The Gun Machine looks into the past to bring you a story that most Americans never learned in history class: how early partnerships between mad scientist gunsmiths and a fledgling U.S. government created the gun industry in the Northeast, and how that industry has been partners with the government ever since. Host Alain Stephens examines how this 250-year relationship underpins all Americans’ interactions with guns — including our failures in dealing with the fallout of gun violence. The Gun Machine debuts on Oct. 4, 2023. Listen and follow on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Thu, August 31, 2023
Coming Soon to Short Run: "The Gun Machine"
This September, we're bringing you a story that most Americans never learned in history class — a new podcast about the gun industry’s grip on our country. And their biggest partner, since the Revolutionary War: The government. Introducing The Gun Machine: How America was forged by the gun industry. Coming soon to Short Run.
S5 E5 · Fri, April 28, 2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 5
Some experts say that while populism can metastasize into authoritarianism, it doesn't have to. They argue that the roots of American populism made this country's democracy better. And that it's time to resurrect progressive populism. But other observers strongly disagree. The fifth and final episode of On Point's special series 'The power of populism' explores whether populism can make better democracies.
S5 E4 · Fri, April 28, 2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 4
America’s urban-rural divide. It’s easy to think of American populism as disempowered rural residents versus the urban elite. But when it comes to influencing national policy, who has the real power? Episode four of On Point's special series 'The power of populism' is all about flipping the script on the urban-rural divide.
S5 E3 · Fri, April 28, 2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 3
It felt for a while like Wisconsin was ground zero in American politics. How has populism flourished in the Badger state? In the third episode of On Point's special series 'The power of populism', hear all about Wisconsin and the politics of resentment.
S5 E2 · Fri, April 28, 2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 2
Populism is on the rise across the globe, from Turkey to Hungary to Brazil. And in the world's largest democracy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ushered in a sweeping, economic modernization plan for all Indians. But he's also cracked down on the nation's civil society. India takes center stage in episode two of On Point's special series 'The power of populism'.
S5 E1 · Fri, April 28, 2023
Short Run: 'The power of populism' | Episode 1
Populism is a defining force in American politics, and around the world. But what exactly is populism? Where does it come from, and where does it take us? In the first episode of On Point's five part series 'The power of populism', host Meghna Chakrabarti discusses the origins of the word and concept of populism, and exactly what makes a leader a populist.
Wed, March 15, 2023
Short Run introduces Violation, a new podcast about who pulls the levers of power in the justice system
We want to share a first listen of a new podcast we're working on at WBUR. Violation tells the story of two families bound together by an unthinkable crime. It explores America's opaque parole system and asks: How much time in prison is enough? Who gets to decide? And, when someone commits a terrible crime, what does redemption look like? Listen to the trailer and if you like what you hear, head over to the Violation feed wherever you get your podcasts and hit subscribe so you'll get new episodes when they drop, beginning March 22.
S4 E5 · Wed, February 22, 2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode V
All of a sudden, it’s less clear if Nixon’s wager is paying off. After years of collaboration and mutual economic benefit, relations between China and the U.S. are at a low point. What does the start of this important relationship reveal about its next chapter? In the fifth part of Here & Now's "The Great Wager," host Jane Perlez considers how Nixon's actions are reverberating today.
S4 E4 · Wed, February 22, 2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode IV
The relationship between China and the U.S. is off and running — and now the two countries are collaborating on secret, sensitive intelligence. The fourth part of Here & Now's "The Great Wager" includes exclusive information about how Chinese and American intelligence officials agreed to work together against their common rival of many years.
S4 E3 · Wed, February 22, 2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode III
The news of Nixon’s trip to China is public, and he’s getting credit for pulling off such a historic event. Now, he and his advisers have to work with the Chinese to forge a relationship between two very different countries. In the third part of Here & Now's "The Great Wager," host Jane Perlez revisits when Nixon met Mao.
S4 E2 · Wed, February 22, 2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager' | Episode II
Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger make contact with China. But in the midst of the Cold War, they don’t want anyone to know. How will Kissinger get to Beijing without alerting anyone — and what’s Frank Sinatra got to do with it? In the second part of Here & Now's "The Great Wager," host Jane Perlez digs into how Kissinger pulled off a secret trip to China.
S4 E1 · Wed, February 22, 2023
Short Run: 'The Great Wager'| Episode I
President Richard Nixon has a plan: He wants to go to China. The only problem? The U.S. and China have had zero contact since the Communist Party took over China two decades before. In the first part of Here & Now's "The Great Wager," host Jane Perlez digs into the beginning of Nixon’s improbable diplomatic mission.
S3 E6 · Wed, January 18, 2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode VI
In the final episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Dean Russell visit Google, the frontier of AI, to see just how close the field is to creating bots with minds of their own.
S3 E5 · Wed, January 18, 2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode V
In the fifth episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Nora Saks dive into the ways artificial intelligence is changing modern love and online dating. Trying to find love (or even lock in one date) on dating apps is no easy task, especially with the onslaught of fake accounts and catfishing scams. But what if you had a digital dating coach installed right in your phone's keyboard — an AI Cyrano de Bergerac or Alex "Hitch" Hitchens — to automatically generate a perfectly crafted, personalized message for every conversation? Not just openers to get the conversation started, but witty, flirty banter to keep it going? As Endless Thread producer Nora Saks reports, lots of companies are developing apps that use AI-generated communication to optimize users' love lives and connections — online and off. Nora and co-host Ben Brock Johnson talk to the founder of one such start-up, as well as a dating app researcher, and single friends to probe the pros and cons of having an AI wingman in your pocket.
S3 E4 · Wed, January 18, 2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode IV
In the fourth episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Quincy Walters share a cautionary tale about Tay, a Microsoft AI chatbot that has lived on in infamy. Tay was originally modeled to be the bot-girl-next-door. But after only 16 hours on Twitter, Tay was shut down for regurgitating white supremacist, racist and sexist talking points online. Tay's short-lived run on the internet illuminated ethical issues in tech culture. This episode uncovers who gets a say in what we build, how developers build it, and who is to blame when things take a dark turn.
S3 E3 · Wed, January 18, 2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode III
In the third episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson explore a growing field of artificial intelligence: immortalizing the dead through predictive AI text. They talk with two individuals who used this tech in different ways, and discuss how these bots can help us improve our understanding of grief.
S3 E2 · Wed, January 18, 2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode II
In the second episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson consider the possibilities of bots being used in governments around the world. How can bots increase transparency and shine a light on corruption, such as insider trading, among our elected officials? Will bots be put on the ballot in the near future?
S3 E1 · Wed, January 18, 2023
'Good Bot, Bad Bot': Episode I
In the first episode of Endless Thread's series "Good Bot, Bad Bot," co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson delve into the history of ELIZA, the world's first chatbot therapist. Why did this computer's creator have a lot of complicated feelings about the development of AI? Can AI help us cope with mental health issues?
S2 E5 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode V'
Trust — in our institutions, our leaders, in each other — can erode away. But trust can also be rebuilt, even after devastating events. How can humans rebuild trust?
S2 E4 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode IV'
Trust is essential for survival, for relationships, for a civilized society. But trust needs an unexpected ally: skepticism. But what happens when your skepticism turns into cynicism, or outright disbelief? In the fourth episode of On Point's series Essential trust, we discuss the need for healthy skepticism.
S2 E3 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode III'
Brazilians don't trust each other. Some studies find that more than 60% of Brazilians don't trust the people in their own communities. In the third episode of On Point's series Essential trust, we look for lessons from Brazil as trust in the United States erodes.
S2 E2 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode II'
What happens in our brains when we trust someone? In the second episode of On Point's series Essential trust, neuroscientists explain how our brains process trust, and why it's worth the risk.
S2 E1 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Short Run: 'Essential trust: Episode I'
Jane Goodall formed incredible bonds with chimpanzees in the wild. "First they were afraid. Then they became belligerent. And then when I wouldn't go away, ‘Well, I guess she's okay.’ They came to trust," Goodall said. But were those bonds similar to what we humans experience as trust? In the first episode of On Point's series Essential trust, hear all about how the ability to trust strangers may be one of the things that makes us uniquely human.
S1 E4 · Fri, July 01, 2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode IV'
The final episode of On Point's series Smarter health gets up close with the people working and developing AI technology, and the patients receiving AI care. How can this technology thrive in our complex and broken health care system?
S1 E3 · Thu, June 30, 2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode III'
Health care is heavily regulated. But can the FDA effectively regulate AI in health care? It's episode three of On Point's series “Smarter health."
S1 E2 · Wed, June 29, 2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode II'
There is a sophisticated computer model that can estimate a patient's chance of dying in the next year. It's being used at a Stanford hospital to encourage important end of life care conversations and decisions. But would you want to know if an algorithm predicted when you might die? Ethics and AI. It's episode II of On Point's special series Smarter health.
S1 E1 · Tue, June 28, 2022
Short Run: 'Smarter health: Episode I'
American health care is complex. Expensive. Hard to access. Could artificial intelligence change that? In the first episode of On Point's series Smarter health, hear all about the potential of AI in health care — from predicting patient risk, to diagnostics, to just helping physicians make better decisions.
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