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CTA Proposes Balanced 2025 Operating Budget That Charts the Course for a Transit Riding Experience Better Than Pre-Pandemic/2019

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today proposed a $2.16 billion operating budget that keeps fares at current levels, delivers more bus and rail service hours than provided in 2019, and fuels new and ongoing investments to either expand or modernize existing infrastructure, while also evolving current systems to meet modern transit riding needs.




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Far South Side Gets Sneak Peek at What CTA Red Line Extension Will Look Like

The Chicago Transit Authority today welcomed about 75 residents and businesses from the Far South Side to the Red Line Extension (RLE) Fall Community Meet & Greet Event. Held at the site of the future Michigan Red Line station on E. 116th Street and S. Michigan Ave., CTA and RLE contractor Walsh-VINCI Transit Community Partners welcomed RLE project supporters.




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The debate over what's causing inflation

The last few months have made us acutely aware of inflation. We all agree that it's making our lives harder, but economists disagree about what's causing it. | Fill out our listener survey: npr.org/podcastsurvey

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SUMMER SCHOOL 2: GDP & What Counts

What even is "the economy"? And how do you measure it? Our path out of the economic darkness and into the light has been guided in large part by one single statistic: GDP. This week: the origins, history, and problems with the economic indicator to rule them all. | At this Summer School, phones ARE allowed during class... Check out this week's PM TikTok! | Listen to past seasons of Summer School here.

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CBOhhhh, that's what they do

If you are a congressperson or a senator and you have an idea for a new piece of legislation, at some point someone will have to tell you how much it costs. But, how do you put a price on something that doesn't exist yet?

Since 1974, that has been the job of the Congressional Budget Office, or the CBO. The agency plays a critical role in the legislative process: bills can live and die by the cost estimates the CBO produces.

The economists and budget experts at the CBO, though, are far more than just a bunch of number crunchers. Sometimes, when the job is really at its most fun, they are basically tasked with predicting the future. The CBO has to estimate the cost of unreleased products and imagine markets that don't yet exist — and someone always hates the number they come up with.

On today's episode, we go inside the CBO to tell the twisting tale behind the pricing of a single piece of massive legislation — when the U.S. decided to finally cover prescription drug insurance for seniors. At the time, some of the drugs the CBO was trying to price didn't even exist yet. But the CBO still had to tell Congress how much the bill would cost — even though the agency knew better than anyone that its math would almost definitely be wrong.

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The town that changed economics

In the early 90s, when a young economist named Michael Kremer finished his PhD, there had been a few economic studies based on randomized trials. But they were rare. In part because randomized trials – in which you recruit two statistically identical groups, choose one of them to get a treatment, and then compare what happens to each group – are expensive, and they take a lot of time.

But then, by chance, Michael had the opportunity to run a randomized trial in Busia, Kenya. He helped a nonprofit test whether the aid they were giving to local schools helped the students. That study paved the way for more randomized trials, and for other economists to use the method.

On today's show, how Busia, Kenya, became the place where economists pioneered a more scientific way to study huge problems, from contaminated water to low graduation rates, to HIV transmission. And how that research changed government programs and aid efforts around the world.

This episode was produced by James Sneed with help from Willa Rubin. It was engineered by James Willetts. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick. Jess Jiang is our acting executive producer.

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The new Biden plan that could still erase your student loans

This summer, the Supreme Court struck down Biden's plan to forgive student loan debt for millions of borrowers. Except, on the same day Biden first announced that plan, he also unveiled another, the SAVE plan. And though SAVE sounded less significant than Biden's big forgiveness pledge, it's still alive and could erase even more student debt.

SAVE is officially a loan repayment plan. But through a few seemingly minor yet powerful provisions, many more low-income borrowers will end up paying little or nothing until, eventually, their loans will be forgiven. Even many higher-income borrowers will see some of their debts erased.

In this episode, we explain the history of income-driven repayment. And how borrowers could end up paying less than they might expect once payments resume in October. You can read more from NPR's Cory Turner's here.

This episode was hosted by Cory Turner and Kenny Malone. It was produced by Emma Peaslee, and edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

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The secret entrance that sidesteps Hollywood picket lines

Across Hollywood right now, writers and actors are picketing in front of studio lots. They're walking back and forth, holding up signs demanding concessions on things like pay, how many writers work on projects, and the use of AI in TV and movies.

But, on some of these lots, there are these strange alternate entrances where there are no picketers. Here drivers can come and go as they please without ever encountering any sign of a strike.

Behold the neutral gate. An entrance intended for people who work at these lots but don't work for production companies that are involved with these particular strikes. (Usually that means things like game shows or TV commercials.)

But, as one group of picketers recently experienced, it's hard to know if these entrances are, in fact, only being used by neutral parties or if the entrances might be being abused.

On today's episode, the question of whether one Hollywood production was taking advantage of the neutral gate, and what the fight over a driveway can teach us about the broader labor battles in Hollywood and across the country.

This episode was hosted by Dave Blanchard and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, with reporting from Kenny Malone. It was produced by James Sneed and engineered by James Willetts. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Keith Romer. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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A trucker hat mystery, the curse of September and other listener questions

Ba-dee-yah! Say do you remember? Ba-dee-yah! Questions in September!

That's right - it's time for Listener Questions!

Every so often, we like to hear from listeners about what's on their minds, and we try to get to the bottom of their economic mysteries. On today's show, we have questions like:

Why is September historically the worst month for the stock market?
How did the Bass Pro Shops hat get so popular in Ecuador?
Are casinos banks?
What is the Federal Reserve's new plan to make bank transfers faster?

Today's show was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and produced by James Sneed. The audio engineer for this episode was Josephine Nyounai. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Dave Blanchard. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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The alleged theft at the heart of ChatGPT

When best-selling thriller writer Douglas Preston began playing around with OpenAI's new chatbot, ChatGPT, he was, at first, impressed. But then he realized how much in-depth knowledge GPT had of the books he had written. When prompted, it supplied detailed plot summaries and descriptions of even minor characters. He was convinced it could only pull that off if it had read his books.

Large language models, the kind of artificial intelligence underlying programs like ChatGPT, do not come into the world fully formed. They first have to be trained on incredibly large amounts of text. Douglas Preston, and 16 other authors, including George R.R. Martin, Jodi Piccoult, and Jonathan Franzen, were convinced that their novels had been used to train GPT without their permission. So, in September, they sued OpenAI for copyright infringement.

This sort of thing seems to be happening a lot lately–one giant tech company or another "moves fast and breaks things," exploring the edges of what might or might not be allowed without first asking permission. On today's show, we try to make sense of what OpenAI allegedly did by training its AI on massive amounts of copyrighted material. Was that good? Was it bad? Was it legal?

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What econ says in the shadows

Economics Job Market Rumors is a website that's half a job information Wiki, where people post about what's going on inside economics departments, and half a discussion forum, where anyone with an internet connection can ask the economics hive mind whatever they want. All anonymously.

People can talk about finding work, share rumors, and just blow off steam. And that steam can get scaldingly hot. The forum has become notorious for racist and sexist posts, often attacking specific women and people from marginalized backgrounds.

Last year, economist Florian Ederer and engineer Kyle Jensen discovered a flaw in the way the site gave anonymity to its users. The flaw made it possible to identify which universities and institutions were the sources of many of the toxic posts on the site. And helped answer a longstanding question that's dogged the economics profession: was the toxicity on EJMR the work of a bunch of fringey internet trolls, or was it a symptom of a much deeper problem within economics itself?

This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Keith Romer and engineered by Josh Newell. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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Groundhog Day 2024: Trademark, bankruptcy, and the dollar that failed

It's Groundhog Day, and the eyes of the nation have turned to a small town in western Pennsylvania. And, just like last year, all anyone can talk about is Punxsutawney Phil! It is impossible to find a news story that is not about one furry prognosticator.

Well, almost impossible...

Once again, our Planet Money hosts find themselves trapped in the endless Groundhog Day news cycle, and their only way out is to discover an economics story from Groundhog Day itself interesting enough to appease the capricious Groundhog Gods!

So rise and shine campers (and don't forget your booties) as hosts Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk scour the news of February 2nds past, to try to find the perfect story.

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Amanda Aronczyk. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Keith Romer, and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. It was fact-checked by James Sneed. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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What is Temu?

It is rare that a new e-commerce company has such a meteoric rise as Temu. The company, which launched in the fall of 2022, has been flooding the American advertising market, buying much of the inventory of Facebook, Snapchat, and beyond. According to the market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Temu is one of the most downloaded iPhone apps in the country, with around 50 million monthly active users.

On today's show, we go deep on Temu: How does it work, how did it manage such a quick rise in the U.S., and what hints might it offer us about the future of retail? Plus, we'll talk to the bicycle-loving U.S. Representative who is working to shut down a loophole that has proved very helpful to Temu's swift ascent.

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi with reporting from Emily Feng. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Keith Romer, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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The hack that almost broke the internet

Last month, the world narrowly avoided a cyberattack of stunning ambition. The targets were some of the most important computers on the planet. Computers that power the internet. Computers used by banks and airlines and even the military.

What these computers had in common was that they all relied on open source software.

A strange fact about modern life is that most of the computers responsible for it are running open source software. That is, software mostly written by unpaid, sometimes even anonymous volunteers. Some crucial open source programs are managed by just a single overworked programmer. And as the world learned last month, these programs can become attractive targets for hackers.

In this case, the hackers had infiltrated a popular open source program called XZ. Slowly, over the course of two years, they transformed XZ into a secret backdoor. And if they hadn't been caught, they could have taken control of large swaths of the internet.

On today's show, we get the story behind the XZ hack and what made it possible. How the hackers took advantage of the strange way we make modern software. And what that tells us about the economics of one of the most important industries in the world.

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So you've been scammed, now what?

We are living in a kind of golden age for online fraudsters. As the number of apps and services for storing and sending money has exploded – so too have the schemes that bad actors have cooked up to steal that money. Every year, we hear more and more stories of financial heartbreak. What you don't often hear about is what happens after the scam?

On today's show, we follow one woman who was scammed out of over $800,000 on her quest to get her money back. That journey takes her from the halls of the FBI to the fraud departments of some of the country's biggest financial institutions. And it offers a window into how the systems that are theoretically designed to help the victims of financial cybercrime actually work in practice.

This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Keith Romer. It was engineered by Neal Rauch and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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What's with all the tiny soda cans? And other grocery store mysteries, solved.

There's a behind the scenes industry that helps big brands decide questions like: How big should a bag of chips be? What's the right size for a bottle of shampoo? And yes, also: When should a company do a little shrinkflation?

From Cookie Monster to President Biden, everybody is complaining about shrinkflation these days. But when we asked the packaging and pricing experts, they told us that shrinkflation is just one move in a much larger, much weirder 4-D chess game.

The name of that game is "price pack architecture." This is the idea that you shouldn't just sell your product in one or two sizes. You should sell your product in a whole range of different sizes, at a whole range of different price points. Over the past 15 years, price pack architecture has completely changed how products are marketed and sold in the United States.

Today, we are going on a shopping cart ride-along with one of those price pack architects. She's going to pull back the curtain and show us why some products are getting larger while others are getting smaller, and tell us about the adorable little soda can that started it all.

By the end of the episode, you'll never look at a grocery store the same way again.

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What Kamala Harris' economic agenda might look like

Last weekend we were all thrown for a loop when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris for the nomination. Just like everyone else, we are trying to quickly wrap our heads around what it means now that Harris is almost certainly going to be the Democratic nominee for president.

We expect to see the Harris campaign come out with some official policy proposals in the coming weeks and months. But for now, all we've got are clues, little breadcrumbs that she has dropped throughout her career that might lead us to a rough idea of what economic policies she might support.

Today on the show, we're going to visit three key moments from Harris' political career that might give us an idea of how her economic agenda might look. First, the 2019 presidential primary debates, where she laid out her own economic policies. Next, a vote in her Senate years that shows where she might fall on future trade agreements. And finally, a fight with some of the country's biggest banks from her very first year as Attorney General of California.

This episode was hosted by Keith Romer and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Emma Peaslee, edited by Jess Jiang with help from Meg Cramer, and fact checked by Sierra Juarez and Sofia Shchukina. Engineering by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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What to do when you're in a class action

Maybe you got a boring slip of paper in the mail. Maybe you got a spammy-looking email promising you money. Surprise! You're in a class action. If you've done any commerce in the last decade, there's a good chance that someone somewhere was suing on your behalf and you have real money coming your way... if you know what to do.

Class action settlements are on the rise. And, on today's show, we're helping decipher the class action from the perspective of the average class member. How do class actions work? Why are these notices sometimes undecipherable? And, what do you stand to gain (or lose) by responding?

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed with help from Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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What's THAT got to do with economics?

"Wanna see a trick? Give us any topic and we can tie it back to the economy."

That is the bold promise in Planet Money's tagline. And we believe the show does live up to it. Over the last year, we've told stories about breakdancing, rum, pagers, buffets, colors, and heartbreak.

But then one host wondered: what if we really held ourselves to that promise? What if we challenged ourselves to find economic meaning in the most esoteric and far-flung topics imaginable?

That's when we turned to you, our listeners. And boy did you deliver. You sent in ideas so obscure, so banananas, so guaranteed to stump and bamboozle that our host maybe started to regret her life choices...but she was resolved to give it a try.

This episode was hosted by Sally Helm and Keith Romer. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Molly Messick and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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What's up with all the ads for law firms?

The lawyer commercial is almost an art form unto itself. Learned practitioners of the law doing whatever it takes to get your attention, from impressive dirt bike stunts to running around half naked. All so when you land in trouble, you don't have to think hard to remember their name. Odds are you can name one or two right now.

This world of law ads did not exist fifty years ago. Then, lawyers were not allowed to advertise. Not by law, by the exclusive organization that decides who gets to be a lawyer: state bars.

On today's episode, how that changed. How a couple of lawyers placing an ad in a local newspaper led to the inescapable world of law firm ads we know today. And, how the right to advertise got put on the same level as some of the most important, fundamental rights we have.

This episode was hosted by Nick Fountain and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Sean Saldana. It was edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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What markets bet President Trump will do

On the day after the election, Wall Street responded in a dramatic way. Some stocks went way up, others went way down. By reading those signals — by breaking down what people were buying and what they were selling — you can learn a lot about where the economy might be headed. Or at least, where people are willing to bet the economy is headed.

On today's show, we decode what Wall Street thinks about the next Trump presidency — what it means for different parts of the economy, and what it means for everyone. Does the wisdom of the market think President Trump will actually impose new tariffs and lift regulations? What about taxes and spending? And will inflation ultimately go up or down?

What markets bet President Trump will do. That's today's episode.

This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo, Sally Helm, Erika Beras, and Keith Romer. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Martina Castro and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Engineering by Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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The Family That Plays Together

Every athlete's looking for that extra edge — and for a lot of them, it's their family. Who drove them to practice? Who told them to never give up? In this episode, player's loved ones step into the spotlight.

If you want to leave the StoryCorps Podcast a voicemail, call us at 702-706-TALK. Or email us at podcast@storycorps.org.

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Sense of Place: Here's five songs that'll make you fall in love with J-Pop

From Hikaru Utada to imase, these tracks showcase the versatility found within Japanese pop music.

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What We Value

As the pandemic reveals the weaknesses of our economy, businesses and consumers are rethinking what they value. This hour, TED's Corey Hajim shares ideas on shifting the role of business in society.

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Listen Again: What We Value

Original broadcast date: May 1, 2020. As the pandemic reveals the weaknesses of our economy, businesses and consumers are rethinking what they value. This hour, TED's Corey Hajim shares ideas on shifting the role of business in society.

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What Lies Beneath

From our planet's underwater caves to its ancient soils, there are entire worlds right beneath our feet. This hour, we explore the subterranean forces that shape our lives above the ground. Guests include cave diver Jill Heinerth, death care advocate Katrina Spade, soil scientist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, and paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim.

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What Leadership Looks Like

From workplaces to schools to national governments, leaders everywhere are being called on to solve complex problems with humility and bravery. This hour, we consider what it takes to be a leader. Guests include executive coach Patrice Gordon, organizational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, and educator Shabana Basij-Rasikh.

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What's In A Face

We think our faces are our own. But technology can use them to identify, influence and mimic us. This week, TED speakers explore the promise and peril of turning the human face into a digital tool. Guests include super recognizer Yenny Seo, Bloomberg columnist Parmy Olson, visual researcher Mike Seymour and investigative journalist Alison Killing.

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What Lies Beneath

Original broadcast date: March 11, 2022. From our planet's underwater caves to its ancient soils, there are entire worlds right beneath our feet. This hour, we explore the subterranean forces that shape our lives above the ground. Guests include cave diver Jill Heinerth, death care advocate Katrina Spade, soil scientist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, and paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

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What Topples Democracies

Around the world, democratic ideals are being tested in surprising ways. As the curtains rise on a big election year, TED speakers explore what can keep people united and what drives them apart. Guests include journalist and Broadway producer Jose Antonio Vargas, civil war expert Barbara Walter, and political scientist Yascha Mounk.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at: plus.npr.org/ted

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What it takes to be an Antarctic explorer today

Ariel Waldman is a filmmaker and Antarctic explorer who first appeared in our 2021 episode, "Through the Looking Glass." Since then, she has written a new book and returned to Antarctica with a new mission. For this bonus episode, producer Matthew Cloutier reached out to get an update.

This bonus episode was previously shared only with our TED Radio Hour+ supporters. To get access to all of our bonus content, listen to the show sponsor-free and support our work at NPR, sign up for TED Radio Hour+ at plus.npr.org/ted

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What Leadership Looks Like

Original broadcast date: April 29, 2022. From workplaces to schools to national governments, leaders everywhere are being called on to solve complex problems with humility and bravery. This hour, we consider what it takes to be a leader. Guests include executive coach Patrice Gordon, organizational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, former First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, and educator Shabana Basij-Rasikh.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

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Natural Intelligence: What we and AI can learn from nature

Artificial intelligence is powerful, but what about natural intelligence? This hour, TED speakers explore the intrinsic genius in animal language, insect behavior, plant anatomy and our immune system. Guests include neuroscientist Greg Gage, computational neuroscientist Frances Chance, social psychoneuroimmunologist Keely Muscatell and environmental researcher Karen Bakker.

We want to dedicate this episode to Bakker who passed away in August 2023, only a few months after giving her TED Talk. Her research and legacy continue to inspire.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted

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What's In A Face: How technology uses our faces

Original broadcast date: December 9, 2022. We think our faces are our own. But technology can use them to identify, influence and mimic us. This week, TED speakers explore the promise and peril of turning the human face into a digital tool. Guests include super recognizer Yenny Seo, Bloomberg columnist Parmy Olson, visual researcher Mike Seymour and investigative journalist Alison Killing.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

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The Public Commons: Building public spaces that actually serve the public

Original broadcast date: July 23, 2021. How can we create public places that feel welcoming and safe for everyone? This hour, TED speakers examine our physical and digital spaces—how they run, who they serve, and how to make them better. Guests include community organizer Shari Davis, researcher Eli Pariser, Wikipedia Library founder Jake Orlowitz, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, and artist Matthew Mazzotta.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

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Body Electric: Your earbuds and you—what all that listening is doing to us

Our special series, Body Electric, is back! This time, host Manoush Zomorodi does a deep dive into our headphone habits... because many of us wear them for hours at a time, and all that listening is taking a toll on our hearing.

Manoush speaks with exposure scientist Rick Neitzel, who has partnered with Apple on a first-of-its-kind study to find how our daily listening patterns are affecting our hearing. Neitzel offers advice on safe listening habits that can help protect our ears in the long term.

Later, Manoush takes us into the future of "consumer hearables" and how tech companies want us to never — ever— take our earbuds out.

Interested in joining the Apple Hearing Study? Sign up here.

Binge the whole Body Electric series
here. Sign up for the Body Electric Challenge and our newsletter here.

Talk to us on
Instagram @ManoushZ, or record a voice memo and email it to us at BodyElectric@npr.org.

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What's driving generations apart—and ideas to bring them together

Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z seem to be more divided than ever. But why are tensions running high now? This hour, TED speakers explore new reasons for this generation gap—and how to bridge it. Guests include professor and author Scott Galloway, social entrepreneur Louise Mabulo, advocate Derenda Schubert and writer Anne Helen Petersen.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted

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What we'll eat on a warmer planet

From the farm, to the lab, to our tables, what we eat and how it's grown is changing. Agriculture contributes to global warming—and is being transformed by it. Today, a bite into the future of food. Guests include chef and policy advisor Sam Kass, farmers Jim Whitaker and Jessica Whitaker Allen, biotechnologist Isha Datar and artist Sam Van Aken.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at: plus.npr.org/ted

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Body Electric: If a bot relationship FEELS real, should we care that it's not?

Thanks to advances in AI, chatbots can act as personalized therapists, companions, and romantic partners. The apps offering these services have been downloaded millions of times. If these relationships relieve stress and make us feel better, does it matter that they're not "real"?

On this episode from our special series Body Electric, host Manoush Zomorodi talks to MIT sociologist and psychologist Sherry Turkle about her new research into what she calls "artificial intimacy," and its impact on our mental and physical health.

Binge the whole Body Electric series here.

Sign up for the Body Electric Challenge and our newsletter here.

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The mysteries that lie beneath

From our planet's underwater caves to its ancient soils, there are entire worlds right beneath our feet. This hour, we explore the subterranean forces that shape our lives above the ground. Guests include cave diver Jill Heinerth, death care advocate Katrina Spade, soil scientist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim. Original broadcast date: March 11, 2022.

TED Radio Hour+ subscribers now get access to bonus episodes, with more ideas from TED speakers and a behind the scenes look with our producers. A Plus subscription also lets you listen to regular episodes (like this one!) without sponsors. Sign-up at plus.npr.org/ted.

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What we—and AI—can learn from nature's intelligence

Artificial intelligence is powerful, but what about natural intelligence? This hour, TED speakers explore the intrinsic genius in animal language, insect behavior, plant anatomy and our immune system.

Guests include neuroscientist Greg Gage, computational neuroscientist Frances Chance, social psychoneuroimmunologist Keely Muscatell and environmental researcher Karen Bakker.

Original broadcast date: March 8, 2024

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Brija Johnson leads new program that expands UCLA’s entrepreneurial ties in the region

Bruin Founders will advance goal 1 of UCLA’s Strategic Plan: to deepen the university’s engagement with Los Angeles.




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UCLA is set to introduce ChatGPT Enterprise on campus – a first for California higher ed

The agreement further positions UCLA at the forefront of artificial intelligence advancements in support of its academic, administrative and research communities.




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We (can’t) Chat: “709 Crackdown” Discussion Blocked on Weibo and WeChat

Toronto, ON – Researchers at the Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, published a report today that reveals how discussions about a nationwide government crackdown on rights lawyers and activists in China are censored on WeChat and Weibo, two of the leading social networks in China. The crackdown […]




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U of T scientists map genome that causes Dutch Elm Disease

TORONTO, ON — Researchers from the University of Toronto and SickKids Research Institute announced today that they have successfully mapped the genes in the fungus that causes Dutch Elm Disease. The researchers believe this is the first time the 30 million DNA letters for the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi have been mapped. The findings, published in […]




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Learn about creating a startup from the accelerator that launched Airbnb, Reddit and Dropbox

Toronto, ON – Since 2005, Y Combinator (YC) has launched 1,200 startups which have a combined valuation of over $65 billion. Without the help of this seed accelerator, companies such as DoorDash, Code Academy and Thalmic Labs would have been lost. On Friday, January 20, 2017, YC will be inaugurating Accelerator Weekend with a panel led […]




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Einstein proved right: LIGO, U of T astrophysicists detect gravitational waves - Discovery that confirms theory of relativity makes headlines around the world

Discovery that confirms theory of relativity makes headlines around the world “We see today that black holes exist in the universe and they do collide!” Associate Professor Harald Pfeiffer says (image courtesy NASA) For the first time, scientists have observed gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of spacetime from a cataclysmic event in the […]




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Research shows that reported oil sands emissions greatly underestimated

TORONTO, ON – A new comprehensive modeling assessment of contamination in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region indicates that officially reported emissions of certain hazardous air pollutants have been greatly underestimated. The results of the assessment, which was carried out by University of Toronto Scarborough Environmental Chemistry professor Frank Wania and his PhD candidate Abha Parajulee, […]



  • Environment & Natural Resources
  • Forestry
  • Science
  • University of Toronto
  • University of Toronto Mississauga
  • University of Toronto Scarborough

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Researchers Expose Censorship on Popular Chat App, WeChat

Toronto, ON – Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab are publishing a report today that reveals how WeChat (the most popular chat app in China) censors content. The results show WeChat has separate censorship policies for users in China and internationally, with the majority of censorship targeted for China accounts, and has removed […]