A long lasting drought and severe heat this summer, compounded with government mismanagement of the country’s dams have led to an impending water crisis in Iran. Officials are warning that Iran’s ten million residents might run out of water in a matter of weeks. We hear how this has happened and what it means for Iranians. (Image credit: Fatemeh Bahrami)
The FBI is investigating at least 250 people who may be tied to online networks that target children. These networks encourage kids to hurt themselves, other minors or even animals. In some countries, they have been tied to mass casualty and terrorism plots. NPR’s domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef has spoken with a family that experienced this firsthand. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Using advanced DNA-analysis techniques researchers in New York City identified three more victims of the 9/11 terror attacks that occurred nearly 24 years ago. (Image credit: Boston Herald)
Thursday’s move would compel colleges to report more data about the students they enroll and those who apply, including applicants’ race and standardized test scores. (Image credit: LA Johnson)
The 14-day stoppage comes as a federal judge considers whether additional construction of the immigration detention facility in south Florida’s Everglades is detrimental to the environment. (Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
Businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr became the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order as gangs underscored the challenges facing the Caribbean nation. (Image credit: Odelyn Joseph)
The New York City mass shooter had been diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses and had been the subject of two “mental health holds” in Las Vegas, but none of that limited his legal right to own firearms. (Image credit: Stephanie Keith)
Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City despite demands by families of hostages and mounting international calls for Israel to end the war. (Image credit: Jehad Alshrafi)
The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it would deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits. (Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein)
Finding it hard to concentrate? Are you glued to social media for longer than you’d like? Well, maybe it’s not you… maybe it’s the phones. Brittany is joined by Magdalene Taylor, writer, cultural critic and senior editor at Playboy, and Fio Geiran, producer at TED Radio Hour and a writer of their Body Electric newsletter, to discuss this phrase: “it’s the phones.” They get into the effects that smartphones have on our brains and our culture, why some people are returning to “dumbphones,” and why it might take more than willpower to manage our relationships with our phones. (Image credit: Nanzeeba Ibnat)
