Rest of World · 2026-07-27
In China, People Are Renting Out Their Faces to AI
by Kinling Lo and Viola Zhou
If you rent out your face to a machine, who decides what it does next?
0:00 / 7:53 · Narrator Charon
Category
Behind the news
Context, analysis and reporting that goes deeper than the headlines on stories already in the air.
ProPublica · 2026-07-27
How Trump’s “America First” Administration Could Shut U.S. Scientists Out of the Next Nobel-Worthy Discovery
by Lisa Song
0:00 / 32:46 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Psyche · 2026-07-27
Don’t Turn Away From Tragedy, but Do Witness Intentionally
by Nena Močnik
When a war shows up on your phone, how much of it are you supposed to watch?
0:00 / 12:09 · Narrator Sulafat
Quanta Magazine · 2026-07-26
The Dirt That Refused to Die
by Siddhant Pusdekar
If dead dirt keeps breathing, does the chemistry of life actually belong to living things?
0:00 / 11:54 · Narrator Gacrux
The Atlantic · 2026-07-26
Trump Owes Americans a Better Explanation About Iran
by Tom Nichols
0:00 / 36:48 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Just Security · 2026-07-26
Clausewitz on Operation Epic Fury
by Michael Schmitt
0:00 / 36:48 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Diplomat · 2026-07-26
What a Stray Dog’s Murder Tells Us About Chinese Civil Society
by Alric Lee
When does mourning a stray dog become a threat to the state?
0:00 / 8:37 · Narrator Algieba
Vox · 2026-07-25
How the Iran War Could Drive Conflicts in Countries Thousands of Miles Away
by Joshua Keating
Why are protests breaking out on a tiny island 3,000 miles away from the war in Iran?
0:00 / 11:50 · Narrator Sulafat
Compact · 2026-07-25
Misanthropic Altruism
by William Thibeau
0:00 / 19:02 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
American Scholar · 2026-07-25
Thanatos Rising
by George Makari
Why did Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud find it harder to explain peace than war?
0:00 / 36:00 · Narrator Charon
Just Security · 2026-07-25
When Civilian Infrastructure Becomes a Lawful Target
by Michael Schmitt
At what point does a shipping warehouse that also supplies an army stop being a civilian building?
0:00 / 31:20 · Narrator Algieba
ProPublica · 2026-07-24
5 Raw Quotes From America’s Largest Raw-Milk Dairy Owner
by Annie Waldman
0:00 / 26:53 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Defector · 2026-07-24
The Other Elephant
by Sabrina Imbler
If an elephant has lived fifty years in a zoo, where does she belong now?
0:00 / 13:36 · Narrator Sulafat
Rest of World · 2026-07-24
The Hidden Cost of Myanmar’s Rare Earth Mines
by Emily Fishbein and Jauman Naw
What is left of a village when its mountains are pumped with acid for electric cars?
0:00 / 32:49 · Narrator Rasalgethi
The Diplomat · 2026-07-23
Australia’s Strategic Ambiguity is Running Out of Road
by Marina Yue Zhang
If a country’s strongest ally and its biggest customer pull apart, how does it keep its balance?
0:00 / 5:59 · Narrator Sulafat
Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-23
For the First Time in 27 Years, a Man Set a New World Record for Fastest Mile. People Have Chased the Goal for Centuries
0:00 / 41:09 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Just Security · 2026-07-22
Sanctions Gaps and the Governance of Corruption Risk
by William Burke-White
If the rules for global sanctions are too messy to follow, who ends up holding the keys?
0:00 / 20:06 · Narrator Gacrux
Knowable Magazine · 2026-07-22
Who’s in Charge? The Fraught Union of Automation and Human Behavior
by Amber Dance
0:00 / 16:42 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-22
Could Life Exist on This Nearby World? In a First, Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on an Earth-Like Exoplanet in the Habitable Zone
If a rocky world 49 light-years away has air and water, is life the only thing missing?
0:00 / 5:52 · Narrator Rasalgethi
STAT News · 2026-07-22
Opinion: My Husband’s Suicide Shows There’s Something Very Wrong with the U.S. Insurance Industry
by Joy Evers
0:00 / 16:42 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
ProPublica · 2026-07-22
My Maddening Quest to Find Out if Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed
by Max Blau
How much can anyone really know about the farm that grew the blueberries in their fridge?
0:00 / 5:44 · Narrator Charon
STAT News · 2026-07-22
Opinion: My Adult Daughter Has Down Syndrome. Her Life is Entirely Different From What Experts Expected
by Michelle Sie Whitten
When a doctor predicts a child’s life, how much of the story are they missing?
0:00 / 8:31 · Narrator Sulafat
The Guardian (Long Read) · 2026-07-21
‘She Was Almost a Batman Figure’: Mexico’s Avenging Mother Courage
by Sam Edwards
If a mother uses billboards to hunt her son’s killers, who checks if the crime ever happened?
0:00 / 54:07 · Narrator Gacrux
The Independent · 2026-07-21
United by Grief, Mothers in Brazil Demand Reparations After Police Killed Their Sons
by Eleonore Hughes
0:00 / 19:34 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Scroll.in · 2026-07-21
A New Book Reflects on Why a Hunger Strike is the Most Culturally Resonant Political Protest
by Ghazala Jamil
0:00 / 19:34 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Politico Magazine · 2026-07-21
We Went to a Yacht Party for the Most Pro-Deportation People in DC
by By Samuel Benson
How does a plan to deport millions of people turn into a yacht party on the Potomac?
0:00 / 14:46 · Narrator Charon
Noahpinion · 2026-07-20
The UK is a Cautionary Tale for the U.S.
by Noah Smith
How does a wealthy country end up with crumbling hospitals and the world’s most expensive trains?
0:00 / 21:37 · Narrator Charon
ProPublica · 2026-07-20
The First Major Overhaul of Public Lands Grazing Regulations in a Generation Looks to Cut Out Public Involvement
by Roberto “Bear” Guerra
0:00 / 21:05 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-20
One of the Quietest Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, Ella Baker Led by Encouraging Everyone to Get Involved
How did one woman help start a movement by visiting bars and pool halls?
0:00 / 7:09 · Narrator Gacrux
War on the Rocks · 2026-07-19
Forged in a Knife Fight: China’s Brutal Domestic AI Competition
by David Lin
What happens when China’s AI plan meets a brutal domestic knife fight?
0:00 / 18:24 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
The Conversation · 2026-07-19
How Lindsey Graham’s Keen Ability to Read the Moment Propelled Him to Political Relevance for 3 Decades
by Christopher A. Cooper, Professor of Political Science & Public Affairs, Western Carolina University
0:00 / 15:57 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Scroll.in · 2026-07-19
‘Fractured Communities’ by Umar Khalid: Scholarship Meets Commitment to Marginalised Lives
by Anand Teltumbde
How did the state turn local village leaders into the tools for ruling the forest?
0:00 / 9:35 · Narrator Charon
Defector · 2026-07-19
Meet Torstein Træen, the Stoic Norwegian Survivor Who Briefly Lit up the Tour De France
by Patrick Redford
How does a shy rider who survived cancer and a broken elbow end up in the yellow jersey?
0:00 / 8:00 · Narrator Algieba
The American Prospect · 2026-07-18
Feds and Deputized Cops Stockpiling War Machines for Deportation
by Whitney Curry Wimbish
0:00 / 23:52 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
War on the Rocks · 2026-07-18
How Revolutions Break Their Believers
by Matt Gallagher
0:00 / 23:52 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Atlantic · 2026-07-18
The Lessons About Ebola the U.S. Wants to Forget
by Craig Spencer
Can a virus be kept across an ocean if the country that built the defenses walks away?
0:00 / 11:27 · Narrator Charon
The Diplomat · 2026-07-18
Playing for a Place in the World Through Taiwan’s Baseball Diplomacy
by Jozef Huljak
Why does a winning baseball team have to play under a flag and a name it didn't choose?
0:00 / 10:12 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
Rest of World · 2026-07-18
The Problem AI Content Moderation Cannot Solve
by Hera Hussain
If a simple photo doesn't show skin, how can a computer tell it’s being used to hurt someone?
0:00 / 6:33 · Narrator Algieba
Noema · 2026-07-17
Why We Demand Perfect Machines yet Tolerate Human Carnage
by Jonathan Slotkin
Why does a car with no driver feel scarier than a person behind the wheel?
0:00 / 22:48 · Narrator Charon
The Hindu · 2026-07-17
Assam’s Out-of-school Children Dream of Becoming MLAs, Teachers
0:00 / 14:52 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Astral Codex Ten · 2026-07-17
Against "Stochastic Terrorism"
by Scott Alexander
If a person speaks harshly about someone, are they to blame when a stranger turns violent?
0:00 / 11:50 · Narrator Sulafat
Public Books · 2026-07-17
The Ableism of Kings, the Fury of Trump
by Megan Cummins
Why does the sight of a scar or a limp so often provoke a leader’s fury?
0:00 / 28:14 · Narrator Gacrux
Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-16
How Do Pigeons Find Their Way Home? New Research Suggests the Birds' Remarkable Navigational Skills Come From Their Livers
Why would a pigeon need its liver to find the way home on a cloudy day?
0:00 / 6:01 · Narrator Sulafat
The Honest Broker · 2026-07-16
What You Won't Learn About the Odyssey From a Movie
by Ted Gioia
0:00 / 19:37 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Paris Review Daily · 2026-07-16
A City Bigger Than a Bomb: Dispatch From Beirut
by Jacob Russell
Can a family still find room to live in the quiet gaps between the bombs?
0:00 / 13:09 · Narrator Charon
Eurozine · 2026-07-16
Georgia’s Unfinished European Journey
by Simon Garnett
If a country has been turning toward Europe since the Middle Ages, why is it still an outsider?
0:00 / 15:00 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
War on the Rocks · 2026-07-15
The Road to Space Runs Through the Poles
by David Marsh
Why are there more satellite antennas on a frozen island with more polar bears than people?
0:00 / 17:36 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Scroll.in · 2026-07-15
The Art of Literary Translation Exposes the Limits of AI
by Krupa Shandilya, The Conversation
0:00 / 18:02 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Conversation · 2026-07-15
Building a Long-term Base on the Moon Will Require Extensive Planning – a Planetary Geologist Describes the Considerations That Go Into It
by Clive Neal, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame
How do you pick the right piece of ground for a permanent home on the Moon?
0:00 / 5:57 · Narrator Charon
Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-15
Artemis 1's Orion Spacecraft Withstood the Heat of Re-entry in a Critical Test for Humans' Return to the Moon. Now, NASA Will Loan the Historic Capsule to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum
0:00 / 18:02 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Slow Boring · 2026-07-15
Farms Aren’t Nature
by Matthew Yglesias
If a farm is just another business, why is it treated like a forest?
0:00 / 10:23 · Narrator Algieba
Noahpinion · 2026-07-14
The American Suburbs Are Better Than You Think
by Noah Smith
Does a house with a yard and a car offer something a city apartment cannot?
0:00 / 17:55 · Narrator Charon
STAT News · 2026-07-14
Opinion: It Looks Like Your Doctor and Talks Like Your Doctor. But It’s Not Your Doctor
by Henry Bair
What happens when a doctor has to prove their own face and voice are real?
0:00 / 8:49 · Narrator Sulafat
Compact · 2026-07-14
The AI Apocalypse is Already Here
by Gregory Conti
0:00 / 1:33:28 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
ProPublica · 2026-07-14
A U.S.-Mexico Impasse Will Test How Far the Trump Administration Will Go to Fight Drug Trade
by Tim Golden
How can two neighbors work together if they can’t agree on who the criminals are?
0:00 / 13:44 · Narrator Rasalgethi
The Diplomat · 2026-07-14
Why China Never Captured the Indian Imagination
by Akhilesh Pillalamarri
How can two neighbors trade silk and sugar for two thousand years and still feel like strangers?
0:00 / 12:31 · Narrator Gacrux
The Independent · 2026-07-13
Teachers in England Could Strike After Schools Told They Must Fund Pay Rises
by Ellie Ng
0:00 / 35:13 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Vox · 2026-07-13
The Forgotten Success Story of America’s Teenagers
by Bryan Walsh
If teenagers are safer now than their parents were in the 1990s, why is the victory so quiet?
0:00 / 11:41 · Narrator Charon
Quanta Magazine · 2026-07-13
We Know Simple Fluids Can Flow. Turns Out, Some Can Fracture.
by Rohini Subrahmanyam
Can a thick, gooey liquid be stretched until it snaps like a piece of glass?
0:00 / 9:29 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Rest of World · 2026-07-13
Older Adults Know AI is Slop. They Just Like It
by Viola Zhou
If a digital singer makes someone cry, does it matter that she isn't real?
0:00 / 5:00 · Narrator Gacrux
The Bulwark · 2026-07-13
The Endangered Big Screen Comedy
by Sonny Bunch
If comedies that once filled theaters are vanishing, where will people go to laugh in the dark?
0:00 / 9:37 · Narrator Algieba
Africa Is a Country · 2026-07-12
What is the World Cup For?
by Boima Tucker
When a stadium costs more than a hospital, why does the game inside still feel so essential?
0:00 / 25:39 · Narrator Charon
The Conversation · 2026-07-12
Fertilizers Carry a Hidden Cost for Soil’s Crucial Microbes – Using Less as Prices Rise Might Pay Off for Farms in Unexpected Ways
by Esther Ndumi Ngumbi, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology; African-American Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
0:00 / 18:53 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Noema · 2026-07-12
China’s Open AI Models Are Advancing Its Global Soft Power
by Nathan Gardels
If the whole world uses Chinese code, whose stories will the computers tell?
0:00 / 8:10 · Narrator Algieba
The Atlantic · 2026-07-12
Why the Media Keep Quoting the Same Climate Scientist
by Jason Dove Mark
How did one man become the person everyone calls the moment the wind starts to pick up?
0:00 / 11:10 · Narrator Sulafat
The Atlantic · 2026-07-11
At Least You’re Not Playing in the World Cup Right Now
by Nancy Walecki
0:00 / 30:21 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Smithsonian Magazine · 2026-07-11
Could We Mitigate Super El Niños by Artificially Changing the Climate? A New Study Indicates Yes
Could making the clouds a little brighter stop a super El Niño before it starts?
0:00 / 5:36 · Narrator Sulafat
STAT News · 2026-07-11
Opinion: the AI Licensure Debate is Missing the Point of Licensure
by Afnan R. Tariqand Ami Bhatt
If a computer passes a medical exam, who is left to answer when a patient gets hurt?
0:00 / 7:10 · Narrator Algieba
The Independent · 2026-07-11
Events Like the World Cup Can Inspire Young Athletes and Put Parents on Unfamiliar Turf
by Cheyanne Mumphrey
When a child dreams of playing like a pro, how does a family keep the game fun?
0:00 / 8:28 · Narrator Gacrux
The Independent · 2026-07-10
Bare Skin, Fantasy and the Machine: 3 Takeaways From Paris' Starry Couture Week
by Thomas Adamson
0:00 / 26:03 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Bulwark · 2026-07-10
The Pentagon is Too Fixated on China
by Mark Hertling
Can a superpower keep its balance if it treats every other crisis as a distraction?
0:00 / 10:32 · Narrator Charon
Noahpinion · 2026-07-09
Insurers Aren't the Main Villain of the U.S. Health Care System
by Noah Smith
If insurance companies aren't the ones getting rich, where does all that money go?
0:00 / 17:42 · Narrator Charon
STAT News · 2026-07-09
Opinion: CDC Leadership Continues to Try Manufacture a Scientific Debate on Vaccines Where None Exists
by Ben Lopman
0:00 / 15:44 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Diplomat · 2026-07-09
Why Global Press Freedom Rankings Struggle with Singapore
by Leonie Spangenberg
Can a global ranking measure freedom in a society that values harmony more than confrontation?
0:00 / 8:03 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Defector · 2026-07-09
Gifts, Gritos, and a Breakthrough Win: an Afternoon with the Tour De France’s New and Jubilant Mexican Fanbase
by Patrick Redford
When a young rider ends a thirty-six-year wait, who actually receives the gift of the win?
0:00 / 9:32 · Narrator Algieba
The Guardian (Long Read) · 2026-07-08
Claudia Sheinbaum: the Wildly Popular Mexican President Dealing with Drug Violence, Disappearances and Donald Trump
by Rachel Nolan
How does a former student activist lead the military institution she spent her youth protesting?
0:00 / 43:56 · Narrator Sulafat
The American Prospect · 2026-07-08
The War of Capital
by Zachary Groz
0:00 / 31:25 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Psyche · 2026-07-08
Does Modernisation Erase Cultural Difference – or Amplify It?
by Thomas Talhelm
If the world looks more similar every day, why are cultural differences growing deeper?
0:00 / 13:53 · Narrator Charon
Quanta Magazine · 2026-07-08
Astrophysicists Puzzle Over Webb’s New Universe
by Jay Bennett
If the oldest galaxies in the sky are behaving impossibly, how do you begin to redraw the universe?
0:00 / 15:11 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Rest of World · 2026-07-08
China’s AI Boom is Creating a Different Kind of Entrepreneur
by Lin Zhang
What happens to the drive to build when the only goal is room to breathe?
0:00 / 9:27 · Narrator Gacrux
The Atlantic · 2026-07-07
The Age of the Trillionaire
by Annie Lowrey
0:00 / 18:54 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
The Atlantic · 2026-07-07
What Biden Changed About American Foreign Policy
by Thomas Wright
If the old rules of global cooperation are gone, what should take their place?
0:00 / 12:11 · Narrator Algieba
STAT News · 2026-07-07
Opinion: Medicine Thinks Gen Z is Too Soft. It’s Wrong
by Frantz M. Berthaud
What does Gen Z see in the work of medicine that older generations have learned to live with?
0:00 / 8:40 · Narrator Rasalgethi
Africa Is a Country · 2026-07-07
Walking Through the Ruins of French Cameroon
by Zahra Moloo
Can a fictional city hold the memory of a colonial war that was written out of history?
0:00 / 10:28 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
Vox · 2026-07-07
How to Actually Get to Know Your Neighbors
by Julia Sullivan
How can the small, awkward effort of meeting a neighbor change the way a person feels at home?
0:00 / 12:27 · Narrator Sulafat
War on the Rocks · 2026-07-06
A Catholic Security Scholar’s Case for Responsible Military AI
by Craig Douglas Albert
Can a person of faith argue for military AI while still defending the sanctity of life?
0:00 / 19:25 · Narrator Charon
The Atlantic · 2026-07-06
The Whiplash of Trump’s Iran Capitulation
by Tom Nichols
0:00 / 21:38 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Eurozine · 2026-07-06
A Moral Compass: Slavenka Drakulić (1949–2026)
by Simon Garnett
0:00 / 21:38 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Scroll.in · 2026-07-06
‘My Questions Were Affected by Fiction’: Carlo Ginzburg (1939-2026), Pioneer in Microhistory
by Naveen Kishore
How does a historian find the voices of the past within the records meant to silence them?
0:00 / 50:46 · Narrator Algieba
The American Prospect · 2026-07-06
Marco Rubio’s Dangerous Diplomacy in Lebanon
by Nathan Thompson
If the price of peace is a civil war, who does the diplomacy actually serve?
0:00 / 9:52 · Narrator Sulafat
The Diplomat · 2026-07-06
Why India Cannot Let the Rupee Float
by Deepanshu Mohan
Can the elegant abstraction of a floating currency survive the stubborn cost of daily life?
0:00 / 8:55 · Narrator Gacrux
Just Security · 2026-07-06
Looking Back at Humphrey’s Executor
by Michael Dreeben
Can a legal cornerstone hold when the political parties have traded places on presidential power?
0:00 / 15:24 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
Defector · 2026-07-06
‘The Final Set’ Tells the Story of Tennis’ Greatest Rivalry Becoming a Friendship
by Owen Lewis
How do two people who spent decades trying to outlast each other learn to survive together?
0:00 / 9:05 · Narrator Rasalgethi
The Conversation · 2026-07-05
Venezuela’s Deadly Earthquakes Happened on a Fault Similar to the San Andreas, and the Risks Aren’t Over yet – a Geophysicist Explains
by Sylvain Barbot, Professor of Earth Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
0:00 / 15:37 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Project Syndicate · 2026-07-05
Oligarchy’s Ancient Origins
by Matt Simonton
How does a democracy end up building the institutions that allow the few to rule?
0:00 / 14:33 · Narrator Gacrux
The Conversation · 2026-07-05
Maps Are Powerful Political Tools Shaping a Nation’s Past, Present and Future – Counter Maps Allow Everyday People to Reclaim the Narrative
by Patty Heyda, Professor of Urban Design and Architecture, Washington University in St. Louis
If a map is a tool for building a world, who decides what stays off the page?
0:00 / 7:38 · Narrator Sulafat
The Bulwark · 2026-07-04
Still Radical, Still American
by Joshua Zeitz
Why does a nation built on the rejection of hierarchy seem so eager to return to it?
0:00 / 23:01 · Narrator Charon
Vox · 2026-07-04
The Fatal Flaw in How America Handles Heat Waves
by Sara Herschander
0:00 / 29:44 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
STAT News · 2026-07-04
Opinion: What Ebola and Marburg Are Teaching Us About the Next Pandemic
by Krutika Kuppalli and Placide Mbala
If the next outbreak looks nothing like the last, will the diagnostic tools even recognize it?
0:00 / 10:00 · Narrator Vindemiatrix
The American Prospect · 2026-07-04
Has Ukraine Turned the Tide?
by Ryan Cooper
What happens when a country under siege starts out-inventing the allies who walked away?
0:00 / 7:55 · Narrator Algieba