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Teen heartthrobs named Bobby were everywhere in the '60s — which was fine by me

In the 1960s, hearthrobs named Bobby were <!-- raw HTML omitted -->everywhere. <!-- raw HTML omitted -->Clockwise from top left: Bobby Darin, Bobby Vee, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Goldsboro, Bobby Womack, and Bobby Sherman.

Bobbys were inescapable in music in the '50s and '60s: Bobby Sherman, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Darin and more. NPR critic Bob Mondello looks back to an era when everyone seemed to share his name.

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Trump administration cuts McGruff the Crime Dog's fentanyl campaign

A McGruff the Crime Dog public service ad warning young people of fake prescription drugs that may contain fentanyl.

The National Crime Prevention Council is questioning federal cuts to McGruff the Crime Dog's campaign to sniff out fake pills. The group says McGruff's work that started in 1980 isn't over.

(Image credit: National Crime Prevention Council/YouTube)

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Over what does the Trump admin want to unleash 'dominance'? Find out in the quiz

From left: Jeanine Pirro, NFL player Matt Prater sniffing … something, and a famous ambulatory robot.

Plus: physical fitness, Confederate statues, robot overlords and weird zoo requests.

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Las Vegas sees drop in tourism, hinting at broader economic woes facing the U.S.

People take pictures with the Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas sign under hazy orange skies as the sun sets on July 29, 2023.

Economists say, what happens in Vegas matters nationally because it often reflects broader trends on consumer confidence and the overall health of the U.S. economy.

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon)

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NASA plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon. Here's what that means.

A full super moon, rises behind a mountain in the village of Dodekametro, in the region of Arcadia in Greece, on July 10, 2025.

NASA is accelerating plans to have a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030.

(Image credit: Angelos Tzortzinis)

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AI-generated music is here to stay. Will streaming services like Spotify label it?

Unlike other tech giants — including YouTube, Meta and TikTok — Spotify is not currently taking steps to label AI-generated content.

Unlike other tech giants, many music-streaming services like Spotify are not currently taking steps to label AI-generated content. But experts say more transparency is key.

(Image credit: Jakub Porzycki)

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13 podcast episodes to make back-to-school season easier on kids and parents

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The new school year can be exciting, but also stressful. Kids may be feeling anxious. Parents may be juggling new responsibilities. Experts share tips on how to manage this season of change.

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Meet the judge hearing Harvard's lawsuits against the Trump administration

Allison Burroughs appears at her 2014 Senate confirmation hearing to be a U.S. district judge.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs is presiding over two Harvard cases challenging Trump's moves to cut federal funding from the university and to ban it from enrolling international students.

(Image credit: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee)

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Trump opens the door for private equity in retirement plans

An executive order from President Trump would extend the opportunity for 401k fund managers to include private equity in retirement portfolios. What are the risks and benefits?

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In clouds and in dreams, a family's love lives on

Rayford Junior Miles — a World War II veteran from Alabama — came across as a classic tough guy. But to his granddaughter Melanie Harrison, he was just 'Papa.' Melanie spoke with her father, Jim Miles, to remember a grandfather with a soft heart and a comical communication style.

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How to get out of a love-hate relationship with your phone

Is it you, or is it the phones?

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)

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Why do some people's memories stay sharp as they age?

A donated SuperAger brain at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.

The human brain tends to slow down as we age — even healthy brains shrink. That can make learning and memory harder as people age. But some people’s brains shrink more slowly than their peers. This lucky group is called “SuperAgers.” They’re people aged 80 or older. But they have the memory abilities of someone 50-to-60 years old. This week in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, researchers from Northwestern University’s SuperAging Program summarized some of the secrets they’ve learned in the last 2.5 decades.

Want to hear about more stories about human health and aging? Email us and let us know at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

(Image credit: Shane Collins, Northwestern University)

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U.S. Air Force to deny early retirement benefits to some transgender service members

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends an event to mark National Purple Heart Day in the East Room of the White House on Aug. 7, 2025, in Washington.

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)

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Israel announces plan to take over Gaza City in another escalation of the war

Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Gaza City on Aug. 7, 2025.

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)

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NYC shooter had two 'mental health holds' in Las Vegas. They didn't affect his legal right to own guns

A New York City police officer walks past flowers placed outside the midtown office building where a gunman killed four people on July 29, 2025 in New York City.

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)

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Haiti inaugurates new leadership as gangs threaten to overthrow the government

Laurent Saint-Cyr (left) attends the ceremony for his appointment as president of the Transitional Council in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday.

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)

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Federal judge halts construction at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'

President President Donald Trump (second from left), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (L), and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (R) tour a migrant detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Fla. on July 1, 2025.

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)

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Trump orders colleges to share admissions data, with an eye on affirmative action

Thursday

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)

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After nearly 24 years, NYC officials identify 3 more 9/11 victims

Michael Keating, center in the second row, stands during the wreath laying at the 9/11 memorial at the Boston Public Garden. His mother, Barbara Ann Keating, was killed during the September 11th attacks in 2001. September 11, 2016.

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)

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How some online networks target and radicalize kids

Dana is mom to a son who, when he was 14, experienced a rapid decline in his mental well-being. A few months later, she came to understand that he had become deeply influenced by predatory online networks that encourage vulnerable people, especially minors, to harm themselves and others.

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 C_onsider This+_ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

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The Story Behind a Famous Photo of a Starving Child in Gaza

Hidayat Al-Motawaq holds her 18-month-old son, Mohammad Al-Motawaq, in their tent in the Gaza Strip on Aug. 3.

A photo of an emaciated child in Gaza has gone viral, with many in Israel claiming it depicts false information. Our producer in Gaza meets the child and his family, we hear about how he is doing now and about the food insecurity many in Gaza are facing.

(Image credit: Anas Baba)

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Trump taps White House economist Stephen Miran to fill Fed vacancy on temporary basis

President Trump plans to nominate White House economist Stephen Miran to fill a temporary vacancy on the Federal Reserve

President Trump plans to nominate Stephen Miran to fill a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve's board of governors, but only for the next six months.

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski)

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On Martha's Vineyard, Black filmmakers are in the spotlight

Floyd and Stephanie Rance, founders of the Martha

At the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, Black artistry is on display. NPR critic Eric Deggans says it's cultivating a community.

(Image credit: Arturo Holmes)

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Federal judge rules cuts to humanities grants were 'unlawful'

The National Endowment for the Humanities building on April 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski)

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Scientists find a planet from the Avatar movies in real life

This artist

One of the brightest stars in the night sky seems to be orbited by a planet like Jupiter. The news is sure to cheer fans of the Avatar series, which centers on a moon that orbits a fictional gas giant planet in this particular star system.

(Image credit: R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC))

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Ultra-processed food consumption is down a bit, but still more than 50% of U.S. diet

There isn

Americans get about 55% of our calories from tasty, cheap — and unhealthy — manufactured foods, the latest data from CDC says. For kids, the percentage is even higher.

(Image credit: Dan Kitwood)

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Trump calls for U.S. census to exclude for the first time people with no legal status

Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 to protest the first Trump administration

Trump is calling for a "new" census that excludes people in the U.S. without legal status. The 14th Amendment requires the "whole number of persons in each state" in a key set of census results.

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan)

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Trump's higher tariffs take effect today. And, a sergeant opened fire at Fort Stewart

View inside a Leclerc store, a shopping cart in the foreground and, in the background, people helping themselves to dairy products, in Bois d Arcy, France, on August 4, 2025.

President Trump's higher import taxes take effect today, impacting several countries. And, the sergeant who opened fire at Fort Stewart, injuring five of his coworkers, is in custody.

(Image credit: HENRIQUE CAMPOS/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

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Congress looks to ease veterans' use of health care outside the VA

The Tibor Rubin Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach on Wednesday, July 31, 2019.

It can be difficult for veterans to use their health benefits for care outside the federal system. A bill in Congress could ease that. Opponents are wary funds being "siphoned" away from the VA.

(Image credit: Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze)

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The NFL banned smelling salts. Here's why

Rams defensive end Kobie Turner takes a sniff of smelling salts during a game against the Packers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood Sunday.  The NFL has banned use of the substance for safety reasons.

The NFL has banned the use of smelling salts during games, citing an FDA warning concerning the safety of the substance. Here's what experts say about the effects and the risks.

(Image credit: Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

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