Original broadcast date: February 24, 2023. You don’t need to be big and boisterous to pack a punch. This hour, TED speakers explore the surprising strength of all things minuscule and fleeting. Guests include microbiologist Anne Madden, cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky, former educator YeYoon Kim and former industrial engineer and Zen Buddhist monk Bart Weetjens.

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Principal investigator Mark Weislogel discusses new science being sent to the station aboard the SpaceX CRS-29 cargo resupply mission to improve plant growth in space. HWHAP Episode 312.

Earlier this fall, the Federal Trade Commission filed a high-stakes lawsuit against Amazon.

In that suit, the FTC claims Amazon is a monopoly, and it accuses the company of using anti-competitive tactics to hold onto its market power. It’s a big case, with implications for consumers and businesses and digital marketplaces, and for antitrust law itself. That is the highly important but somewhat obscure body of law that deals with competition and big business.

And so, this week on Planet Money, we are doing a deep dive on the history of antitrust. It begins with today’s episode, a Planet Money double feature. Two classic episodes that tell the story of how the U.S. government’s approach to big business and competition has changed over time.

First, the story of a moment more than 100 years ago, when the government stepped into the free market in a big way to make competition work. It’s the story of John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil, and a muckraking journalist named Ida Tarbell.

Then, we fast forward to a turning point that took antitrust in the other direction. This is the story of a lawyer named Robert Bork, who transformed the way courts would interpret antitrust law.

These episodes were produced by Sally Helm with help from Alexi Horowitz Ghazi. They were edited by Bryant Urdstadt. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.

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In part five: host Manoush Zomorodi investigates what information overload does to our physical and mental health. Could our tech use be interfering with the critical dialogue that takes place between the body and the brain? Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Sahib Khalsa shares his latest research on interoception — the brain’s ability to sense how the body is feeling — and how finding time to unplug from our devices can help us tune into our body’s natural signals.

Also in this episode: neurologist Caroline Olvera takes us inside the “TikTok tics” outbreak — exploring why thousands of teens developed Tourette’s-like symptoms after watching TikTok videos in 2021. Plus, how a school in Washington, DC helps kids stay connected to their bodies by creating a high-movement, low-tech environment.

Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric

Are you signed up for Columbia’s study, or following along with the series? We want to hear from you! Send us a voice memo at bodyelectric@npr.org. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, and on Facebook @tedradiohour.

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You might expect to find economic concepts in the pages of an economics textbook. But you know where you can really see a lot of economic concepts in action? Buffets.

Here at Planet Money we believe there’s a lot of economics going on at the all-you-eat buffet, tucked in between the mountains of brisket and troughs of mashed potatoes. From classic concepts like adverse selection, sunk costs, diminishing marginal returns, to more exotic economic mysteries, like the flat rate pricing bias.

Today on the show, we’re headed to the place where the modern buffet may have been born: Las Vegas. Our mission? To feast ourselves on all the economics we can handle at the all-you-can-eat buffet. And along the way, an economist and fellow buffet-lover will teach us his hyper-rational strategy for optimizing his buffet experience.

Today’s show was produced by James Sneed and Nick Fountain with help from Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang, engineered by James Willetts, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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Original broadcast date: November 4, 2022. For millennia, humans have created artifacts of their lives — from art, to books, to music. This hour, we explore ideas about capturing the ephemeral human experience for future generations to find. Guests include paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger, museum curator Ariana Curtis, music curator Alexis Charpentier and artist Katie Paterson.

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 CHAPEA crew gives an update in their third month of a one-year stay in a simulated Mars habit, and Dr. Scott Smith discusses the nutrition science of the analog mission. This is the third audio log of a monthly series. HWHAP Episode 311.

Right now, a lot of school districts across the country are making a pretty giant change to the way public education usually works. Facing teacher shortages and struggling to fill vacant spots, they are finding a new recruitment tool: the four-day school week.

Those districts are saying to teachers, “You can have three-day weekends all the time, and we won’t cut your pay.” As of this fall, around 900 school districts – that’s about 7% of all districts in the U.S. – now have school weeks that are just four days long.

And this isn’t the first time a bunch of schools have scaled back to four days, so there is a lot of data to lean on to figure out how well it works. In this episode, teachers love the four-day school week, and it turns out even parents love it, too. But is it good for students?

This episode was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Molly Messick and engineered by Maggie Luthar. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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In part four: host Manoush Zomorodi explores the connection between our posture and our mood. A lot of us associate our neck and back pain with spending hours hunched over our phones and laptops. But what if that hunched posture is also making us feel tired, stressed, and anxious? Neuroscientist Peter Strick discusses his groundbreaking research on why exercising our core muscles lowers our stress.

Also in this episode: how a faulty, incorrect study went viral — claiming smartphones were causing people to grow horns on their backs. Science journalist Nsikan Akpan sets the record straight. Later, writer Paul Ingraham shares his daily strategy for doing movement snacks and strength building while balancing deadlines.

Click here to find out more about the project: npr.org/bodyelectric

Are you signed up for Columbia’s study, or following along with the series? We want to hear from you! Send us a voice memo at bodyelectric@npr.org. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, and on Facebook @tedradiohour.

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