From wild mustangs to reimagined housing, check out these can't-miss podcasts
Looking for dinner conversation starters this Thanksgiving? The NPR One team is here to help with podcast recommendations from across public media.
The podcast episode descriptions below are from podcast webpages and have been edited for brevity and clarity.
All The Only Ones
All The Only Ones is a new 3-part series from NPR's Embedded. Host Laine Kaplan-Levenson unearths the little known and often neglected history of trans youth in America. We follow the lives of young transgender people today and travel back in time to the turn of the 20th century to meet some of the earliest trans youth documented in American history.
Listen to episode 1, "The missing piece of the puzzle."
SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America
Sold Out: Rethinking Housing In America is back with a new season. Host Erin Baldassari leads a team of reporters as they grapple with the ways climate is affecting our very idea of home.
On this episode, we follow the Escutia family, starting on the night that a flood swallowed their hometown, and for months afterward, as they searched for an affordable home on higher ground. Start listening.
Mustang
For $125 the federal government will sell you a wild horse. When I met my mustang he was skinny and he was scared. The government says western ecosystems can support about 30,000 wild horses. Problem is: there's almost triple that out there — and that number rises every year. Host Ashley Ahearn explores the complicated world of wild horses.
Listen to episode 1, "The Mustang/The Myth."
Trump's Trial
Reporting and analysis on the inquiries, trials, and criminal probes facing former President Donald Trump. From the Jan. 6 insurrection and Georgia election interference, to the ongoing question of classified documents - and beyond - host Scott Detrow, political editor Domenico Montanaro and legal experts dive deep every week to explore the news inside the courtrooms and the stakes for American democracy.
Start listening.
This Is What It Feels Like
In a world that feels more divided than ever, put yourself in the shoes of everyday people at the center of issues often overlooked or politicized by society. It's not simple. It's not black and white. This Is What It Feels Like.
On this episode, we meet Glenna Lucille Walters, a 106-year-old piano player who finds joy and solace in her love for The Bachelor, literature and the enchanting melodies of jazz. Through lively anecdotes and lots of sass, Glenna shares her secrets to living a long, purposeful and meaningful life. Start listening.
The Gun Machine
Every time there is a mass shooting in America, the first question is why. What we forget is the centuries of history that got us to this long emergency of gun violence in America. The Gun Machine looks into how early partnerships between mad scientist gunsmiths and a fledgling U.S. government created the gun industry in the Northeast, and how that industry has been partners with the government ever since. Host Alain Stephens examines how this 250-year relationship underpins all Americans' interactions with guns — including our failures in dealing with the fallout of gun violence.
Listen to episode 1, "The Machine We Make."
The Colorado Dream
In the newest season of The Colorado Dream, we examine the affordable housing crisis in mountain resort communities where land and inventory are scarce.
The housing crisis in Colorado's mountain resort communities has left longtime locals, like 29-year-old Summit County resident Javier Pineda Rosas, unable to find a stable living situation. The county will need over 2,300 rental and for-sale units — at all price points — to meet the housing demand. Start listening.
Bright Lit Place
When the U.S. government and state of Florida unveiled a new plan to save the Everglades in 2000, the sprawling blueprint to restore the wetlands became the largest hydrological restoration effort in the nation's history. Two decades later, only one project is complete, and the Everglades is still dying. Bright Lit Place heads into the swamp to meet its first inhabitants, the scientists who study it and the warring sides struggling to find a way out of the muck.
Listen to episode 1, "Homeland."
Marfa For Beginners
There's a certain narrative about Marfa: the romantic art town in the middle of nowhere. But there's more to Marfa than that. Marfa for Beginners is the audio guide to the Marfa you may not know: Virgin of Guadalupe sightings and limited Tinder options. A place where you can feel like a stranger in your own hometown while also feeling like there are zero degrees of separation between you and ... anyone else. Marfa For Beginners is an expansion of the narrative, a trip down a different road, a tourism podcast for locals — to find out what that means, start listening.
Listen to episode 1, "La Virgen Comes to Marfa."
The Broadside
The Broadside highlights stories from the heart of the American South and asks why it matters to you. From news to arts and culture, we dive into issues that might not be on a front page, but deserve a closer look. Along the way, we explore the nuances of our home — and how what happens here ripples across the country.
You might have noticed that the word "y'all" is popping up everywhere. For decades, linguists have noted that regional American accents are disappearing. But at the same time, use of this traditionally Southern pronoun is rapidly spreading — and the reasons may surprise you. Start listening.
State of the World from NPR
Immerse yourself in the most compelling and consequential stories from around the globe. The world is changing in big ways every day. State of the World from NPR takes you where the news is happening — and explains why it matters. With bureaus spanning the globe, NPR reporters bring you facts and context from the ground so you can cut through the noise of disinformation. NPR's State of the World, a human perspective on global stories in just a few minutes, every weekday.
Start listening.
NPR's Jessica Green curated and produced this piece.