Burleigh McCoy

Real quick before the show, let's talk about public media.

Public media has been in the news a lot this year, and public media is what makes NPR shows like Shortwave special.

It's made for you.

When you listen to an NPR podcast, the people who make it aren't thinking about shareholders or advertisers.

We're thinking about you and delivering on a promise to help you understand the world a little better.

From its very founding in the U.S., public media was also meant to tell stories from underrepresented communities, providing cultural insight that expands your perspective.

At NPR, we still believe in all of that.

We always will.

But as of this fall, federal funding for public media, including NPR and local NPR stations, has been eliminated.

And now we're heading into an uncharted future.

But we know you won't let public media go away.

We rely on your support to bring you shortwave now more than ever.

This year, we have loved bringing you stories about, among many other things, what happens inside a top-secret nuclear facility, whether kids should be taking melatonin, why flowers are blooming early, how nightmares work, and what happens when AI cannibalizes its own data.

And we cannot wait to bring you more episodes like that in 2026.

Thank you if you already go the extra mile as an NPR Plus supporter.

If not, you can join the Plus community now.

There has never been a better time.

You get a bunch of perks like bonus episodes and more from across NPR's podcasts.

Support public media by signing up for NPR Plus today at plus.npr.org.

Thank you so much.