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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, one thing we like is a good mystery. Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.
Our lost and found is currently filled with pants. I don't know what, I've never seen this happen.
Wait, this is true?
This is true. Mysteries of every size, each week. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
Shortwavers, follow us to make sure you never miss an episode. New episodes of Shortwave drop every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Hey, short wavers. Emily Kwong here with reporter Pauline Bartolone. Hi, Pauline. Hey, Emily. Good to be here. So today's episode starts with a story that begins about 15 years ago. Right.
So we're going to a city in southwestern Missouri, a small city called Joplin, where a woman named Nanda Nunnally lived with her husband and daughter. And on one evening, back in May 2011, the city's tornado sirens went off. Nanda went to the front door to see what was going on.
You could see what looked like a wall of rain or something. And it took a second to, like, understand that's a tornado. That's the tornado.
So Nanda and her husband run to a bedroom closet and they crouch down with their tiny dog. And within seconds, the tornado hits.
It was like standing in between two rail lines with trains going by you. And it's like that. You can't hear anything. And the suction was like pulling your eardrums out. Wow. That sounds terrifying.
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Chapter 2: What happened during the Joplin tornado in May 2011?
This is going to be the last thing that happens to me. And I'm like, oh, my God, I never got to tell her I'm sorry. I never got to tell her I'm sorry, you know.
So Nanda was lucky that day. About 160 people died in this infamous tornado. But she and her husband survived. And this memory of thinking about the girl she bullied stayed with her. It's so... Astonishing to me that in a moment where she had every reason to think about herself, she was having altruistic feelings about someone else.
It actually turns out there's a lot of social psychology around this. Why we think about other people when disaster strikes and how the very worst moments in our lives can sometimes bring out our best. So today on the show, the social science of catastrophe compassion. How disasters and traumatic events can bring us together. You're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.
Every episode of It's Been a Minute, NPR's What's Happening in Culture podcast starts by asking three questions. Who? How? Why now? If the culture's asking it, we're talking about it. At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and indulge your cultural curiosity. Follow It's Been a Minute wherever you get your podcasts, and we'll break down the zeitgeisty topics that are filling your feed.
This week on Newsmakers, the new boss at American Vogue. We are at a moment where people want to trust. Can the iconic fashion brand honor its past and meet the moment? I do think that you can find ways to be challenged and excited by things that might not be navigating the straight of her moves. Chloe Mao, this week on NPR's Newsmakers. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Your favorite toys are back in Toy Story 5, and they're facing some new competition, the dreaded tablet. How will Buzz and Woody handle kids glued to screens? And how does this new movie compare to others in the franchise? We get into it on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Listen via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Pauline, before we get into catastrophe compassion, it's a very interesting topic. Let's note, this episode grew out of a reporting project you're doing about the science of love through a grant from the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Shout out to them. I know. I feel a lot of gratitude.
I'm focusing on how love, like acts of service and kindness towards others, shows up after disasters. Amazing. Okay. Let's go back to Nanda. So she survives this tornado and has this interesting takeaway. Right. Yeah. So the tornado ripped through this densely populated town in the central part of Joplin.
Thousands of homes were destroyed and about a third of the town's 50,000 residents were displaced.
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