Melissa Hortman
Person
American Democratic politician who served as speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She and her husband were killed in a politically motivated shooting in Minnesota in 2025.
Discussed alongside Melissa Hortman
- Miranda Kennedy
Person · 5 episodes together · 1 show
- Jenny Lawton
Person · 3 episodes together · 1 show
- Danielle Hewitt
Person · 2 episodes together · 1 show
- Patrick Boyd
Person · 3 episodes together · 1 show
- Unexplainable
Work · 2 episodes together · 1 show
- David Tadeshore
Person · 2 episodes together · 1 show
- Jonquilyn Hill
Person · 5 episodes together · 1 show
25 episodes featuring Melissa Hortman
Today, Explained
Algorithms turn fashion into an endless disposable feed
The episode connects algorithmic shopping, ready-to-wear history, and mainstream thrifting to a larger question about affordability, originality, and waste.
Oct 4, 2026 · 33 min
Unexplainable
Bogs preserve ancient lives—and store climate-critical carbon
The episode connects the mysteries of bog bodies with the ethical questions of displaying human remains and the urgent case for protecting peatlands.
Sep 28, 2026 · 29 min
Today, Explained
Manners turn shared spaces into workable social contracts
As public and workplace norms shift, the episode asks which expectations still help people coexist—and how to make disagreements legible.
Sep 27, 2026 · 33 min
Unexplainable
Giant insects expose the limits of the oxygen theory
The mystery of prehistoric insect gigantism reveals how much remains unknown about both ancient ecosystems and today’s insect declines.
Sep 23, 2026 · 30 min
Unexplainable
Dark matter searches confront science’s limits
Decades of increasingly sensitive experiments have found no dark matter particle, forcing scientists to reconsider what explanation can mean.
Sep 21, 2026 · 38 min
Today, Explained
Parties turn strangers into communities
As communal nightlife declines, the episode makes the case that gatherings are not frivolous but engines of belonging, experimentation, and friendship.
Sep 20, 2026 · 32 min
Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov
Tarlov makes the case for disagreement without alienation
The conversation connects democratic conflict abroad and political polarization at home to a practical question: how can people argue honestly without destroying relationships?
Sep 17, 2026 · 1h 22m
Unexplainable
Cosmologists confront the limits of asking what came first
The episode tests whether theories about before the Big Bang can produce evidence—or whether the question exceeds science’s reach.
Sep 16, 2026 · 29 min
Unexplainable
A 100,000-year-old myth faces a modern evidence test
The debate shows both how scholars reconstruct ancient traditions and why recurring myths may reveal shared human concerns without proving direct inheritance.
Sep 14, 2026 · 30 min
Today, Explained
Inflammation science gets flattened into wellness certainty
The episode separates useful research about immune responses from commercial claims that turn an unresolved scientific question into a universal diagnosis.
Sep 4, 2026 · 30 min
Unexplainable
Scientists urge a moratorium on mirror-life research
Mirror organisms could evade biological defenses and spread through ecosystems, forcing researchers to decide how to govern a technology before it becomes irreversible.
Sep 2, 2026 · 38 min
Pivot
Journalists and tech elites confront MAGA’s pressure campaign
The episode connects corporate accommodation of political power with the growing risks facing journalists and independent media.
Sep 1, 2026 · 1h 12m
Unexplainable
Synthetic cells challenge the boundary between chemistry and life
Cells built from nonliving chemicals could expand biology’s manufacturing potential while forcing new decisions about safety, governance, and access.
Aug 31, 2026 · 36 min
Today, Explained
A flop can end a pop era—or start a better career
The episode reframes public failure as a volatile measure of expectations, reputation, timing, and creative purpose rather than a final verdict.
Aug 30, 2026 · 35 min
Unexplainable
Synthetic cells expose biology’s hidden machinery
The search for life’s minimum requirements reveals both how much biology remains unexplained and how powerful—and risky—synthetic organisms could become.
Aug 26, 2026 · 31 min
Today, Explained
Personality science challenges the introvert label
The episode separates pandemic-era social rustiness from enduring traits and examines whether personality can change through deliberate practice.
Aug 23, 2026 · 28 min
WSJ What’s News
Treasury sell-off exposes pressure from deficits and AI borrowing
Rising long-term Treasury yields can lift borrowing costs across the economy while revealing how fiscal demands, foreign appetite and AI investment are reshaping bond markets.
Aug 21, 2026 · 12 min
Unexplainable
Babies form memories that later become impossible to retrieve
The episode reframes infant memory around development, showing that forgotten details can still reflect lasting emotional and social foundations.
Aug 19, 2026 · 28 min
Unexplainable
Palau tests heat-tolerant corals for a warmer ocean
As warming makes historic reef conditions harder to preserve, researchers must decide whether restoration means rebuilding the past or designing for the future.
Aug 17, 2026 · 33 min
PBD Podcast
PBD panel weighs debate evidence against viral speculation
The episode tests how public controversies should be judged when dramatic claims, incomplete evidence, and political incentives compete for attention.
Aug 17, 2026 · 2h 28m
This American Life
Labels clarify identity while reshaping lives
The episode shows how names can offer explanation and belonging while also determining work, relationships, and how others interpret difference.
Aug 17, 2026 · 1h 1m
Today, Explained
Babies learn before their memories disappear
The episode reframes infancy as a period that builds emotional, social, and cognitive foundations even without lasting autobiographical memories.
Aug 16, 2026 · 31 min
The NPR Politics Podcast
Primaries test Trump’s influence and parties’ appetite for change
The results reveal how voters are balancing moderation, progressivism, immigration, generational change, and loyalty to Donald Trump across four states.
Aug 12, 2026 · 19 min
Unexplainable
Hank Green argues science depends on being challenged
The episode offers a practical test for separating genuine investigation from claims that borrow science’s authority while resisting scrutiny.
Aug 10, 2026 · 28 min
Today, Explained
Microdramas expose streaming’s attention crisis
Television is adapting to fragmented attention and abundant online video, raising a harder question about whether simpler entertainment can preserve excellence.
Aug 7, 2026 · 29 min