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This episode was recorded on May 17th, 2026 at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, WV. The lineup includes Paul Thorn, Ray Benson, Sunny Sweeney, Andy Friedman. https://bit.ly/4afWiMG⁠

When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible to answer.This hour, which we first released in 2013, we spend the entire episode on the story of Kelley and Tom, whose daughter was born at 23 weeks and 6 days, roughly halfway to full term. Their story contains an entire universe of questions about the lines between life and death, reflex and will, and the confusing tug of war between two basic moral touchstones: doing no harm…and doing everything in our power to help. Kelley has written about her experience in a brilliant series of articles in the Tampa Bay Times. If you want to know more about what we talk about in the update tacked onto the end of this episode, check out the links below: This Photo Here (https://zpr.io/ZvMD42u9hzuu) Plus This Video Here (https://zpr.io/8ewZUD368TzP) Check out the book that Tom and Kelley wrote about Juniper here:Juniper: The girl who was born too soon. (https://zpr.io/8ewZUD368TzP) And when you're done listening to the episode, be sure to check out the video below–but be warned, it does contain spoilers. 23 Weeks 6 Days VideoEPISODE CREDITS:Reported by Jad AbumradProduced by Matt Kielty and Jad AbumradUpdate produced by Pat Walters and Anisa Vietzewith mixing help from Jeremy Bloom Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot share a fresh batch of songs that deserve more attention- what they call "buried treasures." They also pay tribute to Dolly Parton.Join our Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3sivr9TBecome a member on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3slWZvcSign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/4frcVZoMake a donation via PayPal: https://bit.ly/3dmt9lUSend us a Voice Memo: Desktop: bit.ly/2RyD5Ah  Mobile: sayhi.chat/soundopsFeatured Songs:Portraits of Tracy, "Caught In A Jam," Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate? A: MTV!, self-released, 2026The Beatles, "With a Little Help from My Friends," Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Parlophone, 1967Dolly Parton, "Jolene," Jolene, RCA Victor, 1974Dolly Parton, "9 to 5," 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, RCA Victor, 1980Dolly Parton, "Down from Dover," The Fairest of Them All, RCA Victor, 1970Dolly Parton, "Cash on the Barrelhead," The Grass Is Blue, Sugar Hill and Blue Eye, 1999Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter, "Aba Daba Honeymoon," Aba Daba Honeymoon (Single), MGM, 1950Ado, "Vivarium," Vivarium (Single), Capitol, 2026Prisoner, "La femme qui s'était faite toute seule," Prisoner, Wicked Cool, 2026Hemlocke Springs, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Ankles," The Apple Tree Under The Sea, Good Luck Have Fun, 2025Nia Archives, "Danger," Emotional Junglist, Hijinxx, 2026Kelly Hogan, "The Song of the Great Licking," Congressman Davy: A Musical, Plenty Tuff, 2026St. Divine, "Spit," The Devil You Know, Reel to Reel, 2026Park Hills Circle, "The Way Up," All of a Sudden, Pravda, 2026Absolute Grey, "More Walnuts," live at CBGB's 1985, Real Gone , 2026The Odyssey Cult, "The Yeti's Eyes," Vol. 3, Silver Current, 2026The Jaws of Brooklyn, "Lie to Me," Unstoppable, Weekend Furlough, 2026David Porter, "Soul Man," The Classics, Made in Memphis, 2019See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Young star systems are dangerous places. A planet can be pelted by giant asteroids and comets. It can collide with its siblings, and be kicked out of the system by close encounters with other siblings. It might even be swallowed by its parent star. Astronomers in the U.K. recently found evidence of such encounters in several young stars. The researchers zeroed in on stars in three clusters. All of the clusters are young – from about 40 million to 200 million years old. At that age, their star systems might still be chaotic – planets might be getting blasted or destroyed, and they might still be taking shape. Six stars in the clusters showed especially high amounts of lithium. It’s a common planet-building material. But it’s fragile – stars quickly destroy it. So any lithium in the stars must have been added recently. The most likely source is young, rocky planets. The planets could have been kicked inward by the gravity of other planets, or dragged in by gas and dust around the stars. Over time, the remains churn deep into a star’s interior. But some can linger for a few million years – the remains of dead planets. One of the clusters is Blanco 1. It’s 850 light-years away, in the constellation Sculptor. It climbs into the southeast in mid evening, to the lower left of the bright star Fomalhaut. It’s too faint to see with the eye alone, but it’s a decent target for small telescopes. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's an episode dedicated exclusively to Panamanian music of all genres, from dancehall reggae and salsa, to rock and jazz. Featured artists include Ruben Blades, Los Rabanes, El General, Danilo Perez, The Exciters and more.

As the new school year begins, we have stories from all over the country about people lurching their way through their middle school years – the years when you're figuring out so much. We go to school dances, classrooms, and down to the Mexican border.  Visit thisamericanlife.org/lifepartners to sign up for our premium subscription.(00:00:00) Prologue: Host Ira Glass interviews a 14-year-old named Annie, who emailed us asking if we would do a show about middle school. She explains why exactly the middle school years can be so daunting. (4 minutes)(00:05:42) Act One: In an effort to understand the physical and emotional changes middle school kids experience, Ira speaks with reporter Linda Perlstein, who wrote a book called Not Much Just Chillin' about a year she spent following five middle schoolers. Then we hear from producer Alex Blumberg, who was a middle school teacher in Chicago for four years before getting into radio. Alex's takeaway? We shouldn't even try teaching kids at this age. Marion Strok, principal of a successful Chicago school, disagrees. (6 minutes)(00:11:59) Act Two: We sent correspondents straight to the epicenters of middle school awkwardness: school dances. We spoke with kids across the country during the nervous moments leading up to the dances, and even ventured inside, to the dance itself. (9 minutes)(00:21:51) Act Three: When Domingo Martinez was growing up in a Mexican-American family in Texas, Domingo's two middle school-aged sisters found a unique way of coping with feelings of inferiority. (11 minutes)(00:33:40) Act Four: We realized that there are already reporters on the ground, embedded inside middle schools: the kids who report the daily announcements. Producer Jonathan Menjivar wondered what would happen if instead of announcing sports scores and the daily cafeteria menu, the kids reported what's really on their minds. Students at Parkville Middle School outside Baltimore, along with their journalism teacher Ms. Davis, agreed to try out this experiment. (7 minutes)(00:40:01) Act Five: Producer Sarah Koenig reports on a kid we'll call Leo, whose family moved away from Rochester, NY, leaving behind all of Leo's friends and stranding him in a new — and in his opinion, much worse — middle school. (10 minutes)(00:50:41) Act Six: Ira speaks with Shannon Grande, a teacher at Rise Academy in Newark, about a seventh grader who had all sorts of problems with behavior, hygiene, and schoolwork. To help turn him around, Grande had to harness the power of peer pressure for good. (7 minutes)Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org / This American Life privacy policy. / Learn more about sponsor message choices.