Want to guess how America's internet speed stack up to the rest of the world? Not even top 20... That means below Mongolia, Slovenia and dozens of other countries.Today, find out why the leader of the free world lags so far behind in fast -and affordable - access.
Plus, love is complicated. Most people can agree that they want love in their life, but we are messy, imperfect beings and a lot of ways to get it wrong. From sibling resentments to misguided crushes to good old self delusion, one podcast is jumping in to take a closer look at love in all its forms.
Listen to the full show.
Why American Internet is So Slow
How fast are America's internet speeds compared to the rest of the world? Top five? Top ten? Surprise! The leader of the free world lags far behind Latvia, Mongolia, Costa Rica and dozens of others at number 33 according to Akamai Technologies. It's annoying if you're watching something on Netflix, but slow connection speeds present a larger, looming threat: making American citizens and companies less competitive than most of the developed world.Rob Fleischman is principal engineer at Akamai and our explainer of all things tech and he joined us to explain more.
The Sound of Sport
NBC's ratings may not be through the roof, but if you've been watching, or even seeing clips from the Olympic games in Rio, consider this - a cacophonous mix of athletes and fans bouncing off echoey stadiums are challenges for broadcasting - and the challenge for people whose jobs you probably didn't even realize existed: sports sound designers. Host Roman Mars and the podcast 99% Invisible bring us the story.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
Love Me Podcast
There's a universal belief that all we really want is to love and be loved. How unfortunate it is that there are so many ways to get it wrong. Falling for someone when you can't understand a word they're saying, figuring out how to the siblings who make you crazy, or befriending a series of older women to fill the void left when your mother dies. The Love Me podcast puts our fumbling, messy relationships center stage
Lu Olkowski hosts the show and Mira Burt-Wintonick is one of the creators of the show and produces it for CBC Radio. Mira joined us to tell us more.
The Right Mindset to Achieve Goals
Preparing for the Olympics is a mental and physical pursuit. Take US swimmer Katie Ledecky, who broke records and collected medals in Rio last week - reflecting training both in and out of the pool. Speaking to the Washington Post, Katie's coach said that after winning gold in London, they immediately shifted focus toward the future. "What's going to get you excited for three years and make you want to get out of bed in the morning to go practice?" he asked her.
They set an outrageous goal: swim the 400 meter freestyle in 3 minutes and 56 seconds. They kept it a secret until last week when Katie did it: beating her previous best time by nearly two seconds. Creating a goal is one thing, following through is often what separates the Olympians we cheer from the rest of us.
Amanda Crowell is an educational researcher and cognitive psychologist. She wrote about three mindsets shared by people who follow through on their goals for Quartz.
Dipa Karmakar, India's Pride and Shame
Well, while Americans have had their eyes glued to the performances of superstars like Katie Ledeky, Michael Phelps, and Simone Biles - across the world millions of people are following a different athlete. This story came to us from Sandip Roy in Kolkata, India.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
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