Universities were not always so vulnerable to the whims of politics. The whole system of taxpayer-funded, university-led scientific research came about at the end of World War II, and was the brainchild of a man named Vannevar Bush. He felt the partnership of government and academics had to be equal in order to yield breakthroughs. Today, the Trump administration is proposing a new “compact” that would make the President the dominant partner. We speak with one of the authors of the Trump compact, May Mailman.  Find On the Media every week, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715 Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Harvard president Alan Garber and National Institutes of Health head Jay Bhattacharya are two main characters at the heart of the national fight over the future of academia. Alan Garber has been cast as the defender of academic freedom and democracy; Jay Bhattacharya is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the NIH, the agency withholding billions of dollars in research grants from Harvard. Oddly enough, the two men go way back: Garber was Bhattacharya’s undergraduate thesis advisor and mentor in the late 1980s. This episode tells the story of how the two men found themselves adversaries — and what it means for the future of science. Find more On the Media every week, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715 Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Who gets to compete? Since the beginning of women's sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women's category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology. As the Olympics approach, they face hard choices: take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels, give up their sport entirely, or fight. To understand how we got here, we trace the surprising, 100-year history of sex testing. Tested is a new 6-part series from NPR's Embedded and CBC. Hosted by journalist Rose Eveleth, it launches July 15, ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games. Embedded+ supporters enjoy early and ad-free access. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

In Episode 5 of Love Commandos, couples seeking to shut down the Love Commandos' shelter band together in a risky plan. Want to hear bonus episodes of Love Commandos? Sign up for Embedded+ at plus.npr.org/embedded. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy