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The resort town of Big Bear is surrounded by land slated for fire mitigation, such as prescribed burns. But obstacles have prevented the crucial work and heightened the risk of disaster.

NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Joan Casey, who co-wrote a new study that links exposure to wildfire smoke to an increased risk of dementia. EDITOR'S NOTE: In June, this study was retracted by the journal JAMA Neurology due to a data coding error and has been reissued with different results. The newly recalculated study, also published in JAMA Neurology, no longer supports an association between long-term exposure to wildfire smoke and developing dementia. The coding error resulted in thousands of people without dementia being omitted from the calculations, and thousands of people with Parkinson's disease being errantly included in the data set as dementia cases. The original, now-retracted study from November 2024, posited an 18% increase in the odds of a dementia diagnosis from wildfire smoke exposure averaged over three years. The recalculated study found the increase to be 12% and not statistically significant.

As vaccines for COVID-19 await federal approval, host David Greene speaks with vaccine and immunization scientist Angela Shen on vaccine distribution plans.

NPR talks with Democratic pollster Margie Omero about the election outcomes in swing states, where polls indicated toss-up races.

With Disney's live-action version of The Little Mermaid, a new generation of fans will have a new princess under the sea, played by African American actor Halle Bailey.

A Baltimore-based meadmaker is going after the beer-drinking demographic by adding a new ingredient to this old-timey honey-based drink: hops.

The Supreme Court upheld the most aggressive voter-purge law in the country. If a voter doesn't respond to mailings or hasn't voted in two consecutive elections, they are kicked off the rolls.

Japan and Spain advance as the Women's World Cup enters the knockout rounds.

On Friday, the Labor Department said the July unemployment rate held steady at 5.3 percent. If you had to choose, would you take that to mean the economy is too cool or too hot? Weigh the evidence.

The president's $3.99 trillion proposal, released Monday, calls for more spending on domestic programs, infrastructure and defense — and includes tax hikes the new Congress is unlikely to approve.