Cat Schuknecht

Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit from behind by a Chevy van. The Pinto caught fire, and the three teenagers were burned to death. This week on Hidden Brain, we talk to a former Ford insider who could have voted to recall the Pinto years before the Ulrich girls were killed — but didn't. And we ask, is it possible to fairly evaluate our past actions when we know how things turned out?

We don't always behave the way economic models say we will. We don't save enough for retirement. We give money to charity. This week, why we act in ways that go against our "rational" self-interest.

Jeffrey Epstein died by apparent suicide on Saturday while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. With no defendant to stand in court, the criminal case against Epstein is effectively over.

Alabama officials tell NPR that if the FBI had shared its case file, they would have investigated the James Reeb murder case while one of the assailants was still alive.

ENTER TEASER

The White House has been strong against China in trade talks, but NPR and PBS Frontline found top advisers battled for more than a year over imposing billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese imports.

The U.S. has largely failed to stop Chinese cybertheft of U.S. companies, but the companies themselves led the charge in keeping it under wraps.

In the Florida Everglades, a team of invasive species researchers got more than it bargained for – a 17-foot-long python, plus 73 developing python eggs...

The defective air bag inflators are supplied by Takata, an auto parts maker that is already part of the largest automotive recall in U.S. history.

In the second week of the federal shutdown, consumers might notice fallout in unexpected places, from poop in national parks to closed museums.