Emily Kwong

Education Production Assistant

Emily Kwong is the Production Assistant for the Education/Youth Reporting Unit. She was the 2013 recipient of the "Best New Artist" award at the Third Coast International Audio Festival. After graduating from Columbia University (’12), Emily attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

Emily Kwong appears in the following:

From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

We kickoff our series Space Camp with a look at space launches. What does hurtling into space feel like? What physics are involved? And what's the "junk" in Earth's orbit?

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From the physics of g-force to weightlessness: How it feels to launch into space

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

It feels like this is the summer of space launches. So, it's only appropriate that we kick off our new series Space Camp with a look at space launches. Throughout the series, Regina and Emily will plumb our universe to uncover the strange, wonderful things happening all around us. This episode, that entails answering a series of questions about getting to space: What does hurtling into space feel like? What physics are involved? And what's the "junk" in Earth's orbit?

Space Camp episodes drop every Tuesday in the Short Wave feed in addition to our regular episodes happening every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

For a full explainer of Newton's third law of motion, g-forces and visuals on his cannonball thought experiment, check out our digital story.

Have a particular aspect of space you want us to cover in a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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This week in science: baobab trees, lizard-inspired building and stretching eyeballs

Thursday, May 16, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Regina Barber and Emily Kwong of Short Wave about the origins of baobab trees, lizard-inspired construction, and why outside play is beneficial for kids' eyesight.

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This week in science: biodegradable plastic, crops on Mars and deer vs. caribou

Thursday, May 02, 2024

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Regina Barber and Emily Kwong of Short Wave about biodegradable plastic, simulating growing crops on Mars, and how deer are disrupting caribou populations.

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This week in science: Pompeiian frescoes, dark energy and the largest marine reptile

Thursday, April 18, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Emily Kwong and Rachel Carlson of Short Wave about newly unearthed Pompeiian frescoes, how dark energy may be changing, and the largest known marine reptile.

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This week in science: whale menopause, bird rest stops and a speech-generating patch

Thursday, March 21, 2024

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Emily Kwong and Margaret Cirino about whale menopause, songbird rest stops along migratory routes, and a device that allows people with voice disorders to speak.

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Science news: Elements of life on a Saturn moon and how spaceflight affects the brain

Thursday, June 15, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with hosts of NPR's science podcast, Short Wave about Saturn's moon Enceladus, a tiny 'quasi-moon' near Earth's orbit, and how spaceflight affects astronauts' brains.

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This week in science: a paralyzed man walks again and a sticker-like vaccine patch

Thursday, June 01, 2023

Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber talk about a paralyzed man that walked again, a sticker vaccine and the science behind a crop of new RSV vaccines.

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Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Monday, May 15, 2023

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and NPR is celebrating with new stories, Tiny Desk concerts and podcasts! Follow along here for content updates.

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This week in science: Virtual reality sickness and the truth about 10,000 step goal

Thursday, May 04, 2023

A look at the science making the rounds in the headlines this week — from a new study on virtual reality sickness to whether there's any science behind the ever-trendy 10,000 step goal and ice baths.

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From 'Short Wave': magnetosphere music, Jupiter's icy moons and a runaway black hole

Thursday, April 20, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Short Wave hosts Regina Barber and Emily Kwong about the music of Earth's magnetosphere, a mission to Jupiter's icy moons, and a potential runaway supermassive black hole.

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Encore: How much water do you actually need? Here's the science

Monday, January 02, 2023

Many feel tethered to a water bottle, having heard that hydration is key to being healthy. Here's what the science says about how much water to drink and when.

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Why some leaves change color in the Fall

Monday, November 07, 2022

NPR's Short Wave podcast spoke to botanist and plant ecologist, Tanisha Williams, about why some leaves change color in the Fall.

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It's Short Wave's third birthday, so All Things Considered hosts test their knowledge

Friday, October 14, 2022

In honor of Short Wave's third birthday, hosts Aaron Scott and Emily Kwong quiz All Things Considered hosts about some of the many nuggets of information the science podcast has shared with listeners.

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How much water do you actually need? Here's the science

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Many feel tethered to a water bottle, having heard that hydration is key to being healthy. Here's what the science says about how much water to drink and when.

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The minds of octopuses may offer a glimpse at alien intelligence, researchers say

Tuesday, July 05, 2022

The mind of the octopus is so different than human intelligence, some people are studying it to see what alien intelligence might look like.

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A landmark study tracks the lasting effect of having an abortion — or being denied one

Sunday, May 15, 2022

The Turnaway Study followed nearly 1,000 women who sought abortions, interviewing them regularly for years to understand the impact on their mental and financial wellbeing.

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Why it took nearly 100 years for umami to be globally accepted as a distinct flavor

Monday, May 02, 2022

A Japanese chemist identified umami in the early 1900s, but it took a century for his work to be translated into English. NPR's Short Wave podcast looked into why it took so long to be recognized.

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Encore: A daughter's journey to reclaim her heritage language

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Nearly 1 billion people speak Mandarin Chinese. NPR Short Wave host Emily Kwong is not among them. As a third-generation Chinese-American, her "heritage language" was lost through the generations.

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A Daughter's Journey To Reclaim Her Heritage Language

Tuesday, June 01, 2021

Assimilation has a cost. As a third generation Chinese American, NPR Short Wave's Emily Kwong is rediscovering the language her father once knew, and what that means for where she comes from.

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