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Find out more info about the Google Podcasts creator program. The extended deadline is Sunday, Dec 2 at 11:59pm ET.

Have a great podcast idea? We can help!

The Google Podcasts creator program is designed to increase the diversity of voices in the industry globally and lower barriers to podcasting. Selected teams will receive seed funding and participate in an intensive training program.

PRI/PRX is now accepting applications until 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 2, 2018.

EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: How North Korean hackers became the world’s greatest bank robbers

It was among the greatest heists against a United States bank in history and the thieves never even set foot on American soil.

Nor did they target some ordinary bank. They struck an account managed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, an institution renowned for its security.

After deportation, a family from Wisconsin will start anew in Cambodia

Lisa Kum has an endless list of tasks every day. The 41-year-old from Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, has a 19-month-old daughter and a high school-aged son. She’s also tending to her health after undergoing elbow surgery earlier this year.

Nowadays, she’s also busy growing her business that sells refurbished HP printer parts — so that she can sell it and move her family to Cambodia. That’s because Kum’s husband, Sothy Kum, was deported to Cambodia, a country he left when he was just 2 years old. She plans to shut down the small business they started together four years ago and start over 8,000 miles away.

“It's pretty much been pure hell,” she says. “It’s very emotional. At the same time, you have to get up every morning and keep going because what other choice do you have?”

Women on the 2018 ballot are busting perceptions of motherhood and leadership

Motherhood is taking center stage in US politics. Women are running for office in record numbers this year. Among their many experiences, roles and identities, many are emphasizing being a mom.

What does this acknowledgment of motherhood tell us about US politics today? As I have discussed in my work as a scholar of gender and politics, women running for office have not traditionally made motherhood central to their candidacies.

Why a pilot's nightmare should be a bedtime story for girls

When I heard the story of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380's emergency landing, I suddenly remembered the moment of eerie silence when an engine-fire indicator lit up in my jet’s cockpit. The small, amber light glowed amid a panel of dark buttons, knobs and switches — and I froze.

A second later, after catching the movement of the instructor pilot to my left, I swiftly snapped the air mask on my helmet over my nose and mouth, tightened the harness holding me into my ejection seat and keyed the radio to begin procedures for an emergency landing. Once safely on the ground, the engine’s melted fuel lines confirmed it was about 10 seconds from exploding midair.

I also recalled the moment, at the start of my military career, when a more senior officer questioned my ability to succeed at flight school — because I was a woman. I still regret not more adamantly defending a girl’s place in the cockpit but take quiet pride in my whispered response: “I think I’ll be fine.”

In short, I know how significant it is that the hero of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, Capt. Tammie Jo Shults, is a woman. And why this pilot’s nightmare needs to be a bedtime story for young girls everywhere.

We asked you to tell us about your random acts of kindness. These were our favorites.

Boston artist Bren Bataclan often gives away his paintings with a note asking people to "smile at random people more often." He gave us two to give to PRI listeners and readers. Bataclan selected two people who commented on PRI The World’s Facebook page about the random acts of kindness they did for others or someone had done for them.

So, who were the two lucky people that will receive one of Bataclan's paintings and what were their "random acts of kindness"? The first winner is John Stewart from Salt Lake City, Utah, who works as a professional Santa, a job that can often be thankless and taxing. His goodwill extended beyond the North Pole when this happened:

"One year, I finished up a private party at a family's house. It was a lot of fun, and at the end, the parents gave me a Christmas card containing my fee. Once I got home, I opened the card and discovered that they had paid double my normal rate. It was very nice of them. Later, I went to dinner with a friend at a restaurant. She was asking me about being Santa, and I told her I always loved when the older kids at the party would not let on to the younger kids. They played along and made it fun for everyone. The waitress overheard and told us that she had to tell her young son the truth about Santa this year. I asked her why, and she said that because she had just finished a round of chemotherapy for cancer, and this was her first day back to work, and Christmas was not going to be like it had been in previous years. Like a shot of lightning, the universe was giving me a message. I gave the waitress the extra money that the family had given me. I told her Santa always made sure kids had a good Christmas."

The other "random acts of kindness" winner is Ruth Deakins. She befriended a homeless man in San Diego and posted this:

"I've gotten to know him over the years. While talking to him recently, he told me he was married at one time and has a grown son and a daughter who died in her 30's. I asked him if he had worked during his life. He said he had for many years and once owned a home. He's now 70 years old. I asked if he would qualify for social security. He said he does, but he didn't know how to apply. He knows his social security #, but doesn't remember much else about his life; i.e., addresses where he once lived, etc. I think he may be in early dementia. He's all alone now and has no connection with his family. I took him to the social security office and spent the day there in the lines. At being 70 years old, turns out that he could collect $1,600/month in social security benefits. That would be life-changing for him, but he has no documentation that he is a legal citizen in the U.S.; therefore, he will not receive the money. He said he came here from Mexico when he was four years old, but has no documentation that he can remember obtaining. He may be a legal citizen, but he just doesn't know."

Khalida Popal defied the Taliban and risked her life to play soccer

Khalida Popal was at the top of her game in Afghanistan. She became the captain of Afghanistan's women's national team and was competing on the international field.

Popal was the public face of her team, which did not go over well with ultra-conservative people of her country. She faced criticism, including from people who labeled women soccer players as prostitutes. But that only made Popal more determined to play the sport. So she and some friends practiced on a NATO base, and eventually played matches against neighboring country's in Kabul's Ghazi Stadium.

But the hate over Popal's love for soccer, which she calls football, in keeping with international standards, turned even more violent and included death threats against Popal's family. She fled the country, eventually making her way to Denmark where she received asylum. Popal spoke with Marco Werman of The World about her experience and her journey.

This British company is turning food waste into beer

“We got a lesson in brewing as well as a lesson in using the bread for it,” says Michael Mulcahy, who helped tear up about 200 loaves of bread into chunks to make the amber ale he’s sipping. “Today, we get to taste what came out of it.” 

Slow to start, Japan is finally having a #MeToo moment 

On Saturday afternoon, some 300 protesters descended outside inner-city Shinjuku Station in Tokyo to rally against sexual harassment and a deeply entrenched culture in the country of victim blaming and forced silence.

The bustling Shinjuku Station serves 3.6 million passengers every day. Every weekend, the surrounding streets burst at the seams with pedestrians. Similarly, the demonstration here, with a stage wedged in between a cluster of high-rise retail buildings, was almost at capacity by start time.

Participants formed a sea of anti-sexism placards while as many as a thousand curious bystanders and other supporters gathered on the sidelines for an hourlong program featuring a dozen speakers.

The #MeToo movement captured the nation's attention earlier this month after a top-ranking Finance Ministry official was accused by a female reporter of repeated sexual harassment. The official, Junichi Fukuda, 58, denies sexual misconduct despite a secret recording published online that revealed the bureaucrat asking the reporter, “Can I kiss you?” and “Can I hug you?” and “Can I touch your breasts?” during an interview.