Is your diet wreaking havoc on your internal ecosystem?

Around the globe, hunter-gatherers have microbiomes in their digestive tracts that look healthier to scientists than Westerners'. But the solution could be as simple as substituting some high-fiber foods for those fast-food burgers. [NPR] [NPR] WLRN News Surviving the storm, learning its lessons, and banding together to rebuild Nearly 30,000 homes destroyed and 100,000 more damaged. Close to 1.4 million people without power for days. An estimated $25 billion in total damage. Before the Texas Gulf Coast faced the destruction and ongoing downpours of Hurricane Harvey, South Florida recalled the most destructive storm to have struck that region — or the entire U.S. at the time. [Hurricane Andrew landed 25 years ago this week as a Category 5.]( Martin Grimes/Getty Images for Grey Goose Find paying your taxes a bit painful? You're supposed to. Louise Linton hit a nerve for many when she went off on Instagram about what she and her husband, Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, give up to the IRS and in serving in the government. She’s since apologized, but she stumbled on a core value of our progressive tax system: equal sacrifice. It means that, rather than paying the same amount, Americans are meant to feel the same burden from what they do pay. [It's a system most in the U.S. support, polls find.]( Matthieu Paley/National Geographic A major extinction event might be happening right now — inside your guts Scientists around the world are finding that the Western lifestyle is altering our microbiome, with some species — "valuable members of our community" — effectively disappearing. They think processed foods and meat-heavy diets are to blame. [Here are the changes they suggest to ensure internal biodiversity.]( gpointstudio/Getty Images/iStockphoto Head start? Kids appear to benefit, all the way through college, from hanging back a bit. Studies have concluded that children do better in school if they're among the oldest in their class, and new research suggests that advantage persists. Kids born just after the enrollment cutoff had the equivalent of a 40-point bump on their SAT compared to kids born just before the cutoff. [Older kids also are more likely to go to college and less likely to be incarcerated.]( Ralph Freso/Getty Images Analysis: From campaign rally to pardon, Trump's week again proves he's not going to change The president's rally in Phoenix was bombastic, combative, divisive — and completely unsurprising, writes NPR political editor Domenico Montanaro. After all, Trump held exactly these kinds of events and made exactly these kinds of comments repeatedly throughout the campaign. And the only thing unusual about [Friday's pardon for former sheriff Joe Arpaio]( is that he didn't go ahead and announce it to the crowd Tuesday. [Trump doesn't mind being inflammatory — he brings a bazooka to a knife fight.]( You received this message because you're subscribed to our Best of NPR emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002 [NPR]