At the stroke of midnight last Saturday, a federal moratorium that had been in place for nearly eleven months expired. After the Supreme Court ruled that the CDC could not extend that moratorium, the Biden administration asked Congress to take action. But Congress failed to maintain protections for renters before the House went into August recess. Now, many renters fear eviction could coming knocking at their doors. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., told NPR that she is urging local governments to institut...
Aug 03, 2021•12 min
The United States has reached yet another turning point in this pandemic—one that may feel particularly unrelenting and confusing. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
Aug 02, 2021•14 min
In episode three of On Our Watch , we examine the records that were unsealed by this transparency law to piece together what exactly happened on September 14, 2014 when Pedie Perez was shot and killed outside a liquor store by a police officer, Wallace Jensen. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Aug 01, 2021•53 min
The Delta variant is more dangerous and contagious than many experts initially realized. In response to the uptick in cases and hospitalizations countrywide, some government leaders are implementing mask mandates. President Biden announced on Thursday that federal government employees will be asked to attest to their vaccination status. White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients explains what the new requirement will look like. And NPR Correspondent Brian Naylor reports on how fede...
Jul 30, 2021•12 min
When Simone Biles dropped out of her Olympic competitions this week, the whole world took notice. At 24 years old Biles is the most decorated gymnast ever, she's won 36 medals—27 of those are gold. And she said via Instagram that it can feel like she "has the weight of the world," on her shoulders at times. When an athlete performs on a stage as hallowed and renowned as the Olympics, it's not surprising to see that this can have a negative psychological effect. University of Denver professor Mar...
Jul 29, 2021•14 min
Four police officers offered harrowing testimony of their experiences protecting the U.S. Capitol on January 6th during the first hearing for a new Democrat-led House Select Committee investigating the attacks. The committee was proposed as a bi-partisan effort by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi but after she rejected two nominees from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the hearings have begun without support from Republican leaders. Since January 6th the Justice Department has arrested hundreds of peop...
Jul 28, 2021•15 min
Rising seas are threatening coastal communities around the world, which will need billions of dollars to protect themselves. It's clear the water is coming. What's not clear is who pays. This tension is playing out on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay, where the wealthiest companies in the world have built their headquarters next to low-income communities of color. Both need protection, but as cities there plan massive levee projects, they're struggling to figure out what's fair. Will the cost ...
Jul 27, 2021•13 min
Food service workers in America have newfound bargaining power, and they're using it — quitting jobs for better ones at record rates. NPR's Alina Selyukh reports on why some are leaving the restaurant industry for good. Additional reporting this episode from NPR's Andrea Hsu , who examined the pros and cons of one-time hiring bonuses for workers. Follow more coverage from NPR's special series, Where Are The Workers? In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help y...
Jul 26, 2021•12 min
One officer in Los Angeles used car inspections to hit on women. Three hundred miles away in the San Francisco Bay Area, another woman says an officer used police resources to harass and stalk her. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
Jul 25, 2021•47 min
Starting over can be scary. But not for Rodrigo Amarante. After an established musical career in Brazil, he made the jump to the U.S., where his relative anonymity was a source of creative energy — and an opportunity to reinvent himself. Amarante's second solo album, Drama , is about rejecting traditional forms of masculinity and embracing imperfections — then releasing them as a beautiful symphony of chaos and, well, drama. Hear Rodrigo Amarante's live performance of the song "Tara" from his ne...
Jul 23, 2021•15 min
It's still unclear who is responsible for planning and funding the assassination of Haiti's president Jovenel Moïse earlier this month. But violence and unrest in the country has been ramping up for months. The United Nations says that over the last six weeks nearly 15,000 people have been forced from their homes in Port-au-Prince. NPR's Jason Beaubien reported the story of one family who fled in early June. Moïse's death left a power vacuum that's been filled by Interim Prime Minister Ariel Hen...
Jul 22, 2021•12 min
The delta variant now makes up an estimated 83% of coronavirus cases in the U.S., a sharp increase over recent weeks. Cases are rising more rapidly in places with low rates of vaccination. Arkansas is one of those places. The state's Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, tells NPR what he's doing to try to convince more people to get a shot. Amid those localized surges and reports of breakthrough infections, NPR's Allison Aubrey explains how to think about your own risk. Find more NPR coverage of...
Jul 21, 2021•14 min
Tens of millions of American families are beginning to receive direct cash payments as part of the expanded child tax credit, which was part of the COVID relief bill passed back in March. Those payments top out at $3,600 a year per child — an amount experts say could lift tens of millions of children out of poverty. But the expanded credit is only scheduled to last one year. The question now is: will Democrats succeed in making it permanent? Here's a breakdown of what you need to know from NPR's...
Jul 20, 2021•11 min
Medical education must always keep up with the times. But the pandemic forcing medical students to learn virtually revealed new fault lines and opportunities to rethink the way medical professionals should learn. The medical field is grappling with which of those changes should become permanent and which ones could jeopardize the quality of healthcare. To get a better understanding of how technology has enabled new ways of approaching medical education, NPR's Jonaki Mehta visits Kaiser Permanent...
Jul 19, 2021•15 min
From police officer misconduct to deadly shootings, internal affairs investigations are how law enforcement agencies investigate their own and promise to hold themselves accountable. In California, those investigations were secret — that is, until a new police transparency law unsealed thousands of files. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Jul 18, 2021•48 min
Jodie Turner-Smith in Anne Boleyn . Mindy Kaling in Scooby Doo . Dev Patel in The Green Knight , and last year's David Copperfield . It seems like Hollywood gatekeepers are opening up more traditionally white parts to other performers. But as NPR film critic Bob Mondello explains, cross-cultural casting isn't new — and it's always raised eyebrows. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Email us at consid...
Jul 16, 2021•11 min
The protests that erupted in Cuba over the weekend are the biggest the country has seen in decades. Cubans are suffering through a summer of shortages, from food and electricity to medicine. All of which have been made worse by the pandemic. Officials in the authoritarian government are tying to stamp out the unrest quickly. These demonstrations present a political opportunity for President Biden. NPR's Franco Ordonez reports on how the White House's response could change future Florida votes. N...
Jul 15, 2021•15 min
In a speech this week, President Biden said Democrats must 'vigorously challenge' what he described as the '21st Century Jim Crow assault' on voting rights, attacking Republican-led state efforts to pass new voting restrictions. Democrats, Vice President Kamala Harris told NPR, must respond on multiple levels: "It will be litigation, legislation, it will be activating the people." Harris spoke to NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid . Hear more on the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple , Google ,...
Jul 14, 2021•15 min
The U.S. military will be fully out of the country by August 31. The Taliban already control more than half of it. A U.S. intelligence assessment reportedly says the Afghan government could collapse in as little as six months. Some members of the Afghan military feel "abandoned and alone," Commanding General of the Afghan Army Sami Sadat tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly . Additional reporting this episode from NPR's Diaa Hadid . In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that w...
Jul 13, 2021•14 min
The Biden administration is emphasizing vaccine outreach by 'trusted messengers' — community volunteers, faith leaders, and primary care providers — who are best-positioned to convince people to get vaccinated. NPR's Maria Godoy reports on that kind of outreach in Maryland, one of just a handful of states where at least half of the Latino population is vaccinated . In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community. ...
Jul 12, 2021•12 min
'Cancelling' is a term that originated in young and progressive circles, where it was used to mean 'boycott,' University of Pennsylvania linguist Nicole Holliday tells NPR. Now the term 'cancel' has been co-opted and weaponized by some conservative media and politicians. Something similar happened in the 1990s with the term 'politically correct.' John K. Wilson wrote about that time in a book called The Myth Of Political Correctness . And — just like 'politically correct' — 'cancelling' and 'can...
Jul 09, 2021•13 min
All over the east coast and Midwest, forests are getting hotter and drier. Many are also overgrown and overdue for wildfire. And increasingly, Americans are moving to areas where these forests and their homes tangle close together. The fastest such growth is in the Southeast, where few consider wildfire much of a threat. Molly Samuel with member station WABE reports from Tate City, Georgia. Additional reporting in this episode from Annie Ropeik of New Hampshire Public Radio and from NPR's Nathan...
Jul 08, 2021•13 min
NPR's Tom Dreisbach reports on the story of Alan Hostetter, a former police chief and yoga instructor from California who's now facing conspiracy charges for his alleged role in the U.S. Capitol riot. Hostetter is one of more than 500 people facing charges related to January 6th. Hear more about how prosecutors are proceeding from NPR's Ryan Lucas and the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen via Apple , Google , Spotify , or Pocket Casts . In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment ...
Jul 07, 2021•14 min
Critical race theory is a legal framework developed decades ago at Harvard Law School. It posits that racism is not just the product of individual bias, but is embedded in legal systems and policies. Today, it's become the subject of heated debate on Fox News and in local school board meetings across the country. Adam Harris , staff writer at The Atlantic, explains why. Harris has traced the debate over critical race theory back decades . Gloria Ladson-Billings spoke to NPR about watching that d...
Jul 06, 2021•15 min
In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, another music festival took place 100 miles away. The Harlem Cultural Festival featured black musicians like Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder — stars who we might not have glimpsed at this point in their careers. Footage of the festival had been locked in a basement for 50 years, because TV and film companies were not interested in it at the time. Questlove and his fellow filmmakers speak to Audie Cornish about bringing the concert festival to the big...
Jul 05, 2021•11 min
The Star-Spangled Banner is the official anthem for the United States, but there are plenty of songs that have become informal American anthems for millions of people. On this episode of NPR's Throughline , we share three stories from NPR Music's American Anthem series , which explored the origins of songs that have become ingrained in American culture. Throughline is NPR's history podcast. Listen via Apple , Spotify , Google , or Pocket Casts . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll...
Jul 04, 2021•27 min
Cases are surging in countries around the world as the more transmissible delta variant spreads rapidly. Also growing: pressure on vaccine-rich countries to help people in countries where vaccines are still scarce. NPR's Will Stone reports on the waiting game. And Harvard's Junaid Habi argues vaccine hesitancy in America is a peculiar privilege. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Email us at consider...
Jul 02, 2021•13 min
The former Secretary of Defense was a chief architect of the conflict that came to be known as America's 'forever war.' After his death this week at age 88, that conflict has now officially outlived him. NPR's Steve Inskeep reports on one group of people still living with the consequences: thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S. military over the past 20 years. More from that story, which aired on Morning Edition , is here . Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's Greg Myre . In pa...
Jul 01, 2021•12 min
Los Angeles County — America's most populous county — recently recommended mask wearing even for vaccinated people, just two weeks after the state relaxed most COVID restrictions. County officials say masks will help protect unvaccinated people from the more transmissible delta variant, which is spreading rapidly across the country. CDC director Rochelle Walensky tells NPR the federal government may "encourage" states to return to more mitigation measures in places where vaccination is low and t...
Jun 30, 2021•14 min
Late last year the Senate passed a bill that required U.S. intelligence agencies to share what they know about "unidentified aerial phenomena," the technical term for UFOs. That report was released last week. Spoiler alert — it doesn't confirm the existence of alien spacecraft. But it doesn't rule them out either. Retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich recounts her first-hand encounter with a UFO off the coast of Southern California. It's one of 144 sightings mentioned in the new u...
Jun 29, 2021•14 min
