President Biden's plan to forgive federal student loan debt – up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for others who qualify – leaves millions of borrowers with unanswered questions. NPR's Sequoia Carrillo and Carolina Rodriguez of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, examine the new plan and help answer some of the frequently asked questions about how it would work. This episode features reporting from NPR's Scott Horsley. In participating regions, you'l...
Aug 26, 2022•14 min
For nearly four decades, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been leading the fight against infectious diseases in America - including AIDS and COVID-19. Now, he's stepping away. Earlier this week, Dr. Fauci announced he would retire as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of the year. In this episode, we'll talk with Dr. Fauci about his decision to leave, and take a look at the twists and turns of his long - and sometimes controversial - career. In participating re...
Aug 25, 2022•15 min
The soldiers known as the Azovstal defenders are heroes in Ukraine. They held out for months against the Russians, fighting from a bombed-out steel plant in the southern port city of Mariupol. When the city fell, the Ukrainian soldiers were taken captive by Russia. Last month, the prison where they were being held was rocked by an explosion. More than 50 people died according to Russian sources, and both Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attack. NPR's Joanna Kakissis and producer Iryna...
Aug 24, 2022•11 min
Gas prices are down. Inflation is dropping ever so slightly. But the cost of food is going up. The price of food in America rose more in the past year than it has at any time since 1979. We'll explore the ways that high food prices are affecting consumers and small businesses alike, and see what inflation means for those who are most vulnerable to food insecurity. This episode features reporting from NPR's Asma Khalid , Scott Horsley and Ari Shapiro , along with Stephan Bisaha from our Gulf Stat...
Aug 23, 2022•13 min
One year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the lives of women and girls have changed dramatically. Girls are no longer permitted to attend secondary school. Women are blocked from working in most sectors. And they are under orders to cover themselves in public. Rangina Hamidi was the acting minister of education when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. We hear about her decision to leave the country and her yearning to return. Additional reporting in this episode comes from NPR's...
Aug 22, 2022•13 min
It's the kind of captivating, complex story that's hard to forget once you hear it. In 2012, star Notre Dame linebacker Manti T'eo's grandmother died. Just hours later, his girlfriend died of leukemia. Rising above the tragedy he seemed unstoppable on the field as Notre Dame went on to a winning season. But the girlfriend was a hoax. Te'o was the victim of catfishing. He had fallen in love with a fake Facebook profile. In the media frenzy that followed, he went from the golden boy of Notre Dame ...
Aug 20, 2022•15 min
President Biden had the narrowest possible Democratic Majority in the Senate when he took office. Yet the Biden administration's legislative successes continue to pile up. He signed the American Rescue Plan just a couple months after taking office, followed by a major infrastructure bill last fall. Most recently, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. These three legislative packages total up to around $4 trillion. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with journalist Michael Grunwald, author of t...
Aug 19, 2022•12 min
75 years ago this week, British colonial rule ended in India. Two new nations emerged - Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. But that freedom was followed by chaos and bloodshed. Partition triggered a mass migration across a shared border, as millions of Muslims fled to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs fled to India. Violent attacks happened on both sides of the border. An estimated one million people were killed. Pakistan and India still grapple with the repercussions of ...
Aug 18, 2022•11 min
A key primary this week in Wyoming re-affirmed Donald Trump's hold on the Republican party. As expected, Republican Representative Liz Cheney lost her race in a landslide, defeated by attorney Harriet Hageman, a Trump-endorsed political newcomer. Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, came to office five years ago as a Republican darling. But everything shifted when she voted to impeach Trump after the January 6th insurrection. She then took center stage in the January 6th hearin...
Aug 17, 2022•12 min
In 2018, more than 5,500 children of immigrants were separated from their parents at the border. The Trump administration's "Zero Tolerance" policy, better known as family separation, was short-lived, ending in June of 2018 after facing condemnation from the public and members of Congress. For some families, it took years to reunite, and hundreds of families still have not been brought back together. Caitlin Dickerson's latest cover story for The Atlantic , titled, "We Need To Take Away Children...
Aug 16, 2022•14 min
One year ago, on August 15, 2021, the Taliban swept into power in Kabul. It's a day that many remember, as videos and images showed a chaotic scene at the Kabul airport, with thousands of Afghans desperately trying to flee the country. Lt. Col. Chris Richardella was one of the officers leading the U.S. Marine Corps at the airport when the Taliban took over. In a conversation with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly , he recounts what followed. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment ...
Aug 15, 2022•16 min
At one point, over 90% of African Americans with a college degree obtained it from an HBCU. But in the decades following the legal dismantling of segregation, enrollment declined at HBCUs. Recently, some HBCUs have seen a significant rise in applications. The boost could be due to more funding, celebrity students, or famous HBCU grads like Vice President Kamala Harris. But informal conversations with Black students and their families point to something even more powerful: HBCUs are a safe and nu...
Aug 13, 2022•18 min
Former President Donald Trump is dominating headlines yet again. Earlier this week, the FBI took several boxes of secret and top secret documents from Mar-a-Lago during a search of Trump's home. And on Friday, a federal judge unsealed the warrant for the search – plus a list of what was taken from the property. NPR's Carrie Johnson explains what the unsealed warrant reveals, and what comes next. But the news from Mar-a-Lago is just the latest in a litany of legal battles entangling the former pr...
Aug 12, 2022•13 min
Up until a few weeks ago, meaningful climate legislation was sidelined in the U.S. Senate. But after months of wrangling votes — and adding concessions to oil and gas companies — Democrats in the Senate have finally passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill includes more than $300 billion in climate investments — the highest amount ever allocated by the federal government to tackle climate change. This episode lays out what the bill does, what it doesn't, and tracks the ups and downs of the l...
Aug 11, 2022•15 min
In Republican politics, one of the biggest issues in the 2022 election is the 2020 election. In at least 8 states so far, Republicans have picked candidates for Secretary of State who deny the results of the last presidential election. This is despite the fact that not a shred of evidence calls President Biden's victory into question. If elected, they would become the chief elections officer in their states. In some of the same swing states where election deniers will be on the statewide ballot ...
Aug 10, 2022•15 min
Researchers at an American national laboratory spent years developing cutting-edge vanadium redox flow batteries. But now, a Chinese company is making those batteries in a factory in northeastern China. An investigation from NPR's Laura Sullivan and Northwest News Network's Courtney Flatt shows how the U.S. federal government gave away American-made technology to China. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Em...
Aug 09, 2022•15 min
All eyes are on Kherson. In Ukraine's first major offensive of the war, soldiers are pushing towards the city, trying to retake it from Russian troops. It's a transport hub and key river crossing, and reclaiming it would be a huge victory for Ukraine. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf brings us the story of Vitaly, a 22-year-old college student in Kherson. Since the city first fell, he has sent NPR voice memos detailing life under the Russian occupation. Now, he's decided he has to get out. And NPR's Brian Man...
Aug 08, 2022•14 min
Bashar Murad's danceable riffs and live concerts and videos - filled with bubbles, enormous hats, and layers and layers of veils - have earned him the nickname "Palestinian Lady Gaga" from his fans. And much like Born This Way is an anthem of equality, Murad's songs challenge conservative social norms and push for LGBTQ rights while also challenging the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Earlier this summer, Murad's concert in the West Bank city of Ramallah was cancelled under threats by anti-...
Aug 06, 2022•19 min
This week the Biden administration declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency. And as the number of cases in the U.S. continues to climb, there's a lot of confusion about the disease, how it spreads and who's most at-risk. NPR health correspondents Pien Huang and Michaeleen Doucleff join us to discuss the current outbreak. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. S...
Aug 05, 2022•14 min
With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the U.S. airstrike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, there's a lot to talk about with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan these days. He weighs in on all three in a sit-down interview with NPR. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Email us at considerthis@npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about ...
Aug 04, 2022•13 min
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, a dozen states have implemented laws banning or severely restricting abortion. Those laws have consequences for wanted pregnancies, too. NPR's Carrie Feibel brings us the story of a woman in Texas whose pregnancy took a sudden turn. Because of the state's abortion law, her case became a medical crisis. This episode also includes reporting from NPR's Sarah McCammon and Melissa Block In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sen...
Aug 03, 2022•14 min
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan over the weekend. For years, al-Zawahiri was Osama Bin Laden's deputy — and was known as the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks. NPR's Greg Myre and Diaa Hadid discuss the implications of al-Zawahiri's death for the U.S., Afghanistan, and America's decades-long war on terror. This episode also features reporting from NPR's Steve Inskeep . In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segm...
Aug 02, 2022•13 min
Dee Davis remembers watching his grandmother float by in a canoe during the 1957 flood that hit Whitesburg, Ky. The water crested at nearly 15 feet back then--a record that stood for over half a century, until it was obliterated last week. The water was more than six feet higher than the 1957 mark when floodwater destroyed the gauge. The flooding took out bridges and knocked houses off their foundations. It had claimed at least 35 lives as of Monday afternoon. And it was just the latest record-b...
Aug 01, 2022•10 min
You may have never heard the phrase abortion doula, but for years they have been working to support people navigating the process and experience of ending a pregnancy. With Roe overturned, depending on where you live, figuring out how to obtain an abortion has gotten much harder. This could make the role of abortion doulas more critical than ever --- and more risky. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Vicki Bloom. She refers to herself as a full spectrum doula and provides a range of reproductive he...
Jul 30, 2022•15 min
This week, Pope Francis has been in Canada, on what he calls a "Pilgrimage of Penance". He's been going around the country to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in Canada's residential school system. These schools – funded by the Canadian government and administered by the Catholic Church – were aimed at erasing the culture and language of indigenous people. The apology from Pope Francis this week comes after years of allegations detailing abuse and neglect at these residential boarding sc...
Jul 29, 2022•14 min
The BA.5 variant is the most dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's highly transmissible and it's driving up COVID cases and hospitalizations. This week NPR learned that the Biden administration may scrap plans to let more younger adults get second COVID-19 boosters this summer. Instead, officials are trying to speed up availability of the next generation of boosters in the fall — boosters that specifically target the new sub...
Jul 28, 2022•13 min
Residential hotels used to play a huge role in the American housing landscape, providing flexible accommodation for anyone who needed it, from the rich and famous to the barely scraping by. Slate staff writer Henry Grabar argues that a return of extended-stay hotels could help solve some of today's housing market dysfunction. KNKX's Will James reports on what happened after tenants of a residential hotel in Tacoma, Wash., were forced out—into a housing market with very few affordable options. Yo...
Jul 27, 2022•14 min
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured images of the universe that have stunned both scientists and the public. But for more than twenty years before its launch, the mission faced multiple delays, cost overruns, technical difficulties and threats from Congress to kill it altogether. We'll speak with some of the leaders of the Webb telescope mission who fought to keep it alive — and hear from astronomers whose work is now changed forever by its images. This episode also features reporting fr...
Jul 26, 2022•12 min
Food, gas, rent — prices are climbing across the board. As inflation hit a 40-year high last month, millions of Americans are adjusting their spending and looking for ways to stretch their budgets. The Federal Reserve is taking action, too. Policy makers are meeting this week to consider whether and how much to raise interest rates in an effort to curb inflation. We talk to NPR's chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley and business correspondent David Gura. In participating regions, you'll a...
Jul 25, 2022•13 min
This week dozens of family members of victims of the Uvalde Texas school shooting showed up at the town's first school board meeting since a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in May. The atmosphere became tense and emotional as families confronted board members, demanding assurances that students and staff would be safe in the coming school year. The school board meeting followed the release of surveillance footage from the day of the shooting and an investigative report released by the...
Jul 23, 2022•16 min
