Quiet quitting. It's a buzzy topic in the workplace and on social media, sparked by a viral TikTok video earlier this summer. So what does it mean? For some workers, it's simply doing what's in your job description and nothing more. For others, it's about setting boundaries and focusing on work-life balance. Quiet quitting doesn't actually involve quitting a job. But as workplace culture has changed during the pandemic, many people are re-evaluating their relationship to work and trying to figur...
Sep 09, 2022•15 min
Queen Elizabeth II, the monarch of Britain since 1952, died on Thursday at the age of 96. She reigned for longer than any other ruler of the United Kingdom, spanning seventy years and fifteen prime ministers. NPR's Frank Langfitt brings us the story of her life and reign, including the ups and downs of the royal family during her tenure. 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 . ...
Sep 08, 2022•13 min
For more than a month, residents of Jackson, Mississippi, have not had access to safe drinking water. The city is under a boil water advisory after problems with the pumps at the city's main water treatment plant. It's the latest emergency in a city that has had problems with its water system for decades. We talk to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan about efforts to fix Jackson's water infrastructure. This episode also features reporting from NPR's Cory Turner and Jenni...
Sep 07, 2022•13 min
Traffic fatalities have surged since the early days of the pandemic, reversing a persistent decline since the 1970s. Roads in the U.S. are now more dangerous than they've been in 20 years. Vox's Marin Cogan tells us about the deadliest road in the country, a stretch of US-19 in Pasco County, Fla. And we speak to Ryan Sharp, director of transportation and planning in Hoboken, N.J. That city has managed to bring traffic deaths to zero for the past four years. This episode also features reporting f...
Sep 06, 2022•13 min
When Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in 2017, she was in the midst of reporting on corruption within the island's government. After her death, a small team of reporters picked up her work where she left off, determined to find the people behind her assassination. In this episode, we'll talk with one of those reporters — Stephen Grey from Reuters — about their investigation, which has uncovered new evidence about the network of people responsible for killing Caruana Galizia. ...
Sep 05, 2022•11 min
After decades of scandals over horrible conditions, many states are reimagining prisons and jails and reusing those properties to benefit the community. 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
Sep 04, 2022•15 min
After the 2016 election – and Russian hacking attempts targeted at local election offices – hundreds of local governments across the country made changes. Among them, installing something called an Albert sensor. It's designed to warn of hacking attempts. But in Washington State, this cybersecurity tool has become the subject of suspicion on the political right. It's part of a trend that one voting expert described as "using the language of election integrity to dismantle the infrastructure of e...
Sep 02, 2022•11 min
Students in Uvalde, Texas are going back to school for the first time since a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School back in May. But parents and kids are still worried about security in the district — and some families are opting to homeschool instead of going back in-person. NPR's Juana Summers spent a week in Uvalde speaking with families about how the community is trying to move forward — and balance education with the need to keep students safe. In participatin...
Sep 01, 2022•14 min
It's been 17 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, permanently changing life for many people across the country. Over a thousand were killed, and many more were displaced. The city suffered billions of dollars of damage. New Orleans has slowly recovered over the years, but for many, the trauma of the natural disaster lingers on. NPR's Juana Summers talks with filmmaker Edward Buckles Jr. about his new documentary, 'Katrina Babies,' which explores the trauma experienced by familie...
Aug 31, 2022•12 min
Serena Williams dominated tennis for the better part of two decades. Her athleticism and aggressive style changed the way the women's game is played. And she inspired a generation of young Black players who followed in her footsteps. Coco Gauff was one of them. At 18 years old, she was born five years after Williams' first Grand Slam singles title. Today, she's ranked 12th in the WTA rankings. "Growing up, I never thought I was different," she said, "because the number one player in the world wa...
Aug 30, 2022•12 min
This summer, just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the story of a 10-year-old girl in Ohio became a flashpoint in the national abortion debate. The girl had become pregnant as a result of rape and had to travel across state lines to Indiana to get an abortion. For one rape survivor, the case reminded her of what she lived through long ago, before Roe was the law the of the land. She spoke with NPR's Sarah McCammon about her experience. In participating regions, you'll also h...
Aug 29, 2022•13 min
Across the country, some teachers are deciding not to return to the classroom this September. The pandemic didn't create the problem of teacher burnout, but it made a bad situation worse. Fed up with low pay, hampered by partisan politics intruding in the classroom, and shaken by the recent Uvalde shooting, many say they have reached their breaking point. Teacher vacancies have left school districts across the U.S. scrambling to find enough qualified faculty for the fall. In some areas, competit...
Aug 27, 2022•13 min
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
