Hollywood films have long tried to capture America's obsession with its most popular sport. So on this Super Bowl weekend, we ask: what do the best football movies have in common? Is it the "Big Speech" with the team down a point and only seconds to go? Or what about the classic underdog story? Scott Detrow discusses that with Brittany Luse, host of NPR's It's Been a Minute, and with Stephen Thompson of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This , sign up for Consid...
Feb 09, 2024•12 min
Abortion is a personal issue. But it's also political. And few things motivate voters and politicians like abortion rights. Over and over, U.S. voters have shown they're willing to choose lawmakers, presidents and ballot initiatives based on how they feel about abortion rights. We examine the role abortion could play in the 2024 elections. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This , sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at considerthis@npr.org See pcm.adswi...
Feb 08, 2024•12 min
When it comes to whether or not Trump should appear on presidential ballots, there are at least two questions to consider. The first is legal — does the 14th amendment apply him? The second is practical. What would happen if Trump WERE removed from the ballot? How might his tens of millions of supporters respond? At a rally last month, the former President suggested if he doesn't get what he views as "fair" treatment, the country is in big trouble. This week the Supreme Court will weigh whether ...
Feb 07, 2024•11 min
The U.S. Immigration system isn't working. The last significant reform was in 1986. Presidents and Congress have been trying to fix it and change it ever since. Congress is at it again, but that effort, like so many others, looks doomed to fail. Just a few hours after the text from the Senate bipartisan bill dropped, Speaker of The House Mike Johnson said IF the bill reaches the house – it will be DEAD on arrival. And on Monday night GOP support for the legislation in the Senate seemed to all bu...
Feb 06, 2024•13 min
It was a year ago this month that a Norfolk Southern freight train with 38 cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Twenty of those train cars carried hazardous materials. In the days after the crash officials, decided to burn off one of those hazardous materials, vinyl chloride. The burn and massive plume of smoke it created caused environmental problems and concerns about the health and safety of residents. A year after that devastating derailment and chemical burn the train company Norfolk Sout...
Feb 05, 2024•12 min
More than 100 people are killed on U.S. roads every day — more than 40,000 people a year. So, it seemed bold, if not crazy, when city leaders across the country began to set their sights on eliminating traffic fatalities completely. It has now been 10 years since U.S. cities began to adopt the approach known as Vision Zero. NPR's Joel Rose reports on what has worked and what hasn't. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This , sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Em...
Feb 04, 2024•10 min
More than two decades of growing internet use has surfaced fears about the social and psychological impacts of nearly unfettered access to pornography. But many researchers and sex therapists worry that the online communities that have formed in response to these fears often endorse inaccurate medical information, exacerbate mental health problems and, in some cases, overlap with extremist and hate groups. NPR's Lisa Hagen speaks about her reporting with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe. For sponsor-free epi...
Feb 03, 2024•29 min
Former president Donald Trump is facing dozens of criminal charges, including four felony counts on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump says he's being persecuted, and that idea resonates with his Christian base. 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...
Feb 02, 2024•12 min
For people in the US, 2020 was one of the most dangerous years in decades. The first year of the pandemic saw a huge spike in violence. The number of homicides in the country rose about 30 percent from 2019. Fast forward a couple of years – and things look very different. According to crime analyst Jeff Asher, "2023 featured one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the US in more than 50 years." In big cities and small, from the East coast to the West, violence has dropped dramatically. Despi...
Feb 01, 2024•12 min
Fox News has been the Republican Party's biggest cheerleader almost since it premiered in 1996. Nearly three decades later, many Republicans perceive Fox as the de facto kingmaker for all kinds of Republican candidates — including presidential. That kingmaker status brought Fox News power, ratings and billions in profits and has spawned a succession of imitators and competition. But for Fox, that synergy with Trump and the Republicans has come with significant risk and significant consequences. ...
Jan 31, 2024•12 min
Immigration and management of the U.S. Southern Border is always a politically charged issue, but especially at this moment. House republicans are trying to advance articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. They say he has refused to comply with the law and has breached the trust of the public. Meanwhile President Biden is describing the U.S. immigration system as broken. All this is playing out as a government funding bill is tied to the border and a presid...
Jan 30, 2024•11 min
A deadly attack on an U.S. military base in Jordan pulled the United States deeper into a regional conflict that it's trying to avoid. How the U.S. responds could determine whether the country enters another full scale war. We ask National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby, what comes next. Email us at considerthis@npr.org 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 Polic...
Jan 29, 2024•9 min
During his time in office, former president Donald Trump talked a great deal about all of the positive changes he was making to improve the economy. When he gave his final State of the Union address in February 2020, employers had added more than six million jobs, unemployment was at three-and-a-half percent and the stock market was soaring. But by March all of that ended as coronavirus spread rapidly across the globe. Donald Trump is poised to capture the Republican presidential nomination. As ...
Jan 28, 2024•12 min
A look behind the curtain at the Oscar campaign machine and what it takes to bring home the gold. 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
Jan 26, 2024•14 min
Ever since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas almost four months ago, U.S. leaders have been afraid that the conflict will grow. That could have consequences for American troops in the Middle East. Recently, U.S. forces have been attacked in Iraq by Iran-backed militias, for example. Host Ari Shapiro speaks with NPR's Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan and NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman about what all this could mean for troops in the region. Email us at considerthis@npr.org See pcm.a...
Jan 25, 2024•10 min
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spent a career defying political gravity. Now he's facing his biggest challenge yet. For decades, Netanyahu has sold himself as a leader who would keep Israelis safe. Instead, one of the world's strongest militaries failed to protect its citizens from a long-planned, Mad Max style invasion - with attackers from Gaza coming in on motorcycles, pickup trucks and hang gliders. Israeli authorities say 1,200 people were killed October 7th and more than 200...
Jan 24, 2024•10 min
In a republican primary field that at one time boasted more than a dozen candidates, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump are the last ones standing. That means Trump's fire is concentrated on Haley — a daughter of Indian immigrants. And he's using that heritage to try to undermine Haley's candidacy, and stoke concern about her legitimacy for the presidency. For the record, that concern is unfounded – Haley, as the Constitution dictates, is a natural-born ...
Jan 23, 2024•11 min
Alabama has already tried to execute Kenneth Smith once. On the night of November 17, 2022, he was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection, but workers couldn't find a vein to place an IV. They tried for an hour, during which, he was jabbed with needles in his arms, hands and collar bones. Smith, one of only two living people in the U.S. to have survived an execution attempt, faces death again. On Thursday, the state of Alabama plans to execute him using a method it calls nitrogen hypox...
Jan 22, 2024•10 min
Just days away from the nation's first primary in New Hampshire, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended his bid for president. What will this mean for the remaining candidates? 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
Jan 21, 2024•14 min
The presidential debate has been a right of passage for both primary and general election candidates for more than thirty years. Now in the midst of another election season, it looks like this well-established tradition might be fading away. But do debates inform voters, and do they change minds? We take a look at how the modern presidential debate came to be, and what their absence would mean for candidates and voters. Email us at considerthis@npr.org See pcm.adswizz.com for information about o...
Jan 19, 2024•11 min
These days when you think of Boeing, the words that come to mind might be: door plug, 737-max, grounded. But before this month's safety debacle and the Ethiopian and Lion Air crashes five years ago, Boeing was synonymous with industry and innovation, and the company enjoyed a special relationship with the U.S. government and U.S. presidents. Former President Barack Obama joked he was Boeing's top salesman, and former President Donald Trump praised the company at a visit during his presidency. No...
Jan 18, 2024•11 min
Since Israel's war against Hamas began, the US has tried to prevent a wider regional war from breaking out. Now, with US attacks against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, drone strikes in Iraq and fighting across Israel's northern border with Lebanon is that regional conflict the US wanted to avoid, already here? The last three presidents have tried to shrink the US footprint in the Middle East. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Ben Rhodes. Rhodes was Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack ...
Jan 17, 2024•10 min
Former President Donald Trump's victory in the Iowa caucuses this week surprised almost no one, but should news outlets have called the contest before some caucus goers, even had a chance to vote? That's one of the questions we explore in today's episode. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly looks ahead to what happens next in the race for the republican nomination with senior editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro . Email us at considerthis@npr.org See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collecti...
Jan 16, 2024•9 min
Artificial Intelligence is front of mind these days. Many of us are spending a lot of time pondering how AI can make our lives easier. Or on the flip side — whether it's going to put us out of a job. But how would you be thinking about AI... if you were in charge of a major US intelligence agency? NPR's Mary Louise Kelly spoke to FBI Director Chris Wray and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone about Artificial Intelligence as a national security threat. Email us at considerthis@npr.or...
Jan 15, 2024•12 min
Jon Stewart ushered in a new era of late night comedy and pushed the boundaries between news and entertainment. 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
Jan 14, 2024•12 min
If you can't remember the last time you had fun, you're not alone. If you want to have more fun, prioritizing it may be the key. 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
Jan 12, 2024•13 min
Tainan is considered the culinary capital of Taiwan. At one of the oldest wet markets in that Southern city, Shuixian Gong Market, the island's vibrant cuisine is on the display. There are displays of shiny orange and silver fish, bright rows of glistening pork ribs and overflowing crates of dragon fruit and guava. It's the place for everyday grocery shopping for cooks around here. But it's much more it's a portrait of all the forces – both indigenous and colonial – that have shaped modern Taiwa...
Jan 11, 2024•9 min
It's been nearly a hundred days since Hamas' deadly attack on Israel, which prompted Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Israel says it aims to destroy Hamas. By Palestinian officials' tally - more than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and about one in every 40 people there have been wounded in just three months. Israel's military is now pushing deeper into central Gaza. The World Health Organization says the most important hospital there is al-Aqsa Hospital. American pediatrician ...
Jan 11, 2024•12 min
On Saturday, the Taiwanese people vote for a new president. It's one of the most important and closely-watched elections around the world this year. While most of the world – including the United States – does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent country, they are watching the results. On New Year's Eve, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said China would "surely be reunified" with Taiwan – reiterating Beijing's aspiration to one day control Taiwan. Caught in the middle of this are the islan...
Jan 09, 2024•13 min
In 2015, then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley led the way for the removal of the Confederate Flag from the state Capitol. The move came after a white gunman had murdered nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Fast forward almost eight years. At a town hall in New Hampshire, a voter asked Haley what she believed caused the Civil War. Haley failed to identify slavery in her answer, and she's been trying to clean up that misstep ever since. When Haley rose to political pro...
Jan 08, 2024•10 min
