Back in 1999 when Donald Trump was flirting with a presidential run, he was pro-abortion rights. In an interview on Meet the Press with NBC's Tim Russert, the New York real estate developer said he didn't like abortion, but he wouldn't ban it. Fast forward almost two decades, and Trump was running for the republican presidential nomination, and he had a very different stance on abortion, even suggesting in an MSNBC town hall meeting that women should be punished for seeking abortions. Trump ulti...
Apr 18, 2024•10 min
Salman Rushdie is probably most closely associated with his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, a book inspired by the life of the prophet Muhummad. The book was notorious not just for its contents but because of the intense backlash, and the threat it posed to his safety and wellbeing. While Rushdie saw it as an exploration of Islamic culture, some Muslims saw it as blasphemous. The year after it published, Iran's supreme leader issued a fatwa, ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Rushdie moved to New ...
Apr 17, 2024•12 min
In 1994, the world watched as genocide unfolded in Rwanda. Nearly one million people died as neighbors brutally killed their neighbors. Paul Rusesabagina is credited for keeping more than 1,200 people safe in his hotel through weeks of violence. His life and story inspired the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda. In 2021, Rusesabagina says he was kidnapped, tried and imprisoned in Rwanda for two years and seven months over his ties to the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD), a group that opposes Pre...
Apr 16, 2024•9 min
Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, saying it was in response to an airstrike earlier this month that hit Iran's consulate in Syria and killed seven Iranian military officials, including two generals. Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the Syria strike, though the Pentagon said Israel was responsible. Sima Shine is a former senior Israeli intelligence official. She now runs the Iran desk at the Institute for National Securi...
Apr 15, 2024•10 min
On Monday, former President Donald Trump will enter a Manhattan courtroom for his first criminal trial. But before a verdict can be rendered a jury must be selected. And for Trump's legal team that is going to be a challenge. A small number of attorneys have faced a similar challenge — how do you select an impartial jury when your client is famous? Host Scott Detrow speaks with attorney Camille Vasquez for insight into the art of jury selection in such a case. She represented Johnny Depp in his ...
Apr 14, 2024•16 min
For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been insisting that the goal of Israel's bombardment in Gaza is to "destroy Hamas." But in the path of that destruction, more than 33,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Regular people, entire families, and more than 13,000 children. Yet, it's not clear if Israel is any closer to its stated goal of destroying Hamas. In fact, is it possible that the horrors of this war could ignite a cycle of radicalization in the region? For spons...
Apr 12, 2024•9 min
O.J. Simpson was more than a football star. More than a pop culture icon or a defendant acquitted of murder. He became a symbol of America's complicated relationship to race, celebrity, and justice. His family announced that he died of cancer Wednesday at age 76. The murder trial of O.J. Simpson became not only about one man and two victims, but the entire country. Coming up, we assess the legacy of a case, and a verdict, that put race in America on the stand. For sponsor-free episodes of Consid...
Apr 11, 2024•8 min
In recent years, the body positivity movement has raised its profile, especially on social media, largely through self-described anti-diet and body positivity influencers. These influencers and others like them represent a pivot away from the diet and fitness culture embodied by companies like weight watchers, which focuses on losing weight as a path to healthier living. Today there is a broad "anti-diet" movement that posits that bodies can be healthy at any size. But some are trying to co-opt ...
Apr 10, 2024•12 min
Many of us don't have the opportunity to handpick our neighbors. We buy or rent a place in a neighborhood with good schools or an easy commute. Some of us become friends with those who live nearby, others of us never talk to our neighbors at all. For most though, we co-exist. In the midst of a brutal civil war, neighbors killed their neighbors simply because of who they were. Thirty years ago this month, that wasn't the case in Rwanda. We visit a Rwandan village where how neighbors live alongsid...
Apr 09, 2024•12 min
Researchers are finding that the impact of relationships with siblings —for better or worse — can be important, and endure well beyond childhood. 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
Apr 08, 2024•10 min
Tomorrow, the Great American Eclipse will sweep across North America, and millions will experience total darkness. It's an eerie and mysterious experience even though at this point, we know exactly what's happening: the moon passes in front of the sun, casting a shadow over earth. But imagine you lived in the ancient world, with no warning that an eclipse was about to happen, as the sun's disk suddenly disappeared and the day fell dark and cool. Unsurprisingly, eclipses were often seen as bad om...
Apr 07, 2024•9 min
The American response to Israel's war with Hamas could be a major factor in the upcoming Congressional elections. 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
Apr 05, 2024•13 min
Bird flu has spread to cows. And now a human has contracted the virus from an infected cow. What kind of risk does this virus pose to people, and are we prepared to treat it? 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
Apr 04, 2024•8 min
The recent transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human raises hopes that lives will no longer depend on the availability of human donor organs. 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
Apr 03, 2024•14 min
One week after a massive container ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, a massive effort is underway to clear the wreckage. But it's still unclear how long the cleanup will take. Meanwhile, with much of the Port of Baltimore shut down, the economic impact is being felt locally, regionally and in the broad economy. Host Mary Louise Kelly gets the latest from NPR's Laurel Wamsley, on the ground in Baltimore, and Camila Domonoske, who covers the auto indus...
Apr 02, 2024•9 min
When news outlets shut down in a city, that creates what's often called a news desert. But in Richmond, California, NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik says the situation is more like a news mirage. Energy giant Chevron is the biggest employer - and the biggest polluter in the California city. Chevron also owns the local news site. How does that impact the community there? NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Folkenflik and Miranda Green, director of investigations for the news site Floodl...
Apr 01, 2024•12 min
Hawaii is no stranger to extravagant homes owned by the super-rich. But when a tech billionaire started buying up land in Waimea, a small, rural town on the Big Island, the community got curious - and worried. Locals fear it will become even more difficult for Native Hawaiians to afford to live in Waimea and buy property. In Hawaii, the average home price is close to a million dollars. Who's purchasing all this land in rural Hawaii and how will it affect the already high cost of housing in Waime...
Mar 31, 2024•13 min
Shirley Chisholm made history in 1968 as the first Black woman ever elected to Congress. Four years later, the New York representative made history again when she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, the first woman and the first African American to do so. A new Netflix movie, called simply "Shirley," tells her story. Host Ailsa Chang speaks with Regina King, who plays Shirley Chisholm and the film's director John Ridley. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and us...
Mar 29, 2024•12 min
This week Russian authorities extended the detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich. Authorities have yet to provide any evidence to backup charges that Gershkovich was spying, and no trial date has been set. 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...
Mar 28, 2024•9 min
People who work on ways to end poverty have been trying a simple approach lately: just giving money to those in need, with no strings attached. Universal basic income, or UBI, once seemed like a radical idea in the US. But now, many places in the country are pushing to make UBI a permanent part of the social safety net. 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...
Mar 27, 2024•11 min
Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship rammed into it. As search and rescue efforts continue, federal investigators are trying to understand what led to the collapse. 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...
Mar 26, 2024•13 min
Famine is a man-made disaster affecting millions in conflict zones. 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
Mar 25, 2024•10 min
Suicide rates for queer and trans people are disproportionately high. They're also routinely targets of violence and hate crimes. While some states have protections for queer and trans people, many other states have passed laws that restrict the rights and visibility of transgender individuals. The stories of Nex Benedict and Dime Doe illustrate both those trends. Benedict died by suicide the day after a physical altercation in their school bathroom. Benedict had been bullied by other students f...
Mar 24, 2024•14 min
In 1974, Stephen King published his first book, "Carrie". But 50 years on, critics still debate if his work deserves a place in the literary canon. 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
Mar 22, 2024•10 min
President Biden just awarded $8.5 billion dollars to the company Intel to help fund semiconductor factories in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon. At a visit to Intel's campus outside Phoenix this week, Biden said the money will help semiconductor manufacturing make a comeback in the US after 40 years. The money for Intel comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed in 2022 to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The administration's goal? For 20% of the world's leading-edge ...
Mar 21, 2024•11 min
Next week representatives of the Israeli government are scheduled to fly from Tel Aviv to Washington, DC. When they arrive, they'll head to the White House, where they'll meet with representatives of the US government. On the agenda – the next steps in Israel's war against Hamas. The meeting comes as famine is imminent for roughly 300-thousand Palestinians in Northern Gaza. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be losing US support. Still, Netanyahu insists that Is...
Mar 20, 2024•11 min
The way we have bought homes for the last 100 years could change as soon as July. Who wins, who loses, and who gets a share of the $418 million class-action settlement? 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
Mar 19, 2024•11 min
Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia for a quarter century. This weekend's election results confirmed that he will reign for another six years. Putin's hold on the Kremlin gives him control of the world's largest nuclear arsenal and a military that's been at war in Ukraine for more than two years, ever since he launched an invasion in February 2022. That war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, but despite these losses, the Russian military is pressing forwar...
Mar 18, 2024•9 min
Three solidly blue cities have rolled out crime fighting initiatives that feel more like conservative strategies. 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
Mar 17, 2024•13 min
When Russia's war in Ukraine began over two years ago, neighboring countries feared that they could be next. And NATO asked itself - was it prepared to defend its territory if war arrived on its doorstep? The answer was no. So, its military chief decided it was time to ramp up NATO's strategy and revive its military headquarters. And for the first time this spring, NATO will exercise brand new war plans to prepare for the worst. The plan comes as Donald Trump makes another run at the White House...
Mar 15, 2024•12 min
