The brutal regime of Bashar al Assad fell over the weekend with dizzying speed. Syrians within the country and around the world burst into celebration. Now, the rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al Sham, or HTS has to govern. They are designated a terrorist organization by the US. And some worry that HTS could slide into its own kind of autocratic regime. That fear is not unfounded. Across the Middle East and North Africa, many revolutions have overthrown autocrats, only for those countries to descend b...
Dec 13, 2024•11 min
FBI Director Christopher Wray announced yesterday that he will resign before President-elect Trump takes office. This comes after Trump announced he would appoint loyalist Kash Patel to lead the Bureau. President-elect Trump's pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, held several national security positions in the first Trump administration. Since then, he's found money and attention as a pro-Trump influencer promoting conspiracy theories. What can that tell us about his plans for the FBI? For sponsor-...
Dec 12, 2024•11 min
One of the triumphs of modern medicine is that children diagnosed with cancer today have an 85 percent chance of surviving at least five years. That is up from a rate of about 50 percent a generation ago. But survival brings new challenges. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports on the unique needs of young people as part of the series, Life After Diagnosis . For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at considerthis@npr.org . See...
Dec 11, 2024•10 min
Five days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Manhattan, police arrested 26 year old Luigi Mangione in Pennsylvania. He's facing charges including murder, the illegal possession of a firearm, and lying about his identity. Authorities believe they have arrested the person responsible for gunning down the CEO of a health insurance company. What have we learned about Luigi Mangione, and his possible motivations? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C ...
Dec 10, 2024•10 min
For half a century, one family has brutally ruled Syria. Nearly overnight, that reign ended. Syria is not only a home to millions of people. It's also a crucial piece in a geopolitical chess game. 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
Dec 09, 2024•10 min
You never know if president-elect Donald Trump is bluffing, but when you have billions of dollars on the line, you have to take him seriously. So car companies took notice, when Trump announced a plan for huge new tariffs in a social media post before Thanksgiving. A 25 percent tax on imports from Canada and Mexico would have a major impact on the car industry, which depends heavily on cross border trade. Trump's tariffs could have huge consequences for the people who make cars, and the people w...
Dec 08, 2024•11 min
An epic poem and an epic reunion come to the big screen. The Return looks for new meaning in Homer's ancient story of Odysseus' return to Ithaca — and to his wife Penelope. We talk to co-stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . 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...
Dec 06, 2024•10 min
Syrian anti-government insurgents claim they have entered the city of Hama — a major Syrian government stronghold. This continues their momentum over the last week, when they also seized Syria's second largest city, Aleppo. Since the war started in 2011, half a million people have been killed and many millions of others displaced. The Syrian Civil War has been locked in a stalemate for years. Now, rebel forces are gaining ground against the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad. Will the group ul...
Dec 05, 2024•7 min
At the time we publish this episode, Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's pick to run the Pentagon, is struggling to hold onto his nomination. There's an ever growing list of accusations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and financial misconduct. The former Fox and Friends weekend host has spent Wednesday meeting with Senators and doing interviews trying to control the damage. Pete Hegseth's nomination for Secretary of Defense hangs in the balance...will he survive? For sponsor-free episodes ...
Dec 04, 2024•9 min
Just before Donald Trump took office the first time, he held a press conference, announcing that he would turn over control of his business empire to his sons. He said he wanted to address concerns about conflicts of interest even though he maintained he didn't really have to. Saying, "I could actually run my business. I could actually run my business and run government at the same time. I don't like the way that looks, but I would be able to do that if I wanted to." Trump's second term may put ...
Dec 03, 2024•11 min
Hunter Biden no longer has to worry about going to prison. That's because his father President Joe Biden pardoned him with just weeks left in his presidency. The President's son was convicted in June on federal gun charges. Hunter Biden lied about his addiction to crack cocaine when he purchased a gun. And he pleaded guilty in September for failing to pay more than a million dollars in federal taxes. The younger Biden was due to be sentenced in both cases later this month. President Biden has gr...
Dec 02, 2024•8 min
Donald Trump promises to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants once he returns to the White House. If he follows through, the scale of it would be unlike anything we've seen in our lifetimes. Many supporters of Trump's mass deportation agenda say expelling unauthorized immigrants will help the US economy. But a look back at America's first major immigration crackdown suggests otherwise. On this episode, host Adrian Ma and his colleagues from NPR's The Indicator podcast look at that immigrat...
Dec 01, 2024•12 min
If you've followed Stephen Colbert's career closely, you might have picked up on something. It's there back in his days on The Colbert Report , when he issued a throw-down about the proper way to make barbecue sauce and that time on The Late Show , when he took calls on the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line the weekend before Thanksgiving. Colbert has opinions about food. Like, strong opinions. And it turns out that's true off-camera, too. Stephen and his wife, Evie McGee Colbert say they basically li...
Nov 29, 2024•11 min
Thirteen bestselling cookbooks, a thriving food business in the Hamptons that she sold decades ago, and now her memoir "Be Ready When the Luck Happens" has hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list. None of that was in Ina Garten's plan. Her legendary career began when she was working in Washington DC as a somewhat discontented government employee, and saw an ad for a food store in the Hamptons. For this Thanksgiving, a holiday celebrating gratitude and food, we take a look at how Ina...
Nov 28, 2024•10 min
On a Sunday in mid-July, Pastor Chris Morgan welcomed worshipers to Christ United Methodist Church in suburban Pittsburgh with a simple message. That Sunday was particularly difficult. A day earlier, a man had nearly assassinated then-candidate Donald Trump forty miles north in Butler. Morgan asked people to pray for Trump and those killed and injured in the shooting, and asked the congregation to pray for the family of the shooter. Morgan had already planned a sermon series, called Do Unto Othe...
Nov 27, 2024•10 min
In her new memoir, Angela Merkel writes about the many dilemmas she had to navigate as Chancellor of Germany. Dilemmas her male colleagues never had to sweat. Like, can you wear a pantsuit instead of a skirt in the Bundestag, Germany's parliament? She decided the answer was, yes. Merkel is the only woman ever to rise to the most powerful political post in Germany. She served as chancellor from 2005 to 2021. Angela Merkel has gone toe-to-toe with world leaders like Vladimir Putin, led Germany thr...
Nov 26, 2024•15 min
President-elect Trump's promises more ICE workplace raids like the ones in 2019. This time, advocates and undocumented people want to be prepared. 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
Nov 25, 2024•9 min
The movie version of the Broadway smash Wicked hits screens Friday, just in time for the holidays. Stage and screen star Cynthia Erivo plays the Wicked Witch of the West. She speaks to NPR about the role. 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...
Nov 25, 2024•10 min
The Apple TV series "Bad Sisters" debuted two years ago. There were laughs. There was murder. And that could've been it for the Garvey sisters, because the show wasn't originally intended to have a second season. But, as creator and star Sharon Horgan puts it — "You don't just kill a man and move on." The Garvey sisters are back for Season 2 – with more banter... wickedness... and secrets. We catch up with creator and star Sharon Horgan to find out what's in store. For sponsor-free episodes of C...
Nov 22, 2024•10 min
If you're tracking Donald Trump's cabinet picks, you may have noticed common threads among them: top jobs are going to people fiercely loyal to Trump, people with experience appearing on TV, but no experience directly relevant to the jobs they would be doing. There's another thing several share: being accused of sexual misconduct. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, HHS Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, Elon Musk, who Trump has picked to co-run the Department of Government Efficien...
Nov 21, 2024•12 min
Last week British surgeon Nizam Mamode testified in front of a committee in the U.K. Parliament. Dr. Mamode had recently returned from working at a hospital in Central Gaza. He told parliamentary members what he witnessed, including drones that would come down and "pick off civilians, children. And we had description after description. This is not, you know, an occasional thing. This was day after day after day." For months, NPR has been collecting eyewitness accounts from Gaza that corroborate ...
Nov 20, 2024•12 min
What does it take to run the Department of Defense? That's a question that will be at the heart of Pete Hegseth's confirmation process early next year. Hegseth, a longtime Fox News host, is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense. The department he's nominated to run is one of the biggest, most complex entities in the US government. It's an institution that former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel notes – has its "own judicial code, legal system and health care system." Pete ...
Nov 19, 2024•10 min
President-elect Trump has vowed to elimanate the Department of Education. The DOE oversees everything from college student loans to aid for public school special education. What would shutting it down mean for America's schools? 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...
Nov 18, 2024•7 min
When compared to some of president-elect Trump's other cabinet picks, Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State is a pretty conventional choice. He's a veteran politician who served on the foreign relations and intelligence committees for over a decade, and he's been a loyal Trump backer throughout this year's campaign. But when you look back at Marco Rubio during his 2016 presidential campaign, there's a striking contrast. When he ran against Trump in 2016, Rubio called him a con artist, and d...
Nov 17, 2024•12 min
This week President-elect Donald Trump announced Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services. The nomination comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy "go wild on health" during the campaign. Kennedy holds a number of controversial opinions on health, and promotes a number of scientifically debunked claims like vaccines cause autism, fluoride is poisoning the public water system and AIDS isn't caused by the HIV virus. Kennedy has long wanted to remake ...
Nov 15, 2024•10 min
Vice President Kamala Harris made history as the first woman of color to lead the ticket of a major party. But despite her historic run, she ultimately lost. What will her legacy be? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 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 Policy...
Nov 14, 2024•14 min
Since Donald Trump won the presidency last week, Democrats have been pointing fingers, laying blame and second-guessing themselves. All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro talked with three democratic strategists who are looking ahead and asking: Where does the party go from here? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of person...
Nov 13, 2024•14 min
Wicked – the 20-year-old – smash hit on Broadway turns the story of the "Wizard of Oz" on its head. Now, the story of Elfaba the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda the Good Witch, and the Wizard himself is making the shift from stage to screen. The director bringing the Broadway hit to screens across the country is Jon M. Chu, the director of the blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians . The movie version of Wicked is in many ways the culmination of Chu's own story as a person of color. Chu always wanted to...
Nov 12, 2024•13 min
During the campaign, President-elect Trump called for reporters to be imprisoned and for media outlets to lose their licenses over unfavorable coverage, Will he make good on the threats? 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
Nov 11, 2024•9 min
Today, we're sharing an episode of Trump's Trials for listeners. Now that Donald Trump is headed back to the White House the three remaining criminal cases against him will most likely go away. Host Scott Detrow speaks with NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson . Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday. Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials . Email the show at trumpstrials@npr.org . See pcm.ads...
Nov 10, 2024•13 min
