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HIV has been in retreat around the world. Fewer people are dying of the disease. New infections are decreasing. More HIV positive people have access to life saving medicine. Those trend lines have been moving in the right direction for decades. And US investment is one big reason. The Trump Administration dismantled foreign assistance through USAID, it continued PEPFAR — the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief — but much of the work is either no longer happening or happening at a very red...
For many young conservatives, Charlie Kirk was more than just another political activist or online personality. He was the face of their movement -- a glimpse at how life for their generation could look by embracing a more hard-right, MAGA worldview. Charlie Kirk's followers are in shock and grief over his assassination. As they try to make sense of his killing, many are also asking what's next for the movement he started. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ vi...
The 9/11 terrorism case has been in legal limbo for more than a decade and many doubt the case will ever make it to take to trial. That’s partly because the defendants were tortured in secret CIA prisons, so there are ongoing legal fights over what evidence is admissible. Meanwhile, the accused men are at the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and thousands of 9/11 family members wait for a resolution. NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with two young people whose fathers died in the World T...
Six years after his death in prison, sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to dominate the news. A House committee has released a suggestive note sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday that is signed "Donald J. Trump." The White House continues to deny now President Trump wrote or signed it. Separately, a New York Times investigation tracked Epstein's relationship to the country's leading bank, JPMorgan Chase. It concludes that the bank enabled his sex crimes, even as evidence against him piled ...
Chris Hugues has what he calls an interesting job. He’s an assistant operator at a wastewater treatment plant in Cavendish, Vermont. On a recent August afternoon he gave NPR’s Jenna McLaughlin a tour of the plant. Hughes loves his work, in all its technical, mathematical, chemical, and yes, dirty, glory. But lately, Hughes has had to worry about a new hazard: cyberattacks. The threat of someone cutting water off for Americans is real. Chinese hackers recently spent nearly a year inside a Massach...
Over the weekend, President Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a character from the war film “Apocalypse Now” and, in that same post, seemingly threatened “WAR” in Chicago; later, the president indicated that sending in troops would be to clean up cities, not to go to war. But weeks of talk of sending federal troops into Chicago has set the city on edge. NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Dr. Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who has studied pol...
President Trump has vowed to abolish the Department of Education. He’s pressured schools to end DEI initiatives and protections for transgender students. He's rescinded guidelines that barred immigration enforcement at schools. So what could Trump’s policies mean for kids in public schools? We get answers from NPR education correspondent Cory Turner and NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro . For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Ap...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a scathing line of questioning from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the Senate on Thursday. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic and is using his position as Secretary of Health and Human Services to radically change vaccine policy. In recent weeks, there have been a number of public health officials who have resigned or been fired, creating chaos at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies. Federal employees are also speaking out, ...
The one thing certain about the COVID vaccine right now is that everything about it is changing. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the next round of COVID-19 vaccines for the fall season, but it significantly changed who can get it. The move comes amidst a broader effort by the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to change policy and guidance around many vaccines. At this point — we’re guessing you have lots of questions about vaccination in general, but e...
“Chief diversity officer” was once Corporate America’s hottest job. Now corporate America has retreated from DEI and slashed thousands of jobs. So where does that leave the people who’ve built careers around that work? Hear the story of one veteran executive who’s been job-hunting for more than a year. 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 . This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink and Chri...
So many movies are made about the beginning of a relationship. That first spark of attraction. That first kiss. The new dark comedy “The Roses” is about the other end – when it's all falling apart. Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman star as Theo and Ivy, a couple who was once very much in love. Two children and a transatlantic move later, they’re now struggling to save their marriage. No one thinks it’s going to work – including their therapist. Cumberbatch and Colman sit down with host Mary...
The Trump Administration has made significant changes to the departments in charge of public health. So what does that mean for the health of average Americans and to the future of public health research? NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency medicine physician who also teaches public health policy at Brown University. 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. This epis...
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans twenty years ago this week, leaving a trail of destruction across the city and the Gulf Coast. NPR journalists were on the ground covering the developing story of what became the costliest storm in U.S. history. NPR’s Greg Allen reflects on covering the catastrophe and digs into the archives to remember the feel of the city after the storm. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at...
Before he entered politics, most Americans knew Donald Trump as an entertainer. As the host of the hit show “The Apprentice” he was catapulted to a new level of fame. That persona has carried over to Trump’s political life as he embraces his role as entertainer-in-chief. In this term, unlike the first, Trump has taken aim at cultural institutions. He initiated a takeover of the Kennedy Center, has declared that Smithsonian exhibits must submit to White House scrutiny, and he’s successfully sued ...
The war in Gaza is approaching the 2 year mark. As it does, Israel continues to launch new attacks on a territory that is already in ruins. And the humanitarian situation for Gaza’s Palestinian residents continues to worsen. A team of NPR reporters has been focusing on one question: how did we get here? 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 . This episode was produced by Mia Venkat and Danie...
What happens when the federal government owns part of a company? That’s one of MANY questions about federal policy right now, as the Trump Administration aggressively pushes for stakes — and oversight — of major private companies. This week, the White House announced it was taking a ten percent stake in the struggling technology giant Intel. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says the administration is considering similar moves with other companies tied to the defense industry, too. Trump looks r...
For over two weeks, members of the National Guard have been walking the streets of Washington, D.C. -- alongside federal law enforcement and local police. President Trump has said there is a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital -- and has openly hinted at taking similar actions in other Democratic-led cities like Chicago, New York and Baltimore. But while the president has unique authorities over the District of Columbia, federalizing the National Guard in U.S. states will require a higher ...
The Trump administration is deploying a new strategy to speed up deportations. Government lawyers are asking immigration judges to dismiss on-going cases. Then, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrest people as soon as they step out of the courtroom. The process is often chaotic. And for immigrants without legal status, it's also very risky. NPR immigration policy reporter Ximena Bustillo went to an immigration court in New York City to see how that process unfolds – and found herself...
Once hailed as a game-changer, the AI revolution is now facing scrutiny as recent developments, including ChatGPT's latest version and a high failure rate for corporate AI pilots, cast doubt on its projected exponential growth. Computer science professor Cal Newport explains the technical limitations behind this slowdown, detailing the shift from 'pre-training' to more incremental 'post-training' improvements. The discussion also critically examines the significant economic and environmental costs of AI development, prompting a re-evaluation of its true value and future direction if it's not leading to a truly transformative artificial general intelligence.
Normally, foreign policy summits between world leaders involve painstaking planning and organization days and weeks in advance. The hectic and last minute nature of the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska provided a window into how so much of what’s happening to try and end a brutal war in Ukraine, is being made up on the fly. NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly, who has covered her share of high stakes diplomatic meetings between some of the world’s most powerful ...
The people of Northern Gaza are starving. That’s according to an official declaration by a United Nations-backed group of experts, who comprise the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification or IPC. They say that famine has officially reached Gaza city and could soon reach other areas of the territory. Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has says there is no famine in Gaza, and that food shortages are the result of Hamas seizing aid shipments.Jean-Martin Bauer is the director of ...
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, leaving more than 1300 people dead and becoming the most expensive hurricane in history with overall economic losses estimated at $125 billion. It was also a harbinger of what would happen to hurricanes in the years to follow, as climate change would make them an increasingly powerful and a regular threat. NPR Alejandra Borunda explains how the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina spurred a better understanding of these intensif...
President Trump says the administration’s takeover of DC is making life safer. But many of the city’s residents and business owners are questioning the administration’s moves? So what exactly is the goal of the federal takeover in DC? 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 . This episode was produced by Avery Keatley and Megan Lim, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Courtn...
Anna Corrigan grew up in Dublin, Ireland. She thought she was an only child, until she was in her 50s and discovered a family secret. Corrigan found documents showing her mother had spent time in one of Ireland’s so-called mother and baby homes — places where single women went to give birth. And that she had given birth to two sons there. Two brothers that Corrigan never knew she had. It's part of a sad history in Ireland that is now being unearthed, literally. Scientists believe that nearly 800...
In the last few days, President Trump has met separately with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, in an attempt to break the deadlock and end the war. Today’s meeting at the White House between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemed to go much better than last time, when Zelenskyy left early after a heated argument in the Oval Office. In fact, Zelenskyy hailed today’s meeting as “the best one” yet. Even so, the next steps to ending the war are unclear. Russian President Vladi...
President Trump turned to the Heritage Foundation help pick his appointee to lead a traditionally non-partisan agency. NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with political science professor E.J. Fagan, author of “The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics” to understand why Trump’s close relationship with the conservative think tank matters. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us a...
Paris has increasingly found itself on the frontline of the climate crisis and covering the city and the rest of France now means regularly reporting on deadly climate events. NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Eleanor Beardsley about how climate has become core to the Paris beat. 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 . This episode was produced by Noah Caldwell and Jonaki Mehta. It was edited ...
This summer, the island of Puerto Rico has been under the thrall of Bad Bunny. His 30-concert residency at a stadium in San Juan is a homecoming for the global superstar. It's also a homecoming for many thousands of people who left home – but are flocking back for the shows. NPR’s Adrian Florido reports on how the concerts are resonating with Puerto Ricans on and off the island. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email u...
American Presidents have been trying to manage Russian President Vladimir Putin since the beginning of this century. There was George W. Bush, who met with Putin 28 times. Barack Obama and Putin sat down together 9 times. Joe Biden met with Putin only once. Past presidents had hoped to strike deals and push Russia toward a more democratic society. Instead, Russia started wars and tried to expand its borders. Soon, President Trump heads here to Alaska for his seventh meeting with Putin – and like...
”The global trading system as we have known it is dead.” Those are the words of former US Trade Representative Michael Froman. He’s now President of the Council on Foreign Relations. If the era of global free trade is over, the question is…what comes next? 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 . This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink and Tyler Bartlam. It was edited by Courtney Dorning. O...
