The Rev. Jesse Jackson died this week at the age of 84. The civil rights leader, minister, and protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped shape the modern Democratic Party. Abby Phillip is an anchor at CNN and the author of A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power . She says Jackson’s impact on politics can be traced back to his 1984 and 1988 failed presidential bids. The top of this episode features additional reporting from NPR's Cheryl Corley. This episod...
Feb 17, 2026•10 min
President Trump banned transgender people from the military during his first term. But at the time, service members could continue with their service if they had received an official diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Citing military excellence and readiness, the second Trump administration is now forcibly removing nearly all remaining openly transgender troops – identifying them by their previous diagnoses of gender dysphoria. In their parting messages, they and their allies say it’s only hurting, ...
Feb 16, 2026•11 min
As lawmakers, and people around the country, grapple with what federal immigration enforcement should look like, Janet Napolitano, former DHS Secretary under President Obama, talks about the future - and the past - of ICE. 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 Henry Larson and Kai McNamee. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. Se...
Feb 15, 2026•8 min
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy kicked off a decades-long effort to reduce the risk of nuclear war, when he signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty. Subsequent presidents forged new agreements, but now that global order to safeguard and reduce nuclear arms is deteriorating. This month the last bilateral nuclear treaty between Russia and the United States expired. Meanwhile, President Trump is pushing the international order to a breaking point, and European leaders are speculating about a new path...
Feb 13, 2026•9 min
Congress is approaching yet another Friday funding deadline. So how can the parties find any common ground before DHS runs out of money? NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi of New York about a path forward. 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 Jason Fuller and Elena Burne...
Feb 12, 2026•9 min
The people of Gaza have faced the threat of hunger since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. But after a ceasefire agreement finally came in October last year, aid organizations were able to scale up their deliveries of desperately needed food aid. World Central Kitchen is one of the major organizations fighting hunger in Gaza. This week, it announced a milestone: It is now serving one million meals in Gaza every day. NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with the organization’s founder, celebrity...
Feb 11, 2026•8 min
Attorney General Pam Bondi is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where she’s likely to face questions about the Epstein Files, the Minnesota immigration crackdown and the attempt to prosecute several of President Trump’s perceived political enemies. NPR’s Ailsa Chang talks with Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative journalist Carol Leonnig about how Bondi has reshaped the Department of Justice, and what she’s expecting to hear in Wednesday’s testimony. For sponsor-f...
Feb 10, 2026•11 min
The latest disclosure from the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein is threatening the U.K. ruling government. New documents have led Peter Mandelson, a former ambassador to the U.S., to resign from Britain’s House of Lords and from the Labour Party. The fallout has already claimed two key staff members close to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and some in his own party are calling for him to step down too. Edward Luce, chief U.S. commentator for the Financial Times, helps e...
Feb 09, 2026•10 min
The power to regulate federal elections rests with states and Congress, according to the Constitution. Yet President Trump repeatedly questioned the integrity of election systems, despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and in recent days has urged Republicans to take over voting operations in a number of states. Wendy Weiser, the vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, a think tank and voting rights advocacy group, examines the administration’s a...
Feb 08, 2026•9 min
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Feb 07, 2026•10 min
NPR's Bob Mondello and the search for a voice lost to time. Each day on this podcast we bring you the context behind the headlines. Headlines about President Trump or foreign policy or what's playing out on America's streets. This story is smaller. More personal. About one person’s search for a voice he thought he’d never hear again. But it moved us. And we wanted to share it. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us ...
Feb 06, 2026•9 min
The Trump administration is celebrating an American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommendation to delay gender-related surgeries, which are rare. So how much is changing? The American Society of Plastic Surgeons declared this week that it recommends surgeons delay gender-related surgeries until a patient is at least 19 years old. The Trump administration called the move "another victory for biological truth in the Trump administration,” and said the group "has set the scientific and medical stan...
Feb 05, 2026•8 min
Some people who say AI chatbots upended their lives and the lives of their loved ones, are now turning to each other for support. Around the world, people are talking to AI chatbots, and these chats can sometimes lead to unhealthy emotional attachments or even breaks with reality. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, is facing several lawsuits alleging the chatbot contributed to mental health crises and even multiple suicides. An OpenAI spokesperson told NPR that they are “continuing to improve” ChatGPT...
Feb 04, 2026•9 min
President Trump wants to close the Kennedy Center for two years. He says a massive renovation is coming. But so far, there are few details about what that renovation will look like, physically, and what it will mean to the nation’s performing arts center and its patrons. David Graham has been sifting through the clues, and he talks with NPR about what is known, and what could be lost in the upheaval. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at ...
Feb 03, 2026•8 min
The Justice Department says their review into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is done, with the release of millions of documents and thousands of images and videos last Friday. Annie Farmer is one of many people who testified in court about Epstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell. She says they sexually abused her when she was 16 years old. She's also been a leading voice in calling on the DOJ to release all records related to Epstein. The release included pictures of nude women, or possibly girls...
Feb 02, 2026•10 min
Stephen Cook, the senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Memphis, has become friends with Latif Salar, the leader of the Christ Community Afghan Church - and since the Trump administration halted asylum processing for all immigrants from Afghanistan last Fall, the two have been working closely together to support members of Salar's congregation who fear deportation. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at consid...
Feb 01, 2026•12 min
Tensions remain high in Minnesota. Despite the Trump administration signaling a willingness to de-escalate tensions in the state earlier this week, Minnesota’s governor is now skeptical. “I know who I'm dealing with. I know that they're not going to keep their word,” Walz told NPR. Walz, a Democrat, sat down with All Things Considered host Juana Summers on Friday following weeks of protests, and the deadly shootings of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider Thi...
Jan 30, 2026•12 min
The civilian killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good by federal immigration agents have launched a larger debate in Washington about funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democrats want to carve off DHS money from the broader spending package to keep the government open, and they want new limits on immigration agents, like a prohibition on masks and a requirement that officers carry ID. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he blames the actions of state and loca...
Jan 30, 2026•7 min
After the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Trump administration is making a leadership change in Minneapolis. Will anything change? A new Trump administration official has taken over the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Tom Homan, the White House’s so-called border czar, takes over after the departure of Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino, who has been the public face of the operation, including encounters that left two American citizens dead. NPR's Scott Detrow talks to The Atlantic investigative ...
Jan 28, 2026•11 min
Pennsylvania democratic Governor Josh Shapiro on resisting Trump policies, his faith and whether he plans to run for president. Shapiro is one of the most prominent Jewish officeholders in the US. In a new memoir “Where we Keep the Light” Shapiro explores his faith, as well as his career in politics… one that's taken him from state representative, to Pennsylvania attorney general to a swing state governor. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts ...
Jan 27, 2026•11 min
Tensions escalate in Minneapolis after a second U.S. citizen is killed by immigration officers. It was a deadly weekend in Minneapolis. On Saturday, federal immigration officers fatally shot a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen — Alex Pretti. Multiple videos captured the moments before, during and after the shooting. Federal officials claim Pretti “brandished” a weapon and tried to assault officers as they conducted an immigration enforcement operation. There is no evidence in the videos, wh...
Jan 26, 2026•12 min
The third Minneapolis shooting in three weeks has renewed questions about immigration agents’ role, training, and use of force. Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, says the border patrol and ICE agents operating in Minneapolis aren’t using the kinds of de-escalating tactics that local police have been using for at least a decade. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considert...
Jan 25, 2026•8 min
Even before this latest war in Gaza, NPR’s Jerusalem-based Correspondent Daniel Estrin and Gaza reporter Anas Baba had spent years working together in challenging circumstances. Once war broke out, they had to adapt to a situation that made reporting together even more difficult. 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 Linah Mohammed.. It was edited by Adam Raney a...
Jan 24, 2026•11 min
So much has happened since ICE ramped up efforts in Minneapolis. It can be hard to get a sense of the big picture. Two NPR reporters on the ground do just that. It’s been nearly two months since ICE descended on the streets of Minneapolis. In that time, Renee Macklin Good has been shot and killed, children have been detained, and the federal government’s campaign to arrest undocumented immigrants has only grown bigger, more aggressive, and more intense. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This...
Jan 23, 2026•9 min
Scientists say research into a vaccine for HIV is further along than it’s ever been. But Trump administration cuts to scientific research have set that effort back. Including a promising trial for an HIV vaccine in Africa – which was shut down altogether. NPR’s Ari Daniel has the story of how researchers there refused to give up. Ari’s reporting for this story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. The Gates Foundation is a financial supporter of NPR. This episode was produced by Mal...
Jan 22, 2026•11 min
In the first year of his second term, President Trump has repeatedly said and done things that were previously assumed to be unacceptable to voters. Whether on Greenland or Gaza, federal prosecutions or federal spending, immigration enforcement or sending the U.S. military to protests of immigration enforcement, the Trump administration appears undeterred on almost all of its agenda. As Ashley Parker wrote in The Atlantic this week — the Trump administration has pushed the window of what’s possi...
Jan 22, 2026•8 min
President Trump’s insistence that the U.S. acquire Greenland could become a major international crisis. He's now threatened tariffs on eight NATO allies who have expressed their opposition to the idea, and that is shaking up the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. And more tariffs would increase costs for American businesses at a time when American voters are talking about affordability at home. Willem Marx reports from Davos, and NPR’s Scott Horsley and Mara Liasson recap the ...
Jan 21, 2026•13 min
President Trump has spent his first year back in office blurring the lines between business and government. The administration has bought shares in private companies like Intel and Nvidia, as well as others involved in mining and energy. Trump has also publicly pressured CEOs and forced the restructuring of social media giants like TikTok. NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspan says that’s generating a lot of questions, and worries, about the future of the U.S. economy. For sponsor-free episode...
Jan 19, 2026•7 min
A week after an arson fire at Mississippi's oldest synagogue, Rachel Myers, a leader of the congregation's religious school, talks about how the congregation is doing and how it will rebuild. It’s not the first time the congregation has been attacked. In the late 1960s, the synagogue and the rabbi’s home were bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in retaliation for the congregation’s work on behalf of civil rights. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or...
Jan 18, 2026•10 min
Under the Trump administration, federal prosecutors have been sent to investigate federal lawmakers, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the widow of Renee Macklin Good. The Department of Justice is once again at the center of the news. At least five federal lawmakers say they have been contacted for questioning from federal prosecutors. So has the chairman of the Federal Reserve. And in Minnesota, career federal prosecutors resigned after being asked to investigate not the shooting that kil...
Jan 16, 2026•10 min
