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One year ago, on August 15, 2021, the Taliban swept into power in Kabul. It's a day that many remember, as videos and images showed a chaotic scene at the Kabul airport, with thousands of Afghans desperately trying to flee the country. Lt. Col. Chris Richardella was one of the officers leading the U.S. Marine Corps at the airport when the Taliban took over. In a conversation with NPR's Mary Louise...

At one point, over 90% of African Americans with a college degree obtained it from an HBCU. But in the decades following the legal dismantling of segregation, enrollment declined at HBCUs. Recently, some HBCUs have seen a significant rise in applications. The boost could be due to more funding, celebrity students, or famous HBCU grads like Vice President Kamala Harris. But informal conversations w...

Former President Donald Trump is dominating headlines yet again. Earlier this week, the FBI took several boxes of secret and top secret documents from Mar-a-Lago during a search of Trump's home. And on Friday, a federal judge unsealed the warrant for the search – plus a list of what was taken from the property. NPR's Carrie Johnson explains what the unsealed warrant reveals, and what comes next. B...

Up until a few weeks ago, meaningful climate legislation was sidelined in the U.S. Senate. But after months of wrangling votes — and adding concessions to oil and gas companies — Democrats in the Senate have finally passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill includes more than $300 billion in climate investments — the highest amount ever allocated by the federal government to tackle climate chan...

In Republican politics, one of the biggest issues in the 2022 election is the 2020 election. In at least 8 states so far, Republicans have picked candidates for Secretary of State who deny the results of the last presidential election. This is despite the fact that not a shred of evidence calls President Biden's victory into question. If elected, they would become the chief elections officer in th...

Researchers at an American national laboratory spent years developing cutting-edge vanadium redox flow batteries. But now, a Chinese company is making those batteries in a factory in northeastern China. An investigation from NPR's Laura Sullivan and Northwest News Network's Courtney Flatt shows how the U.S. federal government gave away American-made technology to China. In participating regions, y...

All eyes are on Kherson. In Ukraine's first major offensive of the war, soldiers are pushing towards the city, trying to retake it from Russian troops. It's a transport hub and key river crossing, and reclaiming it would be a huge victory for Ukraine. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf brings us the story of Vitaly, a 22-year-old college student in Kherson. Since the city first fell, he has sent NPR voice memos d...

Bashar Murad's danceable riffs and live concerts and videos - filled with bubbles, enormous hats, and layers and layers of veils - have earned him the nickname "Palestinian Lady Gaga" from his fans. And much like Born This Way is an anthem of equality, Murad's songs challenge conservative social norms and push for LGBTQ rights while also challenging the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Earlier...

This week the Biden administration declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency. And as the number of cases in the U.S. continues to climb, there's a lot of confusion about the disease, how it spreads and who's most at-risk. NPR health correspondents Pien Huang and Michaeleen Doucleff join us to discuss the current outbreak. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segm...

With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the U.S. airstrike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, there's a lot to talk about with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan these days. He weighs in on all three in a sit-down interview with NPR. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going...

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, a dozen states have implemented laws banning or severely restricting abortion. Those laws have consequences for wanted pregnancies, too. NPR's Carrie Feibel brings us the story of a woman in Texas whose pregnancy took a sudden turn. Because of the state's abortion law, her case became a medical crisis. This episode also includes reporting from NPR's Sarah McCammon an...

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan over the weekend. For years, al-Zawahiri was Osama Bin Laden's deputy — and was known as the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks. NPR's Greg Myre and Diaa Hadid discuss the implications of al-Zawahiri's death for the U.S., Afghanistan, and America's decades-long war on terror. This episode also featur...

Dee Davis remembers watching his grandmother float by in a canoe during the 1957 flood that hit Whitesburg, Ky. The water crested at nearly 15 feet back then--a record that stood for over half a century, until it was obliterated last week. The water was more than six feet higher than the 1957 mark when floodwater destroyed the gauge. The flooding took out bridges and knocked houses off their found...

You may have never heard the phrase abortion doula, but for years they have been working to support people navigating the process and experience of ending a pregnancy. With Roe overturned, depending on where you live, figuring out how to obtain an abortion has gotten much harder. This could make the role of abortion doulas more critical than ever --- and more risky. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with...

This week, Pope Francis has been in Canada, on what he calls a "Pilgrimage of Penance". He's been going around the country to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in Canada's residential school system. These schools – funded by the Canadian government and administered by the Catholic Church – were aimed at erasing the culture and language of indigenous people. The apology from Pope Francis thi...

The BA.5 variant is the most dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's highly transmissible and it's driving up COVID cases and hospitalizations. This week NPR learned that the Biden administration may scrap plans to let more younger adults get second COVID-19 boosters this summer. Instead, officials are trying to speed up availab...

Residential hotels used to play a huge role in the American housing landscape, providing flexible accommodation for anyone who needed it, from the rich and famous to the barely scraping by. Slate staff writer Henry Grabar argues that a return of extended-stay hotels could help solve some of today's housing market dysfunction. KNKX's Will James reports on what happened after tenants of a residentia...

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured images of the universe that have stunned both scientists and the public. But for more than twenty years before its launch, the mission faced multiple delays, cost overruns, technical difficulties and threats from Congress to kill it altogether. We'll speak with some of the leaders of the Webb telescope mission who fought to keep it alive — and hear from...

Food, gas, rent — prices are climbing across the board. As inflation hit a 40-year high last month, millions of Americans are adjusting their spending and looking for ways to stretch their budgets. The Federal Reserve is taking action, too. Policy makers are meeting this week to consider whether and how much to raise interest rates in an effort to curb inflation. We talk to NPR's chief economics c...

This week dozens of family members of victims of the Uvalde Texas school shooting showed up at the town's first school board meeting since a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in May. The atmosphere became tense and emotional as families confronted board members, demanding assurances that students and staff would be safe in the coming school year. The school board meeting followed the rele...

This week the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol wrapped up its first set of public hearings. The final hearing focused on former President Trump's actions - or lack of action - as rioters breached the Capitol. As the hearings continue, the Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation. And Attorney General Merrick Garland is under pressure...

Record high temperatures have wreaked havoc around the world this week. In Southern England, railway tracks bent from the heat. In China, the roof tiles on a museum melted. In Texas, heat and a dry spell have caused nearly 200 water main breaks over the past month. And extreme heat puts lives at risk, too. It's more deadly than tornadoes, hurricanes, and all other weather events combined. Extreme...

Talking about abortion can be difficult even among adults. So how do you talk to kids about it? We asked listeners to send us their questions — and brought together two experts to answer them. Reena B. Patel, a parenting expert and licensed educational psychologist in San Diego, California, and Dr. Elise Berlan, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist in Columbus, Ohio, join us to talk a...

How serious is the U.S. about investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine? They put Eli Rosenbaum on the case. He's best known for directing the Department of Justice special investigations unit which tracked down Nazis who had gone into hiding after World War II. He lays out the challenges of conducting an investigation in the midst of an ongoing war. This episode also features reporting from NPR...

Interest in birth control and emergency contraception has surged since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion. But safe and reliable birth control isn't always easy to access. Now the FDA is considering whether to make birth control pills available without a prescription. If approved, it would be the first over-the-counter oral contraceptive in the U.S. We also hear from NPR's Nel...