Consider This from NPR

Reporting assignments can often lead to unexpected joys and lessons. That was the case when NPR's Natalie Escobar and Ava Berger were sent on the road to tag along with three teenage boys competing in the World Series of Birding. The teens had 24 hours to crisscross New Jersey and tally up the number of bird species they spotted. For this week's Reporter's Notebook we hear from Escobar and Berger...

SpaceX is now publicly traded, and it’s leaning heavily into space and AI. What does that mean for us humans here on earth? Today, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX had a banner day in the stock market. The company is now valued at more than $2 trillion. That is, after an already record-breaking initial public offering, or IPO. That historic IPO is likely to make Musk the world’s first trillionaire. And...

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is key to U.S. counterterrorism efforts. It authorizes U.S. intelligence agencies to intercept the electronic communications of foreign nationals, outside the United States. But foreign nationals also talk to Americans. And lawmakers in both parties have long protested that this collection of phone calls, text messages and emails allow gover...

Some 43 million Americans hold federal student loans.  If you're one of them - or planning to be - some major changes are coming beginning July 1, including new loan limits and an overhaul of repayment plans. How might these changes affect you? NPR education correspondent Cory Turner spells out the changes that are coming and what to expect.  For sponsor-free episodes of  Consider This,  sign up f...

The war with Iran is not popular in the U.S., and President Trump has been trying to negotiate a deal to resolve it. In comparison, the Israeli public is pressing for military defeat of Iran and its allies, such as the militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a parliamentary election this fall which could unseat him from power. So the war that Trump and Netanya...

With his claims about California voter fraud, President Trump is returning to a familiar playbook. Is this a preview of what the midterms could look like? We are still waiting for some results from last Tuesday's primary in California. That election will determine who is on the ballot this fall in the races for governor, Los Angeles mayor, and key congressional districts. But the state is one of t...

The Trump administration is supercharging its aggression toward Latin America. What does the 'Donroe Doctrine' mean for the Western Hemisphere, and could it backfire for the U.S.?  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 Henry Larson and Michael Levitt.  It was...

This week, the Trump administration did a seemingly uncommon thing – it reversed course under pressure. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a House subcommittee this week that the Justice Department would not go forward with its plans to implement a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. Fellow Republicans in Congress who saw it as funneling federal money to the president’s supporters – p...

This month will mark two years since the beginning of the end for Joe Biden’s presidency – when the calls for him to end his campaign for a second term reached a fever pitch following a disastrous debate performance in 2024.  And this month, for the first time, we’re hearing about that period of time from the person closest to the former president: his wife, Jill Biden. In this episode, the former...

For six decades 60 Minutes has been one of the most trusted news programs in America… is CBS leadership making changes that could destroy the program’s future? Over the last week, some of the biggest names at 60 Minutes have been fired from CBS News. Executive Producer Tanya Simon, correspondents: Sharon Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and last night Scott Pelley. Pelley was fired after he confronted CBS le...

DOGE cuts, global confusion and the devastating effect on an HIV/AIDS organization in Mozambique. Mozambique has the second-largest AIDS epidemic in the world. And Gaza province is the hardest hit spot in the country. NPR's Juana Summers recently traveled there to see how the Trump administration’s cuts left aid organizations scrambling. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C on...

A New Jersey immigration facility is the latest hot spot for protests against Trump's immigration policy. What's happening inside, and could the situation outside worsen? The Delaney Hall Detention Facility has been the site of intense protests since last month, and they’ve become increasingly violent in recent days. Family members of detainees say a hunger and labor strike has begun inside the pr...

As aid groups warn that the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa is worsening, Nicholas Enrich, the former acting assistant administrator for global health at US AID, worries the U.S. capacity to stop this crisis - or future ones - is less robust than it was. 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.or...

For his series What's Eating America, NPR reporter Joe Hernandez has been examining how people across the country are adapting to high food prices. In this week's Reporter's Notebook, Hernandez discusses how he got Americans to share their very personal stories connected to the food and affordability. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at...

Louisiana leads the country in crawfish production, bringing more than $300 million to the state each year. What happens when there aren't enough employees to get them to buyers?  Farmers, landscapers and the hospitality industry have long argued that the U.S. government doesn’t issue enough temporary visas to meet seasonal labor needs.  Current limits under Trump’s second term have worsened that...

American presidents have long used scripture as a rhetorical resource to frame important moments in the nation’s history. But the Trump administration has used the Bible in different ways to publicly frame policies such as immigration crackdowns and military actions abroad. NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose explores specific instances when Trump administration officials have invoked the Bibl...

Community health programs in South Africa have been heavily impacted by U.S. cuts to global aid. Which means there are fewer community and health workers to support low-income people with HIV and AIDS. We recently visited one of those programs, called We Care, to learn more about the experiences of the few employees who still remain. For sponsor-free episodes of  Consider This,  sign up for C onsi...

U.S. forces struck Iranian boats and missile launch sites in southern Iran on Monday, in what U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins has called "self-defense strikes ... to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces."  Iran says it shot down three U.S. drones.  Despite the violence, neither Iran nor the United States appear to be pulling back on diplomatic efforts to reac...

In recent days, the news has been filled with some eyebrow-raising choices by the Trump administration. Like the disclosure of thousands of stock trades, being granted immunity from IRS audits, and the DOJ's nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. These actions have raised questions from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.  Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Ju...

Throughout the war, the U.S.’ main objectives have fluctuated from regime change, to stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, to reopening the strategic straight of Hormuz. Robert Kagan, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, explains why the U.S. will likely come out of the war weaker than before. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for C onsider This+ via Apple Podca...

Media mogul Byron Allen owns the Weather Channel, a bunch of local TV and cable channels and also recently acquired a majority stake in Buzzfeed. And on Friday, he’s bringing his show  Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen  to the CBS time slot long held by  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Host Ailsa Chang spoke with Byron Allen about his plans for  Comics Unleashed  and why he thinks there’s stil...

With Trump's DOJ anti-weaponization fund, Jan. 6 defendants may go from prison to payday. Can the police officers who defended the Capitol stop them? The new “Anti-Weaponization Fund” from the Trump Department of Justice is a pot of money worth almost $1.8 billion from a settlement between President Trump, and the government he leads.  Trump officials say anyone who believes they were victims of “...

Special education teachers are using artificial intelligence to manage crushing paperwork. Could it help instructors spend more time with their students? Millions of students qualify for special education and they need qualified  teachers to help them. But burnout for these teachers has caused many to leave the profession – one reason –  the paperwork  Now, a growing number of special educators ar...

More than a decade ago, Ron Klain helped orchestrate the U.S. response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, as the White House Ebola response coordinator under President Obama.  Now, with a fast-growing outbreak of a different strain of Ebola, in a different part of Africa, the public health infrastructure to address an outbreak has vastly changed, following the Trump administration’s dismantling...

Is Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg ready to lead? We ask him. Schlossberg seems to be trying to follow the path his grandfather John F. Kennedy took when he was elected to Congress almost eight decades ago. And his campaign has momentum. Lots of attention, favorable press and the endorsement of Speaker of the House emeritus Nancy Pelosi. But now after the New York Times article – he’s speaking out –...