Consider This from NPR

A little less than six months out from the general election, it seems like a new poll comes out every few minutes. In the constantly shifting data, every presidential candidate wants to know how to attract voters under 30. 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

Hollywood depictions have long helped inform America's understanding of the Vietnam War. But there was usually one thing missing from these Vietnam War stories: the Vietnamese perspective. For Vietnamese Americans, like author Viet Thanh Nguyen, that experience left him feeling confused as a child. In his Pulitzer-winning debut novel The Sympathizer, Nguyen filled that gap by telling the story of...

For American Jews who grew up thinking antisemitism was a thing of the past, the last several years have been startling. White supremacists marched in Charlottesville. A gunman massacred worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Then came the Hamas attacks of October 7th and Israel's war in Gaza. The Anti-Defamation League says since then, antisemitic incidents in the US are up 361% over the same...

A conservative group posted a social media thread showing flyers in a border encampment in Mexico urging migrants to vote for Joe Biden. Now, the woman caught up in it, speaks to NPR. 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 . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pe...

The Girl Scouts have been part of American childhood for generations. And now that quintessential experience is helping young girls, who are new to the United States get a sense of belonging. It comes through a Girl Scout troop based in one of New York City's largest migrant shelters. The shelter has around 3,500 migrants, and all of the Girl Scouts are children of families seeking asylum. For the...

America is a land of contradictions; while we're known as a nation that loves to eat, we also live within a culture that has long valued thinness as the utmost beauty standard. Over the last several years the body positivity movement has pushed back on that notion. But then came a new class of weight-loss drugs. New York Magazine contributing writer Samhita Mukhopadhyay grapples with the possible...

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have turned their attention on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently. And the fact that the major party candidates are either trying to criticize him or praise him is a sign that his independent candidacy could have a real impact. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at...

When Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit screens across the country in 1999, Return of the Jedi felt like ancient history to Star Wars fans. But after 16 long years, the movie let down fans and critics alike. Twenty-five years have changed how a lot of people feel. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Email us at co...

Louis Sahagún first arrived at the Los Angeles Times in his early twenties as a utility worker, sweeping lead dust around the printing machines. But it was the buzzing newsroom that inspired Sahagún to soon spend his lifetime writing stories about the undiscovered characters and corners of California. Now after 43 years, he's retiring from the paper, and reflecting on what motivated him to cover a...

The Biden administration has put a hold on an arms shipment to Israel. A senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity told NPR it was due to concerns the bombs could be used in Rafah. Rafah is the site of Israel's latest campaign in its war against Hamas. It's also home to some 1.3 million Palestinians. More than half of those people have fled fighting in other parts of Ga...

Brittney Griner didn't know the flight she was taking to Moscow in February 2022 would upend her life. But even before she left for the airport, Griner felt something was off. It was a premonition that foreshadowed a waking nightmare. She had accidentally left two vape cartridges with traces of cannabis oil in her luggage. What followed was nearly 10 months of struggle in a cell, and diplomatic ef...

The term "outside agitator" has staying power. It's been used against protestors throughout history, from the Civil Rights Movement, to the anti-Vietnam War protests and now during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses. "Outside agitator" was also used to describe some of the people who protested the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri In 2014. Who exactly are the "outs...

On Friday, China launched its Chang'e-6 mission carrying a probe to the far side of the moon to gather samples and bring them back to Earth. If successful, it would be a first, for any country. The race to get astronauts back on the moon is in full swing. The U.S. has serious competition. China wants to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Other countries are in the race, too. If the U.S. stays on...

Welcome to Wild Card with Rachel Martin . In this first episode, Rachel talks to Jenny Slate, known for her roles in Obvious Child , Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Parks and Recreation . Jenny opens up about whether fate brought her to her husband, what she's sacrificed for motherhood and what's so special about margarine and white bread sandwiches. Subscribe to Wild Card here. See pcm.adswizz...

Larry Demeritte is the first Black trainer participating in the Kentucky Derby in 35 years. And while the betting-books have his colt West Saratoga running at long odds, Demeritte, who is battling chronic illness and cancer, is feeling confident. For the 70-something veteran trainer, this is his first time at the Derby, but he is part of a rich history of Black horsemen who helped shape the Kentuc...

If you go by headlines, the last 12 months have delivered major wins to organized labor. But despite well publicized victories the rate of U.S. union membership fell to a record low in 2023. Just 10%. And in southern states, the push to unionize can still be a grinding, uphill battle. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Ema...

From New York — to Illinois — to Los Angeles — encampments in support of Palestinians dot campuses across the country. And over the last couple of days the tension has only increased as police have intervened on several campuses, including Columbia University, UCLA and the University of Texas. Hundreds of protestors have been arrested. Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses are growing in sc...

Dame Judi Dench has played everyone from the writer Iris Murdoch to M in the James Bond films. But among the roles the actress is most closely associated, are Shakespeare's heroines and some of his villians. Amongst those roles are the star-crossed lover Juliet, the comical Titania and the tragic Lady Macbeth. Now she's reflecting on that work, and Shakespeare's work in Shakespeare: The Man Who Pa...

Protests against Israel's war in Gaza on college campuses have expanded across the country. They're the biggest student protests, since college students demonstrated against the Vietnam war in the late sixties and early seventies. What do the campus protests of today have in common with those of the sixties? How might they affect the policies of their universities and the US government? Thirty yea...

Three decades ago, South Africa held its first democratic election, closing the door on the apartheid era. And Nelson Mandela was elected its first Black president. Today, the country is still led by Mandela's political party - the African National Congress. But polls show that voters are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the party's leadership, and next month's national elections could lead...

During the early days of the pandemic, former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins became a familiar voice steering the country through an unprecedented public health crisis. Now, he is going through his own health crisis, an aggressive form of prostate cancer. By talking about it publicly he hopes to draw attention to routine screening. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider...

Last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a strict immigration law making it harder to hire undocumented workers. But like much of the country, Florida is dealing with a tight labor market and some employers are struggling to find workers. NPR's Jasmine Garsd reports on how the law is affecting the state's economy, from construction sites, to strawberry fields. For sponsor-free episodes of C...

One of Richard Nixon's most famous quotes...right up there with "I am not a crook"... had to do with presidential immunity. "When the president does it" he said "that means that it is not illegal." That idea – that you can't prosecute someone for actions taken as president - the Supreme Court has never actually ruled on it. On Thursday, the Justices will take a crack, with the federal election int...

Americans often rank the economy as a number one voting issue. As part of NPR's "We the Voters" series we check back in with four Americans we've been following since the pandemic. They share how they're faring in a the current economy, and how that might influence the positions they take in the 2024 presidential election. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via...

The broad outlines of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case have been known for months. Hush money payments to a former porn star made in 2016, when Trump was a presidential candidate. Bragg alleges Trump was involved in a scheme to cover up those payments, one that amounted to criminal fraud. Now we're getting a more detailed outline of their arguments – and Trump's defense. We break dow...