Consider This from NPR

For the last 60 years a transportation revolution has largely passed America by. Bullet trains were invented in Japan in the early 1960s. Since then, countries all over the world have adopted the technology and constructed sprawling networks of high speed rail lines. Despite spending billions of dollars in federal funding, he U.S. lags far behind. But a recent visit from Japan's Prime minister has...

Civil War, the new A24 film from British director Alex Garland, imagines a scenario that might not seem so far-fetched to some; a contemporary civil war breaking out in the United States. And while the film has taken heat for little mention of politics, the question of an actual civil war has everything to do with it. Amy Cooter is a director of research at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and...

Back in 1999 when Donald Trump was flirting with a presidential run, he was pro-abortion rights. In an interview on Meet the Press with NBC's Tim Russert, the New York real estate developer said he didn't like abortion, but he wouldn't ban it. Fast forward almost two decades, and Trump was running for the republican presidential nomination, and he had a very different stance on abortion, even sugg...

Salman Rushdie is probably most closely associated with his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, a book inspired by the life of the prophet Muhummad. The book was notorious not just for its contents but because of the intense backlash, and the threat it posed to his safety and wellbeing. While Rushdie saw it as an exploration of Islamic culture, some Muslims saw it as blasphemous. The year after it publ...

In 1994, the world watched as genocide unfolded in Rwanda. Nearly one million people died as neighbors brutally killed their neighbors. Paul Rusesabagina is credited for keeping more than 1,200 people safe in his hotel through weeks of violence. His life and story inspired the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda. In 2021, Rusesabagina says he was kidnapped, tried and imprisoned in Rwanda for two years and seve...

Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, saying it was in response to an airstrike earlier this month that hit Iran's consulate in Syria and killed seven Iranian military officials, including two generals. Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the Syria strike, though the Pentagon said Israel was responsible. Sima Shine is a former s...

On Monday, former President Donald Trump will enter a Manhattan courtroom for his first criminal trial. But before a verdict can be rendered a jury must be selected. And for Trump's legal team that is going to be a challenge. A small number of attorneys have faced a similar challenge — how do you select an impartial jury when your client is famous? Host Scott Detrow speaks with attorney Camille Va...

For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been insisting that the goal of Israel's bombardment in Gaza is to "destroy Hamas." But in the path of that destruction, more than 33,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Regular people, entire families, and more than 13,000 children. Yet, it's not clear if Israel is any closer to its stated goal of destroying Hamas. In fact, is it p...

O.J. Simpson was more than a football star. More than a pop culture icon or a defendant acquitted of murder. He became a symbol of America's complicated relationship to race, celebrity, and justice. His family announced that he died of cancer Wednesday at age 76. The murder trial of O.J. Simpson became not only about one man and two victims, but the entire country. Coming up, we assess the legacy...

In recent years, the body positivity movement has raised its profile, especially on social media, largely through self-described anti-diet and body positivity influencers. These influencers and others like them represent a pivot away from the diet and fitness culture embodied by companies like weight watchers, which focuses on losing weight as a path to healthier living. Today there is a broad "an...

Many of us don't have the opportunity to handpick our neighbors. We buy or rent a place in a neighborhood with good schools or an easy commute. Some of us become friends with those who live nearby, others of us never talk to our neighbors at all. For most though, we co-exist. In the midst of a brutal civil war, neighbors killed their neighbors simply because of who they were. Thirty years ago this...

Researchers are finding that the impact of relationships with siblings —for better or worse — can be important, and endure well beyond childhood. 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

Tomorrow, the Great American Eclipse will sweep across North America, and millions will experience total darkness. It's an eerie and mysterious experience even though at this point, we know exactly what's happening: the moon passes in front of the sun, casting a shadow over earth. But imagine you lived in the ancient world, with no warning that an eclipse was about to happen, as the sun's disk sud...

The American response to Israel's war with Hamas could be a major factor in the upcoming Congressional elections. 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

Bird flu has spread to cows. And now a human has contracted the virus from an infected cow. What kind of risk does this virus pose to people, and are we prepared to treat it? 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

The recent transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human raises hopes that lives will no longer depend on the availability of human donor organs. 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

One week after a massive container ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse, a massive effort is underway to clear the wreckage. But it's still unclear how long the cleanup will take. Meanwhile, with much of the Port of Baltimore shut down, the economic impact is being felt locally, regionally and in the broad economy. Host Mary Louise Kelly gets the latest fr...

When news outlets shut down in a city, that creates what's often called a news desert. But in Richmond, California, NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik says the situation is more like a news mirage. Energy giant Chevron is the biggest employer - and the biggest polluter in the California city. Chevron also owns the local news site. How does that impact the community there? NPR's Mary Louise...

Hawaii is no stranger to extravagant homes owned by the super-rich. But when a tech billionaire started buying up land in Waimea, a small, rural town on the Big Island, the community got curious - and worried. Locals fear it will become even more difficult for Native Hawaiians to afford to live in Waimea and buy property. In Hawaii, the average home price is close to a million dollars. Who's purch...

Shirley Chisholm made history in 1968 as the first Black woman ever elected to Congress. Four years later, the New York representative made history again when she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, the first woman and the first African American to do so. A new Netflix movie, called simply "Shirley," tells her story. Host Ailsa Chang speaks with Regina King, who plays Shirley Chisholm...

This week Russian authorities extended the detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich. Authorities have yet to provide any evidence to backup charges that Gershkovich was spying, and no trial date has been set. 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

People who work on ways to end poverty have been trying a simple approach lately: just giving money to those in need, with no strings attached. Universal basic income, or UBI, once seemed like a radical idea in the US. But now, many places in the country are pushing to make UBI a permanent part of the social safety net. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal d...

Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed early Tuesday morning after a cargo ship rammed into it. As search and rescue efforts continue, federal investigators are trying to understand what led to the collapse. 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

Famine is a man-made disaster affecting millions in conflict zones. 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

Suicide rates for queer and trans people are disproportionately high. They're also routinely targets of violence and hate crimes. While some states have protections for queer and trans people, many other states have passed laws that restrict the rights and visibility of transgender individuals. The stories of Nex Benedict and Dime Doe illustrate both those trends. Benedict died by suicide the day...