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A total of four high-flying, balloon-like objects have been shot down by US fighter jets this month. Officials have still not said where three of them came from. The United States claims the first one was a Chinese surveillance balloon, which China denies. But American officials have made no definitive statement as to what the other three could be, nor has anyone come forward to claim ownership. N...

Sales of romance novels were up in 2022, with a surge of about 52 percent for sales of print copies, according to Publishers Weekly. That's despite an overall dip in book sales last year. Still, there's a longstanding social stigma against romance novels, as they're often written off as frivolous, or even shameful. NPR's Juana Summers visits a group of readers who are loud and proud about their lo...

One week since arriving in southern Turkey after massive back-to-back earthquakes hit the region, our correspondent recounts what she has seen in seven days of covering the tragedy in Turkey and neighboring Syria. NPR's Ruth Sherlock traveled from Lebanon soon after the quakes hit, and has since reported from both Turkey and Syria. She says thousands of people in both countries are living versions...

Haiti, a country long besieged by political turmoil, was plunged further into chaos in 2021 when then president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Today, gangs run large swaths of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Schools and businesses have shuttered, food, water and gas shortages have spiraled, and Haitians desperate to leave the country have overrun immigration offices hoping for a passport. Pri...

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly is on the ground in Iran, where she spoke directly with Iranians about their grievances against the regime. She later put some of those grievances to Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during a rare in-person interview in Tehran. You can hear more of NPR's interview with Iran's Foreign Minister, on whether Iranians can freely voice their ideas, here . In par...

Negotiating a purchase at a car dealership can be a stressful experience. But once you sign the deal and drive away, the car is yours right? Not necessarily. NPR's Chris Arnold breaks down how some dealerships engage in a practice called a "yo-yo car sale" that can entrap people in bad deals. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on...

President Joe Biden's State of the Union address seemed like business as usual, until one of Biden's remarks drew loud boos from some Republican lawmakers. We ask two House freshmen – Democrat Maxwell Frost of Florida and Republican Mike Lawler of New York – what they made of that moment and how they think the two parties could work together in a narrowly divided Congress. In participating regions...

Communities in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey are struggling in the aftermath of Monday's devastating earthquake and its powerful aftershocks. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports on ongoing rescue efforts in the region. And we speak with Gönül Tol, director of the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute, who is in Hatay province in Turkey. She raises questions about the Turkish government's re...

China and the US were supposed to hold diplomatic talks over the weekend. Instead they sparred over a Chinese balloon that entered American airspace before it was shot down. Where do relations between Washington and Beijing go from here? This wasn't the first time a Chinese surveillance balloon flew into into U.S. airspace. NPR's Greg Myre talks us through past incidents. Then we speak with Jessic...

Football is the most watched sport in the US - and one of the most profitable. The NFL reported that last year, the Super Bowl was watched by two-thirds of Americans. But for some, the popularity and success of the sport are overshadowed by its continuing problems around race - from its handling of players kneeling in protest against the killing of unarmed Black people, to lawsuits over racially b...

More than three years since the start of the COVID pandemic, infectious disease experts are studying other viruses with pandemic potential. Their goal is to understand how pandemics begin and how they can be prevented. This is the focus of the NPR series "Hidden Viruses: How Pandemics Really Begin." In this episode, NPR's Ari Daniel takes us to Bangladesh, where researchers studied a dangerous vir...

The Memphis Police Department has disbanded its special SCORPION unit, after five of the unit's officers were involved in the death of Tyre Nichols. But similar units are still operating across the U.S. Specialized police units are often created after a spike in crime, as officials come under pressure to do something about it. The units often operate with little oversight and develop a reputation...

Pamela Anderson has had an incredibly rich, and varied, career. She's an actress, the author of several books, and a prominent activist - especially for animal rights. But many people still see her primarily as a sex symbol, the archetypal "blonde bombshell." In a new memoir titled "Love, Pamela", Anderson takes control of the narrative, telling her story in her own words. In participating regions...

Signs of a forthcoming recession seem to be everywhere: from grocery stores, where food prices are soaring, to Fortune 500 companies, where workers are being let go by the thousand. Survey after survey shows fears of recession are high. And if one does come, navigating the downturn can be tricky. NPR's Arezou Rezvani shares advice from economists and personal finance experts on how to prepare for...

While some countries are seeing their populations decline and grow older, others are growing fast. That has economic implications. Could migration help? NPR's Emily Feng reports on the long term consequences of China's shrinking population. We also hear from Lant Pritchett, research director with the think tank Labor Mobility Partnerships, about the ways in which migration could help tackle popula...

Americans have grown accustomed to hearing about the latest mass shooting. And recently news coverage has been focused on two tragic events in California — Last weekend eleven people were killed and nine injured in Monterey Park near Los Angeles. And on Monday, seven people were killed and one wounded in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco. In the past 72 hours alone, seventy-one people wer...

Five police officers have been charged with murder and other crimes in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death this month in Memphis. Nichols, who was Black, died after a traffic stop. All five of the officers facing charges are Black. Since the deaths of George Floyd in 2020 and so many others, many police departments have vowed to diversify their forces as a way to help end police brutality and racism w...

Maya Moore stepped away from her stellar basketball career to help free Jonathan Irons, a man who was incarcerated for over two decades on a wrongful conviction. With the help of Moore and her family, Irons was exonerated and released from prison in 2020. Over the course of working on his case, Moore and Irons developed a friendship that turned into love and the pair got married shortly after Iron...

For months, Ukraine pressed western allies for state-of-the-art tanks. For months, Germany and the U.S. resisted. That changed Wednesday. Both countries have now promised to send tanks to Ukraine. The German-made Leopard II and American-made Abrams tanks are considered the best in the world. NPR's Rob Schmitz in Berlin and Greg Myre in Washington explain how Ukraine's allies changed their minds. I...

Since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion, some Muslims in America have sought a better understanding of what their faith says about abortion. NPR's Linah Mohammad reports on the diversity of views within Islam about the issue. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community. Email us at conside...

The people of Monterey Park, California, would normally be celebrating Lunar New Year right now, one of the biggest holidays of the year in a community that is two-thirds Asian. Instead, the city is mourning a terrible loss. Ailsa Chang went to the site of Saturday night's mass shooting in Monterey Park to speak to people there about the tragedy's impact on their community, which is often describe...

Admit it - you've fantasized about what you would do if you hit the lottery and exactly how you would spend your millions - or billions. Spending a few dollars for a chance at a massive jackpot seems irresistible. Roughly half of all Americans buy at least one lottery ticket per year, despite the nearly impossible odds of winning. But some people take it much further. Unlike casino games and sport...

In China, huge numbers of people are expected to travel and gather with family this weekend for the start of the Lunar New Year, just as the country experiences a major surge in COVID infections. NPR's Emily Feng reports that the holiday may be bittersweet for some. We also hear reporting from NPR's Wynne Davis, who collected recipes to help ring in the Lunar New Year . And in Ukraine, many Orthod...

The Justice Department is investigating the mishandling of classified documents linked to President Biden and to his predecessor, former President Trump. Both cases raise questions about how classified information should be handled. NPR's Greg Myre explains how classified material is handled at the White House, and how that compares to other government agencies. And we speak to Yale law professor...

The U.S. will hit its borrowing limit on Thursday, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and her department will need to take "extraordinary measures" to avoid default. That means the clock is ticking for Congress to take action to raise the debt ceiling. For the moment, though, Democrats and Republicans are in a staring match. House Republicans say they won't raise the limit without signi...