Consider This from NPR

This week Arkansas became the first state to outlaw gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, as the state legislature overrode a veto by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Hutchinson tells NPR why he opposed the bill, which will become law later this summer. Dr. Joshua Safer, the executive director at Mount Sinai's Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, explains why gender-affirming...

The details in President Biden's proposed $2 trillion infrastructure plan have a lot to do with protecting the environment. There's a new clean electricity standard and a focus on low-income communities hit hardest by climate change. But will it be enough? NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports on how some progressives in congress wished Biden's plan was more ambitious. While many republicans, like Sen...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's mixed messaging on travel reveals the uncertain future of the pandemic, Dr. Monica Gandhi tells NPR. Gandhi is an infectious disease expert at the University of California San Francisco. In the future, some travelers may be required to verify their vaccine status to enter a stadium or attend a wedding. Dr. Zeke Emanuel , a professor of medical ethic...

Home prices are soaring around the U.S. Amid low inventory and historically low interest rates, some buyers are hitting the market to find they can't compete with all-cash offers, or bidding wars that escalate well out of their price range. Sean Hawksford in Bozeman, Mont., is one of those buyers. He told his story to NPR's daily economic podcast, The Indicator . NPR's Chris Arnold explains why th...

Two Easters have now come and gone since the pandemic began, and the need for restrictions has not gone away. It has faith communities wondering when things will get back to normal. NPR's Lee Hale reports on how faith leaders have approached worship differently since the pandemic began. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage...

Bills under consideration in dozens of states target trans youth by focusing on two things: health care and sports. Some bills have already become law in states including South Dakota, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama. One of the harshest measures is an Alabama, where a bill would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming therapy to anyone under the age of 19. NPR's Melissa Block re...

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is giving us all hope that we'll be back to some sense of normal soon, but the pandemic will likely still play a role in what college life looks like next fall. We asked some high school seniors what questions they have about deciding where to go to school and what college life is like during a pandemic. To help with answering those questions and sharing some advice, w...

Scientists are growing concerned the U.S. may be headed for a fourth wave. COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly, mirroring an increase in many countries around the world. Harvard epidemiologist Bill Hanage tells NPR he's worried another surge in the U.S. will fuel the spread of the variant known as B.1.1.7. In the meantime, there's new evidence that vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are effective at p...

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's trial began this week. He's accused of murdering Minneapolis resident George Floyd in May of 2020, when Chauvin was recorded kneeling on Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes. NPR's Adrian Florido has been covering the trial and reports from Minneapolis. In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your c...

More than half of worldwide vaccine doses have been administered in just four countries — India, China, the U.K. and the U.S. That kind of inequity will "extend the pandemic, globally," says Tom Bollyky , director of the Global Health program at the Council on Foreign Relations. NPR's Tamara Keith reports on the growing pressure for the Biden administration to step up its vaccine diplomacy . NPR's...

The city of Evanston, Ill., authorized spending on a reparation program this week — believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Here's the report on Evanston's racial history we mention in this episode . Alderwoman Cecily Fleming — an African American resident of Evanston — tells NPR why she voted against the plan. And Dreisen Heath , researcher at the Human Rights Watch, argues that repa...

Two distant cousins connect online, only to learn that one is a militant leftist and the other is in a right-wing militia. Their story shows the complexities of a timely question: Who's an extremist? NPR's Hannah Allam followed both men for weeks, charting the growth of their relationship and revealing the moment they met in-person for the first time. NPR is withholding their last name, which the...

Colorado has universal background checks, a red flag law and the city of Boulder recently passed an assault weapons ban. None of it was enough to stop a man from shooting and killing 10 people at a Boulder grocery store this week. State Rep. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting, reacts to the events of this week — and tells NPR why he still believes incremen...

America's infrastructure GPA is a C-minus, according to the American Society Of Civil Engineers, which this month called for massive investment in the nation's roads, bridges and transit system . The Biden administration is preparing to propose that kind of investment — along with green energy policies and progressive programs that would total more than $3 trillion. NPR's Mara Liasson reports on t...

In Europe, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been slow. The U.S. is doing better — vaccinating as many as 3 million people per day this past weekend. Some of those people were vaccinated by Chichi Ilonzo Momah, who runs Springfield Pharmacy in Springfield, Pa. Momah says local independent pharmacists are trying to make sure no one falls through the cracks. The rollout is also progressing thanks in...

Sohla El-Waylly was one of the most vocal critics of her previous employer, Bon Appétit , and eventually resigned after the magazine's racial reckoning. She's now a columnist at Food52 and star of the YouTube series Off-Script with Sohla . She and Sam talk about racism in the food media industry (and everywhere else), The Cheesecake Factory, and certain kinds of mushrooms. See pcm.adswizz.com for...

Dante Disparte, founder and chairman of Risk Cooperative and member of FEMA's National Advisory Council, explains how lessons from last year can help us in the next pandemic — and why warnings from former Presidents Bush and Obama were not enough to prepare the U.S. for the coronavirus. In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community. Emai...

Reports of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders have skyrocketed in the past year, coinciding with former President Trump's racist rhetoric. The pattern is clear: Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are being terrorized by harassment and violence. State representative Bee Nguyen tells NPR the shootings in Atlanta this week have rattled the Asian-American communit...

Three women come together to talk about the isolation and sacrifice that comes with being pregnant during the pandemic. Those women: Irène Mathieu, a pediatrician in Charlottesville, Virginia; Elizabeth Baron, a mental health counselor in New York City; and Ashley Falcon, a fashion stylist who moved from Florida to New York in the early stages of the pandemic. Economist Hannes Schwandt predicts th...

Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children have shown up at the southern border in recent weeks, overwhelming the government's ability to process and transfer them into the custody of sponsors or family members. Melissa Lopez, director of Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services Inc , tells NPR what the situations looks like from her vantage point in El Paso. Mark Greenberg , senior fellow at the Migr...

People who stormed the Capitol were radicalized by what they consumed online and in social media. That should sound familiar: Ten years ago, ISIS used a similar strategy to lure Americans to Syria. Dina Temple-Raston reports on the pattern of radicalization. Tom Dreisbach explores familiar warning signs in the past of one Capitol siege suspect — including hateful speech and violent rhetoric. More...

In this episode from NPR's Louder Than A Riot , New Orleans rapper Mac Phipps speaks exclusively to NPR about the power dynamics at play throughout his clemency hearing, and hosts Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael examine how his hip-hop career continues to affect his image in the eyes of the law. Find more episodes of Louder Than A Riot on Apple Podcasts or Spotify . See pcm.adswizz.com for inf...

It's been one year since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her own apartment. In that year, Taylor's name has become a national symbol in the fight against racial injustice and police violence. But beyond the symbolism, many feel that actual progress has been disappointing. In Louisville, Taylor's death has made other young Black women reflect on their own safety. Reporter Jess Clark...

Less than 4% of Brazil's population has been vaccinated, and now a dangerous new variant has overwhelmed parts of the country's health care system. Duke University's Miguel Nicolelis tells NPR what it's like in Sao Paulo, where hospitals are turning patients away. Other countries are also struggling to contain the coronavirus, combat disinformation, and distribute vaccines. NPR international corre...

March 11 will mark one year since the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic — when schools, businesses and workplaces began shutting down. To mark the moment, two of the nation's top public health officials who have helped lead the U.S. response to the pandemic — Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins — spoke to NPR about what they've learned,...