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In June 1971, then-President Richard Nixon said the U.S. had a new public enemy number one: addiction. It was the beginning of America's long war on drugs. Fifty years later, during months of interviews, NPR found a growing consensus across the political spectrum — including among some in law enforcement — that the drug war simply didn't work. The stories in this episode are from NPR's Brian Mann...

This all started with a guest essay by Tom Hanks for The New York Times called "You Should Learn the Truth About the Tulsa Race Massacre," in which Hanks made the case for a more widespread teaching of American history involving Black Americans, especially of events like the Tulsa Race Massacre. He wrote: "History was mostly written by white people about white people like me, while the history of...

Juneteenth, the celebration to commemorate the end of chattel slavery in the United States, is the newest federal holiday after President Biden signed it into law on Thursday. It's another example of how the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd has been reshaping the way Americans think and talk about race. That shift is also evident in reparation programs for Black descendants of...

Last month, President Biden laid out an ambitious goal: to get 70% of adults in the U.S. at least one vaccine dose by July 4. With less than three weeks to go, that goal may too ambitious, Harvard epidemiologist Bill Hanage tells NPR, and some states may see localized outbreaks this year. Still — nearly two dozen states have already exceeded the 70% threshold. Many are clustered in the Northeast a...

Remote learning simply didn't work for many children with disabilities. Without the usual access to educators, therapists and in-person aides, the families of these children, and many like them, say they watched their children slide backward, losing academic, social and physical skills. Now they're demanding help, arguing to judges, state departments of education and even to the U.S. Department of...

Wednesday will be President Biden's first meeting with one of America's greatest adversaries. Drawing a contrast with his predecessor is the least of what the commander-in-chief hopes to accomplish when he sits down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly is covering the summit in Geneva, where she spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul about what the U.S....

From computer chips to rental cars to chicken breasts, a complex global supply chain is straining under pent-up post-vaccine demand. NPR's Scott Horsley explains what's going on — and why Biden administration officials think price hikes will eventually level out. Additional reporting this episode from NPR's Camila Domonoske — who reported on computer chips in car manufacturing — and NPR's Weekend...

About two months after the coronavirus began spreading in the United States, groups of Americans began to protest the quarantine lockdown measures in their states. At some of these anti-lockdown rallies reporters Lisa Hagen of WABE and Chris Haxel of KCUR discovered they weren't the spontaneous grassroots uprisings they purported to be. Rather, they were being organized by a group of three brother...

The story made waves in Washington, D.C., this week: The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax . ProPublica obtained private tax data from America's 25 wealthiest individuals, which revealed exactly how those people manage, through legal means, to pay far less income tax than most Americans — and sometimes, none at all. ProPublica senior ed...

For Americans who were able to work from home at the start of the pandemic, what felt like an extended snow day at first has now turned into 15 months and counting of Zoom calls and logging onto work in sweatpants. But now that about half of Americans are fully vaccinated, some are trickling back into the office. We asked you to tell us how your work has been for the last year and how you feel abo...

More than half of U.S. adults have been fully vaccinated, and case rates are at their lowest point since the pandemic began. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the future of the pandemic. Questions about variants, vaccine booster shots and the idea of vaccine mandates in schools or publicly-funded universities. We had a chance to put some of the questions — including ones from...

Democratic proposals for immigration reform, gun control, infrastructure and voting rights are stalled in Congress. Standing in between Democrats and much of their progressive wish list is one of their own, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has signaled his opposition to eliminating the filibuster or passing an infrastructure plan without Republican support. He's not the only West Virginian with...

Cyberattackers have recently targeted a crucial fuel pipeline, a global meat distributor and a water treatment plant. The Biden administration likens the surge in cyberattacks to terrorism — and says they plan to treat it like a national security threat. NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre details the administration's plans. When businesses are targeted by ransomware, someone like Bill S...

Stockton, Calif., may represent the future of American news. The city's longtime newspaper, The Record, has lost reporters, subscribers and, therefore, power. Meanwhile a non-traditional news source, a controversial online outlet called 209 Times , has quickly become one of the most popular sources of news in town. It proudly doesn't follow most journalistic norms and brags about tanking the previ...

Freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution as crucial to a functioning democracy. But what role does the press serve when it feels like the country can't agree on basic facts? NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with a handful of journalists to hear how they're navigating this divide. This episode feature's CBS 's Leslie Stahl, CNN 's Jake Tapper, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, Dawn Rhodes of Block Cl...

Corporations had a lot to say about racial justice last summer. They made statements. They donated millions to civil rights organizations. They promised to address their own problems with diversity and representation. A year later, NPR's David Gura reports on Wall Street's mixed progress. Kim Tran tells NPR's Sam Sanders that the diversity, equity and inclusion industry has lost its way. And DEI c...

The Atlantic hurricane season began Tuesday and another "above average" number of storms is expected. And it's not just hurricanes — overall, scientists are predicting more extreme weather events amplified by climate change this summer. While there's little to do in the short term to change this trajectory, recent actions by a Dutch court, the Biden administration and an activist hedge fund all su...

From dating apps, to airline travel, to in-person high school classes, the U.S. is seeing evidence of a return to close-to-normal life. KUOW's Clare McGrane reports on how that transition has been especially complicated for a choir in Washington state. Members were at the center of one of the earliest super-spreader events in the U.S. last year. Saskia Popescu, infectious disease expert and assist...

Much is said about how divided the U.S. is these days. But perhaps there is still something that unites Americans. Longtime NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten reports on what he calls the country's "civil religion" — a collection of beliefs, based on freedom, that should apply to every American equally. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of wha...

Former President Barack Obama is thinking a lot about our values as Americans. These days, in a divided America, he's particularly thinking about what it means to be a man. Is a man thoughtful, caring? Are men held back by what society traditionally expects a man to be? These are questions that Aarti Shahani recently asked Obama on a recent episode of her podcast, Art of Power , from member statio...

All over the world, democratic institutions are under threat. The United States isn't just part of that trend — it may also be one of the causes. Former Obama administration foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes examines why in a new book called After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made . In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what...

Proponents of trans female athlete bans struggle to cite examples of trans women or girls gaining an unfair advantage in sports competitions. But amid a lot of debate about fairness, there's been less attention on science. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman spoke to a pioneering trans researcher who explains why — in most sports — trans women can compete fairly against cisgender women. Behind a...

Apple has always wanted to be one of the good guys in tech. But now a high-stakes lawsuit with Epic Games, the creator of the hit video game Fortnite , isn't just challenging Apple's reputation. It's raising questions about whether the most valuable company in the world has grown into an illegal monopoly. NPR's Bobby Allyn reports on the federal trial that led to Apple CEO Tim Cook taking the stan...

After his death on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the face of a movement against police violence. But attorney Andrea Ritchie says, in some ways, the prosecution and conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin created a false sense of progress in that movement. Ritchie focuses on police misconduct and is the author of the book, Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black...

For decades, Israel had solid bipartisan support for Israel from Capitol Hill. But progressive congressional Democrats have started to question support for the policies of the Israeli government. Palestinian rights activists also feel tied to the growing power of racial justice movements in the United States. NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid explains. Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewis...