Consider This from NPR

As crowds gathered Tuesday evening after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd, two themes emerged. Many expressed joy and relief for the verdict delivered by the 12-person jury. But they also said the work isn't over, and the national debate over police violence and accountability can't end with a single criminal trial. That messag...

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted on three counts in the trial over George Floyd's killing. The jury announced their verdict on Tuesday and found Chauvin guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community. Email...

Starting Monday, every person in America 16 and older is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 40% already have. Now public health officials will begin to focus more on those who have not. WHYY's Nina Feldman reports on the effort in Philadelphia, which is focused on racial equity. Two groups of people who are most likely to say they won't get a shot are Republicans and white evangelical...

Flexible hours for working parents, daycare centers at the office, equal pay. Between the 1960s and 1980s, there was a real sense that big workplace changes were just beyond the horizon. At the time a very common job for women was clerical work. And in 1973, a group of secretaries in Boston formed a women's labor organization. They called themselves the "9to5."Actress Jane Fonda then decided to tu...

A movement to unionize workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., was seen as a potential turning point for the American labor movement. But the effort failed resoundingly. Stephan Bisaha of member station WBHM in Birmingham examines why. Mohamed Younis , editor-in-chief of Gallup, tells NPR that public opinion of labor unions is generally lower in the South. Additional reporting this episo...

President Biden announced this week that all U.S. troops if Afghanistan will be withdrawn by Sept. 11, marking the end of America's 20-year war there. Former U.S. Army Col. Christopher Kolenda tells NPR there is "no easy ending" to American involvement in Afghanistan. Roya Rahmani, Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., tells NPR Afghan civilians will continue to face daily threats of violence. In...

There have been nightly protests in Brooklyn Center, Minn., following Sunday's killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who was shot by former police officer Kim Potter. Police officials have said Wright's death resulted from an "accidental discharge," saying Potter mistook her handgun for her Taser. State Rep. Esther Agbaje tells NPR the city has been living in "a continuous state of trauma." NPR's...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced a recommended pause in use of Johnson & Johnson's single-use COVID-19 vaccine, while the agencies investigate reports of a rare but serious blood clot in six people. The pause comes at a time when public health officials face the growing challenge of vaccine hesitancy, as NPR's Geoff Brumfiel reports . NP...

President Biden wants to make a massive investment in infrastructure, and not just in roads and bridges. His administration is proposing big investments in "care infrastructure" — investments designed to help women succeed in the workforce. Three women leading the administration's effort speak to NPR: Janelle Jones , the chief economist at the Department of Labor; Heather Boushey , a member of the...

" To Asian women, not for—there's no speaking for us, splendidly vast and manifold as our people are." So writes Korean-American novelist R.O. Kwon in an essay in Vanity Fair . The essay explores the reasons that R.O. was unable to talk openly with her own mother about rising anti-Asian rhetoric and violence in the past year, and how she finally broke that silence. In this episode, Rough Translati...

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...