The NPR Politics Podcast

The Supreme Court has already ruled that an individual has the right to bear arms in their own home, but next week it will hear arguments about whether or not that right goes beyond the home. The court will weigh individual rights against public safety at a time when gun violence has continued making national headlines. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe and legal affairs corres...

The labor market shifted dramatically during the pandemic, and as employers once again begin to hire, many black and brown Americans are finding it difficult to return to work. Plus, women are participating less in the workforce than in the 1980s. We look at the reasons why. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe and Labor and Workplace correspondent Andrea Hsu. Connect: Subscribe t...

TikTok and Snapchat appeared for the first time before Congress alongside YouTube to answer questions about how safe their platforms are for young people. Senators are calling for regulations, the company representatives agreed, but dodged any real commitments. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, political reporter Miles Parks, and tech reporter Bobby Allyn. Connect: Subscribe t...

Thousands of leaked documents from Facebook were viewed by more news organizations over the weekend including NPR. The internal sources show the company struggling with how to combat misinformation and researchers worrying about the impact of the platform. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, political reporter Miles Parks, and tech correspondent Shannon Bond. Connect: Subscribe...

The off-year election is the first test of how people are feeling ahead of a consequential midterm season for the Biden administration. And will the Justice Department prosecute Trump ally Steve Bannon for ignoring an order to appear before Congress? This episode: demographics and culture correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, WVTF reporter Jahd Khalil, and senior political editor and correspondent Do...

The White House continues to negotiate with Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona over the president's social programs package. Core climate and community college provisions are on the chopping block, but the bill is still expected to come in at well over a trillion dollars. This episode: demographics and culture correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, congressional corre...

Another high-profile voting rights push has failed because it did not attract enough Republican support to reach the de facto 60-vote threshold needed to pass legislation through the Senate. Will Democrats change the rules to pass their civil rights legislation with a simple majority? This episode: demographics and culture correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, politics and racial justice corresponden...

School boards are the latest frontier in the culture wars, as incensed community members and right-wing activists protest mask mandates and anti-racist curricula. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, education correspondent Anya Kamenetz, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show at nprpol...

The Biden administration announced that the U.S. will admit vaccinated foreign travelers beginning November 8th. Also: the latest on vaccination boosters and availability for kids. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, national political corrsepondent Mara Liasson, and science editor and correspondent Rob Stein. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show a...

The two senators who are forcing more negotiations over the Biden administration's multi-trillion dollar climate and social programs bill appear to have different priorities for what they want to see changed. But it is hard to know for sure: Kyrsten Sinema avoids reporters and has said little publicly about her views to the frustration of her Democratic colleagues. And top Trump aides have so far...

The Supreme Court heard arguments for and against reinstating the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber. President Biden himself has argued against ever using the death penalty, but here his administration is arguing that Tsarnaev should receive the harshest punishment. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, and WB...

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg tells NPR that the Biden administration is focused on resolving supply chain issues in time of the holiday shopping season. Also: what is a supply chain and why are they causing issues? This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, and chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show...

Young voters broke for Joe Biden in 2020, but are shirking party affiliations in greater numbers than older generations. And it remains to be seen how millennials and Gen Z legislators will fit into existing political power structures: many top Democrats have been at the helm in Washington for decades and recruiting young candidates can be a challenge. This episode: White House reporter Asma Khali...

The TV show Impeachment: American Crime Story dramatizes Bill Clinton's impeachment through the stories of three women at the heart of the proceedings, including Monica Lewinsky. We discuss how the country and its politics have and haven't changed in the two decades since the impeachment unfolded. This episode: White House correspondent Asma Khalid, demographics and culture correspondent Danielle...

Congress reached a deal to raise the debt ceiling enough to cover the government's spending for a few more months. Anemic job growth persists. Former president Trump is holding an Iowa rally this weekend and his continued flirtation with re-election has kept the Republican primary field on ice. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell, chief e...

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been brought to the United States but most have not yet been resettled in communities. The process is complex, with multiple visa categories and gutted resettlement infrastructure all making the challenge more daunting for the Biden administration. This episode: demographics and culture correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, a...

Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham was part of the Trump administration from the beginning and, in a conversation with Tamara Keith, offers a clear picture into what she used to actively obscure: the chaos, pettiness, and mismanagement that characterized his four years in power. Her book is I'll Take Your Questions Now. This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith and Whi...

Former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen told senators that the company knows its products harm children and stoke division, but that executives have continued to prioritize growth over safety. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, congressional reporter Claudia Grisales, and tech correspondent Shannon Bond. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email the show...

Biden's top trade official, Katherine Tai, indicated in a Monday speech that tariffs levied against China initiated during the Trump administration would remain in place. The countries have been unable to work out key economic and political disagreements. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, White House correspondent Asma Khalid, and international correspondent John Ruwitch. Conne...

In the latest installment of the Politics Podcast book club, NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben interviews Calvin University historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez about Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. Interested in being a part of our next conversation? Join our Facebook group at n.pr/politicsgroup . Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast here . Email...

Congress kept the government open but Democrats are still working out how to pass the two major pillars of the Biden agenda. And the president's approval rating has somewhat recovered as the public thinks less about Afghanistan, but the midterms could be bad for Biden if Congress stalls out. This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, acting congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, an...

An empowered conservative majority on the Supreme Court will consider a number of social and cultural issues at the heart of American life, including abortion access, gun rights, and religious liberty. The Court has stacked its docket with fractious issues even as its justices publicly mourn the intuition's bygone reputation as above the political fray. This episode: White House correspondent Ayes...

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Dec. 1 in a case from Mississippi that tests whether all state laws that ban pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional. That case poses a serious challenge to Roe v. Wade , the decision that originally permitted abortion nationwide. For this episode we look at what the court was thinking when they decided Roe in 1973, and what the court may do in the upcomi...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee today about the Afghanistan withdrawal. Each said that, before the Taliban's swift takeover and subsequent evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan, they recommended American troops remain...

Democratic Party discord threatens what amounts to nearly all of President Biden's domestic agenda, from childcare to climate. Compounding the challenge: looming government funding and debt deadlines. This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, acting congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Connect: Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podca...