Why We Wrote This

Predictive bots using ChatGPT technology are one of the grabbier forms of artificial intelligence, with its ever deepening tentacles into daily life. How does a Monitor writer take on issues of ethics and trust around a disruptive technology that’s at once alluring and very disconcerting? Laurent Belsie joins host Clay Collins.

Smart, contextual analysis. A high fiber news-diet supplement for a fast-info age. A unique, universal lens. All hallmarks of the Monitor approach. But how can a ‘slow news’ approach accommodate a go-go news cycle that whipsaws the world’s attention – and demands the Monitor’s too? Managing Editor Amelia Newcomb joins host Clay Collins.

One community’s struggle to come to terms with enormous loss became a powerful story about forgiveness – including of people not quite ready yet to forgive. That made it the most universal of stories. Reporter Sara Miller Llana spoke with host Clay Collins about her process, and about producing the hardest story she’d ever done.

This year’s Oscar nominations delivered a nope for “Nope.” And Viola Davis was overlooked. But there were five nods for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Commentator Ken Makin spoke with host Clay Collins for an update of this encore presentation of our Black Hollywood episode from December. It’s Ken’s take on what this year’s Academy Awards tell us about a slow path to progress and representation...

Actively reporting from Ukraine, and with a foreign correspondent’s pedigree that includes stints from Rwanda to Kabul to Fallujah to Mogadishu, Scott Peterson has developed a deep skill set around covering conflicts with humility, respect, and sensitivity. He spoke with host Clay Collins about why Monitor war stories are different.

Public-school teachers run on passion for their work and for the kids in their classrooms. That work is vital to a thriving society. But teachers also are widely regarded as being underpaid – often moonlighting to get by. A Monitor education writer looks at a push to create a higher baseline for compensation in a story that really extends to equality and fairness. Hosted by Clay Collins.

The notion of assistance in dying as an act of mercy is ancient. Now it has become part of a global debate that’s taking a variety of forms, and that ultimately is about what a caring society truly looks like. How a team of Monitor writers parsed that, with care and compassion. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

Is there a credible counternarrative to the sense that industrial-grade partisan brinkmanship is all that’s on tap in U.S. politics? Francine Kiefer talks about reporting an Alaska story that shows how cooperation and respect might be a way forward. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

How does a political reporter go about gathering vox pop that’s meaningful – authentic personal perspectives that contribute value to stories, and don’t just parrot pre-cooked talking points? Story Hinckley speaks with host Clay Collins about the persistence, balance, and respect that the work requires.

Every storyteller has a favorite medium. For the Monitor’s Jingnan Peng, it’s videography that carries that special power to humanize his reporting and drive stories home – especially stories that bring respect to underdogs and marginalized groups. Revealing their agency brings Jing joy. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

Popular uprisings, and hints of more. Stories of struggles that seem to run in unending cycles. How does a news organization committed to finding evidence of shared human values keep a constructive framing? Peter Ford, the Monitor’s international news editor, spoke with host Clay Collins about the challenge.

Hollywood might not have had a “tipping point” year when it comes to diversity. But Monitor columnist Ken Makin acknowledges that the year reflected a continuum of progress for representation. In this episode, he speaks with host Samantha Laine Perfas about how some of the year's top hits – including “Wakanda Forever,” “Till,” and “Star Wars” – expanded the genre of Black storytelling.

Farming is among the most basic, and essential, relationships that humans can have with our planet. And it’s evolving to keep pace with changing climate conditions. In this episode, Whitney Eulich, the Monitor’s Mexico City-based Latin America editor and writer, talks with host Clay Collins about the roots of a Monitor story on global innovation in small-scale agriculture.

Will the four-day workweek take hold, at least in sectors where qualified workers remain scarce? Veteran reporter Laurent Belsie took a close look at a long-running labor reform idea that is again sparking the popular imagination. He talks with host Samantha Laine Perfas about finding a Monitor angle on a workplace dynamics story that’s getting a lot of coverage.

Native adoption and child welfare have reached the U.S. Supreme Court. There’s no simple answer to the question of whether the Indian Child Welfare Act works. The Monitor’s justice writer, Henry Gass, talks about presenting different, nuanced perspectives compellingly and without judgment, with dignity and respect. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

How did a story on solutions to Toronto’s deepening housing crisis become a story about empathy and compassion? Staff writer Sara Miller Llana tracked down those working to shift intergenerational tension toward a focus on mutual goals, resulting in potential win-win solutions. She spoke with host Samantha Laine Perfas.

What is the role of gratitude in our lives? To answer that question, staff writer Harry Bruinius gathered written expressions of thanks from people who had sent or received them, and then conducted interviews about their impact. He spoke to the Monitor’s Samantha Laine Perfas about what he learned.

Fairness should be a given in political journalism. But today even the media can struggle to stay neutral, or there’s a creeping “both-sides-ism” that creates false equivalencies. That fuels distrust. How does the Monitor navigate this? The Monitor’s politics editor, Liz Marlantes, speaks with host Samantha Laine Perfas.

Lenora Chu turned a story on the nuances of new conscription policies in Northern Europe into a look at balance and responsibility – at governments working to deliver what their societies need, and at the right time. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

John Gould, a regular presence in the Monitor’s essay section, The Home Forum, left a lasting impression on the Monitor and on his longtime editor Owen Thomas, who is using the 80th anniversary of Mr. Gould’s first published essay to highlight the late writer’s work for a new generation. Hosted by Clay Collins.

What happens when a storied journalism brand moves to sharpen its long-standing approach to news? For our second episode, we spoke to Monitor Editor Mark Sappenfield about the Monitor’s renewed commitment to focusing on what’s universal – and uniting – about the human experience. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.

Why float a new podcast into the sea of podcasts? At the Monitor, we see the world in a different way, with an eye to progress and credible hope, yes, but also to the common values that undergird the shared human experience. In this new podcast, we share the stories behind our stories. Host Samantha Laine Perfas talks with editor Clayton Collins and producer Jingnan Peng about the launch of “Why W...

This new weekly podcast features conversations with Monitor reporters and editors that help explain how we approach the news – and how we find shared values such as respect, resilience, dignity, agency, and hope behind the headlines. Host Samantha Laine Perfas explains.

Sides have long been staked out on nuclear power: It’s either a poisonous menace or a means of getting past dirty, extractive energy production. The Monitor’s Stephanie Hanes, who covers climate change and the environment, explores a rising middle ground. Hosted by Samatha Laine Perfas.

Writer Martin Kuz remembers his father’s love for Ukraine. As Martin traveled the country reporting, including for a story on how Ukrainians find dignity and hope in honoring people they’ve lost in the ongoing war, he could see even more clearly the depth of Ukrainians’ resolve. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.