Year: 2022

The pandemic created a spike in demand for housing that sent real estate prices through the roof. Which means a lot of Americans could no longer afford to buy, while many of those who could are now experiencing buyer’s remorse.

NPR heard from many new homeowners who made compromises as they rushed to buy. Some even waived inspections or moved sight-unseen.

Hyojung Lee, a professor at Virginia Tech, explains how low interest rates, lockdowns and a desire to stop renting created the real estate scramble.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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In the U.S., with key COVID metrics trending rapidly downward, the pandemic’s third spring is already looking very different. But concerns remain about future variants as China and Hong Kong battle new outbreaks.

NPR’s Tovia Smith reports on workers heading back to the office — where employers are figuring out how to give them new flexibility.

NPR’s Will Stone reports on a recent change to the way the CDC talks about COVID risk. More on that story here.

NPR’s Allison Aubrey has more on the battle over new COVID spending in Congress.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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The scenes of devastation in Mariupol, a southeastern port city in Ukraine, are increasingly reflected in cities across the country as Russian forces advance. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the port city since the start of Russia’s invasion. A humanitarian crisis is deepening, as residents say they can’t find drinking water or food, and the International Committee of the Red Cross says they cannot get emergency supplies in.

Journalists Maura Reynolds and David Filipov both reported on Russia’s military campaigns in Chechnya. Olga Oliker of International Crisis Group is an expert on Russian military strategy. They talk about the lessons learned from past Russian actions in Chechnya, and later in Georgia and Syria, to help explain what could come next in Ukraine.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that could impose fifteen years in prison on anyone who publishes or broadcasts what the Russian government considers “false information” about the invasion of Ukraine. The law makes it illegal to use the word “war” or “invasion,” a move aimed at shutting down the last remaining independent Russian media outlets.

Even as news is being censored and social media platforms are being shut down, some people in Russia are determined to be heard. The Russian independent human rights group OVD-Info reports that more than 13,000 protesters in 147 cities have been detained since the war began just over two weeks ago.

Yulia Zhivtsova is one of those protesters. She was detained in Moscow for taking part in protests the day after Russia invaded Ukraine. She’s one of the thousands of protesters across the country who are defying the threat of violence and prison to express their opposition to the war in Ukraine.

And we’ll hear how Russian immigrants and Russian Americans are showing support for Ukraine as attitudes among some in their community shift from acceptance of Putin to outrage.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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The movement to ban books from public school reading lists is not new, but lately it’s been gaining momentum throughout the country. In part, because fights over children and schools is a tried and true political tool.

Revida Rahman, with One WillCo, discusses efforts to ban books in her children’s school district in Williamson County, Tennessee and how this just the newest iteration of parental outrage on display.

And Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer for The Atlantic, explains the political benefit of arguments over masks, critical race theory and book bans at schools. Especially as the U.S. nears midterm elections.

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Governor Greg Abbot has directed the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate certain gender-affirming care as possible child abuse, leaving parents of transgender youth feeling caught between two choices: support their children or face a possible CPS investigation.

Annaliese and Rachel are mothers living in Texas, both have transgender children. They speak to NPR about the emotional and mental toll this order has had on their families. And Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice with the American Civil Liberties Union, explains the status of other anti-LGBTQ bills in other states.

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More than two million people have fled Ukraine since Russia attacked two weeks ago – at least half of them children. It’s a dangerous journey for anyone, let alone premature babies who were already fighting for their lives.

This is the harrowing story of some of the youngest evacuees – babies less than two weeks old who were born prematurely. Each day, they’ve been growing stronger as Kyiv grows weaker.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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Throughout the pandemic, the The Federal Bureau of Prisons has maintained that they have a plan to keep the pandemic under control. But federal prison records tell a different story.

NPR’s Meg Anderson dug into those those records. Many high risk inmates applied for compassionate release, or Home Confinement, where they could live at home while being monitored by the prison.

But since the beginning of the pandemic nearly 300 prisoners have died from COVID-19, and almost all of them were elderly or had pre-existing conditions. What went wrong?

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In what the U.N. refugee agency calls the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, more than a million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded less than two weeks ago. The bulk of them have traveled through Poland and many are staying there.

That’s where Ari Shapiro spoke with acting United States ambassador to Ukraine Kristina Kvien. She and her staff relocated to Poland soon after the fighting started, and she discusses the strain this new humanitarian crisis is putting on the bordering countries.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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President Richard Nixon has a plan: He wants to go to China. The only problem? The U.S. and China have had zero contact since the Communist Party took over China two decades before.

In this episode of The Great Wager from NPR and WBUR’s Here & Now, host Jane Perlez digs into the beginning of Nixon’s improbable diplomatic mission.

Listen to the rest of The Great Wager here.