Month: January 2023

While some countries are seeing their populations decline and grow older, others are growing fast. That has economic implications. Could migration help?

NPR’s Emily Feng reports on the long term consequences of China’s shrinking population.

We also hear from Lant Pritchett, research director with the think tank Labor Mobility Partnerships, about the ways in which migration could help tackle population imbalances.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Americans have grown accustomed to hearing about the latest mass shooting. And recently news coverage has been focused on two tragic events in California — Last weekend eleven people were killed and nine injured in Monterey Park near Los Angeles. And on Monday, seven people were killed and one wounded in Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco.

In the past 72 hours alone, seventy-one people were killed and 114 were injured by shootings in different incidents all across the country – including another mass shooting this morning near Los Angeles. Three people were killed and four were injured.

Beyond getting the facts right, which is crucial, news outlets put careful thought into how best to cover these stories. But as gun violence continues to rise, is it time for the media to rethink their approach?

NPR’s Michel Martin talks to Nick Wilson, the senior director for Gun Violence Prevention at the Center for American Progress. And Dr. Jessica Beard from Philadelphia Center For Gun Violence Reporting discusses ways the media can avoid retraumatizing survivors of gun violence.

Five police officers have been charged with murder and other crimes in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ death this month in Memphis. Nichols, who was Black, died after a traffic stop. All five of the officers facing charges are Black.

Since the deaths of George Floyd in 2020 and so many others, many police departments have vowed to diversify their forces as a way to help end police brutality and racism within their ranks. But does diversity in a police force make a difference? And what more can be done to reduce police violence?

We speak with Phillip Goff of the Center for Policing Equity about how the Tyre Nichols case speaks to larger issues with police department culture and diversity.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Maya Moore stepped away from her stellar basketball career to help free Jonathan Irons, a man who was incarcerated for over two decades on a wrongful conviction.

With the help of Moore and her family, Irons was exonerated and released from prison in 2020.

Over the course of working on his case, Moore and Irons developed a friendship that turned into love and the pair got married shortly after Irons was freed from prison.

This month, Moore officially retired from basketball to focus on her new family with Irons.

We speak with Moore and Irons about their journey together.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

For months, Ukraine pressed western allies for state-of-the-art tanks. For months, Germany and the U.S. resisted. That changed Wednesday.

Both countries have now promised to send tanks to Ukraine. The German-made Leopard II and American-made Abrams tanks are considered the best in the world.

NPR’s Rob Schmitz in Berlin and Greg Myre in Washington explain how Ukraine’s allies changed their minds.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion, some Muslims in America have sought a better understanding of what their faith says about abortion.

NPR’s Linah Mohammad reports on the diversity of views within Islam about the issue.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The people of Monterey Park, California, would normally be celebrating Lunar New Year right now, one of the biggest holidays of the year in a community that is two-thirds Asian. Instead, the city is mourning a terrible loss.

Ailsa Chang went to the site of Saturday night’s mass shooting in Monterey Park to speak to people there about the tragedy’s impact on their community, which is often described as the “first suburban Chinatown” in America.

We also hear from Min Zhou, a professor of sociology and Asian American studies at UCLA, about Monterey Park’s history and significance as a safe space for Asians and Asian Americans.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Admit it – you’ve fantasized about what you would do if you hit the lottery and exactly how you would spend your millions – or billions.

Spending a few dollars for a chance at a massive jackpot seems irresistible. Roughly half of all Americans buy at least one lottery ticket per year, despite the nearly impossible odds of winning. But some people take it much further.

Unlike casino games and sports betting, messaging around playing the lottery can make it seem much less like actual gambling and more like a fun way to chase a dream of luxury and wealth.

But some critics feel that the lottery uses predatory practices to disproportionately target low-income communities and people of color.

Host Michel Martin talks to Jonathan D. Cohen, author of For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries In Modern America.

NPR reporter Jonathan Franklin contributed to this episode.

In China, huge numbers of people are expected to travel and gather with family this weekend for the start of the Lunar New Year, just as the country experiences a major surge in COVID infections.

NPR’s Emily Feng reports that the holiday may be bittersweet for some. We also hear reporting from NPR’s Wynne Davis, who collected recipes to help ring in the Lunar New Year.

And in Ukraine, many Orthodox Christians marked the feast of the Epiphany on Thursday by plunging into the frigid waters of the Dnipro River. NPR’s Elissa Nadworny talked to some of the brave swimmers, who said that this year the ritual felt like a needed respite from the ongoing war.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The Justice Department is investigating the mishandling of classified documents linked to President Biden and to his predecessor, former President Trump. Both cases raise questions about how classified information should be handled.
NPR’s Greg Myre explains how classified material is handled at the White House, and how that compares to other government agencies.
And we speak to Yale law professor and former special counsel at the Pentagon Oona Hathaway, about the issue of “overclassification” of documents.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.