Year: 2023

As we confront the realities of a changing climate, a group of scientists says we’re living in a world of our very own making – a world altered by the burning of fossil fuels, the explosion of nuclear weapons, plastic pollution and environmental degradation. The scientists call it the Anthropocene. And they have identified a geological site in Canada they say best reflects this new epoch in Earth’s history.

We hear from NASA’s Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Kate Calvin. Also, NPR’s Adrian Florido speaks with Francine McCarthy, a professor of Earth Sciences, who led a working group of scientists who identified Canada’s Crawford Lake as the best example of a place that demonstrates humanity’s impact on the planet.

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 [email protected].

Baseball was once known for breaking racial barriers in the U.S. But now, Black representation in the major leagues is at its lowest level in decades.

This year, MLB did something to try and change that, by staging the first annual HBCU Swingman Classic. It’s an opportunity for players from historically Black colleges and universities to play in front of scouts and executives on a national stage.

NPR’s Juana Summers reports from Seattle on MLB’s efforts to reverse the decline and recruit Black American players.

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 [email protected].

Since the war began, military aid from the US to Ukraine has largely received bipartisan report. But a new planned 800 million dollar package has split Democrats and also riled up Human Rights Groups because of one weapon included in the package — cluster bombs.

More than a hundred countries, including allies of the US, have banned use of the weapon, which releases a large number of bomblets over a wide area. Unexploded bomblets pose a danger to civilians. The Biden administration is defending the decision, citing Ukraine’s desperate need for ammunition.

To get a sense of the human cost of cluster bomb use during wartime, we take a look at Laos. Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped more than 270 million cluster bombs on Laos during the Vietnam War. Host Mary Louise Kelly discusses this with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lewis Simons, who reported from Asia and the Middle East for decades.

The U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rate of high-income countries globally, and the numbers have only grown.

According to a new study published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association – maternal death rates remain the highest among Black women, and those high rates have more than doubled over the last twenty years.

When compared to white women, Black women are more than twice as likely to experience severe pregnancy-related complications, and nearly three times as likely to die. And that increased rate of death has remained about the same since the U.S. began tracking maternal mortality rates nationally — in the 1930s.

We trace the roots of these health disparities back to the 18th century to examine how racism influenced science and medicine – and contributed to medical stereotypes about Black people that still exist today.

And NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, a nurse midwife and professor of nursing at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, about how to improve maternal health outcomes for Black women.

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 [email protected].

Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Bettie Davis, Clark Gable. During Hollywood’s Golden Age, which existed roughly from the 1910s and 20’s into the early 1960s, these actors weren’t just stars…

They were in the words of NPR’s movie critic Bob Mondello “American royalty”.

But in an age of Disney and Marvel, the movie star appears to have been eclipsed by the franchises in which they appear.

NPR critics Mondello and Aisha Harris breakdown the decline and seemingly disappearance of the classic movie star and what that means for Hollywood.

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 [email protected].

The police killing in France of a 17-year old of North African descent sparked protests and violence across the country as well as a national conversation about racism and police brutality.

Rebecca Rosman reports from the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the police killing took place. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley reports from Marseille, the scene of some of the worst violence. And Ari Shapiro interviews Sebastian Roche, a sociologist who studies policing and race in France.

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 [email protected].

On Wednesday Israel said it concluded a two-day military operation in the Jenin refugee camp meant to root out armed militants. The raid on the camp in the occupied West Bank – complete with airstrikes – was the most intense military operation Israel has carried out in more than 15 years. At least 12 Palestinians were killed and scores wounded. One Israeli soldier was killed.

Israel claimed the attack was one that targeted militants and minimized harm to non-combatants. NPR’s Daniel Estrin visited Jenin as the operation was winding down and said Palestinians had a different story to tell.

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 [email protected].

It’s been more than a decade since ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was repealed. Introduced in 1993, the law remained in effect until 2011. During that time an estimated 114,000 troops were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation.

Veterans who received an “other than honorable” discharge from the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” were ineligible for veterans’ benefits. That meant missing out on benefits like free VA healthcare, VA-backed home loans or funds for college tuition.

While the Pentagon says that 90% of applications to change discharge status have been granted, advocates say that as of March 2023, only 1,375 vets have had benefits reinstated – a tiny fraction of the number of affected vets believed to be out there.

NPR’s Quil Lawrence follows the story of two gay veterans, both affected by “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, but in very different ways.

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 [email protected].

There’s nothing obviously patriotic about scarfing down as many hot dogs as you can in ten minutes. So how did competitive eating become so synonymous with the holiday celebrating the Fourth of July?

To find out, host Scott Detrow visits a hot dog eating contest in Washington, D.C.

And producer Matt Ozug unpacks the evolution of eating as a sport, from a 17th century farmer to today’s televised competitions.

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 [email protected].

The Supreme Court ended its term this week with three rulings that will have far reaching consequences in the lives of millions of Americans.

The court struck down President Biden’s student debt relief program. It also sided with a Colorado website designer who wants to refuse business to a same-sex couple, and it effectively killed affirmative action in college admissions.

All three rulings were a 6-3 split. All of the court’s Republican-nominated justices voting against the three justices who were put forward by Democratic presidents.

NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with two legal experts, journalist Dahlia Lithwick and law professor Leah Litman from the University of Michigan, about what this term tells us about the current Supreme Court.

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 [email protected].