Year: 2023

Hospital emergency rooms saw some of the most painful scenes of the pandemic: beds filled to capacity, nurses and doctors risking sickness themselves, and patients dying without their loved ones.

Today, ERs are still living with the consequences of the pandemic. They face staffing challenges, patients who delayed care and arrive sicker, and the lingering emotional strain.

We visit an emergency room at a hospital outside Baltimore to hear how this moment looks to the doctors and nurses who work there.

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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On Thursday, the Biden administration lifted title 42, a pandemic-era policy that shut down virtually all avenues for migrants to seek asylum in the US. In March of 2020 then president Trump invoked the rule as a public health emergency measure, allowing for the quick expulsion of migrants at the border.

Now that Title 42 has been lifted, tens of thousands of migrants fleeing poverty, violence and political instability will be subjected to decades-old immigration laws that will allow them to stay in the country while their cases make their way through immigration court. But the process could cause a bottleneck at the border and strain federal, state and local government resources.

How will the Biden administration respect asylum law and get control of the border, all while running a re-election campaign?

Host Asma Khalid talks to White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Also NPR’s Joel Rose provide a view from the southern border.

Sudan’s month-long conflict has been a story of broken ceasefires, constant clashes, mass displacement and an exodus of refugees.

Now, a conflict that started in the capital has spread across the country. At the center of this conflict is a bitter rivalry between two generals. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the leader of the country’s military, and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Sudan is Africa’s third largest country, it shares a border with seven other countries in an already volatile region. The longer the conflict drags on, the greater the risk that it could erupt into a civil war – and the greater the danger that the conflict could spill over into surrounding countries.

NPR’s Asma Khalid speaks with Africa correspondent Emanuel Akinwotu, Middle East correspondent Aya Batrawy, and Michele Kelemen who covers the U.S. State Department.

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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On Wednesday, after a week of demonstrations, New York City mayor Eric Adams made some of his most forceful comments about the death of Jordan Neely – a homeless Black man who died on a subway train last week when another passenger – Daniel Penny, who’s white – held him in a chokehold.

While Mayor Adams said that Neely should not have died, he did not call for Penny to be arrested and charged with Neely’s death.

Jordan Neely’s death raises difficult questions – about race, class, justice, and society’s responsibility to care for those in need.

NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with Milton Perez, head of the Homelessness Union of VOCAL-New York, on how New York is succeeding and failing at providing services for people who are living on the streets.

In addition to being one of country music’s biggest icons, Dolly Parton is also a prolific philanthropist.
One of the most important causes she’s dedicated herself to is child literacy, which she does through both the work of her non-profit organization the Imagination Library, as well as by being a writer of children’s books.
Parton newest book Billy the Kid Makes It Big! and she spoke with NPR’s Melissa Block about writing for children, standing up to bullies, and why her program to deliver books to children meant so much to her dad.
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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No matter how you measure it, there is a lot of parking in the U.S. According to some estimates there are as many as six parking spaces for every car. Put another way, America devotes more square footage to storing cars than housing people.

Henry Grabar walks through how we got here, and what Americans have sacrificed on the altar of parking. From affordable housing to walkable neighborhoods to untold hours spent circling the block, hunting for a free spot.

His new book is Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.

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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Sudan’s capital city Khartoum has been embroiled in a vicious urban battle between rival armies for nearly two weeks.

With the country on the brink of collapse, Residents Muhjah Khateeb, and her son have to make the difficult decision to leave their home and everything they have, behind. We hear excerpts from the audio diary that Khateeb recorded as they undertook the harrowing journey.

NPR’s Emmanuel Akinwotu reported her story.

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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Jonathan Mitchell devised the legal strategy behind SB 8, a near-total ban on abortion in Texas. That legislation pioneered the idea of allowing private citizens to file lawsuits against people they suspected of helping provide access to abortion.

Mitchell is also involved in similar efforts by conservative activists in other states. NPR’S Sarah McCammon profiles the Austin, Texas-based attorney.

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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A new advisory out this week from the US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has deemed loneliness a public health challenge that needs immediate attention. And some of those most severely affected are young people.

But it’s not just loneliness. Across the country, kids are struggling with challenges to their mental health – from social isolation to poor grades at school.

NPR’s Sarah McCammon speaks to Lisa Damour, a psychologist, and author of the book “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents”, about what’s going on with kids and how they can be helped.

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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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has put the Supreme Court, again, under scrutiny. Reports show that conservative billionaire Harlan Crow paid boarding school tuition for Justice Thomas’ grand-nephew.

Revelations about the private dealings of other supreme court justices are shaking the already fragile public confidence in the institution.

NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with independent Sen. Angus King of Maine about what needs to be done in order to create a binding code of conduct for the 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].