Year: 2023

For people who have not experienced it, life in prison can seem unimaginable. So reporters who have themselves been incarcerated can offer an important perspective when covering the prison system.
NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with Lawrence Bartley, host of the new series Inside Story, which documents life in the US prison system. The series was created by formerly incarcerated people, and aims to reach audiences both inside and outside the system.
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This week marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022.
And in the past year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has undergone a dramatic political transformation.

Zelenskyy got his start as a comedian who played an accidental president on TV. He was then elected president in real life, only to see his popularity slump. Now, after a year of war, he is widely considered an icon of democracy.

NPR’s Frank Langfitt takes a look at how Zelenskyy became the kind of leader he is today and why some Ukrainians still question his leadership.

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The Sierra Club has been at the forefront of the American environmental movement for decades. However, the group has also face criticism for racist and exclusionary attitudes embedded in some of its founding ideals.
The Sierra Club’s new executive director, Ben Jealous, explains how he aims to advance the group’s climate goals, while also reckoning with that past.
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We’re approaching a year since Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, a conflict that has resulted in thousands of dead civilians and over eight million refugees.

Along with sending billions of dollars in military aid to Ukrainian forces, the US has responded with a wide range of sanctions meant to cripple Putin’s war machine, targeting Russian banks, finances, oil, and Russia’s billionaire oligarchs.

But as the war continues, critics are asking just how effective the sanctions have been.

Host Michel Martin speaks with Edward Fishman of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. From 2013 to 2017 he was part of the US State Department, where he was involved in the effort to sanction Russia after its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

“This kind of dissent? It doesn’t go away.” That’s what NPR heard from a 20-year-old woman on the street in Tehran.

Mary Louise Kelly and a team of producers traveled there last week to see what life looks like, and what remains of the protests that shook the country for months, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Amini died in police custody after being detained, reportedly for improperly wearing a headscarf, part of Iran’s strict dress code for women. Human rights groups say the regime cracked down on those protests with killings, arrests and executions.

In Iran, NPR found people frightened of the regime, but who felt nevertheless compelled to air their grievances.

We speak with Ali Vaez, an Iran expert with the International Crisis Group, about the lingering discontent behind the protests and what could happen next.

Find more of NPR’s reporting from Iran.

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The derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3rd sparked fear and uncertainty among residents. They are still concerned, almost two weeks later.
NPR’s Ailsa Chang talks to Stan Meiburg, former acting deputy administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, about the agency’s response and what authorities should focus on in order to prevent accidents in the future.
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A total of four high-flying, balloon-like objects have been shot down by US fighter jets this month. Officials have still not said where three of them came from.

The United States claims the first one was a Chinese surveillance balloon, which China denies. But American officials have made no definitive statement as to what the other three could be, nor has anyone come forward to claim ownership.

NPR correspondents Scott Detrow and Greg Myre share what they’ve learned about the mysterious flying objects.

And Timothy Heath, a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation, talks about the various ways governments use high-altitude balloons.

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Sales of romance novels were up in 2022, with a surge of about 52 percent for sales of print copies, according to Publishers Weekly. That’s despite an overall dip in book sales last year.
Still, there’s a longstanding social stigma against romance novels, as they’re often written off as frivolous, or even shameful.
NPR’s Juana Summers visits a group of readers who are loud and proud about their love for the genre.
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One week since arriving in southern Turkey after massive back-to-back earthquakes hit the region, our correspondent recounts what she has seen in seven days of covering the tragedy in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
NPR’s Ruth Sherlock traveled from Lebanon soon after the quakes hit, and has since reported from both Turkey and Syria. She says thousands of people in both countries are living versions of the same nightmare.
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Haiti, a country long besieged by political turmoil, was plunged further into chaos in 2021 when then president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Today, gangs run large swaths of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Schools and businesses have shuttered, food, water and gas shortages have spiraled, and Haitians desperate to leave the country have overrun immigration offices hoping for a passport.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been the de facto ruler since Moïse’s assassination. There have not been official elections in the country since 2016. In January, its ten remaining senators left office, leaving no single regularly elected official. Henry, whose rule is heavily criticized by many Haitians, says there cannot be new elections until the country is made safer.

Amidst the chaos, calls have risen for the US to help stabilize the country, but a fraught history of US intervention in Haiti has created a climate of mistrust.

Host Michel Martin talks to Pamala White, former ambassador to Haiti, about what options are available to Haiti to quell the country’s unrest.

And Marlene Daut, a professor at Yale of French and African-American studies, unpacks the history of US intervention in Haiti.