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A prayer festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC was partially organized and funded by the federal government. Its evangelical Christian messaging and call for more religion in politics not less, aligns with the Trump administration’s fusion of faith and governance. NPR’s Emily Feng went to the event to understand the audience for this approach, and she spoke with author Eric Metaxas, a speaker at the Rededicate 250 festival.

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This episode was produced by Henry Larson, with audio engineering by 

It was edited by Sarah Robbins and Daniel Burke.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has spent years covering elections and parsing through voter data. With the midterm elections approaching Montanaro talks about how he relies on both polling and stories from voters to report as accurately as possible on the current political moment.

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This episode was produced by Gabriel Sanchez and Michael Levitt. 

It was edited by Adam Raney. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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The Trump administration hasn’t been talking much about its mass deportation policy, but that doesn’t mean efforts have stopped.

Back in February, support for President Trump’s mass deportation policy had plummeted. Two thirds of Americans polled by NPR said immigration enforcement had gone too far after agency officers killed two American citizens in Minneapolis.

The Trump administration has spent the past several months trying to regain public support ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

But what has actually changed about the policy?

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This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam. 

It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Tinbete Ermyas and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is butting heads with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona again — this time, over Kelly’s recent statements that the U.S. is depleting its weapons supply in this war with Iran.

Secretary Hegseth says that in discussing information from Pentagon briefings, Senator Kelly violated protocol. 

But the back-and-forth does raise the question: What’s the status of the Pentagon’s weapons stockpile amid the war with Iran? 

Barbara Starr, former CNN Pentagon correspondent and current senior fellow at the The USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, provides insight.

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This episode was produced by Lauren Hodges, with audio engineering by Hannah Gluvna.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Tinbete Ermyas.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Flying discs, metallic orbs, and a mysterious cylinder tumbling past the Apollo spacecraft. Those are just a few of the unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, contained in a batch of government files the Department of Defense released this month. 

The DoD report, coming on President Trump’s orders, is another step towards the federal government taking the question of UAPs more seriously. But how much of this is really new – and what more can we learn from the files?

Astrophysicist Adam Frank of the University of Rochester, who’s involved in the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, weighs in on this new trove of ‘alien files.’

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This episode was produced by Gabe Sanchez and Jordan-Marie Smith, with audio engineering by Damian Herring. 

It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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President Trump promised Americans, fair, equal and impartial justice…is that what he’s delivering?

President Trump campaigned on a promise to undo the levers of the justice system that he said were weaponized against him.

His administration has gutted the Justice Department unit that investigates and prosecutes public corruption.

But since the beginning of Trump’s second term investigations into corrupt public officials have dropped nearly 90 percent.

Meanwhile, pardons of officials convicted of corruption have risen. 

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It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Jeanette Woods and Courtney Dorning. 

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

  

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, for her work to promote democracy in her country.

Many Venezuelans expected Machado would eventually become their president once authoritarian ruler Nicolas Maduro was ousted from power. But Maduro has been out of power and in a U.S. prison since January, and Machado is still on the outside looking in. Host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with Maria Corina Machado about her plans to return to Venezuela, her relationship with President Trump and the burden Machado’s political career has placed on her own family.

This conversation is part of NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast series. For more, follow or subscribe to Newsmakers on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you watch or listen. You can also find the show in the NPR app. 

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This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with
audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro, David Greenburg, and Robert Rodriguez. It was edited by William Troop and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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China’s nuclear weapons capabilities are small compared to that of Russia and the U.S. However, China has been expanding its nuclear arsenal under the leadership of Xi Jinping, doubling in size in just the last decade. 

NPR’s Emily Feng explains the current state of China’s nuclear program and why the country is seeking to further develop it. 

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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Daniel Ofman.

It was edited by Hannah Bloch, Sarah Robbins and Michael Levitt.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Skiing star Lindsey Vonn was on the cusp of capping off one of the most remarkable career comebacks the Olympics has ever seen. Then it all changed.

 
It had been six years since she stepped away from competitive skiing due to injuries and made her triumphant return at the 2026 Winter Olympics. But then it came all tumbling down. Millions watched as the 41-year-old had the worst crash of her career. 

Most people wouldn’t want to show their face in public again — not Lindsey Vonn.

NPR’s Becky Sullivan sat down with her and shares her story. 

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This episode was produced by Chad Campbell and Karen Zamora.

It was edited by Russell Lewis and Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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The number of antisemitic incidents is on the rise in the UK.  What is driving it, and – how is the British government trying to combat it? 

The United Kingdom faces an antisemitism emergency.

That’s according to the government there.

This week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there is a plan to fight it.

Brendan McGeever co-director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism in London breaks down what’s happening. 

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This episode was produced by Mia Venkat.

It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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