Consider This from NPR

President Trump has made some big shifts in U.S. policy on Russia's war with Ukraine lately. In the course of two weeks, Trump halted and reinstated weapons to Ukraine and he began openly showing frustration with Russian president Vladimir Putin's continued military escalations. Now, Trump has announced a deal with NATO to try to pressure Russia toward a ceasefire deal in just 50 days by threatening stiff tariffs and increased military aid to Ukraine. President Trump seems to be taking a tougher stance against Russia, but will it make a difference, and will it last? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/14/25 • 06:47

It's been a year since the assassination attempt on President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania and the motivations of the shooter are still unclear.The US Capitol Police threat assessment cases have risen for the second year in a row, with the total number more than doubling since 2017. At times political violence is starting to feel as pervasive as school shootings. But what do we know about what's driving this anger?NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Katherine Keneally, from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, about her threat analysis research and recommendations for countering a rise in political violence.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/13/25 • 07:29

On July 2nd, Sean Combs was acquitted of the most serious charges he faced: racketeering and sex trafficking. He was found guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution — and he remains in prison awaiting sentencing in early October.Over the course of eight weeks, the trial became a spectacle, even by the high standards of celebrity courtroom dramas. One reason? All of the influencers. For our weekly Reporter's Notebook series we bring you the the view from inside the courthouse as the Diddy spectacle unfolded. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/12/25 • 13:01

All across the U.S., there are aging oil and natural gas wells no longer in use.A lot of them don't have anyone on the hook to seal them up. Some estimate over a million such "orphan wells" still exist.Because they haven't been plugged, they're still leaking greenhouse gases and other chemicals into the atmosphere and into the land around them.What would it take to plug them — or even just one of them?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/11/25 • 07:58

Israel bans international journalists from independent access to Gaza. But NPR's Anas Baba is from Gaza, and in the 21 months he has been reporting on the war, he's also been living it. Over the course of the war, he has lost a third of his body weight, and until his food supplies ran out several weeks ago, he was getting by on just one small meal a day.Israel still tightly restricts the entry of food into Gaza. The food it does allow in is mostly distributed through new sites run by private American contractors with a group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. GHF operates under protection from the Israeli military, and the U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said this new system "is killing people."According to health officials and international medical teams in Gaza, hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli troops as they approach these food sites. U.S. officials have accused American media of spreading Hamas misinformation. In this episode, Anas Baba takes us on the perilous journey he made to one of these new GHF distribution sites, in an attempt to secure food.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/10/25 • 10:31

It's been nearly a week since devastating flooding tore through Kerr County, Texas killing more than a hundred people.Now, after unimaginable tragedy, residents are coming together to help each other move forward.NPR's Juana Summers and producers Erika Ryan and Tyler Bartlam visited the City West Church, which has transformed from a house of worship into a pop up food distribution site serving thousands of meals to the community and first responders.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/10/25 • 10:53

The total fertility rate is a small number with big consequences.It measures how many babies, on average, each woman will have over her lifetime. And for a population to remain stable - flat, no growth, no decline - women, on average, have to have 2.1 kids.In the U.S., that number is 1.6, and dropping. It's driving a new political debate about what – if anything – can be done about it. The thing is, beneath that demographic data point are millions of families making intimate decisions about kids. NPR's Sarah McCammon and Brian Mann dug into the politics and personal stories behind America's shrinking birthrate.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/8/25 • 10:12

Imagine standing in water shallow enough to just barely hit the soles of your feet. And then it rises so fast that in just about ten minutes, it's up to your neck. That's how fast the Guadalupe River in Texas rose last week, according to state officials. Twenty-six feet in less than an hour. That flooding left dozens dead, devastated homes and businesses. Officials, emergency crews and volunteers are hoping more survivors will be found. But in a press conference today, officials warned the death toll will continue to rise.In the Texas Hill Country, climate change and geography conspired to create one of the worst floods in generations. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/7/25 • 11:23

If you're a parent, decisions about vaccines have gotten a lot more confusing recently. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s health department is walking back longstanding recommendations. NPR's Pien Huang speaks with a pediatrician and a vaccine researcher to discuss how the changes may affect public health - and how frontline conversations are going between pediatricians and families.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.nprth.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/6/25 • 12:16

Independence Day means different things to each of us. On this 249th birthday for America, we spend some time looking at different definitions of America by revisiting NPR's 2018 series: American Anthem — which had the simple goal of telling 50 stories about 50 songs that have become galvanizing forces in American culture.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/4/25 • 13:15

President Trump put essentially his entire domestic agenda in one bill.It would significantly cut clean energy incentives, Medicaid and food assistance programs — and double down on tax cuts, immigration enforcement and national defense.Despite opposition from Democrats, and divides within the Republican Party, it passed through Congress.How did that happen? And what does it mean for American taxpayers? NPR correspondents explain.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.nprth.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/3/25 • 09:22

This summer marks 80 years since the end of World War II when Allied forces liberated Nazi-occupied Europe, and also began to discover the horrific scale of the Holocaust. An estimated six million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime.With the passage of time, there are fewer and fewer survivors who can tell the stories of what they witnessed and endured. Once fringe ideas of Holocaust denial are spreading. Multiple members of President Donald Trump's administration have expressed support for Nazi sympathizers and people who promote antisemitism.The stories of those who lived through the Holocaust are in danger of being forgotten. And there's a race against time to record as many as possible.In this episode, the story of a Jewish man who survived Buchenwald and an American soldier, who helped liberate the concentration camp.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/2/25 • 10:55

The massive tax and spending bill central to President Trump's agenda is one step closer to reality.After weeks of negotiations and 49 consecutive votes that started Monday morning, the senate approved President Trump's signature domestic policy bill around lunch time Tuesday. It now goes back to the House of Representatives where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson will have to reconcile the senate changes with his members' competing priorities.Michael Ricci has had a long career in republican politics, including working as Speaker Paul Ryan's communications director and Speaker John Boehner's Chief Speech writer. We talked with him about the stakes, and the bill's prospects in the House.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

7/1/25 • 07:49

The massive budget bill that Senate Republicans are debating pays for some of its tax cuts by slashing hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid spending. The latest report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates nearly 12 million people will lose health insurance if the Senate version of the bill becomes law. Trump insists the cuts come from eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Democrats have said they break Trump's promise not to touch Medicaid — and over the weekend, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina agreed. "What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore?" We asked Sarah Jane Tribble, the chief rural correspondent for KFF Health News, what the cuts will mean for rural residents of states like North Carolina — and the hospitals that serve them.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/30/25 • 08:05

A number of Supreme Court decisions handed down this term have expanded the power of the president while limiting the power of the courts. How has this term changed the relationship of the judicial and the executive branches?NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with Greg Stohr from Bloomberg about what we've learned about the makeup and direction of the court from this year's rulings. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/29/25 • 11:26

Although President Trump launched air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, the administration has chosen a different path when dealing with Kim Jong Un, the leader of nuclear-armed North Korea. For our Reporter's Notebook series, host Scott Detrow speaks with NPR correspondent Anthony Kuhn about covering Trump and Kim's past negotiations and the difficulties of reporting on North Korea. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/28/25 • 13:04

Three different federal judges have issued nationwide blocks to President Trump's executive order to deny U.S. citizenship to some babies born to immigrants in the U.S.These court orders are called universal injunctions.But when the case reached the Supreme Court, the administration didn't focus on the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.Instead, government lawyers put most of their energy into arguing that universal injunctions themselves are unconstitutional.And on Friday, in a 6-3 decision on ideological lines, the Supreme Court agreed — limiting the power of lower courts and lifting a key restraint on the Trump administration.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/27/25 • 10:56

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has spent years spreading doubt about the safety of vaccines and linking them to autism. Dozens of studies have debunked the theory, but it has nevertheless persisted for years. Part of the reason why may be that autism diagnoses have soared over the last few decades.Dr. Allen Frances is psychiatrist who led the task force that created the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which expanded the definition of Autism. Frances says that expanded definition played a role in the increase.Rates of autism have exploded in recent decades. Could the clinical definition of autism itself be partly to blame? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/26/25 • 08:13

Tens of millions of people across the US are currently under a heat advisory. And the extreme heat isn't just affecting people. You may have seen videos online of the heat causing asphalt roads to buckle. It is impacting rail travel too. Amtrak has been running some trains more slowly, as have the public transit systems of Washington and Philadelphia.Mikhail Chester, an engineering professor at Arizona State University, talks through the intersection of extreme heat and transportation.And NPR's Julia Simon shares advice on how people can keep themselves cool.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/25/25 • 12:16

Three years ago, the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States.As the legal landscape shifted, the medical landscape of reproductive care was faced with a serious question. Where would people turn for abortions?Abby Wendle, from NPR's Embedded podcast team, has been reporting on self-managed abortions, and how the medical community's views on it have changed in recent years. The podcast has just released a new series about the history of self-managed abortion called The Network. It was produced with Futuro Media. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/24/25 • 10:56

On Monday, Iran struck back against the United States, firing missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar. The retaliatory strikes come two days after the U.S. attacked nuclear sites in Iran.In a twist, President Trump thanked Iran on social media for giving advance notice of the attacks, "which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured."Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR correspondents Aya Batrawy, who is on the ground in Dubai, and Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, reporting from Washington. Editor's note: This conversation was recorded prior to President Trump announcing that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/23/25 • 09:16

The U.S. joined Israel's war on Iran and over the weekend bombed three of the country's nuclear sites, including Fordo, located deep inside a mountain. In the aftermath of the bombing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the attack. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi tweeted that the U.S.'s attack would have "everlasting consequences." The move by the Trump administration is a massive escalation, and brings the U.S. into direct conflict with Iran. How will Iran respond and what are the wider repercussions? NPR's Andrew Limbong speaks with journalist Robin Wright, author of "The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran." For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/22/25 • 09:23

Frank Langfitt has covered the world. Now he reports for NPR as a roving correspondent, focusing on stories that help us understand a changing America. Recently, he covered both the military parade that brought tanks and armored personnel carriers rolling through the nation's capital, as well as the No Kings protests where people in dozens of cities across the country rallied against politicization of the armed forces by someone they called a would-be autocrat. Many have dubbed the day as a split-screen moment - and for Frank, going to two events on the same day gave him the sense of looking at America with a lens he had often examined other countries in the past. There are events that become a Rorschach test that brings out America's political and cultural divisions in bold relief. You could look at that day as an example of a divided America — a moment where our differences were placed in pretty stark relief. But perhaps by being in both places on the same day you see something different. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/21/25 • 09:44

Last weekend, Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed at their home by a man impersonating a police officer.The attack comes amid a rise in political violence. Last year alone, Capitol Police investigated more than 9,000 threats against members of the U.S. Congress. Former U.S. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords knows the horrors of gun violence only too well. The Arizona Democrat was shot at a constituent event in Tucson in 2011.Now a leading gun safety advocate, Giffords speaks with host Mary Louise Kelly about how she is handling this moment and her thoughts on addressing the problem of gun violence. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/20/25 • 10:58

Many Afghans who helped the US military or who were persecuted by the Taliban for other reasons found refuge in the United States. They were granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, by the US government. Now the Trump administration has revoked TPS for Afghans. So what happens now?NPR's Monika Evstatieva reports that for thousands of Afghans in the United States, and many stuck in limbo abroad, the available options are dwindling.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/19/25 • 10:57

In 2003, the U.S. launched a war in Iraq based on what turned out to be bad intelligence about weapons programs, then spent years mired in a conflict with no clear end.Today, President Trump is threatening to bring the U.S. military into another Middle East conflict. As with Iraq, the justification for a potential attack on Iran is the alleged threat of a nuclear weapon. We talk to journalist Steve Coll, author of The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq about how this moment echoes the run-up to the war in Iraq and how it differs.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/18/25 • 09:55

The United States has worked for decades to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Now Israel says it is attacking Iran to remove that threat. What are the stakes in this conflict, not only for the two nations directly involved, but for the US and the world?Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Aaron Stein, the President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute about those stakes and the history of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/17/25 • 12:42

Around this time every year, the U.S. Supreme Court ends its term with a bang. The Justices typically save their biggest rulings for June.Outstanding cases include the president's birthright citizenship executive order, a Tennessee law blocking gender-affirming care and a Texas law requiring age verification for porn sites.NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg walks through the cases that may define this term.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/16/25 • 08:09

Since the start of his second term, President Trump has been at odds with the federal courts.The protests in Los Angeles are just the latest series of events to raise huge questions about presidential power: in this case, whether the president can use military force to control protests.NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with J. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge who has a stark warning: that Trump's actions signal of the end of the rule of law in America.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/15/25 • 08:31

Kentucky is one of the poorest states and is likely to see billions of dollars cut from Medicaid and other government benefits if Trump's spending bill becomes law. For our weekly Reporter's Notebook series we hear from Kentucky Public Radio's Sylvia Goodman and Joe Sonka. The two reporters traveled through rural eastern Kentucky to gauge how cuts could impact people who rely on federal assistance and what that means for the health clinics that serve them. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

6/14/25 • 09:04