Month: May 2021

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has gone from bad to worse. The Biden administration says it’s engaging in “quiet, intensive diplomacy” to broker an end to the violence.

Leni Stenseth of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency tells NPR that the humanitarian situation in the region is “extremely alarming.”

NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro explains how the recent outbreak of violence began — and the historical seeds of the region’s conflict.

What is the diplomatic path toward some sort of peace? Israeli political analyst and journalist Akiva Eldar, a contributor to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, and Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, discuss what life on the ground is like for each of them, and the role of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Nine-year-old Hallel is the oldest of three children. They also identify as a “boy-girl,” which was a revelation to their parents Shira and Ari when Hallel made the announcement to them.

Through a series of family recordings and interviews with WBUR’s Martha Bebinger, the family shared the story of how this realization unfolded, and what they’re learning.

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The promise of post-pandemic life is exciting, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get awkward at times. We asked for your questions about how to navigate this new normal and we have some answers.

Dr. Lucy McBride, a primary care physician, and public theologian Ekemini Uwan have both written about this transitional moment Americans are living in and have some advice.

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This week, House Republicans voted to expel Rep. Liz Cheney from party leadership after the Wyoming congresswoman repeatedly called out former President Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.

Republican Congressman John Curtis of Utah told NPR the party’s decision had nothing to do with her opposition to the former President.

The fracture reminds Wall Street Journal Executive Washington Editor Gerald Seib of another era when Republican leadership tried to capture and control a growing political force: the tea party. Seib is the author of We Should Have Seen It Coming: From Reagan to Trump — A Front-Row Seat to a Political Revolution.

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Republicans say enhanced pandemic unemployment benefits are what’s keeping people out of the workforce. That could be playing a role, but the complete picture is far more complicated.

NPR chief economic correspondent Scott Horsley lays out the evidence for what’s really behind the struggle to find workers.

Stacey Vanek Smith, host of NPR’s daily economics podcast The Indicator, explains why the problem may be specific to a certain subset of the economy. More from the Indicator on that topic here. Find more episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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Three officers, each from a different generation, weigh in on Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction and other recent acts of police violence.

Isaiah McKinnon became a police officer for the city of Detroit in the 1960s, and eventually became chief of police. He also served two years as the city’s deputy mayor starting in 2014.

Cheryl Dorsey is a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant who first joined the force in the 1980s.

Vincent Montague is president of the Black Shield Police Association, which supports officers serving in the Greater Cleveland area. He’s been in law enforcement for 13 years.

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Property ownership eludes Black Americans more than any other racial group. NPR’s Ailsa Chang and Jonaki Mehta examine why. They tell the story of LA’s Sugar Hill neighborhood, a once-vibrant black community that was demolished to make way for the Santa Monica Freeway.

Their story is part of NPR’s special series We Hold These Truths.

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Comic book publishers like Marvel and DC sit on a treasure trove: thousands and thousands of comic book characters. Pieces of intellectual property. You know the big ones–Superman, Ironman, Captain America. They each make millions off of movies and merchandise. But for every marquee character, there are hundreds of others sitting unused.

Now 50 years old, NPR has grown up alongside American journalism. We take stock of some lessons learned along the way.

In this episode: Linda Wertheimer, Robert Siegel, Brooke Gladstone, Ira Glass, Michele Norris, and Andy Carvin.

Hear more from NPR’s very first broadcast of All Things Considered.

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Vaccine demand is beginning to slide in the U.S., but in other parts of the world, the pandemic is devastating countries where vaccines are more scarce. India is one of those countries. There only 2% of the population is fully immunized.

There’s an argument that waiving intellectual property rights could boost global vaccine production, and this week the Biden administration came out in support of that idea. Mustaqeem de Gama, South Africa’s counsellor at the World Trade Organization, tells NPR that U.S. support is a “game changer.”

Meanwhile, in some parts of the U.S., it’s getting harder to find enough arms for vaccine doses. Katia Riddle reports from Oregon.

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