Month: July 2021

The protests that erupted in Cuba over the weekend are the biggest the country has seen in decades. Cubans are suffering through a summer of shortages, from food and electricity to medicine. All of which have been made worse by the pandemic. Officials in the authoritarian government are tying to stamp out the unrest quickly.

These demonstrations present a political opportunity for President Biden. NPR’s Franco Ordonez reports on how the White House’s response could change future Florida votes.

NPR international correspondent Carrie Kahn looks into internet blackouts enacted by the Cuban government in an attempt to stop organizing happening on social media platforms.

And Miami-Herald editorial writer Luisa Yanez explains why a younger generation of Cubans may not buckle under pressure.

In a speech this week, President Biden said Democrats must ‘vigorously challenge’ what he described as the ’21st Century Jim Crow assault’ on voting rights, attacking Republican-led state efforts to pass new voting restrictions.

Democrats, Vice President Kamala Harris told NPR, must respond on multiple levels: “It will be litigation, legislation, it will be activating the people.”

Harris spoke to NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid. Hear more on the NPR Politics Podcast via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The U.S. military will be fully out of the country by August 31. The Taliban already control more than half of it. A U.S. intelligence assessment reportedly says the Afghan government could collapse in as little as six months.

Some members of the Afghan military feel “abandoned and alone,” Commanding General of the Afghan Army Sami Sadat tells NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR’s Diaa Hadid.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The Biden administration is emphasizing vaccine outreach by ‘trusted messengers’ — community volunteers, faith leaders, and primary care providers — who are best-positioned to convince people to get vaccinated.

NPR’s Maria Godoy reports on that kind of outreach in Maryland, one of just a handful of states where at least half of the Latino population is vaccinated.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

‘Cancelling’ is a term that originated in young and progressive circles, where it was used to mean ‘boycott,’ University of Pennsylvania linguist Nicole Holliday tells NPR. Now the term ‘cancel’ has been co-opted and weaponized by some conservative media and politicians.

Something similar happened in the 1990s with the term ‘politically correct.’ John K. Wilson wrote about that time in a book called The Myth Of Political Correctness.

And — just like ‘politically correct’ — ‘cancelling’ and ‘cancel culture’ have been co-opted and weaponized to attack the left today. Social media has made that easier, says Jon Ronson, author of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

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All over the east coast and Midwest, forests are getting hotter and drier. Many are also overgrown and overdue for wildfire. And increasingly, Americans are moving to areas where these forests and their homes tangle close together.

The fastest such growth is in the Southeast, where few consider wildfire much of a threat. Molly Samuel with member station WABE reports from Tate City, Georgia.

Additional reporting in this episode from Annie Ropeik of New Hampshire Public Radio and from NPR’s Nathan Rott, who reported on fire risk in Wisconsin, home to the deadliest fire in American history.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

NPR’s Tom Dreisbach reports on the story of Alan Hostetter, a former police chief and yoga instructor from California who’s now facing conspiracy charges for his alleged role in the U.S. Capitol riot.

Hostetter is one of more than 500 people facing charges related to January 6th. Hear more about how prosecutors are proceeding from NPR’s Ryan Lucas and the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen via Apple, Google, Spotify, or Pocket Casts.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Critical race theory is a legal framework developed decades ago at Harvard Law School. It posits that racism is not just the product of individual bias, but is embedded in legal systems and policies. Today, it’s become the subject of heated debate on Fox News and in local school board meetings across the country.

Adam Harris, staff writer at The Atlantic, explains why. Harris has traced the debate over critical race theory back decades.

Gloria Ladson-Billings spoke to NPR about watching that debate morph in recent years. She’s president of the National Academy of Education and one of the first academics to bring critical race theory to education research.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, another music festival took place 100 miles away. The Harlem Cultural Festival featured black musicians like Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder — stars who we might not have glimpsed at this point in their careers.

Footage of the festival had been locked in a basement for 50 years, because TV and film companies were not interested in it at the time.

Questlove and his fellow filmmakers speak to Audie Cornish about bringing the concert festival to the big screen in their movie, Summer Of Soul, which is also out on Hulu.

NPR’s Eric Deggans also reviewed the film. Some descriptions of the film from his review are heard in this episode.

In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

The Star-Spangled Banner is the official anthem for the United States, but there are plenty of songs that have become informal American anthems for millions of people.

On this episode of NPR’s Throughline, we share three stories from NPR Music’s American Anthem series, which explored the origins of songs that have become ingrained in American culture.

Throughline is NPR’s history podcast. Listen via Apple, Spotify, Google, or Pocket Casts.