Year: 2021

Cyberattackers have recently targeted a crucial fuel pipeline, a global meat distributor and a water treatment plant. The Biden administration likens the surge in cyberattacks to terrorism — and says they plan to treat it like a national security threat. NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre details the administration’s plans.

When businesses are targeted by ransomware, someone like Bill Siegel steps in to help companies figure out if they have any options but to pay up. Siegel runs Coveware, a company that responds to ransomware attacks and often negotiates with hackers. He spoke to NPR’s Rachel Martin.

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.

Stockton, Calif., may represent the future of American news.

The city’s longtime newspaper, The Record, has lost reporters, subscribers and, therefore, power. Meanwhile a non-traditional news source, a controversial online outlet called 209 Times, has quickly become one of the most popular sources of news in town. It proudly doesn’t follow most journalistic norms and brags about tanking the previous mayor’s campaign. Critics say the 209 Times is filling Stockton with misinformation.

Yowei Shaw, host of NPR’s Invisibilia, investigates.

Find all three parts of “The Chaos Machine,” Invisibilia‘s series about 209 Times here.

Freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution as crucial to a functioning democracy. But what role does the press serve when it feels like the country can’t agree on basic facts? NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly speaks with a handful of journalists to hear how they’re navigating this divide.

This episode feature’s CBS‘s Leslie Stahl, CNN‘s Jake Tapper, NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe, Dawn Rhodes of Block Club Chicago and Sherry Liang of the University of Georgia’s Red & Black newspaper.

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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Corporations had a lot to say about racial justice last summer. They made statements. They donated millions to civil rights organizations. They promised to address their own problems with diversity and representation.

A year later, NPR’s David Gura reports on Wall Street’s mixed progress.

Kim Tran tells NPR’s Sam Sanders that the diversity, equity and inclusion industry has lost its way.

And DEI consultant Lily Zheng talks about their front row seat to corporations varied efforts to change culture and practices.

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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The Atlantic hurricane season began Tuesday and another “above average” number of storms is expected. And it’s not just hurricanes — overall, scientists are predicting more extreme weather events amplified by climate change this summer.

While there’s little to do in the short term to change this trajectory, recent actions by a Dutch court, the Biden administration and an activist hedge fund all suggest new pressure on large oil and gas companies could help in the long term. Pressure from these outside forces could signal a shift in how the companies operate.

Nell Minow, an Exxon shareholder, explains the direction she wants to see the company move in.

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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From dating apps, to airline travel, to in-person high school classes, the U.S. is seeing evidence of a return to close-to-normal life.

KUOW’s Clare McGrane reports on how that transition has been especially complicated for a choir in Washington state. Members were at the center of one of the earliest super-spreader events in the U.S. last year.

Saskia Popescu, infectious disease expert and assistant professor at George Mason University, says for as much progress as the U.S. has made against the coronavirus, many countries are still dealing with outbreaks and struggling to get vaccines.

Listen to GBH reporter Tori Bedford’s story on easing back into socializing here.

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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Much is said about how divided the U.S. is these days. But perhaps there is still something that unites Americans. Longtime NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten reports on what he calls the country’s “civil religion” — a collection of beliefs, based on freedom, that should apply to every American equally.

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Former President Barack Obama is thinking a lot about our values as Americans. These days, in a divided America, he’s particularly thinking about what it means to be a man.

Is a man thoughtful, caring? Are men held back by what society traditionally expects a man to be?

These are questions that Aarti Shahani recently asked Obama on a recent episode of her podcast, Art of Power, from member station WBEZ in Chicago.

Listen to Art of Power on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and NPR One.

All over the world, democratic institutions are under threat. The United States isn’t just part of that trend — it may also be one of the causes. Former Obama administration foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes examines why in a new book called After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made.

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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Proponents of trans female athlete bans struggle to cite examples of trans women or girls gaining an unfair advantage in sports competitions. But amid a lot of debate about fairness, there’s been less attention on science. NPR sports correspondent Tom Goldman spoke to a pioneering trans researcher who explains why — in most sports — trans women can compete fairly against cisgender women.

Behind a recent spate of anti-trans state laws, LGBTQ communities see a new chapter in a familiar story: the culture wars that broke out in America in the 1990s. A new episode of the FX documentary miniseries Pride examines that era. It was directed by Academy-Award nominee Yance Ford, who tells NPR why the culture wars of the 90s are so relevant today.

Additional reporting on the legal debate over Idaho’s ban on trans female athletes from our colleague Melissa Block.

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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