Month: June 2022

There are few issues as highly debated and emotionally charged as abortion.

And in the coming days, the Supreme Court will issue a ruling that could fundamentally change the landscape for abortion in the U.S.

The possibility that the court could strike down Roe v. Wade has raised all kinds of legal questions, as people consider what a post-Roe America might look like.

We asked members of the NPR audience what questions they had about abortion access and reproductive rights.

Khiara Bridges, a law professor at UC Berkeley who studies reproductive rights, and NPR’s Sarah McCammon, who covers abortion policy, answer some of their questions.

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The war between Russia and Ukraine is reverberating in Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as its own and has threatened to invade if Taiwan declares independence.

Residents of the island are watching intently as Ukraine defends itself against a much larger and more powerful adversary. And they are thinking about what it takes to galvanize international support.

The U.S. has a longstanding policy of ambiguity when it comes to talking about Taiwan and independence, not wanting to risk a conflict with China. So it was surprising last month when President Biden said the that U.S. will defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China.

We speak to journalist Chris Horton, who is based in Taiwan. His recent piece in The Atlantic is headlined, “The Lessons Taiwan is Learning from Ukraine.”

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It’s been ten years since the Obama administration announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The policy provided protection from deportation for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.

President Obama called it a “temporary stopgap measure,” at the time, but Congress hasn’t passed any legislation in the intervening years to create permanent protection for the people covered by DACA.

Last year, a federal judge in Texas ruled the program is illegal, and the program is essentially frozen in place while the Biden administration appeals. Current DACA recipients can reapply, but the administration can’t grant any new applications. NPR’s Joel Rose reports that that has left roughly 80,000 DACA applications indefinitely on hold.

Two early DACA recipients and advocates for undocumented immigrants, Diana Pliego and Esder Chong, discuss how they view the program, on its tenth anniversary.

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A bipartisan group of Senates say they have reached a deal on a package of safety and gun-related measures. The deal is not yet done, but lawmakers say they are closer than they’ve been in a long time.

The package includes measures to enhance background checks for gun buyers under 21, incentivize states to pass so-called “red flag laws,” and fund school safety and mental health initiatives. Is it enough? We put that question to Gabby Giffords, a former congresswoman who was injured in a 2011 shooting. Since then, Giffords has dedicated her life to calling for action on gun control, co-founding Giffords, an advocacy group that promotes gun safety. The group’s executive director, Peter Ambler, also spoke to NPR.

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Prices rose more than expected in May. Gas is averaging $5 a gallon. Food, rent, and housing all cost more, too. NPR’s Scott Horsley spoke to consumers trying to cope.

Some CEOs are predicting a recession — but not all. NPR’s David Gura reports.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR’s Chris Arnold on the growing cost of housing. Transportation company owner Dennis Briggs spoke to NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition Sunday.

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After years of struggling to pay federal student loans used to attend the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, hundreds of thousands of student borrowers will have their debt canceled. Corinthian closed in 2015 after investigators found it had defrauded students with misleading claims about future job prospects. Earlier this month, The Department of Education discharged all outstanding debt for all Corinthian borrowers.

With over a trillion dollars owed, federal student loan debt has been called a national crisis. Advocates for the cancellation of all federal student loans hope the Department of Education’s latest move could signal a step in that direction.

We speak with political strategist and student loan cancellation advocate Melissa Byrne.

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On Thursday, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol began presenting its findings in the first in a series of high profile public hearings. The panel showed videos of aides to former President Trump testifying that his claims of a stolen election were simply not true. Some used more colorful language.

The committee seeks to show that the mayhem at the Capitol was not spontaneous, but rather an orchestrated subversion of American democracy. And they say former President Trump was a key player.

The hearing also included video of the Proud Boys at the Capitol on the day of the attack. We speak to documentary filmmaker Nick Quested who shot some of that footage and testified before the committee on Thursday.

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There have never been more options for drivers who want an electric car. But the demand — fueled by high gas prices — is almost over-powering, and supply chain constraints aren’t helping.

NPR’s Brittany Cronin reports on one of the biggest EV launches of the year: Ford’s F-150 Lightning. NPR’s Camila Domonoske explains why China dominates the market for electric car batteries.

Also in this episode: General Motors President Mark Reuss, who spoke to NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition.

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Nearly everyone agrees the cryptocurrency industry needs regulation, but there are huge disagreements about what that should look like.

A Senate bill proposes a new regulatory framework for the industry. Cosponsors Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) argue that their bill hits the “sweet spot” between allowing innovation and protecting consumers.

Software engineer Molly White, who runs the blog Web3 is going just great, says that the bill is too industry-friendly, and puts into legislation the “foggy regulatory space” that crypto companies have taken advantage of.

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President Biden urged Congress to act and the House is preparing to pass multiple gun control measures. But the Senate is where a compromise must be made. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is reportedly discussing policies like enhanced background checks and a federal red flag law.

While it’s unclear what Congress might agree to, researchers do have ideas about what policies could help prevent mass shootings and gun violence. NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce explains. Hear more from her reporting on Short Wave, NPR’s daily science podcast, via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

NPR’s Cory Turner reports on what school safety experts think can be done to prevent mass shootings, and former FBI agent Katherine Schweit describes where Uvalde police may have erred their active shooter response. Schweit is the author of Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis.

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