Month: February 2023

A total of four high-flying, balloon-like objects have been shot down by US fighter jets this month. Officials have still not said where three of them came from.

The United States claims the first one was a Chinese surveillance balloon, which China denies. But American officials have made no definitive statement as to what the other three could be, nor has anyone come forward to claim ownership.

NPR correspondents Scott Detrow and Greg Myre share what they’ve learned about the mysterious flying objects.

And Timothy Heath, a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation, talks about the various ways governments use high-altitude balloons.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Sales of romance novels were up in 2022, with a surge of about 52 percent for sales of print copies, according to Publishers Weekly. That’s despite an overall dip in book sales last year.
Still, there’s a longstanding social stigma against romance novels, as they’re often written off as frivolous, or even shameful.
NPR’s Juana Summers visits a group of readers who are loud and proud about their love for the genre.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

One week since arriving in southern Turkey after massive back-to-back earthquakes hit the region, our correspondent recounts what she has seen in seven days of covering the tragedy in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
NPR’s Ruth Sherlock traveled from Lebanon soon after the quakes hit, and has since reported from both Turkey and Syria. She says thousands of people in both countries are living versions of the same nightmare.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Haiti, a country long besieged by political turmoil, was plunged further into chaos in 2021 when then president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated. Today, gangs run large swaths of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Schools and businesses have shuttered, food, water and gas shortages have spiraled, and Haitians desperate to leave the country have overrun immigration offices hoping for a passport.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been the de facto ruler since Moïse’s assassination. There have not been official elections in the country since 2016. In January, its ten remaining senators left office, leaving no single regularly elected official. Henry, whose rule is heavily criticized by many Haitians, says there cannot be new elections until the country is made safer.

Amidst the chaos, calls have risen for the US to help stabilize the country, but a fraught history of US intervention in Haiti has created a climate of mistrust.

Host Michel Martin talks to Pamala White, former ambassador to Haiti, about what options are available to Haiti to quell the country’s unrest.

And Marlene Daut, a professor at Yale of French and African-American studies, unpacks the history of US intervention in Haiti.

NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly is on the ground in Iran, where she spoke directly with Iranians about their grievances against the regime.

She later put some of those grievances to Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during a rare in-person interview in Tehran.

You can hear more of NPR’s interview with Iran’s Foreign Minister, on whether Iranians can freely voice their ideas, here.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Negotiating a purchase at a car dealership can be a stressful experience. But once you sign the deal and drive away, the car is yours right? Not necessarily.
NPR’s Chris Arnold breaks down how some dealerships engage in a practice called a “yo-yo car sale” that can entrap people in bad deals.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address seemed like business as usual, until one of Biden’s remarks drew loud boos from some Republican lawmakers.
We ask two House freshmen – Democrat Maxwell Frost of Florida and Republican Mike Lawler of New York – what they made of that moment and how they think the two parties could work together in a narrowly divided Congress.
In participating regions, you’ll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what’s going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Communities in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey are struggling in the aftermath of Monday’s devastating earthquake and its powerful aftershocks.

NPR’s Ruth Sherlock reports on ongoing rescue efforts in the region.

And we speak with Gönül Tol, director of the Turkey program at the Middle East Institute, who is in Hatay province in Turkey. She raises questions about the Turkish government’s response to the tragedy.

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

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

China and the US were supposed to hold diplomatic talks over the weekend. Instead they sparred over a Chinese balloon that entered American airspace before it was shot down. Where do relations between Washington and Beijing go from here?

This wasn’t the first time a Chinese surveillance balloon flew into into U.S. airspace. NPR’s Greg Myre talks us through past incidents.

Then we speak with Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor of China and Asia Pacific Studies at Cornell University, about where U.S. and China relations now stand.

Football is the most watched sport in the US – and one of the most profitable. The NFL reported that last year, the Super Bowl was watched by two-thirds of Americans.

But for some, the popularity and success of the sport are overshadowed by its continuing problems around race – from its handling of players kneeling in protest against the killing of unarmed Black people, to lawsuits over racially biased compensation for concussed Black players, to the NFL’s inability –or is it unwillingness?–to hire and retain Black coaches in a league where a majority of the players are black.

On Tuesday, the Houston Texans announced that they have hired a new head coach – DeMeco Ryans. He becomes one of three Black coaches among the 32 teams in the NFL.

The league is also touting a historic first in the upcoming Super Bowl – two Black starting quarterbacks. Are these hopeful signs or progress, or, as some critics contend, too little, too late?

Host Michel Martin talks to Justin Tinsley, who writes about sports and culture and appears on ESPN.

And Carron Phillips, of Deadspin, explains why 20 years of the NFL’s Rooney Rule failed to diversity football’s leadership roles.