Month: July 2023

There’s a labor shortage on farms in the U.S., and that has implications for all of us who enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables.

For farmers across America, finding enough labor has become a top concern. Decades ago, whole families of migrant farmworkers, the majority of them from Mexico, would travel around the U.S. in search of seasonal work. But over time, farmworkers began to settle. Now, many of them are aging out. And their children and grandchildren are finding opportunities in other sectors.

Who will replace them? And what is Congress doing to solve this issue? This summer, two NPR reporters visited some farms to see how this is playing out: NPR’s Ximena Bustillo who reports on food and farm policy, and NPR’s Andrea Hsu who covers labor.

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.

Editor’s note: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence.

The U.S. military has consistently maintained that its troops didn’t harm civilians during the 2019 raid on the Syrian hideout of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which lead to Baghdadi blowing himself up.

It stuck to that version of events even after NPR reported on claims from Syrians that civilians were killed and maimed by U.S. helicopter fire during the raid. The Pentagon claimed the men were enemy combatants.

NPR sued the Pentagon under the Freedom of Information Act to release documentation of the airstrikes, and obtained a redacted copy of the Defense Department’s confidential 2020 report on the incident.

NPR’s Daniel Estrin digs into the document, and finds that it reveals flaws in the Pentagon’s conclusion.

His investigation, in English and Arabic, includes declassified Pentagon documents, photos, maps and videos.

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.

The Supreme Court may have ended race-conscious admissions in higher education. But the end of affirmative action seems to have added fuel to another contentious debate around college admissions policies.

For decades, many elite, private institutions have given prospective college students preference if a relative attended the school or, in some cases, when a major donor was involved.

While the practice of affirmative action is dead, legacy admissions continue. But more and more critics of the practice are calling on schools to do away with them, including President Biden.

Host Juana Summers speaks with economist John Friedman, a professor and chair of economics at Brown University. He co-authored a study that quantifies the lasting socio-economic disparities between legacy students and their less affluent peers.

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.

When Utah passed a ban on gender-affirming care for people younger than 18, Kat and their family had to make a tough choice. Should they uproot their lives and leave the state?

Kat is 14 and transgender. The Utah law banned the medical care that Kat was considering.

Around 20 states have passed similar laws — meaning many families could face the same tough decision: whether to leave their homes and where to go. Often it’s to a state like Minnesota, where elected officials have protected trans health care for patients and providers.

We speak with reporters Saige Miller from KUER in Salt Lake City and Dana Ferguson, a political reporter with Minnesota Public Radio to hear how this patchwork of laws in both states affects trans patients and their doctors.

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.

When a fiery, toxic train wreck forced residents of East Palestine, Ohio to evacuate last February, the crash and its aftermath became a national flashpoint and a hot button issue on both sides of the political aisle.

Alan Shaw, the CEO of Norfolk Southern – the freight railroad responsible – found himself in front of Congress, grilled by bipartisan lawmakers.

Shaw insists the company is continuing its commitment to help East Palestine recover, and that they are at the forefront of improving safety in the rail industry.

Host Scott Detrow speaks with Shaw about how the company hopes to become “the gold standard” in rail safety.

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.

On Monday, Israel’s parliament voted into law a key measure to overhaul the country’s judiciary. The measure prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.”

The law strips Israel’s Supreme Court of a key check on the power of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. This marks the first big move in a broader effort to weaken court oversight of senior officials. It comes after six months of protests from Israelis concerned that their government will have unchecked power. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defending it, saying this law is the essence of democracy and will allow the elected government – his government – to carry out its agenda.

We hear from concerned protestors outside Israeli parliament — many citizens are afraid that their way of life is in danger.

Dahlia Scheindlin is a political analyst from Tel Aviv, she explains what this new Israeli law says about the state of democracy there.

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.

The United States’ preeminent professional soccer league, Major League Soccer, has long lagged behind top European leagues.

However, international soccer superstar Lionel Messi joining the Inter Miami might be the boost the league needs.

NPR’s Scott Detrow reports on the impact of Messi coming to the MLS and what the league’s future could be.

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.

Tony Bennett, the crooner whose success spanned generations, died Friday. He was 96 years old.

His voice was synonymous with the Great American Songbook, which he continued to bring to new audiences even as the country’s musical tastes changed.

NPR’s Walter Ray Watson traces the arc of Bennett’s life, from his days as a singing waiter in Astoria, New York, to his Billboard-charting hits as a nonagenarian.

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.

We know that climate change is making all sorts of extreme weather events more likely all around the globe. So what can we do about that?

In this episode, NPR’s Allison Aubrey gives us tips on how to avoid heat-related illnesses when temperatures soar to dangerous levels.

And we hear from a climate researcher about what steps we would need to take on a global scale to try and bring temperatures down.

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.

It’s easy to lose track of the seriousness of the legal cases involving Donald Trump, in part because there are just so many.

This week the former president and current presidential candidate said he received a letter informing him he is a target in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Such a letter often precedes an indictment.

And a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, may soon consider an election interference case there that could lead to yet another indictment of Trump.

We hear about both cases in this episode.

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.