Month: October 2023

Who doesn’t love a lush, perfectly manicured grass lawn? It turns out, a lot of people are actively trying to get rid of their lawns, ripping out grass in favor of native plants, vegetables, and flowers to attract pollinators.

As the realities of climate change become starker, more and more people are looking for ways to create environmentally friendly spaces.

NPR’s Scott Detrow talks with research ecologist Susannah Lerman with the United States Forest Service about the impact of grass lawns on the environment and sustainable alternatives.

In the 1980s the U.S. Army launched a recruiting drive around the slogan, “Be all you can be.” They’ve relaunched the slogan now as the push is on to make up for a drop off in recruitment.

The Army is having a hard time convincing potential recruits that the military is the best place to reach their full potential. Last year, the Army was 15,000 soldiers short of its recruiting goal.

Army surveys have found that many potential recruits don’t want to join because they fear getting wounded or killed, even though the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over. And the tight labor market means recruits have lots of other job opportunities.

NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth about the struggle to staff up the largest branch of the U.S. military. NPR’s Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman provides additional reporting for this episode.

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It took just eight Republicans, voting with Democrats, to oust Kevin McCarthy from the House speakership. His removal may have been unprecedented, but for several years now the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives has been marked by chaos and unruliness. The job to lead them seems increasingly impossible.

NPR’s Ari Shapiro speaks with Rep. Matt Rosendale, of Montana, who was one of the eight Republicans to vote for McCarthy’s removal. Co-host Juana Summers speaks with NPR Congressional Correspondent Deirdre Walsh about the challenge Republicans face to replace McCarthy.

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The Supreme Court heard a case Tuesday that threatened the existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports on the legal arguments in a case brought by payday lenders against the watchdog agency.

And NPR’s Scott Horsley walks through the track record of the CFPB since its founding in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

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Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a tenure marked by a relentless series of challenges. He served through the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions with China.

He also served under an American president with little regard for the norms that have historically separated politics from the U.S. military: Donald Trump.

In an interview shortly before his retirement last weekend, NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly asked Milley about the relationship between the military and the executive branch — and how it was tested under Trump.

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Not too long ago, crypto was being trumpeted as the next big thing. Celebrities were getting in on it, including Kim Kardashian, Matt Damon and Tom Brady.

Now the former face of crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried, who ran the FTX exchange, is going on trial. He’s accused of orchestrating one of the largest frauds in history.

As his case gets underway it’s as if the whole crypto industry is on trial.

NPR’s David Gura speaks with Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux who wrote the book “Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall,” and Sheelah Kolhatkar, a staff writer for The New Yorker who has a new article out on Bankman-Fried and his parents.

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