Year: 2024

For American Jews who grew up thinking antisemitism was a thing of the past, the last several years have been startling. White supremacists marched in Charlottesville. A gunman massacred worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Then came the Hamas attacks of October 7th and Israel’s war in Gaza.

The Anti-Defamation League says since then, antisemitic incidents in the US are up 361% over the same period a year ago. Both Congress and the White House have tried to address antisemitism in recent weeks, yet there’s still a debate about what it is.

Two journalists, who have been thinking and writing about antisemitism in the U.S. weigh in.

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A conservative group posted a social media thread showing flyers in a border encampment in Mexico urging migrants to vote for Joe Biden. Now, the woman caught up in it, speaks to NPR.

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The Girl Scouts have been part of American childhood for generations. And now that quintessential experience is helping young girls, who are new to the United States get a sense of belonging. It comes through a Girl Scout troop based in one of New York City’s largest migrant shelters.

The shelter has around 3,500 migrants, and all of the Girl Scouts are children of families seeking asylum. For the last few weeks, NPR’s Jasmine Garsd has been spending time with them, and brings us their their story.

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America is a land of contradictions; while we’re known as a nation that loves to eat, we also live within a culture that has long valued thinness as the utmost beauty standard.

Over the last several years the body positivity movement has pushed back on that notion. But then came a new class of weight-loss drugs.

New York Magazine contributing writer Samhita Mukhopadhyay grapples with the possible future of a movement like this in her recent article, So Was Body Positivity All A Big Lie?

She joins All Things Considered host Juana Summers to discuss the ever-evolving conversation on health, size, and whose business that is in the first place.

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President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have turned their attention on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently. And the fact that the major party candidates are either trying to criticize him or praise him is a sign that his independent candidacy could have a real impact.

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When Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit screens across the country in 1999, Return of the Jedi felt like ancient history to Star Wars fans. But after 16 long years, the movie let down fans and critics alike. Twenty-five years have changed how a lot of people feel. For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Louis Sahagún first arrived at the Los Angeles Times in his early twenties as a utility worker, sweeping lead dust around the printing machines.

But it was the buzzing newsroom that inspired Sahagún to soon spend his lifetime writing stories about the undiscovered characters and corners of California.

Now after 43 years, he’s retiring from the paper, and reflecting on what motivated him to cover a side of the Golden state that remained unknown to many.

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The Biden administration has put a hold on an arms shipment to Israel. A senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity told NPR it was due to concerns the bombs could be used in Rafah.

Rafah is the site of Israel’s latest campaign in its war against Hamas. It’s also home to some 1.3 million Palestinians. More than half of those people have fled fighting in other parts of Gaza.

On Monday night, Israeli tanks rolled into Rafah taking control of the Palestinian side of the border crossing with Egypt.

The seizure of the border crossing cuts a key supply line for humanitarian aid.

Israel says its incursion in Rafah is a “precise counterterrorism operation.” But possible further military action along with the closed border crossing could exacerbate a humanitarian catastrophe.

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Brittney Griner didn’t know the flight she was taking to Moscow in February 2022 would upend her life. But even before she left for the airport, Griner felt something was off.

It was a premonition that foreshadowed a waking nightmare.

She had accidentally left two vape cartridges with traces of cannabis oil in her luggage. What followed was nearly 10 months of struggle in a cell, and diplomatic efforts from the U.S. to get her home.

Griner reflects on the experience in her new memoir, ‘Coming Home’ and discusses it in depth with NPR’s Juana Summers.

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The term “outside agitator” has staying power.

It’s been used against protestors throughout history, from the Civil Rights Movement, to the anti-Vietnam War protests and now during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses.

“Outside agitator” was also used to describe some of the people who protested the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri In 2014.

Who exactly are the “outside agitators” and what purpose does it serve to call them out?

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