Author: Matt

Scientists say research into a vaccine for HIV is further along than it’s ever been.

But Trump administration cuts to scientific research have set that effort back.

Including a promising trial for an HIV vaccine in Africa – which was shut down altogether.

NPR’s Ari Daniel has the story of how researchers there refused to give up.

Ari’s reporting for this story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center. The Gates Foundation is a financial supporter of NPR. 

This episode was produced by Mallory Yu and Kira Wakeam.

It was edited by Rebecca Davis and Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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In the first year of his second term, President Trump has repeatedly said and done things that were previously assumed to be unacceptable to voters.

Whether on Greenland or Gaza, federal prosecutions or federal spending, immigration enforcement or sending the U.S. military to protests of immigration enforcement, the Trump administration appears undeterred on almost all of its agenda.

As Ashley Parker wrote in The Atlantic this week — the Trump administration has pushed the window of what’s possible in American politics so far that his opposition seems exhausted.

She discusses her essay, “Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.”

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This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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President Trump’s insistence that the U.S. acquire Greenland could become a major international crisis.

He’s now threatened tariffs on eight NATO allies who have expressed their opposition to the idea, and that is shaking up the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. 

And more tariffs would increase costs for American businesses at a time when American voters are talking about affordability at home.

Willem Marx reports from Davos, and NPR’s Scott Horsley and Mara Liasson recap the economic and political fallout.

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This episode was produced by Marc Rivers and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane and Hannah Gluvna. It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Rafael Nam, Nick Spicer and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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President Trump has spent his first year back in office blurring the lines between business and government. 

The administration has bought shares in private companies like Intel, NVIDIA, and others involved in mining and energy. President Trump has also publicly pressured CEOs, and forced the restructuring of social media giants like TikTok.

NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspan says that’s generating a lot of questions, and worries, about the future of the U.S. economy. 

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A week after an arson fire at Mississippi’s oldest synagogue, Rachel Myers, a leader of the congregation’s religious school, talks about how the congregation is doing and how it will rebuild. It’s not the first time the congregation has been attacked. In the late 1960s, the synagogue and the rabbi’s home were bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in retaliation for the congregation’s work on behalf of civil rights.

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This episode was produced by Avery Keatley and Henry Larson, with additional reporting from Shamira Muhammad of Mississippi Public Broadcasting. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Under the Trump administration, federal prosecutors have been sent to investigate federal lawmakers, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the widow of Renee Macklin Good.

The Department of Justice is once again at the center of the news.

At least five federal lawmakers say they have been contacted for questioning from federal prosecutors. So has the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

And in Minnesota, career federal prosecutors resigned after being asked to investigate not the shooting that killed Renee Macklin Good, but her widow’s potential ties to activist groups.

NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro and NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson break down the week in Justice Department news.

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This episode was produced by Megan Lim and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Kelsey Snell, John Ketchum and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Vice President J.D. Vance says the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Macklin Good last week has “absolute immunity.” Some legal experts have pushed back.

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This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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What began two weeks ago as a demonstration against an economic crisis has become a broader antigovernment movement, in cities and towns across Iran.

Iran’s authoritarian government has responded with violent repression. More than 2,500 people have been killed, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. NPR has not been able to independently verify that number.

Many who watch Iran now believe the current round of protests feels different.

We hear from the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian, who was imprisoned by the Iranian government while serving as a foreign correspondent for the newspaper. His op-ed this week is titled: “I’ve waited for this electrifying moment in Iran for 10 years.”

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This episode was produced by Linah Mohammad with engineering support from Ted Mebane. It was edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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The Trump Justice Department has subpoenaed the Federal Reserve for information related to its multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in Washington.

The move comes on the heels of months of President Donald Trump trying to influence Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

And while he told NBC News he doesn’t know anything about the Department of Justice investigations, members of Congress, including some Republicans, say they’re concerned the independence of the Federal Reserve is now at risk.

The Federal Reserve decides monetary policy across the United States. Its decisions help shape the global economy. What happens if that independence is threatened? 

President Trump has been trying to influence Federal Reserve policy, since his first term.

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This episode was produced by Henry Larson. Audio engineering by Ted Mebane.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning and John Ketchum.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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What do we know about what’s happening in Iran?

The country has been rocked by days of large antigovernment protests. First, sparked by the crippling economy, now anger at the theocratic regime. 

More than 500 people have been killed, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. NPR is unable to independently confirm that figure.

And now President Trump is considering whether to weigh in – and how. 

Sanctions. Cyber attacks. Military strikes. 

President Trump keeps suggesting the United States may get involved. If so, when and how? 

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or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Becky Brown and Josephine Nyounai.

It was edited by Andrew Sussman, Rebekah Metzler and Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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