Author: Matt

This past week, the world’s attention has been focused on the death and destruction that’s been discovered in Ukranian towns north of Kyiv after Russian forces withdrew. One of those towns — vistied by NPR — is Borodyanka. The carnage left behind by Russians is also a sign of what may be to come in the country’s east, where a new offensive looms.

NPR’s Scott Detrow reported from Boyodyanka with producers Noah Caldwell and Kat Lonsdorf.

Additional reporting this episode from correspondents Nathan Rott and Greg Myre.

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

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Prices are up on everything from groceries, to rent, to gas, and consumer price inflation hit a new 40-year high in March: Up 8.5% over a year ago.

This increase impacts everyone across the economic spectrum, but inflation poses a particular hardship for low-income families. And while the Biden administration has announced new steps to bring down gas prices and other visible signs of inflation, there’s mounting political pressure to do more during this midterm election year.

NPR Congressional Correspondent Kelsey Snell and Chief Economics Correspondent Scott Horsley break down the stakes for those hit hardest by inflation and for the government.

Scott Horsley also speaks to economists who explain why they believe the U.S. might be in another recession soon.

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

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After taking control of Afghanistan last summer, the Taliban made promises for more inclusive and less repressive leadership in Afghanistan. Many of those promises involved maintaining women’s rights.

But now, education for girls has become more limited, and other restrictions have been placed on women. NPR’s Diaa Hadid reports on what the uneven implementation of those policies suggests about Taliban leadership.

And Kathy Gannon of The Associated Press reports on how the Taliban backtracking on some of its promises bodes for Afghanistan’s future.

Additional reporting in this episode also comes from NPR’s Fatma Tanis.

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

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More than 400,000 Ukrainian refugees have poured across the border into the small country of Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe. Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova is a little bigger than Maryland, but it has received the most refugees per capita of any country in this crisis. Now Moldova is providing assistance and support to those who are choosing to stay in the country.

Even as they open their doors to Ukrainian refugees, many in the small country fear they may be next in line for invasion by Russian forces. Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union shortly after its fall in 1991, but since then there have been Russian troops stationed in a separatist region of the country called Transnistria. Moldova fears it would not be able to fend off a Russian offensive.

NPR’s Frank Langfitt explains why Moldova is in such a perilous position, and we talk to aid workers about how they are supporting Ukranians fleeing war.

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

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Michelle Yeoh has been a star for decades. American audiences will know her as a warrior in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or an icy matriarch in Crazy Rich Asians. Now, in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she’s playing Chinese immigrant Evelyn Wang who is both a failure and possibly the key to saving the multiverse from a great chaos-spreading evil.

Michelle Yeoh talks with NPR’s Ailsa Chang about her journey through the multiverse, with all its wackiness, wonder and wisdom.

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Reports of civilians being tortured and killed — and the accompanying images that have surfaced this week in the city of Bucha — have raised questions about potential war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. The Biden administration is assisting international investigators in looking into potential war crimes. And some experts say the evidence of such crimes is clear in this highly-documented conflict.

But history shows that drawing a straight line between war crimes and heads of state is challenging.

NPR’s Scott Detrow spoke with senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, Yulia Gorbunova, about her reporting of alleged human rights violations in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine.

NPR’s Julie McCarthy examines what constitutes war crimes and the prospects of Russian President Vladimir Putin being held to account.

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.

Many Americans haven’t gotten an initial COVID-19 booster. A second one is authorized for some. Others are waiting to see if they can get one soon. Will everyone need them eventually? An FDA advisory committee met Wednesday to discuss what’s next in America’s booster strategy.

Dr. Anthony Fauci tells NPR the path forward is paved with uncertainties — about whether more variants will arise, how long booster protection lasts, and what kind of funding will be available for research. Fauci spoke to NPR’s Rob Stein, who explains what’s likely for booster guidance later this fall.

Whatever the future of the pandemic holds, public health officials are hoping to get early glimpses of it by monitoring waste water treatment plants. John Daley reports.

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Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade, was signed into law at the end of March by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Critics have dubbed this it the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law.

A lawsuit has been filed against Gov. DeSantis by several LGBTQ rights advocates in an effort to block the law.

NPR’s Melissa Block spoke with a number of teachers across the state of Florida who are worried about the chilling effect this law may have on not just what they teach and speak about in the classroom, but how it affects their students’ well-being.

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

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Thousands of people who claim Johnson & Johnson baby powder caused them to develop cancer cannot sue the company, which used a controversial legal maneuver in bankruptcy court to freeze lawsuits against it.

NPR’s Brian Mann explains. More from his reporting here.

Additional reporting this episode from NPR’s Scott Horsley.

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

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Roger Latimer says he was beaten by guards in a security camera blind spot at Western Illinois Correctional Center. He complained at the prison. He complained to local officials. He asked medical staff to take pictures. Nothing happened. Then another prisoner, Larry Earvin, died after an altercation with guards in the same blind spot.

In this episode of WBEZ Chicago’s Motive podcast, host Shannon Heffernan tracks the pattern of beatings in that blind spot, surfacing nine additional cases, sometimes involving the same guards, using very similar behavior in the same location. We ask the question of why this pattern persisted, even as prisoners like Latimer tried to stop it.

Season 4 of Motive investigates the hidden world of big prisons in small towns. Places where everyone knows each other and difficult truths get buried.

Listen to Motive on Apple podcasts and Spotify.