Author: Matt

Getting older has been a punchline for as long as anyone can remember. And while there are plenty of jokes to be made about aging, it can also have some negative implications for how we see ourselves and others.

For writer Anne Lamott, aging has been a challenge, and a gift. “There is grace in not being able to see everything so clearly with all of its faults and annoying tendencies.”

Lamott has been reflecting on growing older in her latest column for the Washington Post, and shares some of those insights with Consider This host Mary Louise Kelly.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Vice President Kamala Harris was dominant during Tuesday’s presidential debate in Philadelphia. Former President Donald Trump struggled to stay on topic and a times sounded incoherent. With the race to the White House neck and neck will this debate make a difference?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

There’s an old line: “Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are?” Well if it’s true, then Cristeta Comerford knows the last five Presidents better than almost anyone.

She just retired after nearly 30 years as White House chef. Comerford cooked for Presidents from Clinton to Biden…making everything from family snacks to state dinners.

She is the first woman and the first person of color to hold the serve in that job.

She reflects on her groundbreaking role, and what she’s learned from cooking for some of the most powerful people in the world.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

After days of back and forth, both presidential campaigns finally agreed on the rules for Tuesday night’s debate. But what are the rules for moderators? Just ask questions? Fact check in real time? A Colorado newscaster went viral for his moderation style. He wishes more journalists would try it.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Ahead of the presidential debate, host Scott Detrow talks to comedians Matt Friend and Allison Reese. They’re two of the most prominent political impressionists out there, who are trying to channel the candidates.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

We’re in a moment where DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) hiring practices mean many different things to many people. Over the past four years, many of the companies that publicly embraced DEI policies in the wake of George Floyd’s murder have been backing away. What are the politics behind the anti-DEI backlash and what happens when workplace diversity initiatives are lost?

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Project 2025 – you’ve probably heard about it. It’s a roadmap from the conservative Heritage Foundation for the next Republican president.

It’s also been a major talking point for Democrats on the campaign trail. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has tried to disavow it and distance himself.

That’s because the plan has attracted negative attention over the ultra conservative policies it endorses like overhauling and eliminating some government agencies, firing thousands of civil servants and a mass deportation campaign.

Project 2025 was created to help the next Republican President execute an extreme conservative agenda. Now it’s also become an attack line for Democrats.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

It was a night of mourning on Tuesday, when Doug Emhoff, second gentlemen and the first Jewish spouse to a US president or Vice president, spoke at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington DC.

Emhoff was one of more than a thousand people attending a prayer vigil dedicated to six hostages recently killed by Hamas. Their bodies were recovered over the weekend.

The deaths of the six hostages comes as it’s been more than 300 days since Hamas took more than 240 people hostage after it attacked Israel on October 7th. As the days in captivity drag on, many have been killed, and their families live in agony.

One of those family members is LeElle Slifer, who’s cousin Carmel Gat was one of the six hostages killed. She shares what her cousin meant to her and what her family wants from the Israeli government.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

When Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson entered the national spotlight, she found praise and also criticism.

In her new book, Lovely One, Jackson describes how she endured her confirmation hearing, along with her multi-generational path to becoming the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court — a branch which she tells NPR remains ready to offer credible opinions on the most contentious issues facing the nation, even in the face of waning public confidence.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

For about three weeks in 2000, there were zero measles cases in the United States. It was declared eradicated.

Fast forward to 2024, and measles cases are surging, especially in Oregon where the state is facing the worst outbreak since the early 1990s.

This is happening as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the vaccination rate among kindergartners is dropping, and more and more parents are seeking exemptions to school vaccine requirements.

People are vaccinating their children at lower and lower rates. What does that mean for kids as they head back to school, and for infectious and deadly diseases like measles?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy