Author: Matt

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.

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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?

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Labor Day is considered the beginning of the end of the Presidential election, but as history shows, things can change a lot by election day.

Host Scott Detrow speaks with his colleagues Senior Political Editor and Correspondent Domenico Montanaro and White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez about where things are, and where they could go.

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Raunchy sex comedies had a moment at the end of the 20th century. And perhaps the king of them all, was American Pie. Even people who have never seen the movie probably know the most memorable scene has something to do with a sex-obsessed teenage boy doing something unseemly with a homemade apple pie.

Flash forward a quarter century and Hollywood is making fewer teen comedies than it used to. For the 25th anniversary of American Pie, Scott Detrow speaks with one of the film’s stars Alyson Hannigan about its legacy.

A warning for listeners, this episode contains language and references to scenes not suitable for younger audiences.

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In 1988, Ben Spencer was sentenced to life in prison for a brutal robbery and murder he has always insisted he did not commit.

Spencer spent the next 34 years in prison, dashing off letters almost every day to his wife, his friends, lawyers, to anyone who would listen, claiming his innocence.

In 2021, he was officially released from prison. But on Thursday, he was officially exonerated.

We hear about his life after decades behind bars — and his faith that one day, the truth would prevail.

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Earlier this month, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, and the former head of Google, Eric Schmidt, wrote a piece for Foreign Affairs arguing that the future of warfare is here. They say that the U.S. is not ready for it.

The two authors argue recent technological developments have changed warfare more in the past several years than the decades spanning from the introduction of the airplane, radio, and mechanization to the battlefield. And while this new tech has only been shown in small snippets in current conflicts, it is only the beginning.

So, can the U.S. catch up? And what will this warfare look like?

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When Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president, his son stole the show.

In a viral moment, the cameras panned to 17-year-old Gus Walz, who, with tears in his eyes, stood up, clapped loudly, pointed to the stage and appeared to repeatedly yell out: “That’s my dad!”

Some cheered the new visibility of neurodivergent people.

But what do advocates and parents of neurodiverse children actually want from government officials, like Tim Walz, in terms of policy?

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It’s been more than three weeks since the U.S. and Russia completed the largest prisoner swap since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Speaking from the White House shortly after news broke that three American prisoners were headed home, President Biden described the release as an “incredible relief.”

Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was one of those prisoners, and she’s sharing what life was like in a Russian prison and how she’s adjusting to life at home.

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Both major party presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are on the same side of one issue. Getting rid of taxes on tips. But what would that really look like in practice?

Wailin Wong and Darian Woods from NPR’s daily economics podcast, The Indicator, dive into the potential guardrails for a policy that many economists believe could easily go off track.

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What happens when political ambition collides with a #MeToo allegation in the Democratic party?

Episode 2 of our two-part investigation.

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